Herald AV Publications

HAVPCD299 – Jesus Divine Music for Christmas

Jesus Divine encompasses the wealth of sacred Christmas music from plainsong to Lutheran chorale; from a cappella motets by Howells and Poulenc to the arrangements of traditional carols by Stephen King and Roderick Elms; from the chorale preludes of Buxtehude and Bach to Garth Edmundson’s impressive Toccata-Prelude. We have included music in contrasting styles and featuring the organ both as a solo instrument and also in combination with flute, brass, and more contemporary instruments, in order to present a broad selection of sacred Christmas music.

HAVPCD297 – Evensong for St Swithun’s Day

Swithun?s recognition as a saint dates from well before the period of official, papal canonizations. His body was elevated on 15 July 971. The event was later recorded by Wulfstan the Cantor, a Winchester monk who as a boy had been present at Swithun?s elevation: he recalled how he and his fellow novices had been terrified by a violent storm. (Such storms were a commonplace in the medieval biographies of saints.) This was the event which gave rise to the legend that if it rains on St Swithun?s day it will rain for forty days thereafter.

HAVPCD295 – Requiem for the Innocents

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HAVPCD298 – Jesu dulcis memoria In the Presence of Our Lord

This recording, drawn from the working liturgical repertoire of the London Oratory Choir, is framed by two sequences of Benediction music, each concluding with a motet of adoration and humility. In between, the listener is led through a contemplation of Jesus, the institution of the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday, the sacrifice of Calvary on Good Friday, the risen Paschal Victim, and the great summer celebration of the Eucharistic mystery, the feast of Corpus Christi.

HAVPCD294 – The Brecon Tradition

This is a CD of music which matters so much to Brecon Cathedral, a building dating back to 1093, which has an amazing aura of peace, prayerfulness and holiness. Situated in an area of stiking natural beauty where sheep far outnumber people, it is now served by a choir that includes both boys and girls, thereby allowing brothers and sisters to sing together. They, along with the Lay Clerks, rehearse in an oak-beamed medieval room that used to serve as a dormitory for visitors to the ancient Priory. Then,’moving downstairs, they sing happily to the glory of God in the Cathedral, a setting so idyllic as to be described as ‘second only to Heaven itself?.

HAVPCD296 – O Sapientia Advent from king’s College London

The Advent Carol Services held in the Chapel at King?s College London are undoubtedly one of the highlights of the academic year. Over the years the format has varied slightly, most notably with the addition of the Great Advent ?O? Antiphons that precede the Magnificat at Vespers for the week before Christmas, together with an eighth specific to the Sarum rite. Starting with O Sapientia (?O Wisdom?), these form the backbone of this recording, dividing it into eight sections, with each antiphon followed by one of the eight programmatic viol fantasias by Michael East and then a choral piece. The disc is released as part of the College?s 175th anniversary celebrations.

HAVPCD291 – The 1887 Hill Organ at Godalming Parish Church Music through four centuries

In celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, Godalming’s organ was installed in the North Transept by William Hill in 1887. This recording illustrates the development of organ music from the 17th to the 20th centuries and demonstrates the full range of the instrument’s capability.

HAVPCD288 – Rejoice in the Lord alway

Guildford Cathedral – the only new cathedral to have been built in the south of England since the Reformation – is also unique among Anglican cathedrals in having established an entirely new music foundation at the completion of the building. The Cathedral Choir sang for the the first time at the Service of Consecration in May 1961 and … since that date has established an impressive international reputation.

HAVPCD300 – Great Sacred Music of Paris Great Sacred Music of Paris

One has for some time looked with envy upon the the rich and cultured tradition of Parisian church music, be it for choir or organ. However, this tradition had turned somewhat sour by the middle of the 19th century … [when] it was the the Opéa-Comique and the Ballet that dominated the music of Parisian Catholic worship. Gone was the love of plainsong and polyphony that so enhanced the Catholic liturgy for several hundred years.

HAVPCD287 – Vierne, Fauré & Saint-Saëns: Sacred music

Exeter College was founded in 1314 by Walter de Stapeldon, Bishop of Exeter and Treasurer of England under Edward II. For the first few centuries after its foundation, Exeter drew its members from the south-west of England, but today it attracts students from all over the globe.