08:01:50
Plainchant: Processional hymn: O gloriosa domina
Anonymous 4
The Lily and the Lamb - Anonymous 4 on Harmonia Mundi 1995

 

As one critic put it so eloquently, "this is music which speaks to everyone."

 

Sir Edward Elgar: Ave verum corpus
Choir of Westminster Abbey, James O'Donnell
Robert Quinney, organ
Elgar - Great is the Lord on Hyperion

 

Elgar's setting of the communion hymn "Hail, True Body" is infused with warmth and tenderness.

 

Herbert Howells: Master Tallis's Testament
Christopher Dearnley, organ
Howells Cathedral Music on Hyperion

 

Composers love to pay homage to their distinguished colleagues. Here's a 20th century nod to a 16th century icon in Tudor music.

 

08:14:37
Thomas Tomkins: When David heard that his son Absalom was slain
Stile Antico
Tune thy Musicke to thy Hart on Harmonia Mundi 2012

 

"The repertoire performed by Stile Antico focuses on the rich legacy of sixteenth and seventeenth-century polyphonic composition." This British group records on Harmonia Mundi, always a good sign in my opinion.

 

Carson Cooman: Set me as a Seal
Cambridge Consonance, Jeffrey Grossman
The Welcome News: Choral Music of Carson Cooman on Gothic 2012

 

I don't know how Carson does it. I have listened to dozens of his choral works and they each are gems. Like opening a jewel box and being dazzled by many facets of light.

 

Jeanne Demessieux: Repons pour le Temps de Paques
Graham Barber, organ
The Klais Organ of Ingolstadt Minster
Great European Organs No. 8 - Graham Barber Plays the Klais Organ of Ingolstadt Minster on Priory

 

Jeanne Marie-Madeleine Demessieux (1921–1968) was appointed titular organist of Paris' Eglise St. Esprit at age 12.

 

08:31:33
Traditional: Crist and St. Marie
Anuna, Michael McGlynn
Best of Anuna on Danu 2010

 

Anuna, the Irish National Choir, was founded in 1987 by composer Michael McGlynn.

 

Eric Whitacre: Lux aurumque
Turtle Creek Chorale, Timothy Seelig
Turtle Creek Chorale/Serenade on Reference 2007

 

California native Eric Whitacre has captured the hearts and imagination of young singers worldwide.

 

J.S. Bach: Chorale Prelude on "O Mensch, bewein dein Sunde gross", BWV 622
Friedrich Froschle, organ
The Walcker Organ of the Ulm Cathedral
The Great Organ of the Ulm Cathedral on Hanssler 1994

 

The pathos and sheer beauty of Bach's writing shine through in the choral prelude "O man, bemoan thy grevious sin".

 

08:43:59
Vincenzo Ugolini: Exultate omnes
The Studio of Ancient Music of Montreal, Christopher Jackson
Roma Trivmphans - SMAM on Atma

 

Christopher Jackson is one of Canada's top early music specialists.

 

Sir George Dyson: Hymn to the stars
St. Michael's Singers, Jonathan Rennert
Thomas Trotter, organ
Dyson Hierusalem – Songs of Praise on Helios 2001

 

Dyson was one of those very competent British musicians most people have never heard of. His music deserves a much wider audience than it currently enjoys.

 

Christopher Gibbons: Voluntary in A minor
Joseph Payne, organ

 

Christopher Gibbons was the son of Orlando Gibbons an English composer of the 17th century.

 

08:58:54
J.S. Bach: Cantata 85, "Ich bin ein guter Hirt ... "
Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki
Carolyn Sampson, soprano; Robin Blaze, countertenor; Gerd Turk, tenor; Peter Kooy, bass-baritone
Bach - 39 Cantatas - Limited Edition - BCJ / Suzuki 4 on Bis 2009

 

The German title translates "I am the good Shepherd". This cantata dates from Bach's Leipzig period.

 

09:15:54
Antonio Vivaldi: Gloria in D, RV 589
Choir of King's College, Cambridge; Academy of Ancient Music
Stephen Cleobury
Sarah Fox and Deborah Norman, soprano; Michael Chance, counter-tenor; James Gilchrist, tenor; Jonathan Lemalu, bass
Vivaldi: Gloria - Choir of King's College, Cambridge on EMI 2002

 

Vivaldi's Gloria is one of the top 10 favorites of choir and choral groups everywhere. Vivaldi's energy and skilled writing communicate the jubilant mood of the text in a most exhilarating manner.

 

09:46:05
Cesar Franck: Chorale No. 1 in E
Andre Isoir, organ
Organ in the Cathedral of Luzon, Philippines
Franck/The Organ Work: Part Two on Calliope 1987

 

I can't remember the last time I played a recording of an organ in the Philippines. Andre Isoir interprets one of the staples of an organist's repertoire.

 

10:03:24
Henry Purcell: Hail! Bright Cecilia
Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Jennifer Smith, soprano; Ashley Stafford, alto; Brian Gordon, alto; Paul Elliott, tenor; Stephen Varcoe, baritone; David Thomas, bass
Purcell - Hail! Bright Cecilia - J.E. Gardiner on Erato

 

Henry Purcell's Ode to St. Cecilia dates from 1692 and was written for the festival of the patron saint of music and musicians.

 

10:58:29
Johann Kaspar Kerll: Canzona in E minor
Gustav Leonhardt, organ
The Peter Goltfuss organ in Sint-Jan-de-Doper, Leuven, Belgium
Organ Music in France and Southern Netherlands on Sony 1994

 

Gustav Leonhardt died in January 2012. He was one of the leaders in the early music movement.