Music and Musicians at Westminster Abbey: From Tallis to Britten

Featuring

Richard Egarr
Alastair Ross
Nicholas McGegan
Donna Deam
Drew Minter
John Potter

Rogers Covey-Crump
Philippe Herreweghe
Patrizia Kwella
Tessa Bonner
Kai Wessel
Paul Agnew
William Kendall
Bill Ives
Marcus Creed
Mark Padmore
Roger Vignoles
Graham Ross
Cressida Sharp
Robert Cross
Stefan Kennedy
Dominic Sedgwick
Stile Antico
Fretwork
Academy of Ancient Music Chorus
Academy of Ancient Music
Romanesca
Choir of Clare College Cambridge
Collegium Vocale Gent
Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford
RIAS Kammerchor
Dmitri Ensemble
Robert White
Robert Parsons
Orlando Gibbons
Christopher Gibbons
Pelham Humfrey
Henry Purcell
Anonymous (Traditional)
Benjamin Britten
Ralph Vaughan Williams

Did you know?

1/5

Historical Context

Westminster Abbey has maintained a tradition of daily worship for over a thousand years, originating from a Benedictine monastic community established in the mid-tenth century.

Cultural Impact

St. Cecilia, the patroness of musicians, has inspired many composers over centuries, including Charpentier, Handel, Gounod, Howells, Finzi, and Benjamin Britten, whose Hymn to St Cecilia is featured on this album.

Instruments

The current organ at Westminster Abbey, built by Harrison and Harrison, was first heard at the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and incorporates some pipework from earlier instruments.

Historical Context

Westminster Abbey has been the coronation church for English monarchs since 1066 and is the final resting place of seventeen of them.

Composer Biography

Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams, two composers featured on this album, are commemorated with memorial stones in the north choir aisle of Westminster Abbey, despite not having been employed there.