NICHOLAS LUDFORD: AVE MARIA, ANCILLA TRINITATIS; MISSA VIDETE MIRACULUM

Ludford’s extraordinary polyphony unfolds in these super-cool, luminously numinous exaltations of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in performances of refinement and convincing other-worldliness: gloriously long, sustained legato lines and perfectly judged intensity, with individuality serving a corporate worshipful intent, and the whole exquisitely balanced, both musically and emotionally. In a recording of exceptional clarity with well-placed voices inside a stony acoustic frame, they open a channel of audible holiness between earth and heaven and, with great surges of sound as in the end of the Gloria, magnificent almost beyond words.

REBECCA TAVENER Read the full review on Agora Classica