Faire is the Heaven

“An individual record of exceptional warmth and delight” Gramophone

“The magical acoustic of the Lady Chapel in Ely Cathedral has been superbly captured here; I would even go so far as to say it is perfect for these a cappella works, for, whilst its bouyant reverberation helps lines to soar and float aloft, it also maintains a stunning clarity of inner texture, and with such wonderful singing and immaculate intonation you wouldn’t want to miss anything. The poise of the Cambridge Singers brings a trance-like tranquility and timelessness to a marvelously varied programme of 23 anthems and motets, works spanning four centuries of the most inspired composition for the English Church. There is a dedication to detail that produces the most intoxicating effects.” Hi-Fi News

“The unmistakable sound of the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral, the youthful quality of the voices and the selection of pieces, all firm favourites with the choir, combine to make this an individual record of exceptional warmth and delight.  It falls naturally into four sections, beginning with sixteenth-century music of the Latin rite, followed by English music of the Reformation, then of the Restoration, and finally music representing the Anglican revival of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries…” Gramophone

“Faire is the Heaven is, first of all, an intelligent program, thoughtfully packaged and unusually well notated. The program is divided into four sections: Music of the Latin rite, Music of the Reformation, Music of the Restoration and a sort of catch-all, the Anglican revival and the 20th century. Rutter’s Cambridge Singers already has a number of distinguished recordings to its credit. The 28-voice mixed choir produces an extremely lovely, pure tone – almost vibrato less – with the female sopranos striving for the ringing, bell-like sound characteristic of boy sopranos.  With this technique, they achieve marvelous results in the early repertoire.  But occasionally, especially in some of the 20th century works (Beati quorum via, Faire is the heaven), one wishes for a bit more robustness. These are performances that not only achieve a high level of artistry, but confirm the dignity and spiritual profundity of this revered music.” Digital Audio