BBC Singers

Splendid”, “magnificently sung”, “superbly sung”, “wonderful” – these are recent critical plaudits for the BBC Singers. Britain’s only full-time professional chamber choir is an ensemble internationally recognised as belonging to the first rank. Its breadth of repertoire and range of activities are unsurpassed anywhere else in the world. Established in 1924, the versatility of this virtuoso 24-voice ensemble is second to none. It is this flexibility which makes the Singers both an important resource in the broadcast music-making of the BBC and a significant presence in British musical life.

The BBC Singers’ breadth of repertoire is unrivalled by any other choral group, singing everything from Renaissance music to the latest contemporary scores. Their unique expertise with the latter has brought about creative relationships with some of the most important composers and conductors of the 20th and 21st centuries. At home on the concert platform, as much as in the recording studio, the BBC Singers regularly work with the BBC’s own orchestras, a wide range of period instrument and contemporary music ensembles and with a host of internationally-renowned conductors.

With a public profile that takes in concerts and broadcasts across the whole of the United Kingdom, a repertoire that embraces music ancient, modern, and all points in between, and a rapidly expanding education programme without equal on the British choral scene, the BBC Singers are a unique presence in the musical life of the UK. They are a world-class choral ensemble committed to sharing their enthusiasm and creative expertise with audiences and performers, amateurs and professionals, young and old, throughout the nation and across the whole spectrum of the choral community.

Discography

The Skin The Barrel of the Drum The Two Curved Sticks of the Drummer Gourds and Rattles The Gong - Gong My Prayer O sapientia O Adonai O Radix Jesse O Clavis David O Oriens O Rex Gentium O Emmanuel The Shepherd's Carol And Every Stone Shall Cry Pange Lingua The Runner The Last Invocation One's - Self I Singg Beach Simple Pictures of Tomorrow Weather Report

The world-renowned choral composer and conductor Bob Chilcott leads the BBC Singers, as well as the internationally recognised soloists Simone Rebello and Paul Silverthorne, in these new performances of some of his best and most loved choral works. The choir is renowned as an expert ensemble and here they sing splendidly under Chilcott's direction. The selection of music on this disc has been well made to give a good variety of perspectives on Bob Chilcott's choral output - a resourceful composer and one who writes exceptionally well for voices and he is superbly served here by the virtuosity of the BBC Singers. This is a glorious showcase of one of the finest choral composers at work in Britain today.

Dance, Clarion Air Plebs Angelica Magnificat Nunc Dimittis Unto The Hills England: Early One Morning Ireland: Lilliburlero Scotland: Poortith Cauld Wales: Gwenlian Over The Sea To Skye The Source The Windhover Lullaby Steal Away Nobody Knows Go Down, Moses By and by Deep River

When Sir Michael Tippett first worked with the BBC Singers in 1944, the experience was such that he recalled nearly 50 years later that “It was to be the first of many such occasions when a composer’s dreams were brought to fulfillment.” Tippett's relationship with the BBC Singers went back to almost the beginning of his career, and he often expressed intense admiration for them. His faith is rewarded here. Now under the Conductor Laureate, Stephen Cleobury, the present-day BBC Singers return the compliment with this program of his works for choir, both unaccompanied and with organ. The plaintive high solo of the Nunc Dimittis, floating above strange middle-range harmonies, soars worlds away from cosy Anglican convention. The 'sprung' rhythms of Dance Clarion Air and The Windhover have a muscular freedom unlike anything in contemporary English music. The strangely irregular figures Tipett waves around the tune in Over the Sea to Skye may seem over-ingenious at first, but by the end their quite hypnotic, at the same time challenging the ear to re-examine a very familiar melody.

Nowell Sing We Now - Bo Holten From Lands that see the Sun Arise - Steve Martland Make We Joy - Steve Martland There is no Rose of Such Virtue - Steve Martland I Wonder as I Wander - Carl Rutti Illuminare, Jerusalem - Judith Weir The Shepherdís Gift - Judith Bingham Corpus Christi Carol - Francis Grier The Fayrfax Carol - Thomas Ades The Shepherds Sing - Conrad Susa Today the Virgin - John Tavener Oczekiwanie (Waiting) - Jerzy Kornowicz O Magnum Mysterium - John Harbison Sleep, little Jesus, sleep - Roxanna Panufnik Romance of the Angels - Howard Goodall Mrs. Beetonís Christmas Plum Pudding - John Harle Nativitas - Jean Belmont Seinte Mari Moder Milde - James MacMillan Carol - Richard Rodney Bennett One Star, at Last - Peter Maxwell Davies

When an ensemble like the BBC Singers, renowned for its commitment to the music of our time, sets out to record a Christmas CD you can be sure that the repertoire will include material rather different from the usual run of popular standards and arrangements! One star, at last includes eight new carols (six of them specially-commissioned by BBC Radio 3), several premiere recordings, and a selection of music – serious and light-hearted, contemplative and joyful – by some of the leading British, European and North American choral composers of the day. Composers include Martland, Weir, Ades, MacMillan, Tavener, Kornowicz, Rodney Bennet and Harle.

Listen to "Make We Joy" in Real Audio.

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