Each track is a gem, beautifully wrought under Nigel Short’s tender care.
– Gramophone
A Prayer for Deliverance
Mixing iconic choral works with music by some of today’s most exciting composers, this varied programme is centred around themes of rest. Joel Thompson’s virtuosic new work is a particular highlight: written in 15 parts, A Prayer for Deliverance perfectly showcases Tenebrae’s core values of passion and precision. The second half features Herbert Howells’ Requiem – surely one of the most moving works in the English choral repertoire. Associated with the untimely death of Howells’ young son Michael, the work remained unknown until it was finally published just three years before Howells’ own death in 1983.
Winner of BBC Music Magazine 2026 Recording of the Year (April 2026)
“This is a very special record from Nigel Short’s Tenebrae. Built around a compelling contemporary setting of Psalm 13, the programme explores the ‘thresholds of light and darkness… and a longing for rest’, with performances from the ensemble that ‘unleash full-blooded passion without a trace of vulgarity.’”
Winner of BBC Music Magazine 2026 Choral Award (April 2026)
Winner of the German Critics’ Award (2025, Choir and Vocal Ensemble)
BBC R3 Album of the week (July 2025)
Presto 2025: Top 100 Recordings of the Year
Each track is a gem, beautifully wrought under Nigel Short’s tender care.
– Gramophone
- Release Date: 20 June 2025
- Record Label: Signum
- Catalogue Number: SIGCD880
- Location of Recording: Ampleforth Abbey (Ryedale Festival), 17 July 2024
- Total Running Time: 01:20:45
- View/Download Liner Notes
Purchase Options
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Individual Tracks
Add individual tracks to your shopping cart by ticking their boxes in the track listing table below.
| Buy | # | Title | Composer | Duration | Price | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Evening-Watch, Op.43 No. 1 | Gustav Holst | 04:03 | £ | Listen | |
| 2 | Standing as I do before God | Cecilia McDowall | 05:42 | £ | Listen | |
| 3 | The Souls Of The Righteous | Francis Pott | 08:39 | £ | Listen | |
| 4 | and the swallow | Caroline Shaw | 04:16 | £ | Listen | |
| 5 | A Good-Night | Richard Rodney Bennett | 02:50 | £ | Listen | |
| 6 | Rest | Ralph Vaughan Williams | 03:30 | £ | Listen | |
| 7 | A Prayer for Deliverance | Joel Thompson | 11:47 | £ | Listen | |
| 8 | Song for Athene | John Tavener | 06:10 | £ | Listen | |
| 9 | Lay a Garland | Robert Lucas Pearsall | 02:42 | £ | Listen | |
| 10 | The Long Day Closes | Arthur Sullivan | 03:37 | £ | Listen | |
| 11 | Howells’ Requiem - I. Salvator mundi | Herbert Howells | 02:04 | £ | Listen | |
| 12 | Howells’ Requiem - II. Psalm 23 | Herbert Howells | 02:29 | £ | Listen | |
| 13 | Howells’ Requiem - III. Requiem aeternam 1 | Herbert Howells | 03:35 | £ | Listen | |
| 14 | Howells’ Requiem - IV. Psalm 121 | Herbert Howells | 02:34 | £ | Listen | |
| 15 | Howells’ Requiem - V. Requiem aeternam 2 | Herbert Howells | 03:57 | £ | Listen | |
| 16 | Howells’ Requiem - VI. I heard a voice from Heaven | Herbert Howells | 04:44 | £ | Listen | |
| 17 | Bring Us, O Lord God | William Henry Harris | 03:36 | £ | Listen | |
| 18 | Evening Prayer | Joanna Marsh | 04:27 | £ | Listen |
“A formidable group of singers… in a class of their own”
– Record Review, BBC Radio 3