These complete performances, recorded in Merton College chapel and produced by John Rutter, are a great way to discover highlights from Oxford's sacred and Christmas 2022 publishing. Listen to new Christmas music by Becky McGlade, John Rutter, and James Whitbourn, as well as Cecilia McDowall's 2021 King's College Carol Commission, 'There is no rose'. Plus, exciting new sacred repertoire including Sarah Quartel's stunning 'Density of Light', selections from John Rutter's 'Missa Brevis', and titles by David Bednall and Mack Wilberg.

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Sacred and Christmas Choral Music 2022

Setting original words by the artist Marc Bratcher, this tender and evocative carol for unaccompanied SATB choir is suitable for performance at Christmas or Epiphany. The work opens with a gently flowing soprano solo, displaying Rutter's characteristic gift for melody, before the thematic material is developed by the full choir, with some divisi.

Was I the Lamb? - John Rutter

This imaginative setting of the well-loved text O little town of Bethleham, by Phillips Brooks, displays McGlade's characteristic rich and expressive harmonies, with their jazz inflections. Opening with a plaintive two-part harmony for upper voices, the scoring expands into lush four- and five-part textures. McGlade uses swelling dynamics, legato vocal lines, and freely changing metre. O little town of Bethlehem would be a superb choice for Christmas services and concerts.

O little town of Bethlehem - Becky McGlade

Commissioned by King's College, Cambridge, for the 2021 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, Cecilia McDowall's setting of this well-known fifteenth-century macaronic text is expressive and ethereal. Employing the richness of her distinctive harmonic palette, McDowall pairs upper and lower voices to great effect throughout, contrasting polyphonic writing with moments of rhythmic unison. The carol abounds in rise and fall of both melody and dynamic, before drawing to a hushed, atmospheric close.

There is no rose - Cecilia McDowall

This appealing motet for SATB choir and organ accompaniment was written in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Although the prevailing mood of the gently flowing music is lyrical, with an atmosphere of loving peacefulness, William Blake's Lullaby is not without its darker undertones, and they too are explored, with one or two bold harmonic touches.

Blake's Lullaby - John Rutter

This atmospheric carol sets the well-known 'O magnum mysterium' text in the version famously used by Victoria, with its tender, devotional additions. Set in four parts, the work unfolds simply, from stillness and silence, in awe and contemplation. The choral writing is effectively punctuated with a high solo voice singing phrases that call to mind fragments of the plainsong chant on the same text, appointed as a Responsary for Christmas Day.

O magnum mysterium - James Whitbourn

This superb Latin Mass setting for choir and organ demonstrates the composer's strong melodic sense and innate feeling for the sound of choral worship. The atmospheric Kyrie leads to a Gloria that contrasts vibrantly rhythmic passages with smoother, expressive sections. The mysterious harmonies of the Sanctus pave the way for a tender Benedictus, and the Agnus Dei is a haunting and powerful prayer for peace.

Sanctus and Benedictus (from Missa Brevis) - John Rutter

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Sanctus and Benedictus (from Missa Brevis) - John Rutter

Oxford Academic (OUP)