The Gate of Glory: Music from the Eton Choirbook, Vol. 5

Composers: Browne, Fayrfax, Hacomplaynt, Kelly, Lambe
Released: 2017
Label: Avie
Code: AV2376

Description

The Gate of Glory, the fifth volume in the critically acclaimed exploration of music from the Eton Choirbook by The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and director Stephen Darlington, includes the world premiere recording of Walter Lambe’s Gaude flore virginali, and a striking range of styles from harmony and counterpoint to elegance and simplicity.

The men and boys of The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and director Stephen Darlington continue their exploration of the Eton Choirbook, the extraordinarily vast and diverse collection of English sacred music from the early Renaissance, with a fifth volume in their critically acclaimed series. As with previous volumes, The Gate of Glory includes a world premiere recording – Walter Lambe’s Gaude flore virginali – alongside works by Hugo Kellyk, Robert Fayrfax, Robert Hacomplaynt and John Browne, the preëminent composer of the Eton Choirbook. The diversity of styles on this album is particularly striking, ranging from the astonishing balance of harmony and counterpoint in Browne’s O regina mundi, to the elegance and simplicity of Fayrfax’s setting of the Magnificat. This is liturgical music which truly gives the listener a glimpse of the mystery of the eternal.

Tracklisting

1. Gaude flore virginali a 7
2. O regina mundi clara
3. Magnificat ‘Regali’
4. Gaude flore virginali a 4
5. Salve regina