The origin of the Exsultet, the great Easter Proclamation sung once a year at the Easter Vigil, goes back as far as the fifth century; however, the need for a variety of settings is ever present. One of the most frequent requests by musicians during Lent is for recordings of the Exsultet.

OCP thus gathered eight different settings by various composers and placed them on a single CD. The choral octavos offer music directors a variety of instrumentation and styles from which to choose. No matter what you’re looking for, Easter Praises is a great resource for choir directors and cantors, providing some interesting options for the Easter proclamation.

This collection contains the first-ever recording of Dan Schutte’s 'Most Holy Night.' For a contemporary Spanish-language setting of the Exsultet we’ve included 'Pregón Pascual' by Jaime Cortez. Both settings are arranged for cantor(s), SAB choir, keyboard and guitar. And be sure to check out Roc O’Connor’s dynamic 'Let the Powers of Heaven Exult,' which includes parts for cantor, two-part choir, toms, conga and bass drum. The collection also features selections by Tom Conry, Christopher Walker, John Repulski and Christopher Willcock.