Victoria: Missa De Beata Maria Virgine & Missa Surge propera

Following the success of the Westminster Cathedral Lay Clerks in their sumptuous men-only recording of Victoria’s Missa Gaudeamus, the choir returns to full ranks for a further issue in their survey of the Masses of this undisputed Master of the Renaissance.

This new recording opens with Victoria’s five-part setting of the Marian antiphon Salve regina, followed by two of the composer’s Masses: Missa De Beata Maria Virgine and Missa Surge propera, which is preceded by its Palestrina model. Released to mark the conclusion of a highly successful American tour, this album finds the choir in superb voice and the thrillingly involved sound is perfectly coloured by the Westminster resonance.

CDA67891  67 minutes 52 seconds
‘We hear the boys' voices—and what a wonderfully incisive and vivid sound they make, cutting through the swathes of echo like a hot knife through butter—floating angelically above a heaving wash of la ...