The Last and Greatest Herald

The Last and Greatest Herald

The Last and Greatest Herald, by John McCabe, on a new CD for Advent by St John's College Choir, conducted Andrew Nethsingha, is to be released in November 2020 by Signum Records. Entitled Advent Live Vol. 2, because they are live performances, the CD also contains works by, among others, Britten, JS Bach, Howells, Judith Bingham, Cecilia McDowall, Gabriel Jackson and Elizabeth Maconchy.

The Last and Greatest Herald was commissioned by St John's College Cambridge, and first performed by their combined choirs under Nethsingha in November 2008. The text is a poem by William Drummond (1585-1649) and concerns the trials of St John the Baptist's sojourn in the desert. The work was also recorded by the BBC Singers on a Naxos CD entitled Visions, on which may be found an earlier work written for St John's College Choir entitled Motet, setting words by James Clarence Mangan.

The Signum CD with St John's College Choir is of the original performance, and will be available on Signum SIGCD 661.