Williams: The Westminster Service (Mixed Voice Choir and Organ) (EP73799)

It was a particular pleasure and honour to be invited to write a new service for the choir of Westminster Abbey alongside whom I have sung on a number of occasions, including a service to commemorate the Abolition of Slavery and of course the Coronation of King Charles III.My initial response to this commission was to explore how Mary, most likely a teenage girl, would have been overwhelmed to experience a visitation from an archangel, not to mention hearing the news that she would soon give birth and then that her child would change the course of history. This scenario created in my mind an almost operatic treatment, based on awe, wonder and quite some degree of fear.However, re-reading Luke 1, I realised that Mary had some time to process this extraordinary visitation as she ran to Elizabeth’s home and by the time she had reached there, a different mood had taken over her, giving her the impetus to break out into the remarkable, bold words that form the Magnificat. I was struck by th