Bach was Leipzig’s Director Musices between 1723 and 1729, as well as being Cantor of St. Thomas’s School involving providing music for the four principal churches and also any other special sacred or secular occasion. During these years Bach supplied at least three complete annual cycles of Cantatas for the church year. The rich variety of his writing for solo voices and orchestra along with thrilling choral textures is well represented in these three cantatas.

The perfect gift for Christmas – three of The Sixteen’s most celebrated festive CDs in a Boxset. From medieval carols with fiddles, harps and drums to the traditional carols we know and love, this collection includes favourite twentieth century English carols.

On Christmas Day 1554 the Spanish Armada was a long way off on the horizon. Mary Tudor had married Prince Philip of Spain, and in celebration of her pregnancy Tallis had composed the Mass Puer natus, which may well have been performed in St Paul's Cathedral on this special day. For this splendid ceremony the English Chapel Royal and choir of St Paul's were joined by Prince Philip of Spain's Capilla Flamenca to sing music by great composers from both countries. This recording presents a number of works which were likely to have been performed by these choirs on this special occasion.

Of all Handel's great oratorios, Israel in Egypt is second only to Messiah in drama. It is dominated by massive virtuosic choruses, making it the perfect piece for The Sixteen, acknowledged by audiences and critics alike. It's not surprising that Israel in Egypt is much-performed. Hailstones and lightning, buzzing flies and leaping frogs, are all brilliantly evoked for choir and orchestra in a series of incisive choruses leading us excitedly through the plagues of Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea as we follow Moses and the Children of Israel through the story of the Exodus. The epic nature of the story could not be more suited to Handel's genius for story-telling and drama.

Padilla is symbolic of an age. One of the most important composers of the ‘New World’, Padilla was a native of Spain who emigrated to Mexico at a time when the church had money as well as a great appreciation of art in the service of the church. Streams of Tears reflects not only the penitential nature of this music but also a period in history know as the ‘Siglo de Oro’ when Spain and Portugal were masters of the great ocean and in the process of discovering and developing new lands in the Americas. The music of the period is as varied as it is distinctive, with a harmonic richness and colour that is found nowhere else.

The fifth volume in this highly acclaimed series, conducted by The Sixteen’s Associate Conductor, Eamonn Dougan, celebrates the music of Polish composer Marcin Mielczewski. Together with Bartlomiej Pekiel, Mielczewski was amongst the most notable of 17th-century Polish composers and was recognised as a leader among his contemporaries. Influenced by the many Italian composers who graced the Polish courts in the 1600s, Mielczewski was a prolific composer. The cross-section of works recorded here shows an exceptionally accomplished musician at work, one whose music deserves a wider audience and who can confidently stand alongside the maestri who came before him and from whom he learnt his craft.

Continuing its work with the rising stars of the early music world, CORO is delighted to present its second recording with one of The Sixteen Orchestra's principal members - Robert Quinney. This album, which was recorded at Trinity College, Cambridge, on the beautiful Metzler Organ, features a number of virtuosic works from Bach's early years including one of the most famous pieces of organ music in the repertory - the Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565). The disc also includes the Toccata and Fugue in F (BWV 540) and the Passacaglia (BWV 582) - one of Bach's most well-known and important organ works. Robert Schumann described the variations of Passacaglia as 'intertwined so ingeniously that one can never cease to be amazed.'

Continuing its work with young artists, CORO has the pleasure of releasing Auf Wiener Art - the second recording by Le Jardin Secret, winners of both the first prize and audience prize at the Early Music Network Young Artists Competition 2007. Following on from their debut album, Musique Pour Mazarin!, Auf Wiener Art is a fascinating pot-pourri of musical gems from the Habsburg Imperial Court. The house of Habsburg and its court lived and breathed music. Encouraged by the infectious musical appetites of the Italophile imperial family and in particular, Leopold I (the so-called “Musikkaiser”), the court was fed a daily diet rich in vocal and instrumental music for stage and church. Given its vast geographic spread, the Austrian empire encompassed many cultures, elements of which enrich the music of this time. This, as well as the wave of Italian composers imported to service the imperial court, create a multi-faceted musical legacy which is both spirited and fresh.

Since they were founded in 1979 Harry Christophers and The Sixteen have recorded over 100 discs of choral music spanning 600 years. On this collection, CORO presents a selection of their most celebrated recordings of music by British composers. From Tallis's monumental Spem in Alium and Sheppard's Media Vita in morte sumus to the delights of Purcell's The Fairy Queen and MacMillan's powerfully emotive A Child's Prayer written in memory of the Dunblane tragedy, this disc provides a superb collection of works from some of Britain's most eminent composers. Sixteen tracks, eleven composers, and a feast of British choral music that will delight fans of The Sixteen as well as those new to the ensemble.

The Hilliard Ensemble is one of the world's finest vocal chamber groups, and is probably unrivalled for its formidable reputation in the fields of both early and new music. This series was only previously available direct from the group but has never before been fully available at international retail.

The famous Hilliard Ensemble presents a tribute to the fifteenth-century master composer Ockeghem. Interspersed with the music are parts of Guillaume Crétin’s Lament on the Death of the Late Ockeghem, Treasurer of Saint Martin of Tours, in a specially commissioned translation, read by Bob Peck. This disc is the second of four live discs by The Hilliard Ensemble to be released on CORO. The first disc – Pérotin and the Ars Antiqua - won a Diapason D’Or.

The fifth and final volume of the Eton Choirbook collection which miraculously survived Henry VIII's ransacking of the monasteries. Thanks to its survival, the sacred music of the English fifteenth-century is still with us, conjuring up the atmosphere and spirit of the glorious cathedrals for which it was written. It also gives a tantalising glimpse of a wealth of choral music which was lost.

This is the fourth volume in the distinguished & collectable Eton Choirbook series on CORO. Miraculously, the Eton Choirbook survived Henry VIII's ransacking of the monasteries. Thanks to its survival, the sacred music of the English fifteenth-century is still with us, conjuring up the atmosphere and spirit of the glorious cathedrals for which it was written. It also gives a tantalising glimpse of a wealth of choral music which was lost.

As a young man Handel spent four years in Italy, forging a uniquely exuberant operatic style. During that time he composed these three cantatas about classical love, a favourite theme of baroque composers. Ann Murray, a superb Handelian singer, here explores the different emotions engendered by the departure, absence, and finally the death of a lover, all with a telling range of colour and nuance much acclaimed in her Handel performances at English National Opera.

Musique Pour Mazarin! is the debut recording by le Jardin Secret, winners of both the first prize and audience prize at the Early Music Network Young Artists Competition 2007. This talented young ensemble consisting of soprano, harpsichord, theorbo, viola da gamba and baroque cello, present a delightfully varied programme featuring a diverse mixture of French and Italian music that would have been heard at the court of the flamboyant Cardinal Jules Mazarin.

Josquin, Brumel and Lassus were truly European composers, leaving their origins to work in the top establishments of Aix-en-Provence, Ferrara, Rome and Munich. Their music has a unique sonority which will astound you all - from the depth of expression and fascinating texts of Josquin (prepare yourselves for the surreal nature of Praeter rerum seriem) to the overtly decorative mass movements of Brumel’s Missa Et ecce terraemotus where the 12 parts interweave in extensive imitation and thrilling tracery, culminating in the extraordinary harmonic stillness of Lassus’s Timor et tremor and his gorgeously evocative 10-part setting of Aurora lucis rutilat.

This compilation from The Sixteen brings together some of the finest works written for, and in celebration of, monarchs and the kingdom. From Turges in the 1400s to Britten in the 20th  century, whether for magnificent state occasions or private devotion, the Kings and Queens of Great Britain have inspired and patronized some of our finest and most enduring music.

A brand new recording of Elizabethan and Restoration Devotional Songs to the lute and theorbo by Thomas Campian, John Dowland, Pelham Humfrey & Henry Purcell. Continuing its work with the rising stars of the early music world, CORO is delighted to be releasing a brand new recording by two of The Sixteen’s principal members - soprano, Elin Manahan Thomas and theorbo and lute player, David Miller. The 17th-century devotional songs on this disc were written against a backdrop of furious historical dramas and lurching tides of fortune. The songs chosen reflect these assorted times and contexts, and are accordingly diverse. Ravish’d with Sacred Extasies (a quote taken directly from Playford's ‘Harmonia Sacrae’) explores some of the most beautiful Elizabethan devotional songs ranging from the doctrinally eloquent to the theologically unsteady, from the spare and the restrained to the opulent and the overblown, from Dowland’s small cluster of late devotional songs to Purcell’s flowery and luscious settings.

The Crown of Thorns embodies the sacrifice at the heart of the passion story. Reflections such as the stabat mater text, a moving portrayal of the anguish of Christ's mother, unaware of the resurrection to come, at the foot of the cross.

16th century England was a place of much religious change. It was a dangerous and confusing time and it is testament to their incredible skill and musical mastery that composers like Tallis and Byrd were able to produce such magnificent works in such troubled times. Their music left a lasting legacy, influencing some of our most celebrated 20th- and 21st-century composers and surviving over half a millennium to be performed as widely today as they have ever been. This disc features some of the best-loved classics of Tudor and Jacobean church music together with madrigals by Tallis, Byrd and Gibbons. They are performed alongside pieces by Britten, Tippett and MacMillan including the Five Spirituals from A Child of Our Time and the 'Choral Dances' from Gloriana. The Sixteen has performed this repertoire around the world over the last eight years and is one of the ensemble’s most popular concert programmes.

Magdalen College, Oxford, was a centre of excellence in the sixteenth century, with three of the era’s greatest composers holding the position of Master of the Choristers during a prolific period of English music. Harry Christophers presents the unique Magdalen sound in sublime music from these composers, performed by The Magdalen Collection, all previous academical clerks of Magdalen College, Oxford.

Soloists Teresa Wakim, Paula Murrihy, Thomas Cooley and Sumner Thompson joined Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society to record Mozart's Coronation Mass live at Boston's Symphony Hall earlier this year. Mozart's Mass in C major is one of his most popular and enduring works. Known as the 'Coronation Mass' – a nickname it acquired following a performance conducted by Antonio Salieri in 1791 in Prague at the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia – it includes the beautifully tender Agnus Dei. Alongside the Mass on this CD are Mozart's soprano solo Exsultate, jubilate, beautifully performed by Teresa Wakim, and Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 85, which was a favourite of Marie Antoinette, leading to the name 'La Reine', by which it is still known today.

These works show some of the breadth and range of Britten's choral writing, embracing the masque from his opera Gloriana, his own take on the English part song tradition in Five Flower Songs, and his last work for unaccompanied voices, Sacred and Profane. The latter sets medieval texts described herein as 'a mixture of the devotional and the rumbustiously secular'.

Following two highly acclaimed recordings, CORO is delighted to be releasing its third album with one of The Sixteen Orchestra’s principal members - organist Robert Quinney. This new album will be recorded at Trinity College, Cambridge, on the beautiful Metzler Organ, and will feature as its centrepiece the wonderful Einige Canonische Veränderungen über das Weynachts-Lied ‘Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her’ (BWV 759). These wonderful festive variations, which are full of passionate vitality and poetical feeling, are accompanied by a selection of preludes and fugues.

The vast power of the Royal Courts of England and Scotland may be long gone but the sumptuous sounds of their worship are not lost. This disc brings together music of some of the most outstanding but now little-known composers of the 15th and 16th centuries, and introduces a major new work by one of this century's most remarkable composers. Robert Carver's mesmeric setting of the devotional text O bone Jesu has long been admired and has now proved an inspiration to James MacMillan who has chosen with this special commission for The Sixteen, to clothe the same text in his own musical language of reflective beauty.