Caelis Academy Ensemble, under the direction of Matthew Larkin, make their debut album with Lily Long Foretold, a programme of sacred choral music for the Christmas season. Christmastide has inspired an extraordinary body of music across centuries and cultures, and this album brings together Gregorian chant with works from the Renaissance and Romantic periods alongside contemporary compositions. Drawing on music from England, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, Russia, and Canada, the programme reflects themes of Advent, the Annunciation, the Nativity, Epiphany, and the quiet solitude of winter. At the heart of the album is the image of the lily, a longstanding symbol of the Virgin Mary and the inspiration for Tate Pumfrey's title work, Lily long foretold. Bringing together music from different periods and traditions, the programme reflects on Mary's faith and the beauty of the Christmas story, while exploring themes of expectation, stillness, light, and renewal. Based in Ottawa, Caelis Academy Ensemble is a Canadian chamber choir specializing in liturgical and concert music rooted in the Anglican and Catholic cathedral traditions. Across nine seasons, the ensemble has given more than 200 performances and undertaken an international tour, while building a wide-ranging repertoire across cultures and genres. Matthew Larkin, the ensemble's Founding Director, is an organist, conductor, composer, recording artist, and educator who has been at the forefront of Canadian liturgical, choral, and keyboard performance for four decades. A Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, he currently serves as Director of Music at Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Ottawa.

The King's Singers: Live at Christmas captures the celebrated vocal sextet in a live performance recorded at Temple Church, London, on 16 January 2026. Spanning nine centuries of music, the programme moves from medieval plainchant and O Antiphons through Renaissance polyphony to beloved modern carols and seasonal pop, including world premiere recordings of newly commissioned arrangements. Throughout the concert, the singers perform from several different areas of the church, creating varied acoustic effects. Contributions from both longstanding collaborators and the singers themselves reflect the group's ongoing commitment to expanding the choral repertoire.

Tenebrae - The Journey marks the choir's 25th anniversary with a programme built around the theme of passage and transformation. Conductor Nigel Short pairs three new commissions-from Jason Max Ferdinand, Joby Talbot, and Joanna Marsh-with established works by Eric Whitacre, John Tavener, Max Richter, and others. Sarah Henderson's piece, winner of Tenebrae's inaugural Undiscovered Voices composition competition, also features. Recorded in February 2026, the album demonstrates the choir's characteristic blend of precision and warmth across repertoire spanning gospel-inflected anthems, intimate meditation, and large-scale choral drama. Music, as Short puts it, that rewards attentiveness-the more you listen, the more you hear.

After the dramatic success of his previous Passion, comes a new oratorio by one of most accomplished composers of our time! James MacMillan's musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience, and close connection with Celtic folk music, blended with influences from the Far East, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe. His prolific output has been performed around the world, to great acclaim.

On this CD one of James MacMillan's major works-the percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (which has received more than 400 performances)-has been recorded with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, of which MacMillan is Principal Guest Conductor.

MacMILLAN MISERERE. Strathclyde Motets: Data est mihi omnis potestas; Dominus dabit benignitatem; Factus est repente; O Radiant Dawn; Videns Dominus; Lux aeterna; In splendoribus sanctorum; 1 Bendicimus Deum caeli . O bone Jesu. Tenebrae Responsories • Harry Christophers, cond; The Sixteen; 1 Robert Farley (tpt) • CORO 16096 (79:39)


MacMILLAN And Lo, the Angel of the Lord. Strathclyde Motets: Qui meditabitur; O Radiant Dawn; Lux aeterna; Os mutorum; The Canticle of Zechariah; Pascha nostrum immolatus est; Benedicimus Deum caeli. Bring Us, O Lord. Benedictus Deus. Advent Antiphon. Think of How God Loves You. Mass of Blessed John Henry Newman. Tota pulchra es. Who Are These Angels? 1 • Alan Tavener, cond; Cappella Nova; 1 Edinburgh Qrt • LINN CKD 301 (70:00)


Scottish composer James MacMillan (b.1959) has written music for all levels of choirs throughout his career, but since 2004 he has produced a particularly large number of works specifically “designed for a good, amateur church or cathedral choir, or amateur secular choir.” Of course, this refers to an “amateur” choir by British standards. Due to the vastly different choral standards, most of these works would hardly prove easy for a typical American chorus. MacMillan has grouped many of these pieces under the heading Strathclyde Motets , so named because many were written for the choral ensembles at Strathclyde University, under the direction of Alan Tavener. A lifelong devout Roman Catholic, MacMillan was asked in 2005 to accept a post as music director for a small Dominican parish near Glasgow. No doubt his weekly work as a church choir director inspired him to compose a number of these liturgical pieces.


Harry Christophers and The Sixteen need little introduction to fans of early music. However, their devoting an entire disc to music of a living composer is unprecedented, and it comes from Christophers’s belief in MacMillan’s greatness: “In 2001, for the first time in our history, The Sixteen commissioned a new liturgical work; it had always been my intention to do this, but I was intent on ensuring that it would be a composition that survived the test of time. The result was O bone Jesu , and I have no doubt that in this work by James MacMillan we have found that lasting voice.”


I have written before on numerous occasions that I, too, believe MacMillan to be one of the most compelling voices of our time, with a personal musical language that draws deep on a rich musical past to forge an intensely expressive musical present. Though his dazzling orchestral scores have won him great acclaim, what he achieves in these sacred choral works (most intended for liturgical performance) is no less great, and I believe places him in a truly select company of the absolute finest composers in the entire history of the art form.


These two superb choral releases collect most all of MacMillan’s shorter choral offerings from the last decade. There are so many gems here that it’s hard to know where to begin in describing them. Both discs focus on a sampling of motets from the 15 that make up the Strathclyde cycle. (Neither disc presents the cycle complete, nor is every motet covered even between the two discs.) The other items range from the absolutely stunning large-scale Miserere (2009) to the ebullient and unexpectedly dance-like Tota pulchra es, from the simple and heartbreakingly beautiful Think of How God Loves You to the congregational Mass of Blessed John Henry Newman (2010), written for the papal visit to the United Kingdom and the Mass celebrating Newman’s beatification. The most popular of these pieces (though many are quite new) is the glorious O Radiant Dawn (one of the only Strathclyde Motets in English), which has already been taken up by a number of American choirs.


Though several of the Strathclyde Motets overlap between the two discs, that is hardly a reason not to acquire them both. Both discs are excellently performed, though it will not be a huge surprise that The Sixteen have a slight edge, producing the terrific performances for which they have long been known.


FANFARE: Carson Cooman

James MacMillan is one of today's most successful living composers, also internationally active as a conductor. His musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience, and close connection with Celtic folk music, all blended with influences from Scandinavian and Eastern European music. MacMillan is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, and has conducted orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2012, he was presented with the prestigious ABO Award at the Association of British Orchestras' annual conference.

Excellent all round and attractively presented.

There has been a flurry of performance and recordings of Macmillan's music in this, the year of his 50th birthday. This offering from Naxos - at the usual budget price - is from the talented young Dmitri Ensemble under their composer/conductor-director Graham Ross and includes two world premiere recordings. This recording is warmly commended by the composer himself and is a sheer pleasure to listen to.

In the sound-world of this disc, there is a slight echo of the very enjoyable disc of modern choral music by Giles Swayne which I reviewed last year. This is less of a surprise when one sees that both discs were recorded in the same venue - All Hallows church in London's Gospel Oak - and produced by the same engineer, John Rutter, himself a distinguished composer of modern choral religious music.

Although many of Macmillan's works are directly related to his devout Catholic faith, Seven Last Words was first shown on BBC television during Holy Week and is perhaps one of his most frequently performed and best known works. It sets texts from all four of the Gospels to build a composite presentation of the last seven sentences uttered by Jesus. It draws musically on Macmillan's own work Tuireadh - lament, and on Scottish traditional lament music as well as making occasional reference to Bach's Passion chorales.

This powerful work could be expected to be hard to follow. Adding further accompanying works might seem brave. However, the one thematic step which enables this sequence to work is the decision to adopt the theme of resurrection. Christus Vincit is a setting of the twelfth century Worcester Acclamations. Its plainsong-like phrases are punctuated by silence.

Nemo te condemnavit, which follows, is the most recent work on the disc. It is contented, reassuring and positive and is in a capella style - points of similarity with the Swayne choral disc. Taking the theme of forgiveness as expressed in the parable of the woman caught in adultery, it is one of a series of new works for post-communion reflection.

The final work is another motet, ... here in hiding .... It incorporates the Gregorian hymn Adoro te devote but intercuts the original Latin of St Thomas Aquinas with an English translation by the poet-monk Gerard Manley Hopkins. It has been recorded previously by the Hilliard Ensemble in a version for four solo voices. The present edition is the world premiere recording of the version for ATTB chorus a capella.

Seven Last Words has previously been recorded on Hyperion by Polyphony under Stephen Layton. It received superlative reviews and was a Recording of the Year in 2005. The Naxos disc is a budget version by a newer ensemble. The Hyperion, although more generous in its pairing, is perhaps less satisfactory in its programming. Serious enthusiasts will want both. Those who choose the cheaper Naxos recording will be getting a very enjoyable disc and one which compares very favourably with its Hyperion cousin.

Notwithstanding its inexpensive price, recording, production, singing and playing are excellent. The disc is attractively presented with informative notes by the composer, full lyrics and a cover featuring a painting on the same theme by Graham Sutherland.

The Sixteen have also paid tribute to Macmillan, bringing out with impressive speed a recording linked to their anniversary-studded Thirtieth Choral Pilgrimage. Recorded only in late February 2009, Bright Orb of Harmony, on the choir's own CORO label (COR16069) came out on 30 March 2009. It’s a disc combining music by two of the three composers whose anniversaries are featured in their tour this year: Purcell, the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of whose birth (1659) is this year, and James Macmillan who celebrates his fiftieth birthday on 16 July 2009.

James Macmillan's fiftieth year is marked by international acclaim. Scots percussionist Colin Currie performs the concerto Veni, Veni Emmanuel in Finland and the St John Passion receives its German premiere in Berlin, this time with staged choreography. Further performances follow in Amsterdam with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis. Closer to home for British readers, in London the Britten Sinfonia mounts the first fully-staged presentation of his concert piece Parthenogenesis at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio Theatre.

Perhaps the most impressive half century birthday tribute, has been in Manchester. There Macmillan has a long history, having studied and taught at the University of Manchester before returning to live in his native Glasgow. The Royal Northern College of Music paid early respects with a three-day festival entitled Raising Sparks: The Music of James MacMillan (28-30 April) a title also used in an earlier Macmillan retrospective at London's South Bank.

A birthday salute is also scheduled at the BBC Proms, where the main work of this disc, the Seven Last Words from the Cross is paired with Haydn's work of the same title in a performance by the BBC Singers and the Manchester Camerata on 20 July 2009. Macmillan is also one of the composers featured in a series on 100 years of British Music on Radio Three's Afternoon on Three this week (w/c 22 June 2009) (also available as audio on demand), with The World's Ransoming, The Seven Last Words, and Symphony No3 (Silence) being broadcast in this mini-series.

-- Julie Williams, MusicWeb International

The Sixteen has long been hailed for it's championing of Tudor music, especially that of the Eton Choirbook, as well as for choral treasures of 20th century and it's work with 21st centuries composers. And so to mark it's 40th year the group has return to it's grass roots in a album that celebrates those passions. An Enduring Voice brings together some of the most glorious music from the past and present. It contrasts a new commission by award-winning composer Sir James MacMillan with music from the 15th and 16th centuries by Fayrfax, Wylkynson and Sheppard. These fine examples of English polyphony are juxtaposed with stunning music by Tavener, Gabriel Jackson and Eric Whitacre.

Originally released in 2007, James MacMillan’s ‘Tenebrae’ is now available once again as part of Linn’s ECHO re-issue series. Tenebrae Responsories is scored for vocal octet and speaks to all of every faith and none, of the power of love and redemption through personal sacrifice. The famed Scottish group Cappella Nova has enjoyed a 25-year association with MacMillan. ‘Tenebrae’ was previously chosen a Gramophone ‘Editor’s Choice’ album. Mr. MacMillan’s international career was launched at the BBC proms in 1990 with The Confession of Isobel Gowdie.

The Sofia Vocal Ensemble invites you to step into paradise, courtesy of ten of the most beautiful choral works written by composers of our time. For nearly 25 years, Bengt Ollén has fashioned his chamber choir Sofia Vocal Ensemble into one of the finest and most distinctive ensembles of it's kind in Sweden and the world. Here, the choir presents a selection of it's favourite works of the last half century - music that has inspired and shaped it's sound. We hear works by Swedish, Estonian, Russian, Scottish and Welsh composers, separated by contrasting traditions but united by striking beauty. These masterpieces include Alfred Schnittke's hopeful Three Sacred Hymns, James MacMillan's keening Miserere, Arvo Pärt's meditative Nunc Dimittis, Karin Rehnqvist's shimmering Jag lyfter mina hander, Paul Mealor's consoling Beatitudes and Sven David Sandström's radiant In Paradisum. The works are more than personal favourites. They are each, in different ways, highly suited to Sofia Vocal Ensemble's warm, lyrical sound (and in some instances tailored to it) - a meeting of Swedish choral discipline with Ollén's longstanding work to widen the group's dynamic and expressive range. The sound is embracing and alluring, rooted in finesse of blend and perfection of diction.