Seventeen concerts, including the complete Divine Office: this festival is a truly extraordinary musical, architectural and spiritual experience. Caution need not inhibit the use of the word unique.

The oldest and finest college choirs

Provision for music to accompany the liturgy was stipulated by the founders of the major early colleges at Oxford, and choral church music there is still very much a living tradition. Magdalen, Merton, New College, Christ Church Cathedral and Queen’s College choirs remain the finest in Oxford and enjoy international reputations for excellence.

Acclaimed professional ensembles

Eight professional choirs also participate: Stile Antico, whose wonderfully engaging ethereal style has won them an international following; Tenebrae, the passion and precision for which they are renowned making them likewise one of the most sought-after choral ensembles in the world; the Choir of the London Oratory, the UK’s senior Catholic church choir and among the finest liturgical groups in Europe; Contrapunctus, an Oxford-based consort that couples powerful interpretations with path-breaking scholarship; founded in 2014, Siglo de Oro is one of the leading vocal ensembles of its generation, praised for its golden tone, fresh interpretations, and innovative programming; I Fagiolini, whose inimitable performances are characterised by superb ensemble playing, sensitivity, wit, pathos and sheer beauty; Collegium Gregorianum, who are dedicated to thoughtful and musically engaging performances of liturgical music; and Recordare, perhaps the most brilliant of Britain’s new crop of exciting young choirs.

Instruments of Time & Truth, a top-class period instrument ensemble, performs in two concerts. Based in Oxford, its members are among the leading specialist players in England.

500 years of music, Europe-wide

You will hear music from across a span of five hundred years, a heterogeneous selection with some skewing in favour of those with Oxford associations. Polyphony from the Golden Age provides recurring content, with English composers – Taverner, Tallis, Byrd, Sheppard, Weelkes – very well represented alongside continental peers such as Palestrina, Victoria, Lassus and Caterina Assandra. There is a programme of English Restoration composers (Blow, Purcell, Humfrey), and Handel and Haydn make brief appearances.

The second Golden Age of choral music is inaugurated by such figures as Rheinberger and Stainer, continued into the next century by Parry, Stanford and Bairstow, and thence carried forward by some of the great names in 20th-century music – Holst, Stravinksy, Duruflé, Walton, Britten.

We are particularly proud to be able to present the works of several living composers, including Kerensa Briggs, Grayston Ives, Derri Lewis, Cecilia McDowall, Philip Moore, Arvo Pärt, Owain Park, Judith Weir and Eric Whitacre.

The Divine Office Day

The central component of this festival is the performance of the complete Divine Office, within the span of a single day and at the appropriate times. No other musical experience could be as sublime and spiritually charged.

The principal features of the Offices are the chanting of psalms with their antiphons, the singing of hymns and canticles, and the chanting of readings from the Bible with sung responsories. The tradition has changed little in nearly 1,500 years, and aspects may go back further: the roots of plainchant (‘Gregorian’ chant) may lie in Jewish or Pharaonic practice.

Though this ‘performance’ of the Divine Office (they are concerts, not services) is basically as authentic a rendering as might have been performed in late-medieval or Renaissance Britain or Europe, there are some departures from liturgical correctness. It does not follow the texts prescribed for a particular day, and we err on the side of musical elaboration beyond what is canonically necessary. The polyphonic passages have been selected from among the finest ever composed, within an overarching Marian theme, though this is hardly limiting.

Were you to attend all eight Hours, you would become one of an elite few among living souls to have done so, so rare is the opportunity now. Even were you to skip the less agreeably timed ones, you would be exposed to what is one of the most potent spiritual and aesthetic experiences available in the world today. Moreover, it could be said, at the risk of divine wrath for extreme hubris, that, musically, this manifestation of the Divine Office will rank as the finest ever performed (along with the four previous editions of this festival), being performed by such first-rate choirs.

As the capacity of the chapels is limited, all of the Offices are performed in two chapels simultaneously. Audience members are assigned to a particular stream of the eight Hours to ensure maximum variety of chapels and an equal number of performances by each of the choirs.

Tenebrae, Stile Antico and Collegium Gregorianum participate in all eight Offices. Apart from sleep deprivation there are two challenges facing contemporary choirs wishing to perform the complete Divine Office: vocal stamina and the quantity of plainchant whose singing is a specialist skill. Tenebrae are taking on both the polyphony and chant for all of their Hours, and Stile Antico and Collegium Gregorianum are performing the polyphony and chant respectively for theirs.

We shall ask that there be no applause at any time during this extraordinary day, and that silence prevails while in the chapels.

Oxford: A beautiful and suitable city

Oxford is one of the world’s great historic cities: a dense accumulation of buildings in every style from the 12th to the 21st centuries. Architectural greatness is embedded in a web of improbably picturesque streets and alleys and dappled with lawns, veteran trees and riverside meadows.

The city is also a uniquely apposite location for a celebration of church music – especially for a recreation of the monastic hours. Reflecting their quasi-monastic origins, many colleges are equipped with cloistral layouts and magnificent chapels. All the selected chapels are architecturally remarkable, and all have a strong musical tradition. The audience sit alongside or opposite the choir, giving rise to rare proximity and sense of collegiality.

At Christ Church, liturgical singing has an almost unbroken tradition for well over 800 years. Thomas Wolsey intended the college to outshine all its predecessors when he founded it in 1525, and it has the largest quad and the most capacious chapel – which doubles as a cathedral. Wolsey established 16 choristers and chose John Taverner, greatest of early Tudor composers, as Informator Choristarum (director of music).

There are earlier foundations, but by the generosity of its endowment and by the prescriptions of its 1264 statutes, Merton qualifies as the first fully-fledged college in either Oxford or Cambridge. The chapel is also Oxford’s earliest, and many hold it to be the most beautiful. From the outset, there was provision for vocal music to accompany the liturgy. 

The ambitions and endowment of Magdalen exceeded those of all previous foundations when established by Bishop Waynflete in 1458. Reformation iconoclasm was made good by 19th-century restorations and the glorious chapel is little changed since it was built in 1474–80. Waynflete made provision for eight clerks, four chaplains, 16 choristers and an Informator Choristarum. John Sheppard was among the many distinguished holders of this post (1543–48).

New College enjoyed unprecedented munificence when founded by William of Wykeham in 1379, and its chapel is the biggest of the medieval new-builds in Oxford. The college was the first to be planned around a large quadrangle, and the first in which there were lodgings for undergraduates as well as for fellows. From the outset there was provision for ten chaplains, three clerks and 16 choristers.

Though founded in 1340, no trace of the medieval buildings of The Queen’s College survive as it was entirely rebuilt in the decades around 1700. The result is a pleasing version of English Baroque with a screen to the High Street which constitutes the finest stretch of Classicism in Oxford. The chapel is marked by its restrained beauty and excellent acoustics.

University College Chapel was begun in 1639 but was not completed until 1666, building having been interrupted by the civil wars and interregnum. Fittings from that time include the painted windows and the antechapel screen. Its founder, William of Durham, died in 1249, so the college is entitled to claim to be the oldest in any English university.

The parish church of Oxford, University Church of St Mary, was also the place where all university ceremonies took place before the Sheldonian Theatre was opened in 1669, where the governing body gathered and where the embryonic library was first kept (in the oldest library building in the world). Even after the 17th century it continued to be used for university and public functions and concerts. It is exceptionally capacious for an English parish church but architecturally is no barn, ranking with the finest churches in the country. Building began at the end of the 13th century and enlargements and embellishments continued until the end of the 15th century. 

Meet the musicians

The Choir of the London Oratory

The Choir of the London Oratory is England’s senior professional Catholic choir, noted for its communicative power within the Latin liturgy for which the Oratory is internationally famed, and for its stylish deployment of a wide range of vocal colour across a repertoire including more than 100 settings of the Mass and 500 motets. Director Patrick Russill is one of the leading figures in English church music as performer and pedagogue. A Professor of the University of London, he has been the Oratory’s Director of Music since 1999 and was Head of Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music 1997–2023.

College Gregorianum

Collegium Gregorianum is made up of some of the UK’s finest professional singers. Dedicated to thoughtful and musically engaging performances of liturgical music, it explores the fascinating possibilities to be found at the intersection of religious ritual and concert experience. The group is led from within by Greg Skidmore, a veteran of the UK Early Music choral and vocal consort scene. Greg appears around the world with The Tallis Scholars, I Fagiolini, Contrapunctus, and many other groups and directs his own choirs in the UK. In his native Canada, Greg is Founder and Artistic Director of The Canadian Renaissance Music Summer Schools.

Christ Church Cathedral Choir

The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, founded 500 years ago, holds a distinctive place within the great English choral tradition. Unlike all other collegiate and cathedral choirs, it serves both an Oxford college and a diocese. The choir is revered for the vibrancy of its sound and its artistic flexibility, performing early and contemporary music with equal skill. Christ Church Cathedral Choir boasts a legacy of ground-breaking recordings which have excited critics and the listening public for over thirty years. The astonishing versatility of this choir gives them a strong media profile, featuring in more than fifteen documentaries in the last ten years. The choir is directed by Steven Grahl.

Contrapunctus

Contrapunctus is an early-music vocal ensemble dedicated to passionate interpretations informed by authoritative insight and understanding. Directed by Owen Rees, a specialist in music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the group presents imaginative programmes revealing previously undiscovered musical treasures and throwing new light on familiar works. Since its foundation in 2010, the group has appeared in many of the world’s leading music festivals. Two of the group’s discs – Libera nos: The Cry of the Oppressed and In the Midst of Life – have been shortlisted for the Gramophone Early Music Award.

I Fagiolini

I Fagiolini is a British solo-voice ensemble founded and directed by Robert Hollingworth. It is internationally renowned for its genuinely innovative productions, which are as much online as live, including world premiere recordings, collaborative cross-art projects, education and multi award-winning music videos with Polyphonic Films. ‘The group are musical shapeshifters, following Hollingworth’s giddy, eclectic imagination wherever it leads’ (The Spectator). I Fagiolini looks towards its 40th year in 2026 with inspirational and engaging programmes, ranging from large-scale, world premiere, multi-choir masses by 17th-century composer Orazio Benevoli, to Britten and Monteverdi. The first album in their Benevoli series is released in October 2023; the second is due in autumn 2024.

Instruments of Time & Truth

Instruments of Time & Truth is a period-instrument ensemble whose aim is to present world-class performances of Baroque and Classical music in Oxford and the surrounding region. The ensemble is a showcase for the exceptional talents of international period musicians resident in and around Oxford. Many hold Principal positions with established groups such as The Academy of Ancient Music, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The English Baroque Soloists.

Magdalen College Choir

Magdalen’s famous choir has changed little since its foundation in 1480, still being composed of 16 boys from Magdalen College School and 12 undergraduates (including, since 2019, female students), studying a range of subjects, known as ‘Academical Clerks’. As well as singing daily services in the College’s beautiful chapel, the Choir performs around the world, records and broadcasts regularly, and sings to thousands of revellers from the top of Magdalen’s iconic tower each year at 6.00am on 1st May, in a tradition dating back more than five hundred years.  The current Informator Choristarum – Director of Music – is Mark Williams, formerly of Jesus College, Cambridge, who is also a Fellow of the College and Lecturer in the Faculty of Music.

Merton College Choir

Described by Gramophone as ‘one of the UK’s finest choral ensembles’, Merton College Choir is a mixed-voice choir which came to the fore when it won the BBC Music Magazine Choral Award. It has performed recently in the USA, France, Sweden and in April 2023 made its debut at London’s Barbican in Bach’s St John Passion. During term-time the choir sings the services in Merton College Chapel, and it has made a highly acclaimed series of recordings on the Delphian label. The current Director of Music is Benjamin Nicholas, an Oxford organ scholar who has worked at, inter alia, St Paul’s Cathedral and Tewkesbury Abbey. He is Music Director of the Oxford Bach Choir.

New College Choir

Established in the late 14th century in accordance with William of Wykeham’s statutes for the college, it remains a group of 16 choristers and 14 adult clerks; the latter a mixture of professional singers and undergraduate members of the college. It is now one of the most lauded choral groups in Britain and is well respected internationally. They perform in concerts in the UK and regularly tour abroad, and have made over 100 recordings. The choir is directed by Robert Quinney who was previously sub-organist at Westminster Abbey and Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral.

The Queen's College Choir

The Choir of The Queen’s College, directed by Owen Rees, is among the finest university choirs in the UK. Its repertory includes a rich array of music from the Renaissance to contemporary. During term the choir sings for services in the college’s splendid Baroque chapel. It performs in many parts of the UK and abroad and broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio. It records for the Signum label and appears on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack of Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince.

Recordare

Recordare is a professional vocal ensemble, passionate about curating highly expressive performances and recordings. Founded in 2018 by award-winning conductor Harry Bradford and professional sopranos Danni and Kirsty O’Neill, the group consists of some of the best young professional singers in the UK. Previous performances have included concerts for Weston Music Society, Martin Randall Travel, ‘Music Divine’ for the Islington Proms and the ‘Spotlight Concert’ as part of The Sixteen’s ‘Sounds Sublime’ festival. Recordare have also appeared on Classic FM’s social media channels with a performance of Reginald Jacques’ arrangement of Away in a manger which reached over 90,000 views.

Siglo de Oro

Siglo de Oro is one of the leading vocal ensembles of its generation, praised for its golden tone, fresh interpretations, and innovative programming. Since starting life in 2014, the group has performed in Britain, including Wigmore Hall, as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Malta and the USA, and has made four critically acclaimed recordings, ranging from music written for Milan Cathedral in around 1500, to new commissions written for the group. Siglo de Oro’s most recent recording, The Mysterious Motet Book of 1539, was one of Music Web International’s Recordings of the Year for 2022. Plans for the 2023–24 season include the group’s first concerts in Scotland, a Christmas performance at Wigmore Hall, a new recording of contemporary sacred music, and a series of Compline services for BBC Radio 3.

Stile Antico

Stile Antico is an ensemble of young British singers who are now established as one of the most original and exciting voices in the field. The group performs regularly throughout Europe and North America and its recordings have received major awards including the Diapason d’Or de l’Année. Working without a conductor, they rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing to the musical result. Their performances have repeatedly been praised for their vitality, expressiveness and imaginative response to the text.

Tenebrae

Described as “phenomenal” (The Times) and “devastatingly beautiful” (Gramophone Magazine), award-winning choir Tenebrae is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles, renowned for its passion and precision. Under the direction of Nigel Short, Tenebrae performs at major festivals and venues across the globe, and has earned international acclaim for its interpretations of choral works from the Renaissance through to contemporary masterpieces. It has enjoyed collaborations with some of the UK’s leading orchestras, and has won two BBC Music Magazine Awards for ‘Best Choral Performance’, and a Grammy nomination for its album ‘Music of the Spheres’. Alongside its performance and recording schedule, Tenebrae regularly commissions new music, and runs a thriving Learning & Connection programme, through which it works with hundreds of children, young people and amateur singers each year.