Byrd / Bruckner

Bruckner’s motets stand as monuments of sacred choral music: expressive, peaceful and yearning; quite possibly because, unlike so many other composers of sacred music, he was devotedly religious. Byrd lived in a different era, when his Catholic devotion had to be hidden, and yet his Mass is none the less powerful and passionate. Both will be given exquisitely beautiful performances in the magical atmosphere of the Temple Church by one of Britain’s foremost choirs.

About Stephen Layton and the Holst Singers: “The choir is not large, but the sound they make is immense, with each chord given a resonant afterglow by the soaring spaces of the Temple Church. The immensity isn’t just a matter of power, it’s to do with total focus and precision.” The Telegraph