Choir of King's College, Cambridge

Much of Giovanni Gabrieli’s music was composed for grand ceremonial occasions. 2015 marks not just the 400th anniversary of the publication of this collection of works from 1615, but also the 500th anniversary of the completion of King’s College Chapel. The Choir of King's College, Cambridge celebrates these anniversaries with the first classical album ever to use Dolby’s new Atmos technology, which uses ceiling-mounted speakers to reproduce the acoustics of the Chapel with unprecedented realism. This recording pays homage to one of the most influential musicians of the Venetian Renaissance from within one of the great buildings of the English Renaissance. As well as being principal organist at St Mark’s Basilica, Gabrieli was a prolific composer of sacred vocal and instrumental music. The Choir is joined by His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts playing faithful recreations of instruments from Gabrieli’s time.

A celebration of Christmas from the stunning, candlelit King's College Chapel, Cambridge. Led by the dean, the Rev Dr Stephen Cherry, the concert begins in the time-honoured way as a solo chorister sings the first verse of Once in Royal David's City. Music includes Philip Ledger’s setting of On Christmas Night, Anton Bruckner’s Ave Maria and The Lamb by John Tavener. The story of the Nativity is read by members of King’s College in the words of the King James Bible and in Christmas poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, UA Fanthorpe and Howard Thurman. Congregational carols include Unto Us Is Born a Son, O Come All Ye Faithful and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.

Recorded at Pieterskerk, Leiden, Holland, @ 1993