Haven Apollo5

• William Byrd (1540 - 1623): Mass for Five Voices:
• 1 Byrd: Mass for Five Voices: I. Kyrie 01:39
• Paul Smith (1906 - 1985): Heaven-Haven:
• 2 Smith: Heaven-Haven 03:46
• William Byrd: Mass for Five Voices:
• 3 Byrd: Mass for Five Voices: II. Gloria 05:09
• Philippe de Monte (1521 - 1603): Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi:
• 4 Monte: Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi 03:03
• Taylor Scott Davis (b. 1980): Sonnet 81:
• 5 Davis: Sonnet 81 04:00
• William Byrd: Mass for Five Voices:
• 6 Byrd: Mass for Five Voices: III. Credo 08:32
• Undine Smith Moore (1904 - 1989): We Shall Walk Through The Valley (arr. Undine Smith Moore for Apollo5):
• 7 Moore: We Shall Walk Through The Valley (arr. Undine Smith Moore for Apollo5) 02:53
• Victoria Vita Polevá (1962): Life-giving Spring:
• 8 Polevá: Life-giving Spring 01:43
• Easter Stikhere:
• 9 Polevá: Easter Stikhere 02:01
• William Byrd: Mass for Five Voices:
• 10 Byrd: Mass for Five Voices: IV. Sanctus - V. Benedictus 03:57
• Michael McGlynn (b. 1964): O Pia Virgo:
• 11 McGlynn: O Pia Virgo 03:32
• Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978): Northern Lights:
• 12 Gjeilo: Northern Lights 04:35
• William Byrd: Mass for Five Voices:
• 13 Byrd: Mass for Five Voices: VI. Agnus Dei 03:16
• Anna Kuzina-Rozhdestvenskaya (b. 1984): Agnus Dei:
• 14 Kuzina-Rozhdestvenskaya: Agnus Dei 06:45
• Sarah McLachlan (b. 1968): Angel (arr. Penelope Appleyard for Apollo5):
• 15 McLachlan: Angel (arr. Penelope Appleyard for Apollo5) 05:03
• Traditional: Wayfaring Stranger (arr. Paul Smith for Apollo5):
• 16 Traditional: Wayfaring Stranger (arr. Paul Smith for Apollo5) 04:38
• Marta Keen (b. 1953): Homeward Bound (arr. Paul Smith for Apollo5):
• 17 Keen: Homeward Bound (arr. Paul Smith for Apollo5) 03:45
• Total Runtime 01:08:17

Info for Haven

Haven, the sixth solo studio album from Apollo5, explores the music and poetry of troubled, displaced and persecuted authors, from the Tudor musician William Byrd – who secretly continued a commitment to Catholicism at the height of the Protestant Reformation – to Romantic poets, twentieth-century songwriters and contemporary Ukrainian composers currently writing in exile. This music often has a dual purpose – it can document the plight and struggle of its creators whilst also casting a restorative light and striking an optimistic note, refreshing the listener whilst acting as a nourishing balm for the sorrowful, oppressed or exiled writer. A collection of pieces old and new, with repertoire spanning four centuries and with six tracks commissioned and recorded especially for this album, Haven is centred around William Byrd’s Mass For Five Voices, a full recording of which is scattered across the album.

Interspersed with this Mass setting is the opulent polyphony of Renaissance composer Philippe de Monte (also Byrd’s religious confidant), a twentieth-century spiritual by the “Dean of Black Women Composers” Undine Smith Moore, and new works and arrangements written for the group by Paul Smith, Anna Kuzina-Rozhdestvenskaya and Apollo5 soprano Penelope Appleyard. Taken together, the collection explores how composers and songwriters deploy music and text as a comforting embrace, as a shelter against an oncoming or aggressively present storm, or else as crucial aspirations for peace, rest and hope.

Apollo5

APOLLO5
is one of Britain’s most dynamic small vocal ensembles, renowned for its ability to connect intimately with audiences while producing a rich, vibrant and versatile sound. Formed in London in 2011 and part of The VOCES8 Foundation, the critically acclaimed a cappella quintet brings together a soprano, mezzo‑soprano, two tenors and a bass, and draws on more than five centuries of music in programmes that move effortlessly between Renaissance and classical repertoire, folk traditions, jazz and pop.

Touring regularly across Europe and North America, APOLLO5 has appeared at leading venues including Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Sinfonia Smith Square, the Barbican Centre, Oper Frankfurt, and Philharmonie Luxembourg. Recent highlights include performances at the Three Choirs Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival and York Early Music Festival, alongside North American tours taking in Memphis, Albuquerque (for SWACDA) and Honolulu. The ensemble’s distinctive sound and programming have made them frequent guests on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, and the group also receive airplay on Classic FM, Magic Classical and NTS Radio. APOLLO5 occasionally appears alongside VOCES8 in concerts and media performances, with both groups forming the core of The VOCES8 Foundation Choir.

The group’s growing discography reflects both its stylistic range and its commitment to storytelling through sound. APOLLO5 has released eight solo studio albums. Their most recent release, Crossings (2026), is a musical meditation on the ancient Via Francigena pilgrimage route. Other albums include Anam (2025), a Gaelic-inspired collection, and Haven (2023), which explores music by troubled, displaced and persecuted composers and features William Byrd’s complete Mass for Five Voices. Where All Roses Go (2021) and O Radiant Dawn (2019) both reached the top five of the UK Classical Charts, while the winter album A Deep But Dazzling Darkness (2021) was picked as one of The Observer’s best classical Christmas albums of the year. Invocations (2023), a collaboration with composer‑arranger Fraser Wilson, showcases the ensemble’s flair for contemporary writing and bespoke arrangements. Draw Near, released in 2026 and a collaboration with American composer Alexander Pierce Hill, presents a new five‑part setting of the Greek Orthodox liturgy.

During the COVID‑19 pandemic APOLLO5 played a central role in LIVE From London, The VOCES8 Foundation’s award‑winning digital festival series, helping to launch a platform that has since delivered more than ten online seasons and broadcast over 100 concerts, selling over 250,000 tickets in more than 183 territories and raising over £1.5 million to support over 500 arts professionals on and off screen. The ensemble continues to feature prominently in LIVE From London broadcasts and recordings, reaching global audiences through beautifully filmed performances.

Education and outreach sit at the heart of APOLLO5’s work. As part of The VOCES8 Foundation, the ensemble collaborates with CEO Paul Smith and affiliated groups to deliver transformative workshops, masterclasses and concerts to over 40,000 participants each year across the UK, Europe and the USA. In France, APOLLO5 has worked with thousands of singers through Association Sing’In projects, performing in unique spaces from football stadiums and circuses to royal abbeys. Much of their UK education activity is based at the VOCES8 Centre at St Anne & St Agnes Church in central London, where they lead children’s concerts, residencies and long‑term projects that champion ‘music education for all’.

“Immaculately sung one-to-a-part. Everything here is faultless, from the perfectly balanced pace and imaginative choice of repertoire to Apollo5’s exceptional cohesion and effortless style.” — BBC Music Magazine

This album contains no booklet.