Taverner to Tavener

"I bought this for the John Tavener piece, Hymn to the Holy Spirit (which is not available elsewhere). The whole CD is a wonderful listen from start to finish. If you like Tavener or his C16th ancestor, you won't be disappointed."- Anonymous

"This recording by the Christ Church Cathedral Choir of Oxford is a wonderful collection of music ancient and modern. It constitutes a recital of sorts that brings together pieces from different periods between the time of the founding of King's College and the present time, with composers of the modern era such as Ley, Harris, Harper and Tavener represented. Some of these composers are well known - Taverner was a leading light of his generation, the time of Cardinal Wolsey and King Henry VIII. Tavener has traced his lineage back to Taverner, and shows both affinity for and distance from his ancestor's work - however, the pieces selected here show more of the affinity, as Tavener's piece 'Hymn to the Holy Spirit' and Taverner's 'Kyrie le Roy' are very complementary of each other in tone. Gibbons and Purcell are also very well known composers from the period; other composers here are lesser known, but have a connection with Christ Church Cathedral or the college (Dering took a degree from there, Blow was a chorister there, etc.) All of this is sacred music, meant for church and worship. The choir of Christ Church, under the direction of Stephen Darlington, produces a stunning performance, flavoured by centuries of tradition and regular performances at the chapel. The choir still consists of sixteen boys and twelve men, as it has for the most part since the time of Taverner, with the same kind of distribution of voices. The sound is full and magnificent, and some of the best versions of some of these pieces I have in my collection. Darlington became organist and tutor in music at Christ Church, Oxford in 1985. Accompanying the choir in this setting is Stephen Farr on the organ. This is a superb collection of music from the English choral tradition. It is also a very unique collection in that it is largely tied to the place of Christ Church Cathedral, with all of the pieces being in some ways attached to the place historically."-Anonymous