Kodály’s Missa Brevis had its premiere in the cloakroom of the opera house in war-torn Budapest in 1945, with gunshots sounding in the streets outside. Poulenc’s Mass in G was written in 1937, when the composer was rediscovering his heavily scented religious faith: “I like an austerity that smells of orange blossom or jasmine,” he said, which could be a description of this work. These two contrasting masses and Janácek’s Lord’s Prayer (Otče náš) are sung with characteristic “European” ripeness of tone and precision by the choir of St John’s College, Cambridge, with Joseph Wicks and Glen Dempsey (organ) and Anne Denholm (harp). Excellent notes, too, from Richard Bratby and director Andrew Nethsingha. Another worthwhile disc from this top collegiate choir.
