Hail! Queen of Heaven. Music in Honour of the Virgin Mary by The Cambridge Singers directed by John Rutter. Collegium Records.

Recorded in the acoustically divine Ely Cathedral, this CD offers the opportunity to listen to some of the wealth of unaccompanied choral music available to us dedicated to the Virgin Mary and begins with some of the earliest known works.

At the council of Ephesus in 431 AD the title of Mother of God was accorded to Mary, and, as a consequence, her name appeared on the lists of feast days.

Feast days inspired some special music, far more elaborate than usual. The Reformation put paid to the veneration of Marian music in England, but elsewhere the fervour to praise the Virgin Mary persisted.

The tracks have been set in seasonal order, beginning with Advent, on to Candlemas, then to Holy Week, Easter and lastly to Pentecost and the Trinity. So, on this recording Gregorian chant is featured at the beginning of each section, and is followed on by some well-known and other lesser known modern pieces in no chronological order.

Accompanied by well-written notes this recording is as beautiful and inspiring as Holy music should be and, close your eyes, you could be in Cambridge, not in your sitting room.