This remarkable association between an esteemed a capella ensemble from Oxford and one of Soweto's most versatile gospel choirs came to my attention at the City of London Festival. They had met and began working together in post-apartheid South Africa, forging a remarkable musical association between medieval chant and Renaissance song brought by the British guests to their African hosts, who responded with traditional Zulu harmony and enthusiasm. In 1995 composers in both groups, Roderick Williams and Mokale Koapeng, started conceiving the possibility of performance together. From this collaboration grew a joint repertoire of unforgettable musics juxtaposed and intermingled in a heady brew, captured worthily in this 1997 Erato recording.

Besides Sheppard and Howells sung by I Fagiolini, and traditional South African hymn and community song given by the full throated young Soweto students, there are to be enjoyed: Ah Robin, a 16^th century round embellished by a traditional Zulu chant; Mokale's chant for peace combined with a Western Agnus Dei; the well known SDASA version of The lord is my Shepherd; Roddy Williams combination of African hymnody with Gibbons' O Clap your hands; Machaut's Douce Dame combined with cyclic fragments, creating a multi-layered tapestry of out-of-phase rhythms - - - and much more. Presentation and recording are impeccable and the combined sound of these 24 young people is uplifting. If you can't conceive what all this might sound like, trust and buy - you'll love it!