Great Choral Anthems

In choirs and places where they sing here followeth the anthem.' These words from the Book of Common Prayer used in the Anglican Church since 1662 led to a huge amount of musical creativity over the succeeding centuries. The words occur in the order of service for Evensong, which is still a daily service in many cathedrals and churches throughout Great Britain. If the choir is singing the service there is nearly always an anthem relevant to the time of day or the period in the church's year. This album presents a selection of these works taken mainly from the Victorian and Edwardian periods, a time that saw a particular explosion in musical composition for the church.