Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb, Op. 30

Britten's sacred music is among the most engaging and original music of its kind composed in the middle years of the 20th century. New College Choir was among the first to recognise its quality, and continues to sing it with passion and panache. This newly recorded anthology is released by New College Choir to mark the centenary of Britten's birth.

The 2 CD set offers an overarching view of his work in this domain, featuring favourites such as Rejoice in the Lamb and the Hymn to St Cecilia alongside settings more rarely heard, the Hymns to St Peter and of St Columba, and the wedding anthem Amo ergo sum. Overall, it offers a definitive panorama of Britten's sacred music from the 1930s to the 1960s in exemplary performances by one of the world's leading choirs.

Imogen Holst (1907-1984), the daughter of Gustav Holst, has long deserved recognition for her significant body of compositions, written throughout her life. After working as Benjamin Britten’s amanuensis (1952-1964), she returned to her own composing.

Graham Ross conducts the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge and the instrumentalists of The Dmitri Ensemble in these world première recordings of a selection of Holst’s choral works ranging from 1927 to 1972, three of which have not been heard since their first performance, together with the first recording of her imaginative and skillful orchestration of Benjamin Britten’s Festival Cantata 'Rejoice in the Lamb', made at Britten’s own request.

Since the founding of a mixed voice choir in 1971, the Choir of Clare College has gained an international reputation as one of the leading university choral groups in the world. In 2000 it became the first Oxbridge mixed voice choir to perform at the BBC Proms, singing Bach’s 'St John Passion'. The choir has collaborated with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in performances of Handel’s 'Jephtha' under the direction of René Jacobs, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Elgar’s 'The Dream of Gerontius' under Edward Gardner, and with the Israel Camerata in Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium. Other collaborations have included the Academy of Ancient Music, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and the Schubert Ensemble.

In addition to live performances, the choir has produced an impressive catalogue of recordings. Recent releases include Sacred Choral Music, a recording of music by Vaughan Williams, which was hailed as ‘exceptional’ by BBC Music Magazine and acclaimed for its ‘sweeping energy and rich detail’ by Classic FM.

Since its founding in 2004, The Dmitri Ensemble has championed many new and lesser-familiar works both in concert performance and with an increasingly diverse discography. Based around the central core of a string ensemble, the Ensemble has made acclaimed recordings of works by James MacMillan (5-star reviews from Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine, both Editor’s Choice), Giles Swayne (double 5-star review from BBC Music Magazine) and Judith Bingham, and a recording of previously unrecorded works by Vaughan Williams in collaboration with the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. This recording of works by Imogen Holst marks the Ensemble’s first recording on the harmonia mundi label.

This 2-CD set contains an extremely wide range of music for boys' choirs, from the early polyphony of Allegri's Miserere to the present-day popular songs of Prince and Enya. Also included are some interesting works by some great 20th-century composers such as Copland, Britten and Ned Rorem.

The featured choirs are some of the world's most notable boys' choirs, from the Vienna Boys' Choir and the American Boychoir to, perhaps the best-known of them all, the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. The most recent of the choirs here is Libera, formed by their conductor, Robert Prizeman, from school boys from around south London.

So, for those who already find the freshness and youthfulness of boys' voices uniquely appealing here is the perfect compilation. For those who have yet to make the discovery this set should prove a delightful musical journey.

All of the music on this album was commissioned, one way or another, for special occasions, in thankfulness for the past and in hopefulness for the future.

A Dream of Time by Paulus was commissioned in 2008 to celebrate Greg Funfgeld’s 25 years as Artistic Director and Conductor of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem.

Britten’s original recordings of his most popular choral works, The Ceremony of Carols, A Boy was Born and Rejoice in the Lamb, have long since fallen out of the catalogue and Heritage is pleased to rectify this with the latest release in its Composer-Conductor series.

All of Benjamin Britten’s most popular scared choral works, including two rarities; The Sycamore Tree and Advance Democracy.

Sung by the critically-acclaimed Choir of Truro Cathedral, directed by Christopher Gray, in his first recording since taking over as Director of Music.

The Temple Church is one of the most historic and beautiful churches in London. Situated between Fleet Street and the Thames Embankment, its recorded musical history extends back to its restoration in 1841, although a church has stood on the site for over 800 years. The modern choir is comprised of 18 boy choristers and 12 professional choirmen – an excellent opportunity for the choristers who receive singing and theory tuition as well as generous scholarships towards their education. The programme explores three fascinating and contrasting settings of the ‘Te Deum’: A stalwart of the church liturgy (first conceived as far back as AD 387), these settings span over 300 years of English music history, composed respectively in 1694 (Purcell), 1897 (Elgar) and 1944 (Howells).

This disc is complemented by the release of James Vivian’s English Organ Music from the Temple Church, also released this month.