Rosa Mystica

Conductor Paul Spicer and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir return to SOMM Recordings with a ravishing, centuries- spanning recital of musical portraits of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Rosa Mystica takes its title from Benjamin Britten’s passionate setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins and forms the centrepiece of a programme ranging from the glorious Tudor polyphony of Nicholas Ludford’s motet Ave cujus conception via Bruckner’s dramatically contrasted Ave Maria to the Norwegian Ole Gjeilo’s apparently simple but sophisticated Second Eve, composed as recently as 2012.Two versions of the Magnificat are heard in George Dyson’s bewitchingly peaceful depiction of the Virgin Mary, composed just after the end of the Second World War, and Herbert Howell’s more troubled setting for Chichester Cathedral in 1967.

The Magnificat, the hymn to the Virgin Mary, is one of the most ancient and sacred liturgical texts, and has been set to music numerous times by composers between the 16th and 18th century. This new recording presents Magnificat settings by Scheidemann, Schildt, Weckmann and Strungk, all active in Northern Germany and all pupils of the great Sweelinck, master of Baroque counterpoint. This recording was made on the occasion of the centenary of the apparition of Mary of Fatima, and played on the beautiful Dell’Orto & Lanzini organ of the Parish of Pinerolo, an instrument inspired by the 17th century Hanseatic school. The booklet offers extensive liner notes in English and Italian, and the full specifications and photos of the organ.

Blind from the age of two, a prodigiously gifted student, Jean Langlais (1907-91) produced an immense quantity of music. His organ works alone exceed in number those of JS Bach. Many have hardly ever been performed. Perhaps not more than half a dozen works are regularly played or recorded today, which is what makes this new complete survey of his organ music so invaluable, as the authoritative document of a high point in the distinguished lineage of the French organ heritage.

Blind from the age of two, a prodigiously gifted student, Jean Langlais (1907-91) produced an immense quantity of music. His organ works alone exceed in number those of JS Bach. Many have hardly ever been performed. Perhaps not more than half a dozen works are regularly played or recorded today, which is what makes this new complete survey of his organ music so invaluable, as the authoritative document of a high point in the distinguished lineage of the French organ heritage.

Having dazzled the critics (Choc de Classica, the German Record Critics’ Award) some 16 years earlier with their label debut featuring best-loved Twentieth Century English acapella works, the members of RIAS Kammerchor revisit one of their favourite composers, Benjamin Britten - this time, under the direction of the choir’s new chief conductor, Justin Doyle.

Having dazzled the critics (Choc de Classica, the German Record Critics’Award) some 16 years earlier with its label debut featuringbest-loved twentieth-century English a capella works, the members of RIASKammerchor revisitone of their favourite composers, Benjamin Britten –this time,under the direction of the choir’s new chief conductor, Justin Doyle. A perfect occasion to discover his new reading of the composer’s enchanting setting of poems written in honour of the patron saint of musicians by W. H.Auden (he would later rename them ‘Anthem for St. Cecilia’s Day [for Benjamin Britten]’), alongside other choral settings comprising this glorious album entirely devoted to Britain’s greatest twentieth-century composer.

This new release from DUX presents world premiere recordings of pieces of Polish sacred music from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Blind from the age of two, a prodigiously gifted student, Jean Langlais (1907-91) produced an immense quantity of music. His organ works alone exceed in number those of JS Bach. Many have hardly ever been performed. Perhaps not more than half a dozen works are regularly played or recorded today, which is what makes this new complete survey of his organ music so invaluable, as the authoritative document of a high point in the distinguished lineage of the French organ heritage.