Complete Magnificat Nunc Dimittis

Tallis lived during a time of tremendous religious upheaval. The succession from Henry VIII to Edward VI, Edward to Mary Tudor and Mary to Elizabeth meant changes from Catholic to Protestant, and back again with Mary, before Elizabeth’s “third way” – a more accepting and moderate form of Protestantism.

King’s College Choir are the most famous choir in the world. This 29-CD set of the complete Argo recordings celebrates David Willcocks’ tenure from 1957-1973 and includes some of the most beautiful choral music sung with the choir’s trademark richness and purity of sound. Six albums are released on CD for the first time – David Willcocks’ 1964 Festival of Lessons & Carols and Tye Masses and four albums from Boris Ord, Willcocks’ predecessor. Also includes works by Bach, Tallis, Haydn and others.

Decca's 2015 limited-edition box set of the complete Argo recordings of the King's College Choir of Cambridge, directed by David Willcocks, consists of 29 CDs spanning the period from 1957 to 1973. The albums, presented with their original jacket art, offer some of the choir's finest performances, which include three recordings of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (1954, 1958, 1964), anthems by Gibbons, Blow, and Handel, masses by Byrd, Taverner, Haydn, Tye, and Blow, and other great choral works by Bach, Allegri, Palestrina, Tallis, Vivaldi, Howells, and Vaughan Williams. The choir is world famous for its purity of tone and beautiful blend, and under Willcocks' masterly direction it became the exemplar of British choral singing, unmatched by any other ensemble of men and boys.

This 10-disc set from Brilliant Classics, featuring the Chapelle du Roi, presents the complete works, including recordings of music that have hitherto been unrecorded. How lovely to have a complete set of works. Tallis lived during a time of tremendous religious upheaval. The succession from Henry VIII to Edward VI, Edward to Mary Tudor and Mary to Elizabeth meant changes from Catholic to Protestant, and back again with Mary, before Elizabeth’s “third way” – a more accepting and moderate form of Protestantism.

Alamire, under the direction of David Skinner, complete their survey of the choral works of William Byrd to mark the composer's 400th anniversary with this landmark recording of The Great Service and seven anthems. Emerging from centuries of obscurity, Byrd's Great Service, first revived in the early twentieth century, represents a pinnacle of English choral music. This recording commemorates the centenary of it's modern debut in 1924. With intricate polyphony and poignant text settings, Byrd's masterful use of ten voices reveals his unparalleled skill in capturing the essence of the Anglican liturgy. Complemented by seven anthems, thisalbum offers a comprehensive exploration of Byrd's rich, spiritual, and historical musical contributions.

The English composer Alec Roth has been active for several decades and collaborated with Indian novelist Vikram Seth on an opera in the 1990s. Here he seems to tread into the profitable choral music territory mined by John Rutter. Although he is in no way a clone of Rutter, your reactions to that composer may give you an idea of how you'll feel about the Roth works here.

There have been numerous recordings made of this work, but THIS one stands out over the others. I previously enjoyed Robert Shaw's recording, but after hearing this, there was no longer a need to even open the Shaw CD's case. The intonation and vocal blend in this ensemble are seemless and perfect. The soloists are beautiful and yet still part of the ensemble. Russian Orthodox music, after all, has a purpose: to be used in a service. Services are not known for operatic soloists (e.g. Shaw and Robev), no matter how talented the soloist might be. S

The Cardinall’s Musick are acknowledged as the foremost performers of Byrd’s music. Under their director Andrew Carwood they have recorded the complete Latin church music, the final volume of which won the Gramophone Record of the Year. Now they turn to Byrd’s English church music, a genre which shows the composer treading a path between his own innate Catholicism and the requirements of the reformed Church of England. But far from sublimating Byrd’s genius this difficult situation gave rise to one of his most fertile periods.