The King's College Choir dates back to the 15th century, but St. Michael's was founded much closer to our own time - in 1856 by Sir Frederick Ouseley, a composer and cleric who wanted to preserve the performance of Anglican church music.
Unfortunately, Ouseley's vision lasted only 130 years - the school closed in 1985, and its buildings are now used by a boarding school for international students, King's College Saint Michaels. Before closing, the choir school did produce at least four LPs. This album was, I believe, its first, being recorded in 1964 and released the following year on Argo records.
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| Vintage postcard |
The choir does well under the experienced direction of Lucian Nethsingha, who was later at Exeter Cathedral for many years. Nethsingha's son, Andrew, is now the music director at St. John's College, Cambridge. Argo's sound is closer than you typically hear with such programs, but nonetheless pleasing.
This post is the result of a request on a classical forum by a former teacher at St. Michael's College. I also have a Christmas LP released the year before the choir school's closing. I plan to present that record during the upcoming holiday season.
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| Group portrait, 1960s |
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12 comments:
Link (Apple lossless):
https://mega.nz/#!zYUkHYiS!uAB_1S1p08eqd98xr86ojRZ87_QXiKSoYmD_-TWXP04
Many thanks again, Buster, for this upload. I think this valuable document is otherwise Lost in the Vaults....... Much appreciated as always.
P
Thanks for this beautiful compilation.
Buster, thanks this is wonderful, as suggested above many records like this disappear into collections and never get released again. "Other such choirs" hides the fact that most English Cathedrals and many Oxbridge Colleges still maintain all-male choirs singing Evensong almost daily. The worldwide domination of King's, thanks to the BBC, is a little irksome to them. (I hope my bias doesn't show too much.)
Of course - you are more than welcome.
Andrew - In that regard, see the back of this LP. There is a long list of King's recordings; another list of St. John's records, then a set of one-offs from St. Michael's and sundry cathedrals.
The late writer John Steane focused on great classical singers in his writing for THE GRAMOPHONE (and in his several books) but also was clearly devoted to the English college and cathedral choirs and reviewed their recorded work, which gave me a chance to learn more about them.
It seems to be common in the UK for choral directors to become major all-around conductors, more so than in the US. I think of instances like Philip Ledger, Raymond Leppard, and Richard Hickox, and no doubt there are many more.
JAC - Yes, that's true - one notable example is Malcolm Sargent.
LOST SUMMER LOVE: A MUSICAL NARRATIVE This is an autumn-themed mix, meant to augment the almost sacred sense of loss that comes every September and October. I call it, "Lost Summer Love: A Musical Narrative." It falls into 5 parts:
Part One: "This Time It's Forever," starts with Dinah Washington's cover of Nat King Cole's 1963 hit, "That Sunday, That Summer." Two Lennon-McCartney songs follow: "Things We Said Today," sung by Barb Jungr and "Here, There and Everywhere," in 2 versions--the first by Singers Unlimited, the second by modern-day Reinhardt-Grappelly soundalikes, the Hot Club of San Francisco. "Summer Love," follows, arranged by Ralph Burns and featuring Zoot Sims. The rapture begins rupture with 2 versions of a Hal Kemp song, "(How I'll Miss You) When Summer is Gone"--Kemp's 1929 original and a 1947 Tex Beneke revival.
Part Two: "The Big Chill," starts with Chet Baker's 1957 recording of a 1945 George Handy's "Forgetful." Inner doubts find outer omens, starting with Harold Arlen's, "Ill Wind," sung by Billie Holiday. The chill factor deepens as June Christy sings Russ Freeman's "The Wind." Then two vintage loss songs: "Gentle Touches of Wind” from 1928 by Hawaii's Kalama Quartet and Leslie A Hutchinson's 1930 version of "Wind in the Willows." Frank Sinatra sounds the final ‘blow’ of fate with "The Summer Wind."
Part Three: "Sounds in the Night" begins exploration of present-tense feelings with Russ Garcia's 1957 choral recording of a song by the same name. Fred Waring chimes in with "Deep Purple." Then back to the 1920s for: "When Summer's Gone" by the Glasgow Orpheus Choir, and a different song with the same name, recorded by Arthur Rosenberry.
Part Four: "The Last Rose of Summer" is presented twice--first from 1941 by a BBC choral group, the Kentucky Minstrels and second by Nina Simone. Fall arrives with a 1933 recording by bandleader-vocalist Will Osborne, "When Autumn Comes Around." Clare Fischer's own original, "When Autumn Comes," is next. French singer Barbara's heart-rending "Septembre" follows.
Part Five: "Facing the Music" gathers final-reckoning songs starting with 2 versions of a forgotten ballad, "I'll Remember Suzanne," recorded by Gene Krupa in November 1944 and then the only contemporary version I have ever found, by Joe Derise from 1977. "The Ghost of Your Past," recorded by Matt Monro in 1960, segues to a motivating song for this mix, "It All Comes Back to Me Now," a big hit for several bands in 1941. Both versions here (the 2nd courtesy of Buster) feature singer David Allyn. We hit bottom with Alex Wilder's "Where Do You Go," written for and rejected by Peggy Lee. One place you can't go is the past, as Irene Kral tells us in her version of Johnny Mandel's "Don't Look Back." Before, you'll hear Jennie Smith's 1962 recording of Steve Allen's "They've Got a Lot to Learn."
I end optimistically, starting with Bobby Troup's rebound-song, "This October," written for his wife, Julie London in 1956, and, last reprise "That Sunday, That Summer," in Nat King Cole's memorable recording.
Why this mix? Songs are heightened by tasteful juxtaposition. Ones that gnaw gather cumulative power that beg for sharing in personalized contexts. For me, there are no such things as time warps. All songs belong to a Moebus strip that connects time in infinite nostalgia. This mix is for anyone who might be feeling the weight of a past love that can outweigh the present. It's at WeTransfer for a week.
https://we.tl/t-7ci9ssPHm8
Hi Buster, as i lie in bed recuperating from food poisoning, I am trying to file away several recent MP3 albums in my collection.
This one is one of them. A very pleasant listening experience indeed.
But my question is, how would you catalog it, season wise?
Thank you.
Hi Bryan - I doesn't really have a season, for anthems are used in the service throughout the year. Hope you feel better soon!
Thanks, Buster.
I will place it then in a folder for something like all-purpose. Then I will come up with a better name to call it.
Also, thank you for the good wishes.
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