

John Sheppard - Cantate Mass: The Sixteen
Two discs and only 4 of 20 tracks are the Cantate mass - there's also a good range of motets including many of Sheppard's best known pieces, such as the Christmas motet Verbum caro factus est and the beautiful Libera nos. If you need convincing of Sheppard's genius, just listen to the Amen of Jesu salvator saeculi, redemptis - taken individually some of the lines sound positively 20th century in their modernity, and in combination it takes your breath away - it's hard not to say 'he can't do that!' - but he does. Perhaps the only criticism is that the Sixteen underplay the clashes so they aren't quite as shocking as they could be. Even so, probably the best introduction to Sheppard now on the market.

Johann Sebastian Bach
Ludwig van Beethoven
Hector Berlioz
Arthur Bliss
Johannes Brahms
Benjamin Britten
Andrew Carter
Aaron Copland
Maurice Durufle
Anton Dvorak
Edward Elgar
Gabriel Faure
Gerald Finzi
George Frederick Handel
Haydn
Herbert Howells
Karl Jenkins
Morten Lauridsen
Kenneth Leighton
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Maunder
Mendelssohn
Mozart
Pergolesi
Francis Poulenc
John Rutter
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Igor Stravinsky
Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Guiseppe Verdi
Antonio Vivaldi
William Walton
Choral works
Longer pieces for special occasions. Unless marked otherwise these are vocal scores for voice parts and piano reduction. Click the name of the piece to see details or buy.