1 In the Beginning was the Word
Gabriel Jackson (b1962)
Emily Tann soprano
Guy Cutting tenor:
2 Lugebat David Absalon
Nicolas Gombert (c1495-c1560):
3 When David Heard
Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623):
4 When David Heard
Eric Whitacre (b1970)
Guy Cutting tenor:
5 Nunc Dimittis
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c1525-1594):
6 Nunc Dimittis
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Jenny Cearns soprano
Mothusi Turner tenor:
7 Nunc Dimittis
Pawel Lukaszewski (b1968)
Rachel Ryan soprano
Rachel Fright alto
Timothy Coleman tenor
William Gunson bass:
8 In the Beginning
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Beth Mackay mezzo-soprano

Founded as recently as 2008, the new Choir of Merton College, Oxford is rapidly emerging as a major force in collegiate choral music. On this their debut recording, the choir’s two directors helm a diverse programme that reflects the range and reach of the choir’s daily repertoire. Bookended by two pieces titled In the Beginning – Gabriel Jackson’s ravishing version of the rarely-set Johannine Prologue, Copland’s glowing account of the first seven days of creation – this disc offers a themed sequence of Renaissance and modern classics, all captured in sumptuous sound in the radiant acoustics of Merton’s famous chapel.