Alexander Campkin is renowned as a leading young choral composer who has been commissioned by some of the most prestigious musical organisations in Britain. True Light reveals the energy and majestic sound world that he commands, as well as qualities of reflective intimacy. His Missa Brevis was inspired by seeing a beam of sunlight pierce a cloud of moving incense, the resultant music being built around a sustained pitch, ebbing and flowing. In The First Kiss, he sets two poignant and daring Epigrams by the Greek philosopher Strato.

This is the first Naxos release solely dedicated to Alexander Campkin’s composition. A couple of his works were recorded in the Blossom Street’s recital discs, including a setting of Shakespeare’s A Lover and his Lass (8573069) and the Christmas lullaby Sleep, Holy Babe (8572868).

The Oxford-based vOx Chamber Choir was founded by David Crown in 2014. The choir’s repertoire ranges from Renaissance through to contemporary, and its busy concert schedule sees the ensemble tour from its home city to other parts of Oxfordshire and wider afield to London, Winchester, Bath and other cathedral cities.

The Naxos catalogue has featured many highly acclaimed releases of British choral music. Most recent included Francis Pott’s At First Light and Word (8573976) which was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice disc: ‘Pott offers a moving addition to modern music—‘a semi-secular Requiem’ as he puts it, one of thought-provoking depth, performed with compassion by Commotio and Matthew Berry.’