{"product_id":"britten-a-ceremony-of-carols","title":"BRITTEN: A CEREMONY OF CAROLS","description":"\"One of the most unlikely of mystics, Benjamin Britten penned his Hymn to the Virgin when he was just sweet 17. In its antiphonal responses between eight-part choir hymning the Virgin’s virtues in English and four-strong semi-chorus echoing their phrases back at them in Latin, it’s a gift to the Choir of Westminster Abbey, singing on its home ground, under Martin Neary. This all-Britten collection surrounds the familiar Ceremony of Carols – surely the most affecting anthology of its kind ever composed – with less familiar items like the Wedding Anthem for Lord Harewood and Marion Stein (now Thorpe) and the Christopher Smart setting Rejoice in the Lamb, plus a guest performance, as it were, of Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac with its other-worldly opening for unison alto and tenor (Michael Chance and Ian Bostridge) as the Voice of God – worth a million dollars, as BB himself confided to Tippett...This disc is one of the best things [Neary and the Westminster Choir] have done.\"\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e -- BBC Music Magazine\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Sony Masterworks","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49606321275160,"sku":"074646261521","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/3815602.jpg?v=1777621028","url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/products\/britten-a-ceremony-of-carols","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}