Mass in G minor
- David Blackadder (Trumpet)
- Soloists: George Balfour, Matthew Brown, Aldred Harrison (treble); Daniel Brown, High Cutting, Jack Hawkins (countertenor); William Ashford, James Beddoe, Michael Bell, Gopal Kambo (tenor); James Adams, Peter Lidbetter, Oliver Morris (bass)
- Glen Dempsey (Organ Scholar)
Download album booklet (3.11 MB)
CD Booklet now includes Dutch, French and German translations.
Mass in G minor is the fifth album of music on our 'St John's Cambridge' record label with Signum Records, featuring music by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Director of Music Andrew Nethsingha says of the mass: “It is my belief that the Mass in G Minor is one of the great British liturgical masterpieces of the twentieth century… I know of nothing remotely like it in previous British a capella music.” The work was composed between 1920-21, and it is one of many liturgical choral works on this disc that were written directly after the composer’s experience of the First World War as a wagon orderly.
The disc has received critical acclaim, receiving favourable reviews in BBC Radio 3 Record Review, MusicWeb International, and The Guardian and 5*s from BBC Music Magazine - where it was also Choral disc of the month - Choir & Organ and Planet Hugill. It has been included on Spotify's "Classical New Releases" Playlist and Gramophone's 'The Listening Room' playlist.
On the day we launched the album, our service of Choral Evensong was video broadcast live by Classic FM on Facebook. This was a first for both the Choir and Classic FM, and we believe that it is the first time that any collegiate or cathedral choir has live-streamed Evensong on social media. Whist live we received 32,000 views, and thousands more have since watched the service (see below).
Track list
- Mass in G Minor: Kyrie
- Mass in G Minor: Gloria in excelsis
- Mass in G Minor: Credo
- Mass in G Minor: Sanctus - Osanna I - Benedictus - Osanna II
- Mass in G Minor: Agnus Dei
- Te Deum in G
- O vos omnes
- Antiphon (from 'Five Mystical Songs')
- Rhosymedre
- O taste and see
- Prayer to the Father of Heaven
- O, clap your hands
- Lord, thou hast been our refuge
Reviews
Choral disc of the month, BBC Music Magazine
Andrew McGregor, BBC Radio 3 Record Review
Thierry Hillériteau, Le Figaro
Choir & Organ
'The Listening Room' with James Jolly, Gramophone
John Quinn, MusicWeb International
Simon Thompson, MusicWeb International
Charlotte Gardner, dCS Classical Choices
The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society Journal
More about this release
No sound? Try un-muting the audio on the video window
The disc was accompanied by Joseph Wicks – now the Assistant Director of Music at Truro Cathedral – on the organ. It also features trumpeter David Blackadder(link is external), who performed in the majestic 'Lord, thou hast been our refuge.' We were delighted to hear that David would be performing at the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle(link is external) the day after the release.
The sleeve notes for the disc are written by Dr Ceri Owen(link is external), a research fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, whose research is concerned with late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British music and musical culture. Ceri gave a short lecture recital after Evensong on launch day, which included two Vaughan Williams songs – sung by current Gentlemen of the Choir James Adams and James Quilligan – that she accompanied.
The album artwork features the image of a poppy by Canadian photographer Garvin Hunter.
The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society Journal
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