“There is no more quintessentially English sound than that of the Choir of King’s College, and the beauty of its unaccompanied voices can now be experienced through the new album, England my England, released by EMI Classics on 6 July 2009 [$16.98, 2 CDs]. The new album includes motets ancient and modern, well-known psalms and favourite hymns ('Jerusalem', 'Praise, my Soul, the King of Heaven'), and pieces made recogniseable through their association with key events in English history.”
 
“This 2-CD compilation captures the quintessentially English sound of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge set in the singular acoustics of their magnificent chapel. Over the course of 40 tracks, this set covers coronation music, ancient and modern motets, psalms set to Anglican chant, favorite hymns, songs of solemn remembrance, and more.”

Click here to hear an audio clip.

Led by Stephen Cleobury, the Choir’s performance in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, on Palm Sunday (April 5), 2009, was broadcast live, and rebroadcast on subsequent Sundays, in cinemas across the UK, Europe, Canada, and the US.  More broadcasts are planned for December 2009.

A full-length recording of the April performance has now been released in a 2-CD set by EMI Classics ($23.98).

The King’s College Choir has just released a new 2-disc CD on EMI Classics, Classic Christmas Carols: 90 Favourite Carols ($17.95), available at your favorite retailer. 

“Ninety years ago, shortly after the end of the First World War, the then Dean of King's, Eric Milner-White, devised and led the service in the College Chapel for the first time. Ten years later, in 1928, it was first transmitted by the British Broadcasting Company. The pattern of the Festival, based around nine Bible readings which tell the story of the loving purposes of God, has remained the same and for many people all over the world, it heralds the beginning of Christmas” (BBC website).

Ex Maria Virgine was commissioned in 2005 by Timothy Brown and the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, and receives its first complete performance on 12 December 2008 in St. John’s College Chapel, Cambridge.

“Admired for the sheer beauty of his meditative and mystical music (Song for Athene), John Tavener (born 1944) writes of his Ex Maria Virgine, which was dedicated to HRH the Prince of Wales and HRH the Duchess of Cornwall in joyful celebration of their marriage: ‘I have set both familiar and less well known texts, and linked them with an expanding and contracting phrase “Ex Maria Virgine.” This refers to Mary the Mother of God—'The Eternal Feminine'—and should be sung with great radiance and femininity.’ The other, mainly unaccompanied, works reveal Tavener’s response to various poetic texts that also praise the Virgin Mary. John Rutter is the producer, editor, and engineer on this disk.” - Naxos product announcement

The first ever female music-director of a Cambridge college chapel heads a ground-breaking recording of music, released on CD this week

Selwyn College Chapel Choir director Sarah MacDonald, born in Canada, was an Organ Scholar at Robinson College in 1992. Appointed Director of Music in Chapel at Selwyn College in 1999, she is the first woman to hold such a post in a Cambridge college.

The CD has sacred songs by John Milton senior (1562-1647), a successful London scrivener and composer and father of the epic poet John, most famed for Paradise Lost. The CD also has works by Cambridgeshire born composer Martin Peerson (1570s-1651), Almoner and Master of the Choristers at St Paul’s, London.

The two composers must have known each other well having appeared together in various contemporary publications.

The music has been edited by Professor Richard Rastall, a graduate of Christ’s College, who is reworking in stages the complete compositions of both composers in a modern performing edition.

Selwyn College Chapel Choir, founded in the late nineteenth century, has been a mixed choir since 1976, operating with 28 members singing three services per week during term. The choir is highly acclaimed all over the world. It has broadcast services for BBC Radio, performed live on television and recorded for labels such as Priory and Herald.

A Candle to the Glorious Sun has been released under the Regent label.

The CD is available from Regent Records, PO Box 528, Wolverhampton WV3 9YW; tel. 01902 424377, fax 01902 717661.
Retail distribution is by RSK Entertainment, Unit 1, 4 5 Home Farm, Welford, Newbury, Berks RG20 8HR; tel. 01488 608900.

Alternatively, contact the Development & Alumni Relations Office, Selwyn College, Cambridge, CB3 9DQ; tel. 01223 767844.

Gramophone magazine has selected These Distracted Times, performed by Sidney Sussex College's choir, as its CD of the Month and Editor's Choice for February 2008. The disc showcases the vocal music of the last of the great Jacobean composers, Thomas Tomkins.

Three sample tracks can be found online.

The CD can be purchased online from Obsidian Records, via e-mail from Heffers Sound, or from the Sidney Sussex Development Office. 

View a PDF of the Gramophone articles here.   

Handel Coronation Anthems, $15.99, Angel Classics
Vivaldi - Gloria, $16.98, EMI Classics 
I Heard a Voice: The Music of the Golden Age, $15.99, EMI Classics