Oxford File

The Choir of New College Oxford, one of the most acclaimed British choral ensembles, makes its Linn debut with a recording of works by the English Renaissance composer John Sheppard. New College Choir was already 150 years old when Sheppard arrived in Oxford intent on contributing to the wealth of choral polyphony that defined the era.

A selection of sacred and Christmas choral music published by Oxford University Press in Spring 2021, performed and recorded by renowned choral group, The Gesualdo Six. Includes music by Rutter, Quartel, and McGlade. “Ingeniously programmed and impeccably delivered, with that undefinable excitement that comes from a group of musicians working absolutely as one.” (Gramophone)

For the Choir of Merton College, Oxford’s first collaboration with Britten Sinfonia, Benjamin Nicholas has brought together a collection of sacred works from the first half of the twentieth century. A little - known fact is that these stalwarts of the English repertory were either originally intended to be heard with orchestra, or subsequently orchestrated by their composer or a close colleague. Written for enthronements, coronations and the nation’s grandest choral festivals, these national ‘standards’ are here brought back to life in Delphian’s largest recording to - date, their orchestral accompaniments affording them the richness, pomp and majesty associated with that epoch.

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.

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.

The juxtaposition of old and new which lies at the heart of much Christmas music lends this recording by the mixed-voice Choir of The Queen’s College Oxford its theme. The repertoire ranges in period from Hildegard of Bingen to pieces composed during the last few years. The central work – Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols – vividly encapsulates the intersection of ancient and modern, setting medieval and Renaissance texts, and drawing on plainchant as musical inspiration, while – in its series of fresh, vivid, and sharply-etched miniatures – eschewing the sentimentality which had become attached to Christmas and its music.

Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, murderer in 1590 of his guilty wife and her lover, later took a wife from the d’Este family, rulers of Ferrara, whose musical interests coincided with his own. He wrote a quantity of sacred and secular vocal music and a relatively small number of instrumental pieces. In style his music is unusual in its sudden changes of tonality, its harmony and its intensity of feeling, qualities that have found particular favour among some modern theorists.

Kyrie, the Missa Entre vous filles is Lassus at this freshest and most telling, and the Sanctus is particularly beautiful. The Missa Susanne un jour, however, is more ambitious, based on what Jeremy Summerly describes as ‘the most famous song of the 16th century—the l’homme arme of its day’. Moreover, as it deals with the Apocryphal Susanna who was accused of wanton behaviour by two elders after she had spurned their sexual advances, this was just the sort of parody model that had caused the Council of Trent to be upset, two decades earlier. However, it inspired Lassus to his richest polyphony, and many of his celebrants may not have been aware of the implications of the original chanson’s text.