This quintessentially British Mass in B minor was recorded in 1994 and has been reissued various times since its original release on the Collins label. The original sound, a product of London's St. Augustine's Church, conveyed the efforts of the Sixteen (actually a choir of 26 in this case) and the historical-instrument Symphony of Harmony & Invention with unfussy clarity, and the recording has held up well. Various recordings try to plumb the work's extremities -- its large-scale architecture, its inward treatment of the mass text -- with greater intensity than this one does. Yet listeners in search of a straightforward version of the work on historical instruments are advised to check this one out. The size of the choir, and its precise ensemble, may seem ideal to listeners beset by giant symphony choruses on one hand and one-to-a-part extremists on the other (an approach that, in the words of one wag, turns the work into the "B minor madrigal"). And conductor
Harry Christophers gets into something of a groove as he goes along. The crucial (one has to say) center of the Credo is masterfully done, with a long, lilting incarnation and crucifixion and a sudden surge of energy at "Et resurrexit" that seems out of character for
Christophers until you realize that what's out of character is that it sounds quite Handelian rather than having the rock-like inevitability one associates with
Bach. Still, it's an electric moment. The momentum is sustained through the rest of the work, with countertenor
James Bowman's intense alto solo in the Agnus Dei offering another highlight. As with many of the discs in the catalog of the Sixteen, this one is solid rather than groundbreaking -- but proceeds at such a high level of sheer musicality that it's destined to last.