Ash Wednesday is the first album on the 'St John's Cambridge' label to present a live service broadcast in its entirety. The album features our 2019 Ash Wednesday Evensong, in which we performed the Preces and Responses and Ne irascaris by Byrd, Thomas Weelkes' The Short Service, J.S. Bach's Organ Prelude in E Minor BVW 548i, and Gregorio Allegri's Miserere Mei, Deus. This music is interspersed with the spoken elements of Evensong, including the two 'Lessons' from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

Evensong on Ash Wednesday marks the penitential season of Lent. The service is a highlight of the Choir's year, and it has been broadcast regularly by the BBC since 1972.

The Organ Scholar performing on this album is James Anderson-Besant, who has also written the programme notes for this album (available to read from the Download CD Booklet button above).