Songs of Praise

Mendelssohn, Felix;
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus;
Elgar, Edward;
Vaughan Williams, Ralph;
Finzi, Gerald;
Joubert, John;
Parry, Hubert;
Wood, Charles;
Goss, John;
Stainer, John;
Gardiner, Henry Balfour;
Heweis, Thomas

Pryce-Jones, John;
Halifax Choral Society

8.553876

Popular English Hymns and Anthems

In quires and places where they sing here followeth the anthem.

With this instruction the Book of Common Prayer of 1622 motivated several centuries of English composers to focus their creativity into the huge collection of short choral works that are the English Anthems. A specifically English musical form, anthems are not part of the liturgy but extra-musical adornments to the Anglican rite. Outside Britain a similar composition would be described as a motet, an ancient form in which only a few composers worked after the death of J.S. Bach.

This recording Songs of Praise is a sampler from arguably the golden age of anthem writing, the Victorian period and early twentieth century. Contained in it, beside the work of British composers, is that of two foreign masters who served as rôle-models; Mendelssohn, the Victorians' most celebrated contemporary musician, was almost an honourary Englishman; Mozart was an earlier source of inspiration for anyone aspiring to the heights of spirituality in musical expression.

CD

Muzyka klasyczna

Naxos

14-04-1998

730099487627