Rutter: Magnificat

‘The most successful and well-known composer of choral music in recent British history,’ wrote BBC Music Magazine of the composer, conductor and arranger John Rutter. This collection celebrates the festive side of Rutter’s music, from the jubilant Gloria for full orchestra to the street festival-inspired Magnificat, and includes his Psalm 150, composed for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.

A welcome new addition to the English Choral Music series on Naxos, and a glorious follow-up to the two best-selling Rutter titles in the catalogue - Requiem and Mass of the Children.

The three works heard on this disc span a period of fifteen years from 1974-1990. John Rutter’s Gloria was a milestone in his career as it was the first major commission he had received from overseas, and sowed the seeds of his popularity in America. It remains an evergreen favourite with choirs worldwide for its freshness, drama and sheer beauty.

The joyous setting of the Magnificat was conceived, in the composer’s words, as ‘a bright Latin-flavoured fiesta’ and is performed here in its version for choir, organ and chamber orchestra. This delightful choral album concludes with Rutter’s setting of the Te Deum, one of the church’s most ebullient hymns of praise to the Almighty.

The Choirs of St Albans Cathedral, conducted by Andrew Lucas are on fine form in this their first recording for Naxos. “The sound of the choir is full and colourful throughout and the boys produce a very fine sound indeed matching their well-developed sound with mature musicianship” The Organ

Only recently, a contemporary musician, who, mainly because of his vocal scores, counts as one of the most popular and most often performed composers in England and America, has been acknowledged in Germany. Two of his pieces, which the Knabenchor Hannover performed with huge success, have been chosen for this recording because they give a good impression of his widely ranged work. One of them has the original Latin and English text, the other has been translated into German for the first time.