Dominica

In l769, Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart, who had already excited great wonder as a child prodigy, turned into an adolescent youth. As of 1770, he assumed the name Wolfgang Amadeo, and this had symbolic value: henceforth, he regarded himself definitively as an artist in his own right. The experiences of his travels as a wunderkind now belonged to the past. In addition to the marvellous church music of his native Salzburg, he had got to know the major European music centres, and had been able to familiarize himself with both traditional styles and the latest stylistic trends.

After almost a decade, Hyperion is delighted to welcome back the world-famous St Paul’s Cathedral Choir under its new director of music, Hyperion artist and also director of The Cardinall’s Musick, Andrew Carwood. Joined by the St Paul’s Mozart Orchestra and a quartet of renowned soloists, Carwood leads sparkling performances of a selection of Mozart’s sacred music. Although they were commissioned to be sung at church services in Salzburg, all these compositions are suffused with Mozart’s typically unerring sense of dramatic pacing and a sensuous, operatic treatment of solo lines, as well as crisp and energetic choral writing.