One Response to “Hail Queen of Heaven”

1. D. Kovacs says:

   April 5, 2010 at 5:30 pm

   A CD by the Cambridge Singers and directed by John Rutter is always an auditory treat, but this one is earth-transfiguring in its beauty. It is divided into four parts based on the liturgical year:

   1. Advent to Candlemas
   
   2. Candlemas to Holy Week
   
   3. Easter to the Sunday after Pentecost
   
   4. Trinity to Advent

   Each part contains five songs, mostly in Latin. Only a couple songs on the CD are in English, and they are beautiful (particularly: There is no rose of such virtue, a carol from the 15th century). I had to knock off one star for the Magnificat by Giles Swayne — the obvious African influence of the music, while totally appropriate on another CD, was strangely jarring and inconsistent on this one. But it’s easy enough to skip this track, and the CD is such a jewel that it’s more than worth its price tag.
   Rating: 4 / 5

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.