The Howells Stabat Mater in King's College, Cambridge

The Chorus took part in a rare performance of the Stabat Mater by Herbert Howells on Good Friday, 29 March as part of this year's Easter at King's Festival in the Chapel of King's College Cambridge. The BBC Concert Orchestra was conducted by Stephen Cleobury, with tenor John Daszak.

The English composer Herbert Howells (1892 - 1983) is regarded as one of the masters of vocal-instrumental polyphony of this century. His Stabat Mater, inspired by the "Pietà" of Michelangelo, is his last and arguably finest large-scale choral work, contrasting desolation of the spirit with supreme choral glory. First performed in 1965, the work was composed over a period of several years. The concert was recorded by BBC Radio 3, and was broadcast on Sunday 7 April at 14.00.