In Choral Masterpieces: Major and Minor,historian Nicholas Tarling offers short essays on over 28 works, from major
masterpieces such as Handel’sMessiah and Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion to
off-the-beaten path choral works such as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’sHiawatha and Frederick Delius’A
Mass of Life. Throughout, Tarling offers assessments that sparkle with unique insights and at the same time ground listeners in the historical contexts of these works’ production
and performance. Each work is transformed in Tarling’s able hands from musical composition to a window into the mind and milieu of the composer.