Missa parvula
Mass
Veni Creator Spiritus
Dum complerentur
Reliqui domum meum
Veni Sancte Spiritus

This new recording from Westminster Cathedral presents two of the most important new Mass settings of recent times. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, recently confirmed by Buckingham Palace as the new Master of The Queen’s Music, has throughout his long composing career contributed several miniature sacred choral pieces to the repertory, but these new works represent his first foray into the heart of the liturgy. The Mass for full choir and two organs is based on two plainchants for Whitsun, and is very much a contemporary successor to those great works of the Renaissance with which this choir has cemented so enviable a reputation around the world. Missa parvula, by contrast, is in the mould of Britten’s Missa brevis and is for unison upper voices. Upfront simplicity recalls the world of Duruflé, even of Solesmes, and we are reminded of Maxwell Davies’ long commitment to composing music suitable for children. Both Masses were composed for, and first performed by, The Choir of Westminster Cathedral. Also included on this disc are the Two Latin Motets, ‘Dum complerentur’ and ‘Veni Sancte Spiritus’, composed to form part of the celebrations for Maxwell Davies’ seventieth birthday in 2004, and two extraordinary organ works again based on plainchant themes.

'Baker entices some of the most wonderful singing from his choir here while Robert Quinney and Houssart positively revel in their virtuoso interplay. It almost goes without saying that Hyperion's recording captures the full effect of Maxwell Davies' astonishing writing' (Gramophone)

'I'd recommend this CD, strongly, to any music-lover who is moved by the sound of a choir and organ in a cathedral setting' (Fanfare, USA)

'Aisé mais jamais trivial, le sens mélodique de Maxwell Davies trouve un pouvoir de séduction naturel grâce au legato facile des garçons de Westminster, a leur homogénéité exemplaire, a leurs nuances toujours soutenues, déployées dans le Credo sur un large éventail de gris, jusqu'a l'anthracite du Crucifixus' (Diapason, France)

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Recording details: July 2003; Westminster Cathedral, London, United Kingdom; Produced by Mark Brown; Engineered by Julian Millard; Release date: May 2004;