Veni Sancte Spiritus

John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and first came to notice as a composer and arranger of Christmas carols and other choral pieces during those early years; today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world. John edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs. In 1983 he formed his own choir The Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings on the Collegium Records label, and he appears regularly in several countries as a guest conductor and choral ambassador. John holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music, and in 2007 was awarded a CBE for services to music. In September 2023, he received the Ivors Academy Fellowship, and in 2024 he was knighted in the King's Birthday Honours.

John Rutter uses rich and evocative harmonies and the textures are beautifully varied. Berkshire Organist 1999 Rutter is here in athletic mood: though the given tempo is slow, there is a boldness and cumulative strength in the melodic writing of the opening which may surprise aficionados of Rutter's carols. The central section has a sweeter tone before the initial music returns to close a weighty anthem. Music Teacher Dec 98 Veni Sancte Spiritus ... achieves its effect through harmonic richness and a transcendent luminosity ... It is a most welcome addition to the rather sparse repertoire of anthems for Pentecost. CMQ July 98