A stunning 15 CD collection of some of the greatest sacred music ever written.
From the great Lamentations of Byrd, Tallis and Palestrina, the listener is taken on a remarkable spiritual journey through Bach’s great St Matthew Passion, Purcell’s moving and bleak funeral music for Queen Mary, and Handel radiant Messiah.
Pergolesi’s masterful setting of the Stabat Mater and Telemann’s Passions-Oratorium are also to be found here, along with Haydn’s Stabat Mater and his dark and intense masterpiece Die sieben letzen Worte, or The Seven Last Words of our Saviour from the Cross.
Finally, Allegri’s hauntingly beautiful Miserere opens this collection – a work that was copied from memory after one hearing by the child Mozart. Prior to that moment the work had only been heard in the Vatican.
Superb value with a CD-ROM containing a full tracklist, sung texts and translations and booklet notes.
First rate performances from leading choirs including Kings College and Clare College, Cambridge, and the Stuttgart Chamber Chorus.
All recordings are recent.
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
