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400 Years of Choral Music

Oxford Pro Musica Singers
Conducted by Michael Smedley

OPMS CD 427




This mixed programme of well-loved choral pieces spans 400 years of English music. Beginning with the music of William Byrd, whose anthem Sing Joyfully epitomises the sacred music of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, this selection of unaccompanied masterpieces provides a cross section of some of the finest English works for choir composed over the succeeding four centuries. Major works from the English renaissance, and composers including Gibbons, Tomkins and Gibbons, are followed by two masterpieces by Henry Purcell, perhaps the greatest English composer of them all. The rebirth of English music is represented by the two composers who were so instrumental in this revival, Parry and Stanford, and the music of William Walton and Gerald Finzi represents the music of the middle years of the twentieth century. The CD includes three original pieces by living composers: John Rutter and John Tavener, who have both become household names, and Brian Chapple, whose beautiful Drop, Drop, Slow Tears is recorded here for the first time. One foreign interloper in the collection is Stranger in Paradise, an inspired arrangement by British composer Peter Gritton of the famous song from the American musical Kismet by Robert Wright and George Forrest, itself based on music by the Russian composer Borodin.

Sing JoyfullyWilliam Byrd
When David HeardThomas Tomkins
Hosanna to the Son of DavidThomas Weelkes
O Clap Your HandsOrlando Gibbons
Thou Knowest LordHenry Purcell
Hear My Prayer, O LordHenry Purcell
Coelos Ascendit HodieC.V. Stanford
Beati Quorum ViaC.V. Stanford
My Soul There is a CountryHubert Parry
Never Weather Beaten SailThomas Campion
Never Weather Beaten SailHubert Parry
Set Me as a Seal Upon Thine HeartWilliam Walton *
Faire is the HeavenWilliam Harris
Drop, Drop, Slow TearsOrlando Gibbons
Drop, Drop, Slow TearsBrian Chapple
God Be in My HeadHenry Walford Davies
Open Thou Mine EyesJohn Rutter
Song for AtheneJohn Tavener
As Torrents in SummerEdward Elgar
The BluebirdC.V. Stanford **
Stranger in ParadisePeter Gritton
My Spirit Sang All DayGerald Finzi
White Flowering DaysGerald Finzi

* Tenor: Nicholas Wright
** Soprano: Alison L'Estrange

Total Time: 70' 28"
Recorded in the church of SS. Peter and Paul, Deddington, Oxfordshire,
24–25 September 2005, 18 March 2006.
OPMS CD427



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Choral Music by John Rutter,
Bob Chilcott and Harvey Brough

Jacqueline Dankworth
Oxford Pro Musica Singers
Oxford Company of Musicians
Conducted by Michael Smedley

OxRecs OXCD-96



'Feel the Spirit' is a set of seven arrangements of well-known spirituals, first performed in 2001. It is performed on this recording by the acclaimed jazz singer Jacqueline Dankworth in its chamber-ensemble arrangement. Harvey Brough's 'Walled Garden Suite' for soloist, choir and instrumental quartet was written for Dankworth and first performed on the occasion of the opening of the walled garden at Wingfield Arts in Suffolk.

Of the two collections by Bob Chilcott on this CD, 'Fragments from his Dish' is a group of five light-hearted part-songs on the themes of food and drink. The programme concludes with 'The Making of the Drum', settings of words by Barbadian poet Edward Kamau Braithwaite, commissioned from Bob Chilcott by OPMS on the occasion of the choir's twentieth anniversary in 1997. It tells the story of the making of a traditional African drum and is heavily influenced by the style of African tribal music.

'Dankworth sings plaintively with chorus and orchestra the seven spirituals, "Feel the Spirit", ... and the young Harvey Brough's attractive "Walled Garden Suite", which was written for her and choir with three winds and guitar in 2001. But the most appealing pieces on this CD are unaccompanied SATB by Bob Chilcott: "Fragments from his Dish", all about food, and a wonderful cycle about making a Ugandan drum.'
Choir and Organ

Feel the Spiritarr. John Rutter
Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho
Steal away
I got a Robe
Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child
Ev'ry time I feel the Spirit
Deep River
When the Saints go marching in

Walled Garden SuiteHarvey Brough
The Argument(Robert Herrick)
Red Running Rue(Traditional)
To Daffodils(Robert Herrick)
On Himself(Robert Herrick)

Fragments From His DishBob Chilcott
Grace – The Clean Platter(Robert Herrick/Ogden Nash)
The Pie(Newcastle Chronicle, January 6, 1770)
Harvest in my Croft(William Langland)
Christmas 1666(Samuel Pepys)
Whines from the Wood(G.K. Chesterton)

The Making of the DrumBob Chilcott
The Skin
The Barrel of the Drum
The Two Curved Sticks of the Drummer
Gourds and Rattles
The Gong-Gong

Total Time: 68'50"
Recorded in St Margaret's Church, Oxford, 22–23 March 2003.
OxRecs OXCD-96



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Sacred Choral Music

Oxford Pro Musica Singers
Conducted by Michael Smedley

Proudsound PROU CD 136



This CD features music by three of today's most popular composers of sacred music. Sir John Tavener, born in London in 1944, became well-known for his cantata of 1968, 'The Whale', but it is the music he has written since the 1980s, with the strong influence of Eastern Orthodoxy, that have made him a household name, including the 'Song for Athene', sung at the funeral of Princess Diana. The works on this CD, including seven first recordings, all date from this period.

The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) and the Pole Henryk Górecki (b. 1933) also achieved widespread popularity later in their careers when their style changed and they began producing deeply affecting, somewhat minimalist music. This CD, which was among the first to present this hauntingly beautiful repertoire on record, was awarded a prestigious rosette in the Penguin CD Guide.

'All of the music is wonderfully well sung with precise intonation and a full-bodied sound. With such an illuminating programme (in all senses), this disc should attain a richly deserved success.'
Gramophone

'The whole programme is gloriously sung and this well rehearsed group sustains tension as movingly at pianissimo level as they do in the great arching climaxes.'
Penguin CD Guide

AnnunciationJohn Tavener
Ikon of the NativityJohn Tavener
The LambJohn Tavener
A NativityJohn Tavener
Today the VirginJohn Tavener
The Lord's PrayerJohn Tavener
Many YearsJohn Tavener
Wedding PrayerJohn Tavener
He Hath Entered the HeavenJohn Tavener
The AcclamationJohn Tavener
MagnificatArvo Pärt
SummaArvo Pärt
Euntes IbantHenryk Górecki
Totus TuusHenryk Górecki
AmenHenryk Górecki

Total Time: 77'12"
Recorded in St Barnabas' Church, Oxford, October 1993.
Proudsound PROU CD 136



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17 Choral Arrangements of Popular Songs

Oxford Pro Musica Singers
Alexander L'Estrange, piano
Conducted by Michael Smedley

Proudsound PROU CD 141




We are glad to say that this CD is available once again.

This programme of sophisticated choral arrangements of popular songs encompasses jazz favourites, songs from the shows and the title track – a wordless version of Glenn Miller's immortal big band tune. Including both accompanied and a capella tracks, the numbers on this CD – blues, swing, scat, Dixieland and sophisticated close-harmony - are easy listening of the best sort and not to be missed.

All the songs on this recording are from In The Mood, edited by David Blackwell and Andrew Carter and published by Oxford University Press

Ain't misbehavin'Waller and Brooks/Razaf
Autumn LeavesKosmer/Mercer and Parsons
Begin the BeguinePorter
Blue MoonRodgers/Hart
The ContinentalConrad/Magidson
Deep Purplede Rose/Parish
I got rhythmG & I Gershwin
LauraRaskin/Mercer
Let's do itPorter
Over the rainbowArlen/Harburg
She was beautifulMyers/Laine
Smoke gets in your eyesKern/Harbach
SummertimeG & I Gershwin and D & D Heyward
'S wonderfulG & I Gershwin
Tea for TwoYoumans/Caesar
Night and dayPorter
In the moodGarland

Total Time: 55'30"
Recorded in The School of St Helen and St Katharine, Abingdon, May 1995.
Proudsound PROU CD 141



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25 Folk Songs

Oxford Pro Musica Singers
Conducted by Michael Smedley

Proudsound PROU CD 137



Drawing on the rich musical heritage of folk music in the British Isles and North America, much of it collected during the great folk-song revival at the turn of the twentieth century, this CD presents twenty-five folksongs in arrangements by Vaughan Williams, Holst, Grainger and others: fifteen from various parts of England and ten from Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the USA and Canada. The folk tunes are all well-known favourites and these superb arrangements and fine performances are a treat.

This is a complete recording of Folk Songs for Choirs, Books 1 and 2, edited by John Rutter and published by Oxford University Press

Among the leaves so green, OEnglish folk song, arr. John Byrt
Bushes and BriarsEnglish folk song, arr. Donald James
Black SheepTraditional American lullaby, arr. Rutter
Bobby ShaftoeScottish folk song, arr. David Willcocks
Dashing AwayTraditional, arr. John Rutter
Early One MorningEnglish folk song, arr. David Willcocks
GreensleevesEnglish traditional, arr. Vaughan Williams
Londonderry AirIrish melody, arr. Percy Grainger
My Sweetheart's like VenusWelsh folk song, arr. Gustav Holst
O Waly, WalySomerset folk song, arr. John Rutter
She's Like the SwallowNewfoundland folk song, arr. E.T. Chapman
Sourwood MountainTennessee folk song, arr. John Rutter
Afton WaterScottish folk song/Burns, arr. Willcocks
Brigg FairLincolnshire folk song, arr. Percy Grainger
Ca' the YowesScottish folk song/Burns, arr. R.V.W.
Faithful JohnnyScottish traditional, arr. John Byrt
I Love My LoveCornish folk song, arr. Gustav Holst
Strawberry FairWest-country folk song, arr. Donald James
Swansea TownWelsh folk song, arr. Gustav Holst
The Keel RowTyneside traditional, arr. John Byrt
The Oak and the AshOld English air, arr. Edward Bairstow
The Sailor and Young NancyNorfolk folk song, arr. Ernest John Moeran
The Three RavensTraditional ballad, arr. Edward T. Chapman
The Turtle DoveEnglish folk song, arr. Vaughan Williams
Yarmouth FairNorfolk folk tune, arr. Peter Warlock,
adap. C. Armstrong Gibbs


Total Time: 74'40"
Recorded in St Martin's Church, East Woodhay, July 1994.
Proudsound PROU CD 137



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Christmas Songs and Carols from Oxford

Oxford Pro Musica Singers
Timothy Bennett, baritone
Conducted by Michael Smedley

Proudsound PROU CD 134




THIS is the album that should be stuck in your CD player this Christmas! Starting with a collection of superb choral arrangements of some of the best-known and loved Christmas songs from the twentieth century, this album of Christmas music also includes favourite carols from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries and from Spain, Britain and North America.

The first nine items comprise the collection Follow that Star, published by Chester Music

Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasMartin and Blane, arr. Peter Gritton
Winter WonderlandSmith/Bernard, arr. Peter Gritton
Follow that StarPeter Gritton
An Olde RhymeTraditional/Gritton
Santa Claus is Coming to TownGillespie/Coot, arr. Peter Gritton
Mary's Boy ChildHairston, arr. Peter Gritton
Just Another StarJenkins and Barratt, arr. Peter Gritton
The Christmas SongTormé and Wells, arr. Peter Gritton
Deck the HallTraditional, arr. Peter Gritton
Ding Dong Merrily on HighHarmony by Charles Wood
Silent NightFranz Gruber, arr. Michael Smedley
The Angel GabrielOld Basque, arr. Edgar Pettman
A Spotless RoseHerbert Howells
I Wonder as I WanderJohn Rutter
The LambJohn Tavener
A NativityJohn Tavener
Today the VirginJohn Tavener
GaudeteC15th English
Riu Riu Chiu!C16th Spanish
The Coventry CarolC16th English, arr. Martin Shaw
The Three KingsPeter Cornelius, arr. Ivor Atkins
In Dulci JubiloC14th, arr. Robert Pearsall
The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boyarr. David Blackwell
Mary had a Babyarr. David Blackwell
Jingle! BellsJ. Pierpont, arr. David Blackwell


Total Time: 68'04"
Recorded in the chapel of Hertford College, Oxford, 23–25 April 1993.
Proudsound PROU CD 134



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Music for Royal and National
Occasions by Sir Arthur Sullivan

Alison Roddy, Leigh Woolf,
Stephen Brown, Leon Berger
Oxford Pro Musica Singers
Oxford Company of Musicians
Conducted by Michael Smedley

Symposium Records CD 1247

Although Sir Arthur Sullivan's collaborations with W.S. Gilbert remain extremely popular, much of his other music has fallen into obscurity. This CD aims to change that, and contains a number of first recordings, foremost among them 'Kenilworth'. First performed at the Birmingham Festival of 1864, this cantata for solo voices, chorus and orchestra is among the composer's earliest works and takes as its subject the famous visit of Queen Elizabeth I to the Earl of Leicester's Kenilworth Castle in 1575 – nineteen days of extravagance thought to have inspired Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The ceremonial odes, from 1886 and 1887, have not been heard since their first performance, and the neglected masterpiece, the 'Boer War Te Deum', is recorded here in its full scoring for the first time.

'Grand Victoriana here, with something high-stepping and curvaceous provocatively suggestive of footlights amid the pomp and gentility. ...Spirited performances, clear recording, excellent booklet.'
Gramophone


Ode on the opening of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886
Kenilworth: a Masque of the Days of Queen Elizabeth
Introduction – A Summer Night
Hark, the sound that hails a king
I have slept beneath the water
Let Fauns the cymbal ring
Slow Dance, with a Burthen
I am the Ruler of the Sea
Place for the Queen!
The Play – How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank
A Brisk Dance
Finale – After banquet, play, and riot
Ode for the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the Imperial Institute
The Long Day Closes
Te Deum Laudamus: A Thanksgiving for Victory


Total Time: 78'20"
Recorded in St Barnabas' Church, Oxford, 26–27 February 1999.
Issued in association with the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society.
Symposium Records CD 1247

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Choral Music by Antony le Fleming

Oxford Pro Musica Singers
St Cecilia Players
Conducted by Michael Smedley

Meridian CDE 84360

Antony le Fleming was born in Wiltshire in 1941 and after taking his degree at Cambridge studied with Herbert Howells and Malcolm Arnold. His entire career has been spent in music, and composition – in a classical and notably English mode – has increasingly occupied his time. This CD contains several examples of le Fleming's works for choral forces, from the lavish three-movement, double-choir 'Cantate Domino' to the reflective a capella 'Holy Innocents'. OPMS are joined on this recording by the St Cecilia Players, made up of musicians from the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields.


Cantate Domino
O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song
O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness
Let the Heavens Rejoice
Nunc Dimittis
Magnificat
My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord
He Remembering His Mercy
Nocturnes
A Winter's Night(William Barnes)
Air Raid Across the Bay at Plymouth(Stephen Spender)
In the Still of the Night(Cole Porter)
The Midnight Skaters(Edmund Blunden)
Slumber Song(Siegfried Sassoon)
Holy Innocents(Christina Rossetti)
Save Me O God


Total Time: 60'57"
Recorded in the chapel of Merton College, Oxford, and the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building, Oxford, 1997.
Meridian CDE 84360

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Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

Oxford Pro Musica Singers
Robert Patterson, piano
Conducted by Michael Smedley


In 2004 the choir premiered and made the first commercial recording of this set of SATB songs, setting poems by George Mackay Brown, commissioned by Making Music. It is available to download, or on a custom-made CD, from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' website, MaxOpus.com.


The Kestrel Road
The Scarecrow in the Schoolmaster's Oats
Roads
Ikey crosses the Ward Hill
The Laird
Windfall
Girl


Total Time: 18'02"
Recorded in the Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 22 November 2004.

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