Bruckner: Mass in E minor; Motets

1	Ave Maria (unspecified)
2	Locus iste, gradual for c
3	Mass No. 2, for chorus &
4	Mass No. 2, for chorus &
5	Mass No. 2, for chorus &
6	Mass No. 2, for chorus &
7	Mass No. 2, for chorus &
8	Mass No. 2, for chorus &
9	Christus factus est (III)
10	Vexilla regis prodeunt, h
11	Os justi, gradual for cho
12	Virga Jesse, gradual for
13	Pange lingua, hymn for ch
Bruckner: Mass in E minor; Motets
1.	Ave Maria (unspecified) 4:07
	Composed by Anton Bruckner
	Conducted by Stephen Layton
	Performed by Polyphony
2.	Locus iste, gradual for chorus in C major, WAB 23 3:04
	Composed by Anton Bruckner
	Conducted by Stephen Layton
	Performed by Polyphony
3.	Mass No. 2, for chorus & winds in E Minor, WAB 27 36:58
	Composed by Anton Bruckner
	Performed by Britten Sinfonia and Polyphony
	Conducted by Stephen Layton
4.	Christus factus est (III), gradual for chorus in D minor, WAB 11 6:07
	Composed by Anton Bruckner
	Conducted by Stephen Layton
	Performed by Polyphony
5.	Vexilla regis prodeunt, hymn in Phrygian mode for chorus, WAB 51 5:02
	Composed by Anton Bruckner
	Conducted by Stephen Layton
	Performed by Polyphony
6.	Os justi, gradual for chorus in Lydian mode, WAB 30 5:03
	Composed by Anton Bruckner
	Conducted by Stephen Layton
	Performed by Polyphony
7.	Virga Jesse, gradual for chorus in E minor, WAB 52 3:50
	Composed by Anton Bruckner
	Conducted by Stephen Layton
	Performed by Polyphony
8.	Pange lingua, hymn for chorus in D major, WAB 32 5:10
	Composed by Anton Bruckner
	Conducted by Stephen Layton
	Performed by Polyphony

All Music Guide

While it's possible to admire Bruckner's sacred music without grasping the composer's Austrian Roman Catholic faith, it's not right and it's not fair. Because while one can admire the composer's mastery of harmony and counterpoint and his genius for form and modulation, the meaning of the religious texts he sets determined not merely the music's technical aspects but its whole tone and spirit as well. Severe yet sentimental, mysterious yet luminous, highly controlled yet deeply personal, Bruckner's faith was the rock upon which his life and his music were built, and any listener or performer who misses this, misses the essence of his sacred music.

Stephen Layton and the 22-voice choir called Polyphony miss nothing in this 2007 Hyperion disc coupling seven motets plus the "Mass in E minor." Accompanied sparingly but superbly by the winds and brass of the Britten Sinfonia in the "Mass," the Cambridge-based chorus sings every work as if on bended knee with eyes cast upward to eternity. As filtered through Layton's focused conducting, the polished beauty of Polyphony's tone and the radiant warmth of the balances makes for moving performances. Recorded in Ely Cathedral by producer Adrian Peacock and engineer Simon Eadon, the digital sound here is so evocative it's virtually tangible. James Leonard

Gramophone

Put simply, we're unlikely to hear choral singing as fine as this for a good few years to come. Marc Rochester

Daily Telegraph

A glorious disc of music that strives for, and ultimately attains, a state of transcendent peace. Richard Wigmore