Benjamin Nicholas: Top Five Jewels of English Choral Music
Director of Oxford’s Merton College Choir Benjamin Nicholas showcases five standout recordings from a rich and varied genre of choral music.
Read more…Dyson in D: Magnificat
‘Dyson in D’ is arguably one of the best-loved settings of the evening canticles, performed daily during evensong in cathedrals and churches across the country. Hundreds of choristers and congregations will be familiar with George Dyson’s most famous choral work, but few will have heard this magnificent version with full orchestra. In this new recording, the Choir of Merton College Oxford has teamed up with Britten Sinfonia to record a whole album of choral favourites – each heard with their own vast orchestral arrangement.
Howells: Like as the Hart
Another composer to make an indelible mark on English Choral Music, albeit with an altogether different soundworld to Dyson was Herbert Howells. ‘Like as the Hart desireth the waterbrooks’ was written by Howells in Cheltenham during the 2nd world war. Presented here again in a break from the norm of choir and organ, Jonathan Clinch’s arrangement with string orchestra adds a depth and radiance to what is one of Howell’s most perfect miniatures.
Byrd: Civitas sancti tui
Delving into the English choral world offers an opportunity to stretch back hundreds of years and uncover some truly beautiful pieces – even if the history of the institution they were written for hasn’t always been exactly straightforward. Byrd’s 'Civitas sancti tui facta est desolata' was written during the most turbulent times in England, and is thought by some to be considered an expression of his personal desperation at the state of English Catholicism. This sublime recording of King's College Choir captures perfectly the radiant acoustic of the famous King's Chapel to perfection.
Hadley: My Beloved Spake
The great organist and director John Scott had a particular talent for interpreting the English choral repertoire overseas, and reached the highest level of his profession on both sides of the Atlantic. His talent and that of the singers he directed was captured on numerous recordings with St Paul’s Cathedral Choir and the Choir of St Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue. Here they sing Hadley’s 'My Beloved Spake'.
The Annunciation (1967)
This whole album is excellent, and shows the choir of St John’s College at their most virtuoso. It includes Harvey’s very last composition, composed a few weeks before his death. It is a very touching setting of words by Edwin Muir and written as part of the Quincentenary celebrations of St John’s College.