Christmas at St John's / David Hill, St John's College Choir

• Album Summary
• Notes & Reviews
• Also Purchased
• Works Details

Album Summary

Performers

• Peter Morgan (Cantor)
• Paul Provost (Organ)
• George Humphreys (Baritone)
• Christopher Robinson (Descant)
• Alexander Robarts (Treble)
• Jonathan Knight (Tenor)
• Quintin Beer (Treble)
• Lester Lardenoye (Countertenor)
• Richard Wilberforce (Countertenor)
• David Hill (Descant)

Composers

• Recorded Sound
• Otto Goldschmidt (1829 - 1907)
• Gregorian Chant
• John Rutter (1945 - )
• Morten Lauridsen (1943 - )
• Plainchant
• Herbert Howells (1892 - 1983)
• Edward Woodall Naylor (1867 - 1934)
• Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934)
• John Francis Wade (1711 - 1786)
• Christmas Traditional
• English Traditional
• Judith Bingham (1952 - 1986)
• Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930)

Notes & Reviews:

Taking as its starting point their world-famous 'Advent Carol Service', the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, is on dazzling form in this imaginative and varied program devised by David Hill. Alongside Christmas classics by Rutter, Warlock, Howells and Holst, we have new works by Judith Bingham and Francis Pott and Naylor's epic 'Vox dicentis'. Many of these works have specific connections to David Hill and his choir. At the close of the program, David Hill's imaginative arrangement of 'Bethlehem Down' (combining the popular choral version with Warlock's own accompaniment for a solo song version) leads into Morten Lauridsen's phenomenally successful 'O magnum mysterium' and a blaze of glory in the Christmas day hymn, 'O come, all ye faithful.'

'David Hill's Advent programme imaginatively mingles antiphons, carols, hymns and motets. Favourites alternate with relative rarities such as Edward Naylor's Vox Dicentis: Clama, whose sumptuous sonorities unfold gloriously in the chapel's acoustic... The John's choir, fielding what sounds like a vintage crop of trebles, sings throughout with its trademark mixture of refinement and gutsy energy' (Daily Telegraph)

'Blend, balance, intonation and diction are all unfailingly top-drawer, and the choir's unanimity of phrasing and dynamic shading come across as something quite special ... Both engineering and annotation are well up to the same standard' (Fanfare, USA)

'This is a very fine disc indeed... The overall impression with which I'm left is one of great satisfaction and pleasure. The programme has been assembled with great imagination and the execution is well nigh flawless. When one adds in excellent and very atmospheric sound, first rate notes and texts and translations, it all adds up to a very distinguished package indeed. I shall be surprised if I encounter a finer CD of Christmas music this year' (MusicWeb International)

'This recording holds some of the most exquisite choral singing I have ever heard. They must be one of the finest choirs in England. Not only is the technical standard dazzlingly high, but the readings are engaging, animated and sensitively shaped' (American Record Guide)

Reviews

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Also Purchased

Works Details

Sound, Recorded : Church Bells :: Chapel Bell (St John's College, Cambridge)

• Performers: Peter Morgan (Cantor); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Period Time: Contemporary

Plainchant : Rorate celi desuper, introit

• Performers: Peter Morgan (Cantor); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 5 min. 21 sec.
• Period Time: Romantic

Traditional, Christmas : O come, o come, Emmanuel (Veni, veni, Emmanuel), carol

• Performer: Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 3 min. 25 sec.
• Period Time: Medieval
• Form: Choral
• Written: 12th Century

Plainchant : O Sapientia, O Adonai

• Performers: Peter Morgan (Cantor); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Period Time: Romantic
• Form: Choral

Goldschmidt, Otto : A Tender Shoot, for chorus

• Performers: George Humphreys (Baritone); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 2 min. 13 sec.
• Period Time: Romantic

Howells, Herbert : Carol-Anthems (3) for Chorus

• Performer: Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 3 min. 17 sec.
• Period Time: Modern
• Written: 1919

Traditional, English : Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending

• Performers: Paul Provost (Organ); Christopher Robinson (Descant)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 4 min. 44 sec.
• Period Time: Baroque
• Form: Choral
• Written: 1758

Chant, Gregorian : O Adonái

• Performers: Peter Morgan (Cantor); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 1 min. 9 sec.
• Period Time: Medieval

Naylor, Edward Woodall : Vox Dicentis, motet for treble & tenor soloists & mixed voices

• Performers: Paul Provost (Organ); Alexander Robarts (Treble); Jonathan Knight (Tenor)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 9 min. 2 sec.
• Period Time: Modern
• Form: Choral
• Written: 1911

Plainchant : O Radix Jesse; O Clavis David

• Performers: Peter Morgan (Cantor); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 1 min. 2 sec.
• Period Time: Romantic
• Form: Choral

Bingham, Judith : The clouded Heaven, for chorus

• Performer: Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 4 min. 53 sec.
• Period Time: Contemporary

Chant, Gregorian : O clavis David, antiphon, Mode 2

• Performers: Peter Morgan (Cantor); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 1 min. 9 sec.
• Period Time: Medieval
• Form: Choral

Rutter, John : There is a flower

• Performers: Paul Provost (Organ); Quintin Beer (Treble)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 4 min. 31 sec.
• Period Time: Contemporary
• Form: Christmas
• Written: 1986

Holst, Gustav : This have I done for my true love, for chorus, Op. 34/1, H. 128

• Performer: Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 5 min. 32 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Written: 1916

Plainchant : O Oriens; O Rex Gentium

• Performers: Peter Morgan (Cantor); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Period Time: Romantic
• Form: Choral

Traditional, Christmas : Lullay My Liking, carol (English)

• Performers: Lester Lardenoye (Countertenor); Richard Wilberforce (Countertenor); Paul Provost (Organ); Quintin Beer (Treble)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 6 min. 44 sec.

Chant, Gregorian : O Rex gentium

• Performers: Peter Morgan (Cantor); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Period Time: Medieval

Warlock, Peter : Bethlehem Down

• Performer: Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 4 min. 51 sec.
• Period Time: Modern
• Form: Christmas
• Written: 1927

Plainchant : O Emmanuel

• Performers: Peter Morgan (Cantor); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 1 min. sec.
• Period Time: Romantic
• Form: Choral

Lauridsen, Morten : O magnum mysterium

• Performer: Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 6 min. 53 sec.
• Period Time: Contemporary
• Written: 1994

Wade, John Francis : O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste fideles)

• Performers: David Hill (Descant); Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 3 min. 53 sec.
• Period Time: Classical
• Form: Choral
• Written: 1751

Plainchant : Hodie Christus Natus Est (Mode 1)

• Performer: Paul Provost (Organ)
• Notes: St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, England (01/13/2006-01/15/2006)
• Running Time: 1 min. 13 sec.
• Period Time: Romantic
• Form: Choral