Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) was arguably the greatest composer of the 16th century Spanish ‘golden age’. He began his training as a chorister at Avila Cathedral and when his voice broke he travelled to Rome, where he was to remain for twenty years, holding a variety of prestigious posts. He took holy orders in 1575, and was appointed to his first chaplaincy three years later. The Missa pro Victoria was published in 1600, and takes as its musical basis the chanson La guerre: ecoutez tous gentilz by Jannequin. Written for double choir, but with an extra division yielding three soprano parts, it uses the dialogue possible between the two bodies of singers, and the rich sonorities produced by the nine-part scoring.

Patrick Hadley (1899–1973), My beloved spake  Hadley studied under Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music, and counted Walton, Howells, and Delius among his friends.  He was elected to the Chair of Music at the University of Cambridge in 1946 where he remained until his retirement, and many of his works were composed for use by the choirs and orchestras in Cambridge.  Today’s anthem, perhaps his best-known work, was written in 1938 and is symphonic in scope despite its short duration.  It sets a famous text from the Song of Songs and vividly illustrates the rich poetic language.

John Rutter (b. 1945), A Clare Benediction  This is one of a number of choral blessings written by John Rutter over the years, in every case for a person or institution of special significance to the composer.  This piece was written in honour of Clare College Cambridge where John Rutter was Director of Music (1975-79).

Thomas Tallis (1505–1585), O nata lux  This famous anthem was first published in 1575 in ‘Cantiones sacrae’, a joint publication with William Byrd.  Tallis sets the ancient text in a simple, yet mysterious way, with the clear text setting making this anthem especially memorable.