Advent At Merton

At the heart of this Advent service is a set of seven antiphons specially commissioned from seven composers for Merton College chapel. They work splendidly as a sequence, ranging from the rapt contemplation of Eriks E≥envalds’s O Emmanuel to the more declamatory O Clavis David of Gabriel Jackson. Among works by Byrd, Praetorius, and Victoria, two contemporary pieces by MacMillan (Advent Antiphon and O Radiant Dawn) make a particular impression. Peter Phillips and Benjamin Nicholas elicit high levels of technical and expressive achievement from their student charges.