Ave Virgo Sanctissima

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The most familiar texts recorded here – the Ave Maria, Ave Regina caelorum, Regina caeli, Salve Regina and Mary’s own canticle, the Magnificat – have for centuries played a central part in traditional Catholic devotional life. Through them countless faithful have embraced Mary, not just as the mother of their Redeemer, but also as their own mother, and through her have sought to draw closer to her Son.

Many of the other texts here are entirely different in mood. They seek to express feelings not so much of filial devotion but of ecstatic rapture addressed to that most extraordinary product of God’s creation – the human mother of God-made-Man – by drawing on poetic images of creation, terrestrial and extraterrestrial: of birds, trees, rivers, flowers and perfume, of the heavens, light, stars, sun and moon.

The highly imaginative, sensual language of these texts, many of them embedded in the liturgy, is mainly drawn directly, or adapted, from the highly-charged Song of Songs and similar Old Testament sources. Offering wonderful possibilities for rich colour and passionate expression, they were understandably popular with composers from the medieval period onwards, and most especially in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Choir of the London Oratory is England’s senior professional Catholic choir, serving the liturgical celebrations of the Roman Rite for which the London Oratory has been famous ever since it moved to its present Brompton Road site in 1854. Previous distinguished directors have included Henry Washington, John Hoban and Andrew Carwood.