Books & Music

Young children just love things that go, and here is a board book they will spend hours pushing along the floor as well as reading! Follow the red bus around the streets of London visiting the sights, with an extra detail to spot on every page. Then...

Young readers can discover all the foul facts about Cruel Kings and Mean Queens, including which king died after falling off the toilet, why people thought King John was a werewolf and why Queen Anne's feet were covered in garlic. With a bold look, this...

Fanfares and anthems commissioned by previous monarchs, together with classic hymn settings and marches, all combine to recall the Queen's Coronation service of 1953. The musical forces deployed on that occasion included a choir of over 400 and a large...

Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit, Jacob and the stairway to heaven, Joseph and his brothers, Moses and the Exodus, Samson and Delilah, David and Goliath, Jonah and the whale, the life and teachings of Jesus, the birth of Christianity. . . the Bible...

The Power of Civil Servants provides rich and informative observations about the nature of the Civil Service, its values and effectiveness, what threatens it and how it should continue to adapt to a changing world. David Normington and Peter Hennessy...

London's many cemeteries, churches and graveyards are the last resting places of a multitude of important people from many different walks of life. Politicians, writers and military heroes rub shoulders with engineers, courtesans, artists and musicians,...

Three composers whose contributions to the Anglican choral tradition are rich in historical significance: much of this music is inseparably bound up with the national celebrations or commemorations appropriate to war, coronation and royal marriage. Sung...

This latest album from Westminster Abbey is a programme of memorial music composed in England and France in the shadow of two World Wars.The main feature is Duruflé’s Requiem, given an astoundingly beautiful performance here, enhanced by distinguished...

A trio of English composers perhaps better known for their creative output in other fields, yet who played a crucial role in the development of the Anglican choral tradition in the twentieth century. James O’Donnell and Westminster Abbey Choir present a...

This collection is an introduction to the great wealth of First World War poetry. The sequence of poems is random - making it ideal for dipping into - and drawn from a number of sources, mixing both well-known and less familiar poetry. The work of 21...

The first performance of Handel’s 'Messiah' in Dublin in 1742 is now legendary. Gentlemen were asked to leave their swords at home and ladies to come without hoops in their skirts in order to fit more people into the audience. Why then, did this now...

This CD presents a sequence of music such as might be heard in the Abbey on Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost.Opening with the Abbey bells summoning the faithful, we travel through the three principal services of the day...