William Croft (1678–1727) was the finest English composer of his age, having followed in the footsteps of Henry Purcell and John Blow at Westminster Abbey. This recording highlights his full anthems and Burial Service published in his ambitious and successful Musica Sacra of 1724, which succinctly demonstrates his passion for the preservation of English church music in an age rapidly becoming dominated by the stage and grand oratorios. Croft was deeply inspired by Thomas Tallis and, at the height of his career, flourished in the shadow of Handel. The Sidney Sussex College Choir’s first recording with Obsidian, Thomas Tomkins ‘These Distracted Times’ with Fretwork and Alamire was awarded both Gramophone Editor’s Choice and their CD of the Month. Their most recent, music by Thomas Weelkes, was also nominated for a Gramophone Award in 2014. David Skinner is well known as a leading scholar and performer of early music, and director of the acclaimed vocal ensemble Alamire.

Although he remains best remembered for his solo songs, for the song cycle The Curlew, and for his evergreen suite Capriol, Peter Warlock’s choral works sit firmly in the great English lineage. The music ranges from Hymns to the Virgin to carols, many spiced with his own ‘melody of chords’ and his typically tangy harmonies. Some of Warlock’s most beautiful and sensitive settings are to be heard, not least Corpus Christi and Bethlehem Down, whilst there is also a very rare setting in Cornish (track 21), recorded for the first time in that language. - Naxos