David BriggsBriggs: Mass for Notre Dame

David Briggs is well known as a supremely talented improviser: on another disc I have him improvising a Prelude and Fugue in the style of Buxtehude and I'm still not wholly convinced that Buxtehude didn't actually write it, so brilliant is the improvisation!! He is a devotee of that other master of improvisation, Pierre Cochereau, and his liturgical improvisations reflect Cochereau's influence but Briggs speaks with his own mind. The central work however is choral and a composition, written to be performed in Notre Dame. The Mass contains the traditional movements, interspersed with organ improvisations and a setting of "Ubi caritas". It's musical language brings to mind most strongly the wonderful swirling sounds of Duruflé's Requiem. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it.The supporting works include a Te Deum, written in the alternatim mode with each verse interspersed with short organ improvisations. The Trinity College Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis are more clearly Anglican in style, but still very much Briggs. I often listen to "Choral Evensong" on Radio 3 and much of the brash and dissonant modern liturgical music I hear there I would not want to hear ever again!! Briggs' service, however, should be widely performed by cathedral choirs as it is a masterpiece!An excellent CD, finely recorded and now a treasured part of my collection.

From his early days as a chorister at Birmingham cathedral and later as Assistant Organist at Hereford, all under the supervision of Dr. Roy Massey, everyone knew that David Briggs was heading for an international career. This CD fulfills everyone's expectations. Marvellous performances helped by superlative engineering, this has to be one of the most life-like sounds of the organ on CD, at times I was frightened for my speakers. Thanks to all, Stephen Layton, Trinity choir -with a handful of ex-Hereford choristers carrying on the high standards, to David for his playing and handling of the Gloucester organ -which was always his "baby" from the start.The disc has just been given a BBC award for Technical Excellence and well-deserved.

This is a must-have - assuming you like the sound of the uncompromisingly French-style organ. David Briggs' mass is a splendid example of the genre and with the composer himself at the Gloucester Cathedral organ what could be more appropriate? There are other choral works included, and there is an improvisation by Briggs. The Trinity College Cambridge choir under Stephen Layton are at there very best in this reverberant acoustic.

Spine-tinglingly good music, superbly performed and beautifully recorded.If you have any interest in what contemporary choral music can achieve and how accessible it is, get a copy of this CD. I look forward to hearing a recording of Briggs's other Mass very soon!

Although written by an Englishman, recorded in Gloucester and featuring a Cambridge Choir, the main piece feels very French. The mass is imbued with the spirit of Vierne and interspersed with Organ improvisations from Mr Briggs who takes the opportunity to let rip in the final Sortie in a way that should have more than blown away any remaining cathedral cobwebs. I'm a great fan of Stephen Layton's work (with Polyphony in particular) but even he has to play second fiddle to Briggs on this one! The remaining pieces are more English in feel but still well written. If you like organ music, this is one to buy but play it loud and don't expect to hear in performed in a liturgical context any time soon.

Fantastic in every respect.

Professional critics have been falling over themselves in praising this recording, and now having heard it I can understand why.First, there is the ravishing beauty of the music. David Briggs (b. 1962) learnt his trade listening to the organ-playing of Pierre Cochereau and took lessons from Jean Langlais. His music inhabits the same perfumed, ecstatic sound-world of these French composers and also of Durufle, Vierne and Faure before them. The "Messe pour Notre-Dame" (2002) actually incorporates some Cochereau music that Briggs heard being improvised in the 1960s. It is an astonishing work, interweaving accompanied choral passages with organ improvisations. The shorter works are perhaps more Anglican in style, but the radiance of the music remains - think Herbert Howells with a French accent. Secondly, there is the excellence of the playing. Stephen Layton is a reliable choral conductor and the Trinity College choir sing beautifully. But it is Briggs himself on the organ of Gloucester Cathedral who provides jaw-dropping virtuosity, not least in the Messe where he improvises passages of awesome complexity.In short, this disc is a revelation. It must be a contender for any "choral record of the year" award.

I am already a great fan of the composing and playing of David Briggs and was very much looking forward to hearing this collection of works. I was not disappointed, and have listened to this lovely music many times since receiving the disc.The Messe pour Notre-Dame is a genuine tribute to 20th Century French music from one of its greatest admirers, whilst the other works are in the true tradition of English Choral Music.The singing from the choir of Trinity College Cambridge under Stephen Layton is clear and precise. The organ of Gloucester Cathedral, one of Englands finest instruments, is truly spine-tingling. Once again the Hyperion engineers have achieved their usual high standard of recording quality.As a great admirer of Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams, it is some years since new music has moved me as much. This composer is becoming one of our national treasures.