New College Choir Oxford with Edward Higginbottom.

Britten's sacred music is among the most engaging and original music of its kind composed in the middle years of the 20th century. New College Choir was among the first to recognise its quality, and continues to sing it with passion and panache. This newly recorded anthology is released by New College Choir to mark the centenary of Britten's birth. The 2 CD set offers an overarching view of his work in this domain, featuring favourites such as Rejoice in the Lamb and the Hymn to St Cecilia alongside settings more rarely heard, the Hymns to St Peter and of St Columba, and the wedding anthem Amo ergo sum. Overall, it offers a definitive panorama of Britten's sacred music from the 1930s to the 1960s in exemplary performances by one of the world's leading choirs.