Magnificat 3 shortlisted for a Gramophone Award

Magnificat 3 - the third instalment in our critically-acclaimed Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis series - has been shortlisted for the 2023 Gramophone Awards in the Choral category. This makes the album the second on our 'St John's Cambridge' label to be nominated for a Gramophone Award, following Pious Anthems & Voluntaries which was a finalist for the Contemporary category in the 2021 awards.

The album was selected for Gramophone Editor's Choice in May 2023, the seventh recording on our label to do so. Alexandra Coghlan said in her review for the magazine:

"The choir inflect works spanning a world-changing few decades, from the First World War to the 1960s, with distinct personality while maintaining a core sound that’s always free and full, refreshingly natural (if trebles naturally phrased with this level of taste and care). It’s sad that Nethsingha’s departure means that the next volume will be the last. I can’t think of a greater or more apt epitaph to the music director’s time at St John’s."

Martin Cullingford, Editor of Gramophone, said in the same edition:

"This ongoing series has not only been a beautifully prepared and sung tribute to the Anglican canticle tradition, but also to Andrew Nethsingha’s brilliant leadership of music at St John’s."

Compared to the expansive musical periods showcased in the previous Magnificat volumes, Magnificat 3 centres on a much more focused period of just twenty years (1945-1965). By doing so, then Director of Music Andrew Nethsingha showcased the contextual impact of the dates of composition on a much more heightened scale than before - from George Dyson’s setting composed at the close of World War II to Bryan Kelly’s canticles written at the height of the Swinging Sixties.

The Gramophone Award winners will be revealed on 4th October 2023.