Herald AV Publications

HAVPCD236 – The Canterbury Pilgrims Music for Chaucer’s Prologue

Geoffrey Chaucer (c1340-1400) was brought up as a boy at Court and as a young man saw military service in France. He was a diplomat both in Italy and in France, and later a type of senior civil servant. He read widely in European literature and his most popular work, The Canterbury Tales, displays his experience and learning. It comprises a number of stories told to pass the time during a pilgrimage on horseback from London to the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The Prologue to the Tales describes the thirty pilgrims. Opus Anglicanum’s recital interweaves the Prologue with music contemporary with Chaucer, to set the scene, and to complement and illustrate the various characters.

HAVPCD189 – Gregorian Chant – Mass of the Annunciation A celebration of High Mass according to the traditional Roman rite

The recording was made during a live celebration of High Mass according to the traditional Roman rite. This rite represents a liturgy that dates back, essentially unchanged, to the time of St Gregory the Great (c. 540-604), and was in common use until the introduction of the new Missal by Pope Paul VI in 1969, following the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council.