Midnight Mass

The first 12 of these songs were emailed to Midnight fans who pre-ordered the M2 album to tide them over until it was released. Midnight passed away before the album was finished…

The Tallis Scholars - Sarum Chant: Missa in gallicantu / the Mass at Cockcrow
Tha Tallis Scholras / Peter Philips
EAC+LOG+CUE | APE: 206 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Gimell Records # CDGIM 017 | Country/Year: UK 1987
Genre: Classical | Style: Renaissance, Choral, Sacred

Chant for the First Mass of Christmas according to the Salisbury Rite. It would have been celebrated after midnight on Christmas Eve, and was known as the Missa in gallicantu - the Mass at Cockcrow. The chant has been taken from printed sources which would have been in use when composers such as Tallis and Tye were at the height of their powers…

Charpentier: Te Deum, Messe de Minuit / Minkowski
Deutsche Grammophon | ARCHIV Produktion | Int. Release 01 Sep. 1997
DGG Webshop | mp3 | 320 kbps | 128 MB

Minkowski gives a characteristically ebullient, highly charged performance.

Graham Sadler, BBC Music Magazine

This is a major contribution to the Delius discography. It is a magnificent achievement and a deeply moving experience. The major work, A Mass of Life, dating from 1904-5, is a masterpiece. It is not a conventional Mass, but a celebration of life. It is based on more lyrical, less preaching sections of Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra. The Requiem rejects religion more overtly in favour of living life to the hilt, a pagan philosophy that condemned the work to oblivion for some forty years and overshadowed its considerable merits. Hickox’s readings contain many memorable highlights, including the sublime closing section of the Requiem celebrating the arrival of spring and nature’s promise of perpetual renewal; and, in the Mass, the gloriously uplifting opening choruses in both parts; the orchestra’s evocation of wide perspectives and distant mountain vistas at the beginning of part two; and the magical, affirmatory ‘Midnight Hour’ closing section.

This release from the admired Westminster Cathedral Choir demonstrates the splendours of the liturgy in the at-once solemn and joyful period of Lent. Masterworks from the Renaissance—familiar from Westminster Cathedral Choir’s previous award-winning recordings—alternate with works by former organists of the Cathedral (all themselves masters of liturgical composition) and are linked by the plainchant which is at the spiritual heart of the music. Hearing the music like this in context—and recorded in the unique acoustic of the Cathedral—perfectly replicates the live experience for the listener.

Tom Chaplin follows the success of his acclaimed solo album ‘The Wave’ (which debuted at #3 in the UK album Chart) with a glorious new disc ‘Twelve Tales of Christmas’ out November 17th on Island Records. This stunning collection features 8 original songs co-written by Tom and 4 inventive covers. “Christmas is my favourite time of year,” says Tom who has fond memories from his childhood. “The passing years have conspired to erode that magic but I still feel it’s presence when I gather together with my family.” Produced by David Kosten and recorded at Abbey Road, Muttley Ranch and Snap Studios, the album includes evocative covers of ‘Walking In The Air’, Joni Mitchell’s classic ‘River’, the Pretenders ‘2000 Miles’ and the immortal E17 ‘Stay Another Day’. Determined to capture the wonderful side of Christmas music, Tom has written some soon to be modern day Christmas classics including new single ‘Under A Million Lights’ and ‘Midnight Mass’.