Hyperion’s long series of St Paul’s recordings is graced by an addition dedicated to music for Epiphany, a companion disc to Advent at St Paul’s. In the Christian Church year, Epiphany is the period after Christmas commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Magi, celebrated on 6 January.
The programme embraces music from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, from Bach to Bingham, and includes many long-established favourites by Wesley, Cornelius, Howells and others.
Surplice; Caesar: Wessex, "Brightest & Best Of The Sons Of The Morning"
Mendelssohn: Christus, Op. 97 - When Jesus Our Lord
Byrd: Praise Our Lord, All Ye Gentiles
Anon: Coventry Carol
Handl: Omnes De Saba Venient
Marenzio: Tribus Miraculis
Bingham: Epiphany
Cornelius/Atkins: Weihnachtslieder, Op. 8 - #3 The Three Kings
Crotch: Palestine - Lo! Star-Led Chiefs
Ouseley: From The Rising Of The Sun
Wesley (SS): Ascribe Unto The Lord
Howells: 3 Carol-Anthems - #1 Here Is The Little Door
Eccard: When To The Temple Mary Went
Dearnley: St Chad, "The Growing Limbs Of God The Son"
Byrd: Senex Puerum Portabat
Holst: Nunc Dimittis, H 127
Anon; Scott (J): Was Lebet, "O Worship The Lord In The Beauty Of Holiness!"
“Hurrah for John Scott and St Paul’s, who with this wonderful CD remind all how glorious the Epiphany repertoire is … every piece is approached as if it were the finest thing ever written, and joy is taken in rendering the simple beautiful … let us rejoice at the richness of this programme”
“Luminous with a sense of goodness and well-being, brightest and best of choral records for the last many months … a distinguished record”
“This series is the richest treasure trove an Anglican musician or English choral buff could hope to find. Texts and notes are an Anglophile’s dream. Sound is stunningly rich and ringing”
“Fascinatingly diverse anthology … a tonal brightness and rhythmic vitality that sparkle with festive brilliance”
“The eclectic and thoughtful repertoire mix make for compelling listening … warmly recommended”
“The choral tone is pleasant, the soloists are well chosen, and the recorded balance keeps everything in perspective”
18th December 2011
“This sequence, first released a decade ago, of 17 hymns and carols for Epiphany admirably avoids seasonal cliché (these aren’t Christmas carols, after all) and, more than that, offers an intermittent stiffening of sublime polyphonic music by Byrd and Marenzio...Holst’s eight-part Nunc dimittis is particularly invigorating.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
Surplice; Caesar: Wessex, "Brightest & Best Of The Sons Of The Morning"
