An important new CD of anthems composed by organists and choir members of Christ Church cathedral from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries is being recorded by the cathedral choir under organist and director of music Mark Duley. This will be the cathedral choir’s third commercial recording, following their CDs for Priory Records of music by Stanford and of anthems by Irish composers in the series ‘Great Cathedral Anthems’. The new CD Sing O Ye Heavens: Historic Anthems from Christ Church Cathedral Dublin makes available music which is essential listening for anyone with an interest in Christ Church cathedral, Irish cathedral music, and Ireland’s musical past. Many of the pieces, most of which are recorded here for the first time, have been specially transcribed from the original sources.

Ten composers and a wide variety of musical styles are represented, ranging from music for unaccompanied choir to anthems with elaborate solo vocal and organ writing. The recording includes:

• Thomas Bateson’s ‘Holy, Lord God Almighty’ composed in c.1612
• The ‘Consecration anthem’ by Richard Hosier, master of the choristers at both Dublin cathedrals between 1660 and 1678, composed in 1661 to mark the Restoration of the monarchy
• An anthem by Benjamin Rogers, organist of Christ Church from 1638 to 1641 and later at Magdalen College, Oxford.
• Two anthems by Ralph Roseingrave, organist from 1727 to 1747
• The first ever recordings of anthems by Richard Woodward, organist and master of the choristers before his early death in 1777, Robert Shenton, dean’s vicar in the 1760s to 1780s and a prolific composer of cathedral music, and Sir John Stevenson, a member of both Dublin cathedral choirs in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and perhaps best known for his accompaniments to Moore’s Irish Melodies
• An anthem by Robert Prescott Stewart, organist from 1844 to 1894 (he also served briefly as organist at St Patrick’s), professor of music at Trinity College, and a professor at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Barra Boydell, a contributor to the cathedral history to be published in 2000 and who last year published a book Music at Christ Church before 1800: documents and selected anthems (Dublin: Four Courts Press), has written an extensive introduction to the music and its background. Many of the pieces, most of which are recorded here for the first time, have been specially transcribed from the original sources in the Christ Church archives and from manuscripts now in Cambridge (Fitzwilliam Museum) and Durham cathedral. This exciting new CD will be launched on Sunday 21 November 1999 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Friends of Christ Church Cathedral.

Order a copy of Sing O ye Heavens