In quintessential English fashion, 20th century composer Benjamin Britten excelled in embracing the old and making it dynamically new. Composing at a time when the very nature of music was being disputed by artists of all kinds throughout the western world, Britten nonetheless maintained during his lifetime a musical identity at once forward-thinking and traditional, and as a result remains one of England's most influential composers.

Written between the years 1934 and 1962, the choral works featured here -- performed with unwavering clarity and ebullience by St. John's College Choir -- epitomize Britten's unique musical identity.

The album opens with the mysterious and whimsical Rejoice in the Lamb, a set of eight songs written for choir and organ. The text for this piece was written by the 18th century English poet Christopher Smart, during his four year confinement in an insane asylum, and Britten's music captures wonderfully both the fanciful and the solemn found in Smart's poetry.

The music of For the flowers are great blessings is replete with exquisite harmonies and timbres, while For I will consider my Cat Jeoffrey is sung by a boy soprano and accompanied by a quirky and prancing organ solo line. Likewise, For I am under the same accusation with my Saviour contains some of the most harrowing and dramatic moments of the piece, while the opening track, Rejoice in God, O ye Tongues contains both mystic and jubilant tones.

Rejoice in the Lamb is followed by a generous selection of Britten's finest choral music, including his Missa Brevis in D, written in 1959, whose brief movements present a uniquely playful approach to the setting of the Mass texts. The Gloria movement, for example, with its blues-styled organ harmonies, is particularly lively.

The text for the final track, 1942's Hymn to St. Cecilia, Op. 27 is a celebration of music, as befits a poem dedicated to the patron saint of music. Britten's musical setting of the text, which was written by fellow Englishman (though soon to be naturalized U.S. citizen) W.H. Auden, is as diverse as the poem itself. As Auden beseeches St. Cecilia to "come down and startle composing mortals with immortal fire," so Britten's music has proven enduringly enchanting.

Additional Tracks:
Hallelujah from the heart of God
Hymn to St. Peter, Op. 56a