Sun, 10 Dec 2006
Christmas Vespers
Christmas Vespers at Westminster
Cathedral,
incl. Sweelinck, Tallis, Victoria, Shutz,
Langlais
the choir of Westminster
Cathedral, Martin Baker
LP, Hyperion
The cathedral not the abbey - it's easy to
get the two confused and this is from the
catholic cathedral just down the road from
the abbey. Interestingly, and totally
tangenitally, when I was last at an Abbey
service last Easter, most of the congregation
were catholics. Perhaps they were reclaiming
the once catholic place.
The cathedral can be problematic for music
in the sense that frequently, at minor
services, there isn't much. Alternative
places with very high musical standards are
the Brompton Oratory (my home church, so
I'm prejudiced) and Farm Street, Mayfair.
However, the cathedral does have very fine
music on certain occasions - and Christmas
Vespers is one of them.
And this recording is, as is usual from
Hyperion, a very nice capture of the whole
thing. (Baron K)
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