Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys

The Saint Thomas Choir is considered by major critics both at home and abroad to be one of the outstanding choral ensemble of the Anglican musical tradition in the United States today. Besides offering a full annual concert series with orchestra, the Choir of fourteen men and eighteen boys sings at five weekly principal worship services of the Church, preparing an astounding four hundred pieces of sacred music a year. The Men of the Choir are professional singers; the Boys attend Saint Thomas Choir School, the only church-related residential choir school in the United States, and one of only four similar schools remaining in the world. Prior to his arrival at Saint Thomas, Gordon Roland-Adams, the current headmaster, was for a decade headmaster of Westminster Abbey Choir School.

Far more than a “music school,” Saint Thomas Choir School is a fully accredited academic institution for boys from eight to fourteen, with a study program of English, mathematics, history, science, art, Latin, French, music theory, and instrumental instruction on such instruments as piano, viola, cello, flute, trumpet, and clarinet. Situated in a striking building a block from Carnegie Hall, the School provides a warm family atmosphere where the boys are taught by nine full-time teachers and ten part-time instructors, and prepared by graduation to go on to leading preparatory schools or return home to local secondary schools. Approximately eight new boys are accepted each year on the basis of vocal aptitude (with or without previous musical training), scholastic ability, and suitability for the chorister lifestyle. Maximum enrollment in the Choir School is forty boys, all of whom receive substantial financial support from Saint Thomas Church.

The Saint Thomas Choir was the first American group invited to be the choir-in-residence at King’s College, Cambridge; they have concertized and sung services at Westminster Abbey, Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London, and the Aldeburgh and King’s Lynn Festivals in England. They have appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland, Pittsburgh, American, and other symphony orchestras at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and they gave the world premiere performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem with Placido Domingo at Saint Thomas, taped by the BBC and televised internationally. In 1993, the Choir along with Jessye Norman sang a special concert benefiting the Store Front School. The Choir’s concerts and services are frequently telecast and broadcast nationally and abroad, and they have recorded both their own repertory of music from the fifteenth century to contemporary works as well as popular songs with such artists as Judy Collins and Carly Simon.

The Saint Thomas Choir is trained and conducted by Master of Choristers, Dr. Gerre Hancock.

Discography

A Cappella II

This disc, featuring a variety of sacred works by 20th-century composers and arrangers, fully measures up to this revered choir's reputation for first-rate singing and for being what can only be described as America's finest English cathedral choir. Everything from the bright, prominent treble tone to the enunciation and inflection--even the choir's vestments--comes from the long-established Anglican tradition, and under the careful tutelage of director Gerre Hancock these choristers have nothing to apologize for, either in technique or in musicianly command of the repertoire. The repertoire includes several traditional favorites--Stanford's Latin motets, for example--along with works closely associated with Saint Thomas, including choir-member Anthony Piccolo's beautiful anthem Heaven and Heart, T. Tertius Noble's Go to Dark Gethsemane, and Hancock's own arrangement of the Spiritual Deep River. Along the way we encounter the intensely overwrought and way-too-long Magnificat by Alan Gray and the tedious-and-fussy Vox dicentis by Edward Naylor. Stanford's gorgeous but extremely tricky motets provide many moments of listening pleasure but also reveal their challenges as the choir trebles struggle with intonational control in several places, especially in the somewhat cumbersome and awkwardly written eight-part Coelos ascendit hodie (no choir sings this piece well) and in the opening and closing bars of Beati quorum via.

Choral Music of Benjamin Britten

The 29 men and boys of New York City's renowned Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys present the choral music of British composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976). Included are "Te Deum in C Major," "A Hymn of St. Columba," "Jubilate Deo in C," "Hymn to St. Cecilia, Op 27," "Prelude and Fugue on a Theme of Vittoria," "Hymn to St. Peter" and the 7 movements of "Rejoice in the Lamb, Op. 30." Britten's compositions are brilliant, eclectic and difficult to perform, but they are handled beautifully and seemingly effortlessly by the Choir. There is some organ accompaniment. A fine collection of the works of a British master composer, by one of America's great all-male choirs.

Anthem - Edward Bairstow Choral Music

Blessed city, heavenly Salem
Jesu, the very thought of thee
Let my prayer come up
I will was my hands in innocency
I sat down under his shadow
Lord, thou hast been our refuge
Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Communion Service in D
Sanctus
Benedictus
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Evening service in D
Magnificat
Nunc Dimittis
Sing ye to the Lord
Rhapsody in C-sharp minor, Op. 17, No. 3

6918 CD $15.98

Vaughan Williams - Kodaly

Hungary's Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) and England's Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958 ) were contemporaries who composed beautiful, dramatic Christian sacred music. NYC's Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys brings us examples of the best work of the two men, the 8 movements of Kodaly's "Missa Brevis" and the 6 movements of Williams' "Mass in G Minor." Now 75 years old, the Mass has long been a masterpiece of the first order, calling for no formal analysis. An extraordinary interplay of solo voices and choir, this powerful revival of Tudor church music places the listen at the very center of a medieval cathedral choir. "Missa Brevis," written by Kodaly in the middle of WWII, is a dramatic sacred piece that carries us aloft with the main theme of the Kyrie, finally bringing us back to a quieter space with "Sanctus Larghetto," "Benedictus—Tranquillo, Larghetto. Beautiful, stunning music performed by the pride of New York City, the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys.

Most Sacred Banquet

Considered by major critics both here and abroad to be the outstanding choral ensemble of the Anglican musical tradition in the US today. The 12 men, who are professional singers, and 18 boys, who are students at NYC's St. Thomas Choir School, one of 4 such schools in the world. Included here are 14 songs, some accompanied by the massive St. Thomas Church organ. There are single pieces by Poulenc ("Exultate Deo"), Messiaen ("O sacrum convivium), and Cesar Franck's "Psalm 150;" 4 tunes by Maurice Durufle, and 5 tunes by Jean Langlais, ("Kyrie," "Gloria," "Sanctus," "Benedictus" and "Agnus Dei").

6919 CD $15.98

To find a specific song on any recording (or to find recordings by group name or CD title),
pick the search method and type the item you are searching for here: