Worship Bass Book

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.

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.

Eugene Goossens most ambitious and epic work, The Apocalypse, has had few performances since its premiere in Sydney Town Hall in 1954. This recording was made to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in 1982. It is a grand work, full of colours and drama, and in the words of conductor Myer Fredman, 'the orchestration is brilliant'.

Handel's 'Messiah' is one of the most sung oratorios in the world and its great choruses and arias can be heard on countless classical collections. From its premiere to the present day, this great sacred work enjoys almost unbroken popularity and has always fascinated audiences and musicians alike. In the chapter "Resurrection of George Frideric Handel" of his book "Decisive Moments in History", Stefan Zweig provides a particularly colourful description of Handel’s "Messiah". Starting from the fresh spirit of the work, he creates a lively story that lets the reader look over his shoulder as he composes the work. In it, he illustrates the timelessness and special position of this great composition in the context of music history.