The Choir Of Westminster Cathedral - Vexilla regis: A Sequence of Music from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday (2024)

The Choir of Westminster Cathedral is world famous for its staple of plainsong and polyphony. The choir explores a wealth of music from this repertoire for the richest of liturgical seasons: Holy Week. Masterpieces of the Renaissance by William Byrd and Tomás Luis de Victoria are woven together with ancient Gregorian chants, including Pange lingua and Adoro te, and later penitential works by Anton Bruckner and Maurice Duruflé. Three of the Cathedral’s illustrious Masters of Music, all of whom have contributed to the Church’s treasury of liturgical music, are also represented. The sequence culminates in a setting of Saint John Henry Newman’s poem Praise to the Holiest in the height by Sir Richard Runciman Terry, the Cathedral’s pioneering Master of Music.

"A really well-curated Easter pilgrimage; the singing is fine throughout, and so is the recording in Buckfast Abbey." (BBC Radio 3)

"Choir & Organ needs an extra five-star summa cum laude category for discs like this…[Westminster Cathedral Choir’s] journey through Holy Week demonstrates, as you would expect, their unique skill in singing Gregorian chant…combined with an aspiration towards musical perfection and beauty that is unerringly achieved. The same exquisite balance between musical and spiritual intention can be heard throughout the album…" (Choir & Organ)

"This is really rather special… This anthology, firmly rooted in the liturgy of Holy Week, presents a great cathedral choir fulfilling the very purpose for which it exists. Its special quality is owed in large part to the choir’s excellent singing of the Gregorian chant…and it was especially good to have some sung, and very well sung, by the boys alone… As I said, this album is something special. Buy it!" (Cathedral Music Magazine)

Tracklist
01. George Malcolm, Ingrediente Domino - Ingrediente Domino
02. Gregorian Chant, Psalm 21: Deus, Deus meus - Psalm 21: Deus, Deus meus
03. Gregorian Chant, Credo I - Credo I
04. Orlando de Lassus, Improperium exspectavit - Improperium exspectavit
05. Gregorian Chant, Vexilla regis prodeunt - Vexilla regis prodeunt
06. William Byrd, Ne irascaris, Domine - Ne irascaris, Domine
07. William Byrd, Civitas sancti tui - Civitas sancti tui
08. Gregorian Chant, Nos autem gloriari oportet - Nos autem gloriari oportet
09. James O'Donnell, I give you a new commandment - I give you a new commandment
10. Martin Baker, Postquam surrexit Dominus - Postquam surrexit Dominus
11. The Choir Of Westminster Cathedral, Quatre motets sur des th mes gr goriens, Op. 10 - I. Ubi caritas et amor
12. Gregorian Chant, Adoro te devote - Adoro te devote
13. Gregorian Chant, Christus factus est - Christus factus est
14. Gregorian Chant, Improperia - Improperia
15. Gregorian Chant, Pange lingua gloriosi - Pange lingua gloriosi
16. Antonio Lotti, Crucifixus à 8 - Crucifixus à 8
17. Gregorian Chant, Christe coelorum Domine - Christe coelorum Domine
18. Gregorian Chant, The Lord s is the earth and its fullness - The Lord s is the earth and its fullness
19. Felice Anerio, Christus factus est - Christus factus est
20. The Choir Of Westminster Cathedral, Strepitus - Strepitus
21. Richard Runciman Terry, Praise to the Holiest in the height