John Cameron is best known from his work as a composer and arranger of popular music and as a writer of some 40 film scores. His diverse background includes roots in jazz and the folk music of the British Isles. This is drawn upon here in a work that celebrates the Golden Age of Celtic culture in the sixth and seventh centuries while maintaining a resolutely contemporary focus. Cameron intersperses his setting of the Latin Ordinary of the Mass with a selection of sacred and secular texts from this early period, drawing upon sources in Scots and Irish Gaelic, Bretton and Cornish. To signify his Celtic musical intentions he has chosen to highlight the quintessential instrumentation of Uillean pipes and harp, and often draws upon a specifically folk style of singing, which is at times discretely amplified.
Recorded in the Temple Church, London
11-12
July 2001s & 25-26 June 2002
Playing time : 71'13" DDD
Reviews
"The singing of the soloists and New College Choir, and the playing of the English Orchestra are practically beyond reproach. Outstanding; a work to marvel at from beginning to end."
Classical CD Reviews, January 2000
"The performance, under the baton of the composer, is impressive... A disc that invigorates and refreshes: an excellent millennial celebration."
International Record Review, March 2000
