Two Great Magnificats

The New Chamber Singers is a choir of about 30 mainly English-speaking voices based in Rome, Italy. It was founded in January 1993 and has developed a vast repertory that stretches from the Renaissance to living composers. One of its objectives is to propose compositions and composers little known to an Italian audience, without ignoring the more well-known chamber choir pieces. The choirmaster is Stefano Vasselli, and the organizer and driving force behind the choir is Andrew Cochlin. The Basilica was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine I over the burial place of St. Paul, where it was said that, after the Apostle's execution, his followers erected a memorial, called a cella memoriae. The Basilica which was consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324.[4] In 386, Emperor Theodosius I began erecting a much larger and more beautiful basilica with a nave and four aisles with a transept. It was consecrated in 390 by Pope Siricius. The work, including the mosaics, was not completed until Leo I's pontificate (440–461). In the 5th century it was larger than the Old St. Peter's Basilica. The Christian poet Prudentius, who saw it at the time of emperor Honorius (395–423), describes the splendours of the monument in a few expressive lines.