Christmas Vespers at Westminster Cathedral

This disc presents an adorned version of the Office of Vespers as it might be heard on the eve of Christmas in Westminster Cathedral, a building steeped in art, music and spirituality.

The chant on this disc is the golden thread which runs throughout the entire liturgy giving the Office a natural rhythm and inevitability as well as clarity of text and beautiful language; it is complemented here by motets and canticles by Thomas Tallis, Tomás Luis de Victoria and Heinrich Schütz, while Jean Langlais’s massive Fête for organ concludes the service.

The only cathedral choir in the world to sing Mass and Vespers liturgically every day, The Choir of Westminster Cathedral is perfectly placed to offer to the armchair listener this CD encapsulation of their very lifeblood, recorded here in the opulent acoustic of their own cathedral.

CDA67522  68 minutes 0 seconds
‘With the glorious acoustical space of Westminster Cathedral, this disc has inbuilt atmosphere, enhanced by organ improvisations and by the choir's fluent singing of plainchant Latin antiphons and psa ...
‘Christmas comes with a combination of simplicity and stunning excitement in this recording’ (American Record Guide)
‘The real value of this disc is the palpable sense of atmosphere in the listening. The service unfolds in the acoustic space of the great Byzantine structure, almost making the listener present … ...