Purcell: Hear my prayer, O Lord, Z15

Much anticipated new release from the Gramophone Record of the Year winning Vox Luminis!

We know now that Purcell’s three Funeral Sentences were not written for the funeral of Queen Mary in 1695. Following the tradition of the English court, it was pieces by Thomas Morley, originally written for the funeral of Elizabeth I, that were sung there. Purcell’s only contribution to the ceremony was the composition of two pieces for slide trumpets (March and Canzona), and the anthem in the archaic style Thou knowest, Lord. During the funeral procession to Westminster Abbey, a band of oboes played two marches written by John Paisible and Thomas Tollet.

This recording assembles the music composed for the funeral of Queen Mary and that used at the funeral of Elizabeth I in 1603. The programme is completed by Purcell’s sublime a cappella anthems and a moving anthem by Weelkes on the death of Thomas Morley.

After the success of the recording of Schütz’s Musicalische Exequien (RIC311), voted Record of the Year by Gramophone magazine, this disc will be one of the major events of spring 2013.

Established in the 1670s, the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge is today one of the finest college choirs in the world, known and loved by millions for its recordings and concert tours. On this album, the Choir and St John’s Sinfonia, conducted by Andrew Nethsingha, perform works by Henry Purcell and Pelham Humfrey. They are joined by four soloists: Iestyn Davies, James Gilchrist, David Stout, and Neal Davies.

Humfrey was an English composer of the seventeenth century, known mainly for his verse anthems. Being well travelled, he produced works that in their vocal character show the influence of Italian music, and in the instrumental writing that of French music. That said, from these major foreign influences Humfrey forged a personal style that is uniquely English. Although as a composer he was generally forward-looking, his music also shows sub-elements of the English Golden Age of yesteryear. O Lord my God, for instance, is influenced by John Dowland’s celebrated Lachrimae Pavan of almost eighty years earlier.

In contrast, the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis were composed simply to be liturgically appropriate, with a text setting that is naturalistic and direct. Humfrey died at the age of twenty-seven, but even at this young age, he exerted a strong influence on his peers, including Henry Purcell, who as a young boy sang treble in Humfrey’s Chapel Royal Choir.

The works by Purcell recorded here range from works written when the composer was in his teenage years (Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes mei being a masterly example) to the crowning glory of the recording, O sing unto the Lord, which Purcell wrote when he was in his thirties, and compositionally on fire. At this stage of his career no other composer could touch him. Instruments and voices sing from the same hymn sheet, form and content are inseparable, past and present musical styles seamlessly intermingle, technique and virtuosity are indistinguishable from each other – and soloists and choir mesh together in a dazzling and life-affirming way.

Roy Goodman’s recording of the Allegri Miserere (in David Willcocks’s edition, sung in English) was its first, made in March 1963. Although reissued countless times, the complete Argo recording from which it emanates – Evensong for Ash Wednesday – has never before been released complete. Consisting of hymns, psalms and readings, this is a regular event in the King’s College calendar. Roy Goodman – now a famous conductor, then a gifted treble – sang with the choir at the time and in the booklet note provides delightful reminiscences of his time with the choir and working with Sir David Willcocks. He recounts how the boy treble chosen to sing the solo part in the Allegri was appointed on the spot, as it were, and how he charged into the chapel after a game of rugby and was selected to record the treble solo. Goodman has also provided photographs of himself from that time for the cover and booklet of this release.

This recording is compiled from the Armonico Consort’s Naked Byrd programmes, featuring music by composers who wore their hearts on their sleeves, and whose art saw their emotions laid bare, in an atmospheric concert where magical musical moments are intertwined with sublime passages of plainchant and violin improvisation. It follows on from their first volume in December 2009. Armonico Consort is, at its heart, a highly talented vocal ensemble that stages a wide variety of concerts.

The Choir of Westminster Abbey under their inspirational director James O’Donnell delve into the Abbey’s vaults for this latest fascinating disc.

The triumphant mood of the Restoration required much glorious liturgical music, and the Abbey was home to some of the greatest composers and performers of the age. This recording presents music likely to have been sung by—and in some cases, almost certain to have been written for—the Choir of Westminster Abbey during the late 1670s and early 1680s. They sing four canticles from the compendious Service in B flat by Henry Purcell, together with psalmody in reconstructed contemporary style, and anthems and motets by Purcell and his contemporary John Blow, who famously both preceded and succeeded Purcell as Organist of the Abbey.

An ideal release for the penitential church season of Lent, with music for Lent, Passiontide and Holy Week, sung by the highly-accomplished Choir of Winchester College.

A varied selection of music ranging from the 16th to 20th centuries, framed by Tippett’s heart-rending settings of five spirituals.

Some of the greatest music ever written for the this solemn period of preparation for Easter, including Lotti’s Crucifixus, Tippett’s Five Spirituals, and works by Byrd, Purcell, Duruflé and John Ireland.

The Psalms of David – sometimes referred to as the hymn-book of the bible – have inspired composers writing for the church through the ages.

The vivid, poetical nature of the texts, arousing the full gamut of human emotions, has stimulated the composition of many great sacred works in Western music.

The Choir of the Chapels Royal, HM Tower of London, directed by Colm Carey, was established in 1966 to lead and enrich both worship and liturgy in the two historic chapels within HM Tower of London.

This new CD, Exultate Deo, creates a kaleidoscopic snapshot of music inspired by the Psalms, and is a captivating insight into the wealth and variety of repertoire sung on a weekly basis by the choir.