This wide-ranging programme offers connections and contrasts in music of devotion and consolation. The settings by life-long friends Holst and Vaughan Williams, whilst very different, are highly affecting. The music of Rachmaninov, whose hymn derives from his 1915 All-Night Vigil, and John Tavener is immersed in the ritual of the Russian Orthodox Church. Marian Prayers come from Pierre Villette and Knut Nystedt. The music that gives its name to the title of the disc is the beautiful ‘conversation’ of Roxanna Panufnik.
“This collection of mainly unaccompanied litanies and prayers will appeal far beyond the classical or Christian fold” Financial Times, 30th June 2012
“Blend, unanimity, dynamics: this CD is gratifyingly strong on the eternal verities of good choral singing...this imaginatively programme disc marks the Exultate Singers out as a choir to be reckoned with.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2012 ****
“The choir doesn't really have the force needed to raise the roof in the middle of the Rachmaninov, but this is a refreshingly straightforward reading that benefits from conductor David Ogden's refusal to take the piece too slowly...The recording is full and rich, beautifully balanced and clear, with an attractive church acoustic.” International Record Review, September 2012
