O GEMMA CLARISSIMA MUSIC IN PRAISE OF ST CATHARINE

THE CHOIRS OF ST CATHARINE’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE EDWARD WICKHAM DIRECTOR O gemma clarissima (1540/45–1599) Sarum chant 1. Ave Katherina marr [3:45] 11. Nobilis et pulchra * [1:21] Music in Praise of St Catharine Ludwig Senfl (1489/91–1543) Walter Frye (fl. 1460–1474) 2. [Ave Katherina marr]/Cos regis [4:59] 12. Kyrie ‘Deus creator omnium’ from Missa Nobilis et pulchra [7:19] (c.1490–1562) The Choirs of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge 3. O gemma clarissima [2:43] Sarum chant 13. Inclita sancte virginis Catherinae * [1:06] Edward Wickham conductor Sarum chant 4. Ave virginum gemma * [1:06] Jacquet of (1483–1559) 14. Inclita sancte virginis Catherinae [4:25] (before 1459–1522) 5. Ave virginum gemma [5:04] Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525/6–1594) 15. Inclytae sanctae virginis Catherinae [2:37] Sarum chant 6. Virgo sancta Katherina [0:23] Anonymous (early-16th century) (Copenhagen, MS 1848) (c.1495–c.1560) 16. Ave virgo Katharina [4:36] 7. Virgo sancta Katherina * [2:58] Sarum chant Sarum chant 17. Passionem gloriose * [0:40] 8. Virgo flagellatur * [2:18] Richard Fawkyner (fl. c.1480) Pierre Vermont (c.1495–c.1532) 18. Gaude rose sine spina [15:26] About The Choirs of St Catharine’s College: 9. Virgo flagellatur [5:30]

‘[...] unified by a thread of tenderness and warmth Anonymous (early-16th century) Total playing me [72:02] that runs through the whole disc’ (‘Annaberg’ Choirbook 1/D/506) The Telegraph 10. [Katherinae collaudemus] /Fulta fide Katherina [5:38] ‘[...] firm, intelligent shaping of * sung by the St Catharine’s Girls’ Choir this enterprising and rewarding recital’ BBC Music Magazine The story and cult of St Katherine clerics be executed. Miraculously, their bodies remain untouched by the fire into One of the most ubiquitous and beloved which they are cast; they become martyr saints of the Middle Ages, St Katherine was saints. Sll entranced with Katherine’s represented in literature, the visual arts, outward beauty rather than understanding and music. Although almost certainly not her inner devoutness, the Emperor offers historically accurate, her acon-packed, to have a statue of Katherine made, to be inspiring story resonated powerfully worshipped by his people. When she throughout medieval Europe. Recorded rejects this offer, Maxenus orders that she along with many other hagiographies in be imprisoned. Katherine’s wisdom and the medieval best-seller, the Legenda piety also impress her gaoler and the Aurea, or Golden Legend by Jacobus de Empress: they too are converted; they Voragine in the 1260s, the tale relates too are martyred by the increasingly that Katherine was an educated, eloquent furious Maxenus. He devises a cruel princess who lived in Alexandria. When she instrument of torture, involving wheels witnesses the mistreatment of Chrisans studded with sharp blades. In answer to by the Emperor Maxenus, Katherine Katherine’s prayer, however, an angel determines to reason with him, and strikes the horrible machine, which shaers fearlessly states her case. The Emperor is into many pieces, killing many onlookers – torn between exasperaon at this Katherine, however, is unharmed. The challenge to his authority and admiraon emperor’s fury with Katherine is so for Katherine’s beauty. Unable to make severe by now that he orders that she any headway in his own discussion with be beheaded. Aer her death, her sancty her, he summons fiy of his most skilled and purity are proven by the flow of milk, clerics to argue with Katherine and to rather than blood, from her severed head. convince her to renounce her faith. Her body is borne away by angels to Mount However, Katherine’s eloquence is such Sinai – today sll the site of a monastery that, instead, all fiy of these seasoned dedicated to the saint, in a locaon which debaters are defeated: they fall silent in has known more than its fair share of recognion of her superior reasoning, and instability and violence. The medieval report to the emperor that Katherine’s narrave informs us that the saint’s bones words have converted them to Chrisanity. exude a miraculous oil which heals The Emperor commands that all fiy of the the sick.

The Legenda Aurea emphasises five of godlessness and materialism for which A nun, Clemence of Barking, composed a A note on the music Katherine’s qualies: her wisdom, he stands: this image resonates with vivid version of the hagiography in Anglo eloquence, constancy, chasty and dignity. contemporary depicons of the Virgin and Norman in the later twelh century; and The repertoire in this programme spans a In the Legenda and translaons adapted Katherine’s fellow virgin martyr Margaret Katherine is the first saint (aer the Virgin century in which the cult of St Catharine from it, Katherine’s wisdom is represented trampling on the devil, oen represented Mary and Mary Magdalene) to be invoked in was at its height. From the vast array of as spanning the disciplines of knowledge as a serpent. Chrisne de Pizan’s fieenth-century Book , hymns and mass movements which necessary for a medieval scholar, including of the City of Ladies, which constructs a can be found in sources from across logic, rhetoric, branches of mathemacs, Mount Sinai was a popular, if perilous, metaphorical fortress from the stories of Europe, we have selected a representave and natural philosophy. Katherine’s pilgrimage desnaon in the Middle Ages. admirable women. sample of genres, texts and composional chasty and her insistence on taking no European devotees of St Katherine also styles which nonetheless are linked by other bridegroom than Christ allies her visited the monastery of Sainte-Trinité-du- Katherine’s associaon with wheels common threads, devoonal as well as not only with the Virgin Mary but also mont-de-Rouen, which claimed to preserve establishes her as the patron saint aesthec; not least the impulse, with a range of other virgin martyr saints, the relic of St Katherine’s finger: according wheelwrights, spinners and millers; demonstrated in some way by all these such as St Margaret and St Barbara. In to the Legenda Aurea, a monk prayed to because of her chasty, she is the patron works, to project in song the prayers and common with many other saints, the saint that he be given a relic, whereupon saint of young unmarried women; and exhortaons of pious communies towards Katherine is depicted alongside the her finger broke off, allowing him to transport because of her learning and rhetorical skill a saint who might represent their interests instrument of torture most closely it to Northern France. Tales of miraculous she is the patron saint of students and in the court of heaven. associated with her – a sign not of the cures effected in these locaons were scholars. It may have been this last pain it might have inflicted on her body, recorded from at least the thirteenth aspect of her story which prompted In this respect, the role of St Catharine was but of her fortude and sancty in century, creding the saint with healing Robert Woodlark, a former Provost of not so different from that of the Blessed overcoming the physical suffering of the toothache, restoring sight to the blind, and King’s College, Cambridge, to choose to Virgin Mary, advocate-in-chief for the world in favour of her devoon to the ensuring ferlity. name the College he founded in 1473 Catholic faithful in this period. In musical spiritual plane. In visual tradions, from ‘Katherine Hall’. It is only since 1860 that terms this is reflected in the sharing of illuminaons in books of hours and The Legenda Aurea’s account of Katherine’s the College’s patron saint has been given musical materials between feast days for breviaries, to church murals, Katherine is life was translated throughout the Middle her unusual spelling, and the establishment these two important patronesses. For most oen idenfiable by the wheel that Ages into numerous different versions in has become known as St Catharine’s instance, the tune which forms the basis of accompanies her – usually a single wheel, English, Welsh, Irish, Anglo-Norman, French, College. However her name is spelled, Ludwig Senfl’s hymn seng Ave Katherina rather than the four in the torture machine Spanish, Polish, Hungarian, German and and however she is recorded and marr is more commonly associated with described in the Legenda Aurea. Katherine’s Czech; her cult was also popular in Greece, remembered, Katherine connues as the Marian hymn Ave maris stella; while in other emblems are a sword and a crown. and Sweden. There is evidence that a powerful figure of fortude and the chant respond Virgo flagellatur we The saint is also represented trampling St Katherine’s story held a parcular appeal scholarship. encounter a secon (including a voluptuous the pagan Emperor beneath her feet, for women interested in learning. melisma on the word ‘agmina’) that appears signifying her spiritual triumph over the © Miranda Griffin 2019 also in Marian chants. Indeed, the appropriaon of melodies and inseron of extra text. The sound-world Virgo sancta Katharina is notable for its thread is reminiscent of our five-voice texts from other sources is everywhere here is disnct even from that of its scoring – for four equal high voices; an works of the early Renaissance (notably evident in the repertory for St Catharine. nearest contemporary, Fawkyner’s example of the ‘voces pares’ style to which Johannes Regis) yet the harmonic language Chants from the elaborate liturgy for the expansive Gaude rosa sine spina, to be so many composers contributed in this would not be unfamiliar to an English Feast of St Catharine (November 25) are found in the famous Eton Choirbook. Here period. Jacquet of Mantua’s Inclita sanctae choir of the period. There is even the employed directly and indirectly; hence is an example of a Marian anphon which virginis Catherinae by contrast is dominated faintest hint of Thomas Tallis, not least the interpolaon into this programme of has been customised to honour St by bass and baritonal registers. Here the in the swirling, extended ‘Amen’. related chants from the English, Catharine, by the embedding deep within plainchant appears as a mono-rhythmic pre-Reformaon Sarum rite. Meanwhile, the complex polyphony of the chant cantus firmus and the whole may have A note on the spelling of Catharine the texts of some of the motets presented Passionem gloriose. It is not a gesture been intended as an exercise in here appear to have been assembled, intended for mortal ears to discern; and composional anquarianism. Several variant spellings of the name even cherry-picked from an assortment would escape all but the most aenve Catharine are found in the musical of St Catharine-related texts, not always of parcipang singers. Katharinae collaudemus/Fulta fide sources of the fieenth and sixteenth with an obvious respect for the liturgical Katherina is a hymn which, as with the centuries, suggesng that the inial integrity of the original. Publishers of There is nothing in connental polyphony Senfl menoned earlier, adopts a tune consonants C and K, and the second polyphony in the sixteenth century of the late-fieenth or early-sixteenth with other associaons; this me the vowel E and A were regarded as branded such works with the generic term centuries to compare with the florid, Eucharisc hymn Pange lingua gloriosi. interchangeable. The College of St ‘motets’, without concerning themselves non-imitave style of the Eton Choirbook. The rich interplay between the themes Catharine in Cambridge adopted the where exactly in the established liturgies The music of Jean Mouton, for instance, of saintly martyrdom and the sacrifice ‘a…a’ spelling in the nineteenth century, they might best be presented. is spare and sober by comparison, with made by Christ himself is managed here on the misguided assumpon that the melodic imitaon between the parts a not so much on the textual level as name derived from the Greek word The only surviving source for the earliest fundamental composional principle. through the evocave associaons of καθαρός, meaning ‘pure’. of the works here – Kyrie Deus Creator Ave virginum gemma is a fine example, this familiar tune, and the provocave omnium by Walter Frye – was copied into with carefully ered entries at the start of disrupon which this textual substuon © Edward Wickham 2019 a Burgundian manuscript in the early each text phrase occasionally coalescing must have wrought in the faithful. Most 1470s and is thus also the piece most in passages of paired voices presenng curious of all, however, might be the We are grateful to Dr Lisa Colton and closely dateable to the foundaon of St the text in clear declamaon. And it is the five-voice Virgo flagellatur by Pierre Dr James Cook for repertorial advice on Catharine’s College, Cambridge (1473). composional language of Mouton which, Vermont which, like Jacquet’s , this programme. Drawn from a mass cycle based on the with differing accents, is adopted by adopts a cantus firmus approach to his St Catharine chant Nobilis et pulchra, it Willaert, Regnart and, ulmately, Palestrina. borrowed plainchant, but here draws takes the form of a ‘troped’ Kyrie in the chant out into extended, long-breathed which the simple incantaon of ‘Kyrie Curiosies nevertheless abound in this syllables. The arrangement of two pairs eleison’ is substanally augmented by the later Renaissance repertoire. Gombert’s of voices around this central musical

T exts and Translaons Sarum Chant & Jean Mouton (before 1459–1522) Jacob Regnart (1540/45–1599) 4. & 5. Ave virginum gemma & Ludwig Senfl (1489/91–1543) Ave virginum gemma, virgo Katerina, Hail jewel amongst virgins, virgin Katherine, 1. & 2. Ave Katherina marr Ave sponsa regis regum gloriosa, Hail glorious bride of the king of kings, Ave Katherina Hail Katherine Ave viva Chris hosa, Hail living sacrifice of Christ, Martyr et regina, Martyr and queen, Virgo Deo digna Virgin worthy of God, Ave virgo Deo grata, Hail virgin beloved of God, Mis et benigna. Gentle and kind. Ave dulcis et benigna; Hail O sweet and kind one; Obne nobis gaudia Preserve for us the joy Cos regis nata Born of the king Kostos Quae possides cum gloria. Which you possess with glory. Sponsa Deo grata, Beloved spouse of God, [Christo regi grata: Regnart] True spouse of Christ Virgo sancta Katerina, Virgin saint Katherine, Vera sponsa Chris You took on the mantle of Christ. Graeciae gemma urbe Alexandrina, Jewel of Greece and the city of Alexandria, Christum induis. Cos regis erat filia: Daughter of King Costos:

Monstra vitae viam, Show us the way of life, Specie tua et pulchritudine tua, alleluia, Through your demeanour and beauty, alleluia, Ut philosophiam So that we pass through intende prospere procede et regna. go forth with prosperity and reign. Mundi transeamus The world’s philosophy to seek out O beata Katerina post hanc vitam nos adiuva. O blessed Katherine save us aer this life. Veram inquiramus. True wisdom. Sarum Chant & Nicholas Gombert (c.1495–c.1560) Ora et inclina Pray for us and turn us 6. & 7. Virgo sancta Katerina Nobis verum Sina Towards the truth of Sinai Virgo sancta Katerina, Greciae gemma, Holy virgin Katherine, jewel of Greece Ut intremus chorum So that we may enter with you urbe Alexandrina, Cos Regis erat filia. from the city of Alexandria, Tecum angelorum. The choir of angels. O filia, scholarum gaudium, was the daughter of King Costas. pudoris lilium, virgo Katherina. O daughter, joy of scholars, lily of modesty, Sit laus summo regi, Praise be to the King most high O mater nostra, virgin Catharine. Honor novae legi, Honour to the new law, ter sancta quaterque beata, Our mother, thrice holy and four Sit et consolamen And let its true spirit virgo sancta Katherina, mes blessed, holy virgin Catharine, Nobis verum flamen. Be our consolaon. famularum suscipe vota. Amen. receive the prayers of your servants. Amen. Amen. Amen. Sarum Chant & Pierre Vermont (c.1495–c.1532) Adrian Willaert (c.1490–1562) 8. & 9. Virgo flagellatur 3. O gemma clarissima Virgo flagellatur, The virgin is scourged, O gemma clarissima, O brightest of jewels, Cruciandi fame relegatur; Tortured by hunger she is taken away; Catharina virgo sancssima, Catharine most holy virgin, Carcere clausa manet, As she remains confined in prison. Lilium mundissimum Most elegant lily Lux caelica fusa refulget. A heavenly light shines all around. Et mulierum speculum; And mirror of women; Fragrat odor, dulcis cantant caeli agmina laudes. A fragrance fills the air, and sweet praises Tuis precamur meris We pray that by your merits Sponsus amat sponsam, salvator visitat illam. are sung by the hosts of heaven. Coeli fruamur gaudiis. We may delight in the joys of heaven. The spouse loves his bride, the Saviour visits her. [Chant only]: [Chant only] Glory be to the Father, and to Post haec blandis rex molitur Aer this the king endeavoured with flaery Gloria Patri et Filio: et Spiritui Sancto. the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Virginem seducere. To seduce the virgin. Nec promissis emollitur She was neither soened by promises [Vermont only] [Vermont only] Nec terretur verbere; Nor alarmed by flogging; O quam felices per te, sancssima plures, O how happy for you, holiest of the holy, Compeditur, custoditur He caught her, and imprisoned her quos iubet occidi pro Christo turbidus hoss. that it was ordained for you to die for Taetro clausa carcere. Shut up in a filthy prison. Ave gemma virginum Katherina. Christ at the hand of a hosle mob. Ave sponsa regis regum gloriosa. Hail Katherine, jewel amongst virgins. Huius ergo cononis Therefore through this assembly Ave viva Chris hosa. Hail glorious bride of the King of Kings. Concordi constana In concord and constancy Tua veneranbus patrocinia Hail living sacrifice for Christ. May you not Vim mundanae passionis May we overcome the force of worldly passion Impetrata non deneges suffragia. deny your patronage to those of your followers Pari paena With equal paence Amen. Who importune you with their prayers. Amen. Superemus, ut cum bonis So that we may rejoice Laetemur in gloria. Amen With good people in glory. Amen. Tenor: Virgo sancta Katherina, Graeciae Tenor: Holy virgin Katherine, jewel of Greece from the gemma urbe Alexandrina, Cos regis erat filia. city of Alexandria, was the daughter of King Costos. Sarum Chant 11. Nobilis et pulchra Anonymous (early-16th century) Nobilis et pulchra prudens Katherina puella. Noble and beauful, the wise girl Katherine. She burns 10. Katherinae collaudemus Flagrat amore Dei, spernit vaga gaudia mundi. with love of God, she scorns the inconstant joys of the world. Katherinae collaudemus Let us praise Katherine Cui rex carne pater fuerat reginaque mater. Whose father in flesh was the king and mother the queen. Virtutum insignia, Outstanding for her virtues, Cordis ei praesentemus Let us present to her our hearts Walter Frye (fl. 1460–1474) Et oris obsequia, And the obeisance of our mouths, 12. Kyrie ‘Deus creator omnium’ O God, creator of all, thou, our benevolent God, Ut ab ipsa reportemus That we may receive from her Deus creator omnium tu theos ymon nostri pie, have mercy upon us. Aequa laudis praemia. Rewards equal to our praise. eleyson. O Christ, King of Kings, we pay to thee rejoicing Tibi laudes coniubilantes, regum rex together; have mercy. Fulta fide Katherina Supported by her faith, Katherine Christe oramus, eleyson. Praise, strength, peace and power are given to Iudicem Maxenum Did not fear the judge Maxenus, Laus, virtus, pax et imperium, him always and without end; have mercy. Non formidat, lex divina Divine law cui est semper sine fine, eleyson. O Christ, the coeternal king, the only offspring Sic firmat eloquium, Strengthened her speech, Christe rex unice, Patris almi nate coeterne, eleyson. of a kindly father; have mercy. Quod confutat ex doctrina Such that she confounded by her teachings Doctores genlium. The professors of the unbelievers. Qui perditum hominem salvas de morte Who hast saved lost mankind from death, reddens vite eleyson. restoring us to life; have mercy. Vic Christum confitentur The defeated put their faith in Christ Ne pereant pascue oves tue, Jesu pastor bone eleyson. O Holy Spirit, the Comforter, we entreat thee Relics erroribus. Leaving behind their errors. Consolator Spiritus, supplices ymas te exoramus, to pray for us; have mercy. Iudex iubet ut crementur; The judge ordered that they be burned; eleyson. O Lord, our strength and our safety for eternity; Nec pilis nec vesbus Neither their hair nor their clothing Virtus nostra Domine, atque salus nostra have mercy. Nocet ignis, sed torrentur Was damaged by the fire, but they in eternum, eleyson. O highest and ever-living God, thou who hast had Inuss corporibus. [i.e. their persecutors] were scorched Summe Deus et une vite dona nobis tribue pity on us, grant thy gis to those whom thou By the unburned bodies. misertus nostrique tu digneris, eleyson. shalt consider worthy; have mercy. Jaquet of Mantua (1483–1559) & Sarum chant Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525/6–1594) 17. Passionem gloriose 13.–15. Inclyta sanctae virginis Catherinae Passionem gloriose virginis Katherine The faithful people celebrate the passion Inclyta sanctae virginis Catherinae solemnia, The feast of the illustrious virgin saint Catherine, devote plebs celebrat fidelis: of the glorious, devout virgin Katherine: suscipiat alacriter pia mater Ecclesia. let pious mother Church celebrate joyfully. que sui memores Deo commendat she who commends to God by her merits meris, et iuvat beneficiis. her worshippers, and helps them with her gis. Ave virgo Deo digna, Hail virgin beloved of God, Ave dulcis et benigna, Hail O sweet and kind one; Richard Fawkyner (fl. c.1480) Dona [Obne: Palestrina] nobis gaudia, Preserve for us the joy 18. Gaude rosa sine spina Quae possides cum gloria. Which you possess with glory. Gaude rosa sine spina Rejoice, rose without a thorn Virgo stella matuna Virgin star of the morning [Jacquet only] Caelo micans clarior, Shining more brightly than heaven Ave virginum gemma, virgo Catherina, Hail virgin Catherine, jewel amongst virgins, In qua decus castas In whom the dignity of chasty Ave sponsa regis regum gloriosa, Hail glorious bride of Christ, Et laus ipsa probitas And praise for her righteousness Ave viva Chris hosa, Hail living sacrifice for Christ, Floret semper graor. Blooms ever more pleasingly. tua veneranbus patrocinia may you not deny your patronage to those of impetrata non deneges suffragia. your followers In te nulla sordis labes, In you there is no fall into uncleanness, Amen. who importune you with their prayers. Cuncta sed virtus habes But you truly possess Amen. Una vere munera; All gis of virtue in one; Anonymous (early-16th century) Namque Deum peperis For you gave birth to God 16. Ave virgo Katharina Et post partum permansis And aerwards you remained Ave virgo Katharina Hail virgin Katharine Virgo parens integra. A virgin parent untouched. Ave marr et regina Hail martyr and queen Ave sponsa Chris viva Hail living spouse of Christ Haec est illa quae calcavit This is she who trod under foot Ave mis et sincera. Hail gentle and pious lady. Et serpentem superavit And overcame the serpent Evae culpam dissipans. Dissolving the guilt of Eve. Ave virgo Deo digna: Hail virgin worthy of God: Haec est illa quae medelam This is she who brings healing Christo prece nos consigna; Commend us to Christ by your prayer; Aegris praestat et tutelam To the sick and protecon Preces audi, praesta votum. Hear our prayers, set forth our offerings. Hostem contra dimicans. As she struggles against the enemy. O beata Katharina O blessed Katharine Babylonis de senna Let us not suffer a second death Gaude mater in decore Rejoice mother in your beauty duplex mors ne nos infestet In the cesspit of Babylon. Quam nec vicit in honore Which is not surpassed in honour Jesus Christus illud praestet May Jesus Christ fulfil this Dignitas angelica; By the angels in their grandeur; Nam regina sceptrum tenes For as Queen you hold the sceptre Tua prece exoratus. Moved by your prayers. Atque regem iuxta sedes And sit beside the King Idem Pater, idem Natus In the name of the Father, the Son In caeles patria, In the realm of heaven, Idem utriusque flamen And the Holy Spirit, Qui vivit et regnat. Amen Who lives and reigns. Amen. Cuius caput coronatum Whose head is crowned St Catharine’s College Choir and fifteen, drawn from local schools; and Auro gemmis et ornatum With gold and adorned in diverse ways with jewels for this recording is augmented by former Mixtum fulget sidere; Which shine forth amongst the stars; St Catharine’s College lies at the historic choristers. The choir has performed in some Te nec cessat angelorum Nor does the crowd of angels Turba chorusque sanctorum And the chorus of the saints centre of Cambridge and at the heart of of the UK’s leading venues including Laudibus extollere. Cease in extolling you with praises. the University’s distinguished musical London’s St John’s, Smith Square, and tradition. Founded in 1473, there has St David’s Hall, Cardiff. It has performed O quam matrem Deo dignam O how as a worthy mother of God been a choir associated with the college live on Radio 3’s The Choir and toured to Te fatemur, quam benignam We proclaim you, and how kind you are for over a hundred years; and since 2008 Europe and the United States. Nobis quoque miseris; To us miserable people; the choral tradition at St Catharine’s has Quicquid velit mens gravata Whatever the burdened mind requires, Postquam semel es vocata Having been called upon once been augmented by a Girls’ Choir, the first Edward Wickham was appointed Director Praestas nec nos deseris. You bring it and do not abandon us. college-based choir of its type in the UK. of College Music at St Catharine’s in 2003. In recent years the choir has toured to As well as his duties in Cambridge, he Ergo precor hic orantes Therefore I pray, reconcile those who pray Japan, the United States and China, and maintains an active career as a Tuas laudes et cantantes And sing your praises makes frequent visits to the continent. conductor, choral coach and academic. Christo reconcilia, To Christ, This is the fourth disc from St Catharine’s With his Gramophone award-winning vocal Et da caelos reserari And unlock the heavens Nosque tecum collocari And gather us together with you to be released on the Resonus Classics consort , he has recorded over Per aeterna saecula. For eternity. label. In the past year the choirs have twenty albums, and performed in many of Amen. Amen. made several broadcasts on BBC Radio the country’s most prestigious concert 3 and 4. The choir is directed by halls, including The Wigmore Hall, the Dr Edward Wickham with the assistance Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Royal of two organ scholars. Albert Hall; as well as some of the most unusual – including a Pumping Station in The St Catharine’s Girls’ Choir South-East London and the Victoria Swimming Baths in Manchester. His The St Catharine’s Girls’ Choir – the only work with choirs has taken him to college-based girls’ choir in the UK – was the United States, the Far East founded in 2008. The choir sings weekly and festivals throughout Europe. in the College Chapel, as well as giving regular concerts and its repertoire extends from the early Middle Ages to the twenty-first century, with several works written specially for it. The choir is made up of twenty-five girls, aged between eight More titles from Resonus Classics Gaudent in coelis: Choral Music by Sally Beamish, Judith Bingham & Joanna Marsh The Choirs of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge Edward Wickham (conductor) RES10185

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© 2019 Resonus Limited è 2019 Resonus Limited Recorded in the Chapel of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge in June 2018 and March 2019 Producer, engineer & editor: Adam Binks Recorded at 24-bit/96kHz resolution Cover image: St Catharine (c.1598) by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610)

RESONUS LIMITED – UK Edward Wickham [email protected] www.resonusclassics.com RES10246