The Choir of Newcastle Cathedral - A Year at Newcastle (2024)

The latest addition to our ‘A Year at...’ series comes from Newcastle - England’s most northerly cathedral. This is the first recording of the re-vitalised Newcastle Cathedral Choir under their Director of Music, Ian Roberts, who was appointed in 2016, and has taken the choir to new heights. Music is central to Newcastle Cathedral’s daily life of prayer, worship and witness, marking the church year and illuminating the Christian Story. This recording presents a flavour of the annual liturgical journey at Newcastle Cathedral, with music chosen to reflect the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Candlemas, and the observance of Lent, including the Feast of The Annunciation. We journey through Holy Week, the joy of Easter, and celebration of Pentecost; we mark Trinity Sunday, the Feast of Corpus Christi, the commemoration of All Souls, and conclude with the final Sunday of the year – the Feast of Christ the King. The repertoire for this recording is predominantly centred on the rich treasury of 20th century British music, along with some more recent compositions. Receiving its first recorded performance are the ‘Three Grace Anthems’ by Alan Gray (1885–1935), written during his time as Organist of Trinity College, Cambridge. Recently rediscovered and newly-edited by a member of Newcastle Cathedral Choir, Matthew McCullough, each of the three pieces is an absolute gem of a capella choral writing. ‘Ubi caritas’ by the Cathedral’s Assistant Director of Music and organist for this recording, Kris Thomsett, is a radiant, multi-part settng, influenced by the contemporary ‘Ecstatic Style’ of Morten Lauridsen or Eric Whitacre, that is destined to enter the standard cathedral repertoire for Maundy Thursday. William Drakett’s Evening Canticles from ‘The Wells Service’ were written for Matthew Owens and the Lay Clerks and Choral Scholars of Wells Cathedral Choir. Taking plainsong tones as a starting point, Drakett writes masterfully and sympathetically, exploiting the luminous and resonant qualities of the choir’s lower voices.