The Clare College Choir is a mixed choir of approximately two dozen voices, based at Cambridge, England. Directed by Timothy Brown, who succeeded John Rutter, the scope of the works on this recording comprise over four centuries, from Tallis and Byrd, to that of the Transylvanian-born Gyorgy Ligeti ("Lux Aeterna," 1966). The common element is that of light - hence, "Illumina" - and therefore, each composition directly or indirectly reflects this theme. Several settings of "Hail, Gladdening Light," including that of Charles Wood (1912), part of that great post-Edwardian resurgence of English classical music, are represented, as is Holst, a Wood contemporary, the Romantic Russian Tschaikovsky, and his countryman Rachmaninov. No matter the era of the work, the Choir has a transparent sound, emphasizing controlled dynamics, precise phrasing, and timing that is never impatient or harried.