A unique recording project featuring the Choir of Southwell Minster, directed by Paul Hale, in their first recording on the Regent label.

For this disc the men and boys choir of Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire travelled to Sées in Normandy, to record the monumental double organ Masses of Vierne and Langlais using the two original, and recently restored, Cavaillé-Coll organs of the cathedral – the small Orgue de Choeur (Choir organ) built in 1880, and the much larger Grand Orgue at the Cathedral’s west end, built in 1883.

For the first time, the distinctive colours of authentic 19th century Cavaillé-Coll instruments, for which the works were written, are heard in a recording made by an English cathedral choir.

The disc also includes two major 20th century French solo organ works to demonstrate the tonal range of the main Cavaillé-Coll organ: Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du ‘Veni creator’, Op.4 by Maurice Duruflé, and Te Deum, Op.11 by Jeanne Demessieux. In the Duruflé work, the variations are interspersed with the 'Veni creator' chant on which they are based, sung by the men of the choir.