The Sixteen’s new disc is a tapestry of musical styles charting the course of Marian music over ten centuries. From Josquin’s taut, energetic Gaude Virgo Mater Christi to the warm nobility of Elgar’s Ave Maria, the works chosen illustrate the power of texts relating to the Virgin Mary to inspire composers to some of their greatest music. There is much here for both the connoisseur of choral music and those whose tastes tend towards the less elevated: the richness of Grieg’s Ave Maris Stella, Mendelssohn’s substantial Ave Maria with its overtones of Rossini, Palestrina’s beautifully-crafted Sicut lilium inter spinas. New to me was the music of Margaret Rizza. Her Ave generosa alternates meditative solo lines for soprano and alto with rich harmonic interludes reminiscent of the music of Morten Lauridsen and Judith Weir. Some of the works are accompanied by organ, with the melodic settings for upper voices of the Ave Maria by Saint-Saëns and Fauré particularly attractive. The organ makes its entry in Bruckner’s Tota pulchra es to stunning effect – it’s an exposed moment for the choir, with ample scope for the unaccompanied opening to waver in pitch, but this is the most in-tune version I’ve heard. Overall, this recording is joyous and uplifting. I heartily recommend it to all lovers of choral music.

Reviewed by Anne McAlister