Composer: Edward Bairstow, George Dyson, Edward William Elgar, Gerald Finzi, Herbert Norman Howells, Henry Purcell, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer: Choir of Merton College Oxford
Orchestra: Britten Sinfonia
Conductor: Benjamin Nicholas
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Delphian
Catalogue: DCD34291
Release: 2023
Size: 946 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. Bairstow: Blessed City, heavenly Salem
02. Elgar: Ecce Sacerdos Magnus
Dyson: Evening Service in D
03. I. Magnificat
04. II. Nunc Dimittis
05. Howells: Behold, O God our defender
06. Purcell: Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes mei, Z135
07. Finzi: Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice, Op. 26
08. Vaughan Williams: Te Deum in G
09. Elgar: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (from The Apostles)
For the Choir of Merton College, Oxford’s first collaboration with Britten Sinfonia, Benjamin Nicholas has brought together a collection of sacred works from the first half of the twentieth century. A little – known fact is that these stalwarts of the English repertory were either originally intended to be heard with orchestra, or subsequently orchestrated by their composer or a close colleague. Written for enthronements, coronations and the nation’s grandest choral festivals, these national ‘standards’ are here brought back to life in Delphian’s largest recording to – date, their orchestral accompaniments affording them the richness, pomp and majesty associated with that epoch.