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Utterly different in one sense are the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis ‘Collegium Regale‘, written in 1986 for King’s College, Cambridge. These are, by contrast, straightforward settings for use in the Anglican liturgy, but they are certainly among the most unusual pieces in that repertoire. They employ, like The Uncreated Eros, a melody with a drone in the Greek style. In addition, the Magnificat retains the troparion to the Mother of God of Orthodox usage, which is inserted after each verse of the text. The melody of the Magnificat is sung with different scorings of increasing richness for each verse, with a jubilant refrain for the troparion. The Nunc dimittis is a simpler, less elaborate piece melodically, but enjoys the same wealth of choral colour.

from notes by Ivan Moody © 1991