14 Oxford

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6 courses in Stress Management: 300+ ways - THIS is the most COMPREHENSIVE COURSE on stress management!

Benjamin Nicholas and his Choir of Merton College Oxford present a starlit celebration of Advent choral music and Christmas carols from composers old and new.

The Choir of St John's College, Oxford, directed by David Bannister, sing music associated with Christmas, together with youthful work by Imogen Holst and Benjamin Britten. Looking towards the sixtieth anniversary of Elizabeth Poston's Penguin Book of Carols (1965), initially undertaken with Ralph Vaughan Williams, the recording presents music associated with these two composers and the works they edited, alongside newer pieces exemplifying and revivifying the English carol tradition.

This recording focusses on arrangements made by Vaughan Williams for The Oxford Book of Carols (1928), coupled with two later carols published by OUP. Many of the tunes are far from well-known and deserve a new audience. 10 of the 22 tracks are first recordings, but reserve the right to have overlooked one or two amidst the vast but very mixed heritage of recorded carols. The preface to The Oxford Book of Carols tells us that: "Variety in the method of singing is even more important than with hymns, and the verses should never be sung straight through all in the same way". In this spirit the choir’s director, William Vann, has prepared the carols for recording with a mixture of accompanied, unaccompanied and solo verses. Few of these carols are likely to have been undertaken by a congregation; this recording by a choir of distinguished professional singers presents the carols at their best, supported by the Henry Willis organ of St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead, in half of the carols.

Oxford’s Somerville College Choir under its director Will Dawes presents this compelling new programme of seasonal choral works solely by female composers from across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and including no fewer than eleven world premieres. This wide-ranging selection of repertoire reflects Somerville’s unique role as the only non-denominational college chapel at Oxford, as well as remaining true to its founding principle of enabling women. Together these works tell a different story of the nativity but also of the times we live in, when diversity and equality capture the spirit not only of Christ, but Christmas itself.

Oxford’s Somerville College Choir under its director Will Dawes presents this compelling new programme of seasonal choral works solely by female composers from across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and including no fewer than eleven world premieres. This wide-ranging selection of repertoire reflects Somerville’s unique role as the only non-denominational college chapel at Oxford, as well as remaining true to its founding principle of enabling women. Together these works tell a different story of the nativity but also of the times we live in, when diversity and equality capture the spirit not only of Christ, but Christmas itself.

"Be Still, My Soul - Hymns from Magdalen" is a CD release featuring The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, led by Mark Williams.