Daniel Taylor - The Tree of Life (2016) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

This album The Tree of Life follows Daniel Taylor's successful 2015 album Four Thousand Winter.

Within this beautiful sequence of Christmas music ancient and modern we find a stillness that is central to the experience - an awakening. The Tree of Life takes the listener on a new journey drawing each of us through the notes and through the moments of silence between them. Here we remember and reflect, hope and give thanks.

These compositions span over two thousand years, from a sixth-century chant to the miraculous works of Parsons and Mouton to the remarkable compositions from today by Pärt, Britten and Tavener. Among the pieces we find the “Seven Antiphons” by Arvo Pärt, disarmingly impassioned, otherworldly; the extraordinary “Hymn to the Mother of God” by John Tavener, and Benjamin Britten’s transformative “Hymn to the Virgin”. In close kinship with these profound offerings, the restrained ecstasy of “Nesciens Mater” by Jean Mouton, the “Ave Maria” of Robert Parsons and the moving “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree” by Elizabeth Poston, bring forth a sense of serene wonder.

Recorded in London, England with esteemed producer Nicholas Parker and bathed in the acoustics of Saint Augustine, The Tree of Life features the Trinity Choir including choristers from across Canada and members of the Tallis Scholars, the Gabrieli Consort and the Monteverdi Choir. These are magnificent interpretations that Daniel Taylor directs with passion and dedication.

The pure voices of The Trinity Choir include the best of today’s soloists from England’s choral and vocal stars: Jeremy Budd, tenor; Ellen McAteer, soprano; David Clegg, alto; Nicholas Pritchard, tenor; Alexander Dobson, bass; Charles Daniels, tenor. The album was recorded in London, England with esteemed producer Nick Parker and engineer Andrew Mellor.

TRACKLIST
01. Puer natus est
02. O Weisheit
03. O Adonai
04. Nesciens Mater
05. The Lamb
06. Hymn to the Virgin
07. O Spross
08. O Schlüssel
09. O Morgenstern
10. The Deer's Cry
11. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
12. Salvator Mundi
13. Ave Maria
14. O König
15. O Immanuel
16. Hymn to the Mother of God
17. Veni, Veni Emmanuel

PERSONNEL
Daniel Taylor, countertenor
The Trinity Choir