Sheppard - Media vita

The Guardian 80

Westminster Cathedral Choir/Baker
(Hyperion)

John Sheppard (c1515-58) was in the vanguard of clever Tudor composers who found themselves continuously adapting their styles according to the turbulent political and religious upheavals of the age. His monumental Media vita (“In the midst of life we are in death”) dates from a time when setting Latin text to huge arcs of soaring polyphony was still acceptable; music subtly based on plainchant that flowers and blossoms into devotional architecture of great power and solemnity. Westminster Cathedral Choir, under Martin Baker, invest this music, magnificently sung, with immense dignity as it slowly unfolds to reveal Sheppard’s unique sound world.