The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford

Program: #94-11   Air Date: Mar 14, 1994

Preservation of this program is made possible by a generous grant in memory of Susan Perrott Coar.

I. The English Anthem Collection from Oxford (Choir of Magdalen College Oxford/John Harper). Alto 4 CD ALC 4001.

The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, was founded in 1480. Magdalen College was then one of the oldest and largest choral foundations in late medieval England. That historic legacy has been preserved and maintained over five centuries. The Choir exists primarily to sing the daily church services in Magdalen College Chapel. They also sing at a number of special occasions throughout the year, including the famous May Day celebrations, an ancient tradition dating back to 1509.

In recent years Magdalen College Choir has toured Japan, USA, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Germany and France; concert appearances have included the BBC Proms and Cadogan Hall. Recent orchestral performances have included collaborations with Phantasm, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Britten Sinfonia and the Academy of Ancient Music; the Choir also features on a number of recent film soundtracks. The earliest recordings of the Choir date from the 1960s, under the legendary directorship of Dr. Bernard Rose. More recently, a series of discs on the Harmonia Mundi label saw a nomination in 2004 for a Gramophone Award.

Track Listing - Disc 2

Track Listing - Disc 3

Track Listing - Disc 4

II. Music for a May Morning (Choir of Magdalen College Oxford/Bill Ives). Recording no longer available.

One of the great traditions in Oxford is that of May Morning, the time when the city celebrates the coming of Spring. Since the early 16th century, the first day of May has begun at 6am with Magdalen College Choir singing from the top of the Great Tower, welcoming the rising sun. The occasion typically attracts crowds of thousands of people to the High Street below, bringing together Oxford's communities to enjoy dancing, singing and revelry, and to listen to the Choir from the foot of the Tower.

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Composer Info

William Byrd (1543-1623) , Thomas Morley (ca. 1557-1602), John Farmer (ca. 1570- after 1601), Richard Farrant (1525-1580), Philip van Wilder (1500-1553), Christopher Tye (1505-1572), Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505- 1585), John Sheppard (1515-1558), Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), Thomas Weelkes (1575-1623) , Les Tomkins, Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656), John Blow (1649-1708), Henry Purcell (1659-1695), William Croft (1678-1727), Maurice Greene (1696-1755), William Boyce (1711-1779), Jonathan Battishill (1738-1801), Thomas Attwood (1765-1838), Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876), Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley (1825-1889), John Stainer (1840-1901), Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924), Hubert Parry (1848-1918), Charles Wood (1886-1926), Edward Bairstow (1874-1946), John Ireland (1879-1962), Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), Gerald Finzi (1901-1956), Gustav Holst (1874-1934), Herbert Howells (1892-1983), William Walton (1902-1983), Roy James Stewart, Bernard Rose (1916-1996), John Joubert (1927-2019), Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), William H. Harris (1883-1973), Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012), Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989), John Tavener (1944-2013), Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012), Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988), Adriano Banchieri (1568-1634), William Cornyshe (1470-1523), Thomas Ford (1580-1648), Anthony Holborne (1545-1602), Thomas Morley (1557-1602), John Bull (1562-1628), Clément Janequin (1485-1558), Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612), Robert Lucas Pearsall (1795-1856), Sir Henry Rowley Bishop (1786-1855), John Liptrot Hatton (1808-1886), Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621), Mátyás Seiber (1905-1960), Daryl Runswick (1946-), Gordon Langford (1930-2017) , Benjamin Rogers,

CD Info

Alto 4 CD ALC 4001,