Continuing their work with Scotland’s most prominent living composer, James MacMillan, Harry Christophers and The Sixteen have released the premiere recording of his exquisite new work Miserere for the CORO label.

The Sixteen’s UK premiere of the Miserere at the 2010 Spitalfields Festival won both public and critical acclaim.

Based on Psalm 51, the Miserere mei has been set to music many times over the centuries but few composers have tackled the complete text. Allegri was one such composer, whose reputation rests on that single work. CORO is delighted to release the first recording of James MacMillan’s 21st-century take on the text.

The group is renowned for its work with the Scottish composer, and his O bone Jesu - a piece composed especially for The Sixteen and written in emulation of his countryman Robert Carver’s 19-voice O bone Jesu - was part of the ensemble’s 2002 and 2009 Choral Pilgrimage tours and features on this new CD.
The disc also contains a selection of The Strathclyde Motets and the Tenebrae Responsories.

“Excellent performances, sensitively recorded.”
BBC Music Magazine on Bright Orb of Harmony

“I can hardly imagine that the composer will ever hear the work sung better than this.”
International Record Review on O bone Jesu