Britten: Sacred and Profane

"The programme is delightful and the choir excellent… this has to be one of the strongest winners of the choral award in recent years" (Gramophone Awards 2001 Winner - Choral)

"Polyphony's brand of singing, clean as a whistle, rhythmically wonderfully alive, impeccably tuned and voiced, polished yet always fervent, is justly renowned, and on this disc it serves Britten's a capella choral music extremely well" (BBC Music)

"After hearing their latest CD of choral works by Britten, nothing will dissuade me from the conclusion that Polyphony under Stephen Layton is the best chamber choir in the country" (London Evening Standard)

2013 sees the centenary of Britten's birth and a wide-ranging programme of concerts, operas and events, including performances of his choral music. This recording is the perfect introduction to this repertoire.

Included on this Gramophone Award-winning recording is the last choral work for professionals which Britten was to complete-Sacred and Profane-a collection of eight medieval lyrics for voices in five parts (SSATB). Also included is the Chorale after an old French Carol whose text is by W H Auden (a close friend of Britten's). The Chorale's text was part of an unachieved Christmas Oratorio on which Britten and Auden intended to collaborate.

The seven settings of poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins entitled A.M.D.G. were never performed in the composer's lifetime and indeed had to wait until 1984 for their first performance.