The Bach Choir on CD
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The Bach Choir's latest collaboration with Naxos sees the release of Delius's A Mass of Life, completed in 1905 using selected text from Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra. The work was not performed in full until 1909, almost exactly 100 years before The Bach Choir's performance in May 2009 at the Royal Festival Hall. It was recorded in November 2011 with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Alan Opie again amongst the soloists, and is released to coincide with Delius's 150th birthday. The singing is described as 'suitably majestic for Nietzsche's vision of mankind's destiny' (Observer), with the BSO and soloists in magnificent form.
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The Bach Choir's latest carols CD is The Colours of Christmas, a delightful compilation of carols written and arranged by John Rutter, who conducts the Choir and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on this disc. With the Choir's singing described as 'classy and faultless' (Daily Mail), the CD reached No 3 in the Classical Charts at Christmas 2011.
Other recordings in the Naxos English music series include Vaughan Williams' rarely recorded pieces Sancta Civitas and Dona Nobis Pacem. Written in 1936, the cantata Dona Nobis Pacem sets powerful Biblical texts alongside those by Walt Whitman and John Bright and is both a warning that mankind was sliding disastrously towards another war and a plea for a world without strife. The oratorio Sancta Civitas - which Vaughan Williams later described as the favourite of his choral works - strikingly deploys vocal and orchestral forces to depict the battle between good and evil from the book of Revelation.
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The recording, which also features the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, has been widely acclaimed, and was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award.
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Carl Rütti's Requiem - also on the Naxos label - was commissioned by The Bach Choir and first performed by the Choir in 2008. It is a powerful and captivating setting of seven movements of the Requiem mass.
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The Bach Choir's disc of Great Handel Choruses, released in April 2009, has been widely acclaimed all over the world. Recorded in May 2008 at St John's, Smith Square, with
soloists Carolyn Sampson and Robin Blaze the CD includes many favourites and some less-well-known gems.
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Recorded at Poole Lighthouse, another of The Bach Choir's recent releases features two works of Herbert Howells - his
great Hymnus Paradisi and a newly discovered early work, Sir Patrick Spens, never before recorded. Andrew
Stewart wrote in classic fm magazine: "David Hill's deeply felt account of the Hymnus paradisi, fine solo
contributions and glorious all-round music making make this an unmissable release".
The Bach Choir gave the first London performance of Sir Patrick Spens in the Royal Festival Hall on
Thursday 27 November 2008.
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In contrast, another release is an historic recording of JS Bach Cantatas BWV6 and BWV140, made in 1955 at
Abbey Road Studios and sung in English. This CD includes the very first complete work recorded in stereo by EMI.
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The Bach Choir was delighted to work with the Black Dyke Band on the premiere recording of Philip Wilby's A Bronte Mass.
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The Bach Choir is much in demand for film scores and has featured on the soundtracks of Ridley Scott's
blockbuster, Kingdom of Heaven, Disney's Chronicles of Narnia, Dreamworks' Shrek the Third, Walden Media's City of Ember, Ridley Scott's Robin Hood and, most recently, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.
The Bach Choir has many other recordings to its name, ranging across the full repertoire from Bach and Handel
to Britten, Walton and Mathias. The Choir even provided backing for
The Rolling Stones track You Can't Always Get What You Want on the album Let it Bleed!
Listen to clips from some of The Bach Choir's recordings
The following is a brief selection of some more of the Choir's recordings:
Praise! A collection of works for choir, brass, organ and percussion, including John Rutter Gloria. Priory
Records PRCD 641
Noël! - A Selection of Carols and Anthems. Priory Records PRCD 768
Britten War Requiem, conducted by the composer. Decca / Philips CD 414 383-2
Handel L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. Virgin Classics VCD 5454172
Walton Belshazzar's Feast. Chandos CHAN 8760
For further information on these or other Bach Choir recordings, please contact
recordings@thebachchoir.org.uk.
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