From Heaven on High the Angels Sing

A tour de force of choral energy and expertise in rhythmic precision, this is aerial music, fleet and vibrant as voices proclaim Martin Luther's vision of universal peace above a torrent of cascading Organ scales. The brightness of the Lydian mode matches this joyful proclamation, intoned chant-like in bold, clear intervals recalling the sounds both of medieval music and its refraction through the ears of modern masters like Stravinsky and Tavener. Cunningly constructed too, on a four-bar ostinato, the music reverses its opening scale figure for a quieter section before building again to an extrovert ending that repeats the chant against new Organ figures in aclinching 'alleluia'.