Oxford File

In the stillness of a midnight stable, a babe is born … In the stillness of an Oxford chapel on a winter’s afternoon, a girl’s voice sings. The newest star in Oxford’s – and Delphian’s – choral firmament, the girl choristers of Merton College have been singing services under the directorship of Benjamin Nicholas for less than five years: in their debut album recording, supported by the lower voices of the Chapel Choir, they tell once more in music from across the centuries the timeless Christmas story of light, hope and joy for a troubled world.

Conductor Benjamin Nicholas draws parallels between the familiar English choral sound of Howells and that of contemporary composer Ian Venables. Venables’ Requiem has already been warmly received by critics in a 2020 recording with just organ accompaniment. Now, Nicholas and his Merton College choir present it in an orchestrated version made specially for this recording.

Resurrexi!, recorded in 2021 in the Victorian splendour of Keble College Chapel, celebrates Easter in music – a full mass sequence based around Mozart’s Spaurmesse K. 258, interspersed with plainchant and a treasury of Viennese classical sacred music by Joseph and Michael Haydn. The result offers an imaginary recreation of an opulent service that might have been heard at Vienna’s Stephansdom, or at the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg’s court.

THE OXTET DOES HINDEMITH from Josh Oxford is a bold reimagining of classical music in a jazz fusion context. In this album, Oxford revisits some of Paul Hindemith’s greatest works. Hindemith, a late Romantic German composer, lived during the first half of the 20th century and was among the most significant composers of his time. The album contains sonatas for trumpet, tuba, trombone, and more, in which tonically complex horn lines weave above a jazz band. Recorded at Pyramid Sound in Ithaca and at Ithaca College, the timbres of the various horns along with marimba, Fender Rhodes, drums, electric guitar and bass, and more, are rendered in high fidelity. THE OXTET DOES HINDEMITH features the music of this legendary composer as you’ve never heard it before.

Nobody knows why Mozart wrote three symphonies—his last, as fate decreed—in less than three months in the summer of 1788. Some say it was divine inspiration, others that he desperately needed a new income stream. Whatever the case, they stand among the great landmarks of the symphonic repertoire. The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and its founder-conductor, Marios Papadopoulos, in their expansive, lyrical interpretations of the last two of these works convey their nobility and classicism. They articulate countless details of rhythm and phrasing that all too often fly by in period-instrument performances, especially in the finale of Symphony No. 40 and the “Jupiter” Symphony’s opening “Allegro vivace,” the latter graced by superb string playing. While the prevailing mood is serious, there’s room for charm and lightness in the minuets of both symphonies.

In their first recording for CORO The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, with director Mark Williams, explore the repertoire that has provided the bedrock of the college’s musical life for the last 500 years, all of which was written for the end of the day. Much music associated with evening time is naturally calm and soothing, and would satisfy those seeking transcendental beauty in the form of unchallenging ‘sound baths’, but this collection also seeks to challenge, contrasting contemporary settings with music from the 16th century. We hope, through this range of works, to capture something of that liminal space between day and night that is characterised by Evensong, and to lead the listener into that ‘peace that passes all understanding’. The album showcases works by composers from John Sheppard to Joanna Marsh, and features much-loved pieces such as Hubert Parry’s Lord, let me know mine end and John Tavener’s The Lord’s Prayer as well as new additions to the Evensong repertory such as Grayston Ives’ In pace and Piers Connor Kennedy’s O nata lux.