Missa Salve intemerata & Antiphons

'A quite magnificent recording' (International Record Review)

'An outstanding CD' (Cathedral Music)

'The bright-toned singing combines the clarity and precision essential in this repertoire with notably sensitive shaping of individual lines and excellently judged speeds. The results are exhilarating' (The Daily Telegraph)

'Vivid acoustics and mellifluous phrasing in the plainsong pieces evoke a calming contemplative atmosphere. The exemplary tonal finesse and beautifully judged dynamic response in the votive antiphon Ave rosa sine spinis is striking' (Five Stars BBC Music Magazine)

'Skilled, thoughtful performances of three great works by a marvellously trained choir' (Gramophone)

'Winchester is one of today's finest English cathedral choirs, and this release can only sustain that reputation. Connoisseurs will find it a delight' (American Record Guide)

Winchester Cathedral Choir released their first CD of Tallis's choral music back in 1990 (CDA66400). The recording has remained one of our all-time best sellers and featured in our 20th Anniversary edition. The choir now return with more beautiful, inspirational music by the most influential English composer of his generation, as well as one of the most popular Renaissance composers of today. It is not until the past 20 years or so that much of the early Tallis repertoire has become more widely available. The Salve intemerata Mass is thought to be among the earliest of Tallis's surviving music and was probably written no later than 1530. The settings of the ordinary of the mass are interspersed with votive antiphons by Tallis, three of which are to Marian texts.The sole source of the Salve intemerata mass, and one of the sources of the antiphon, is a set of four out of five original part-books thought to have been compiled for Canterbury Cathedral at its refoundation in 1540.