Stephen Cleobury

Review: When Sir Michael Tippett first worked with the BBC Singers in 1944, the experience was such that he recalled nearly 50 years later that "It was to be the first of many such occasions when a composer's dreams were brought to fulfillment." Tippett's relationship with the BBC Singers went back to almost the beginning of his career, and he often expressed intense admiration for them. His faith is rewarded here. Now under the Conductor Laureate, Stephen Cleobury, the present-day BBC Singers return the compliment with this program of his works for choir, both unaccompanied and with organ. The plaintive high solo of the Nunc Dimittis, floating above strange middle-range harmonies, soars worlds away from cosy Anglican convention. The 'sprung' rhythms of Dance Clarion Air and The Windhover have a muscular freedom unlike anything in contemporary English music. The strangely irregular figures Tipett waves around the tune in Over the Sea to Skye may seem over-ingenious at first, but by the end their quite hypnotic, at the same time challenging the ear to re-examine a very familiar melody.

Songlist: Dance, Clarion Air, Plebs Angelica, Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, Unto The Hills, England: Early One Morning, Ireland: Lilliburlero, Scotland: Poortith Cauld, Wales: Gwenlian, Skye Boat Song, The Source, The Windhover, Lullaby, Steal Away, Nobody Knows, Go Down Moses, By and by, Deep River

Review: When an ensemble like the BBC Singers, renowned for its commitment to the music of our time, sets out to record a Christmas CD you can be sure that the repertoire will include material rather different from the usual run of popular standards and arrangements! One star, at last includes eight new carols (six of them specially-commissioned by BBC Radio 3), several premiere recordings, and a selection of music - serious and light-hearted, contemplative and joyful - by some of the leading British, European and North American choral composers of the day. Composers include Martland, Weir, Ades, MacMillan, Tavener, Kornowicz, Rodney Bennet and Harle.

Songlist: Nowell Sing We Now, From Lands that see the Sun Arise, Make we Joy, There is no Rose of Such Virtue, I Wonder as I Wander, Illuminare, Jerusalem, The Shepherd's Gift, Corpus Christi Carol, The Fayrfax Carol, The Shepherds Sing, Today the Virgin, Oczekiwanie (Waiting), O Magnum Mysterium, Sleep, little Jesus, sleep, Romance of the Angels, Mrs. Beeton's Christmas Plum Pudding, Nativitas, Seinte Mari Moder Milde, Carol, One Star, at Last

Review: Stephen Cleobury directed the choir with this fine collection of the many of the choir's classic Christmas repertoire.

Songlist: Once In Royal David's City, Rejoice And Be Merry, What Sweeter Music, Ding Dong! Merrily On High, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, A Spotless Rose, Heer Jezus Heeft Een Hofken, King Jesus Hath A Garden, The Lamb, Bogoroditze Dyevo, Infant Holy Infant Lowly, Illuminare Jerusalem, While Shepards Watched, Quittez Pasteurs, In Dulci Jubilo, The First Nowell, Coventry Carol, Personet Hodie, O Come All Ye Faithful

Review: This recording features Evening Prayer - Even song as it might be sung today in the chapel, albeit without the spoken parts - lessons and prayers. By way of comparrison, Vespers, still the evening office of the Roman Catholic Church, is also included, again without the spoken parts, and with some of the psalms omitted through lack of space.

Songlist: Vespers for the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Organ prelude / toccata (anon), Deus in adjutorium, Antiphon: Dum esset Rex, Psalm: Dixit Dominus, Antiphon: Laeva ejus, Psalm: Laudate pueri, Antiphon: Nigra Sum, Psalm: Laetatus sum, Antiphon: Iam hiems transit, Psalm: Nisi Dominus, Hymn: Ave Maris Stella, Antiphon: Beatam me dicent, Magnificat otavi toni, Evensong for Advent: Salve Regina (Francesco Cavalli), Benedicamus, Pieces & Responses, Psalm 50, Magnificat in D, Nunc Dimittis in D, Responses, Anthem: Lord, Thou hast been our Refuge, Hymn: Hark! A Herald Voice is Calling, Dismissal, Organ Voluntary

Review: The listener trying to get a basic grip on what medieval plainchant was all about could not ask for a better introduction than this release. The Choir of King's College, Cambridge gets back to its roots, so to speak, performing chants that could have been heard at the college's chapel half a millennium ago. With the chapel's magnificent acoustics as a backdrop, the album takes listeners through the series of decisions choristers would have made concerning what to sing. Those decisions began with the liturgical year, which called for specific chants corresponding to specific days in the cycle. "In this recording," writes John Milsom in his admirably clear and informative liner notes, "the annual cycle has been stopped at two points," both of them days connected with the birth of the Virgin Mary. A mass from one day and a Vespers service from the other are included. Some of the chants contain tropes that place them in their specific time and place. Both are presented more or less complete, with the connective tissue of text-bearing chants retained along with the big ornate pieces; Milsom compares focusing exclusively on the latter to cutting the illuminated initial letters out of a medieval manuscript. For most listeners, he points out, the experience of hearing chant is akin to that of strolling into a museum and looking at an illuminated manuscript; one experiences a richly colored, ornate thing that carries mystery associated with extreme age and remoteness in each case. But we get to the real mystery by trying to penetrate it a bit, and this recording is an ideal aid. Those who experience chant in a more mystical way will likewise benefit from this album; director Stephen Cleobury's tempos are deliberate, and he pulls back from time to time to let the sound of the choristers reverberate around the chapel.

Songlist: Mass For The Octave Of The Nativity Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, First Vespers For The Nativity Of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Review: There are of course many fine versions of Rachmaninov's Vespers with mixed-voice choirs, both within the Russian tradition (for which the work was written) and outside it. This is the first to feature a choir of boys' and men's voices only. The result, whose point of departure was a particularly fine crop of low basses at King's that year, blends one of the finest choirs in the English choral tradition with some of the finest music from the Russian tradition. Furthermore, the beautiful acoustics of King's College Chapel are ideal for this repertoire, since they are not unlike those of a Russian Orthodox cathedral. This disc also breaks new ground in that the recording was originally made in surround sound. Though release in that format awaits further developments in domestic audio technology, the listener should already derive some benefit in the enhanced stereo sound of the present CD.

Songlist: Vosstanite...Slava svyatei, Priidite, poklonimsya, Blagoslovi, dushe moya', Gospoda, Blazhen muzh, Svete tikhii, Nyne otpushchaeshi, Bogoroditse Devo, Shestopsalmie, Khvalite imya Gospodne, Blagosloven esi, Gospodi, Voskresenie Khristovo videvshe, Velichit dusha moya Gospoda, Slavoslovie velikoe, Tropar': Dnes' spasenie, Tropa': Voskres iz groba, Vzbrannoi voevode

Review: Perhaps Britian's very best choir performs the works of perhaps Britian's very best living choral composer. Certainly a wonderful match this pairing makes for a great recording and worthy of every fan's collection. This CD contains a stellar cross-section of Rutter's work. He combines the melodic simplicity of Bach with a distinctly modern sensibility. The combined effect of the music's sheer beauty, the exquisite skill of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, and the magisterial hush of the King's College Chapel make for an ethereal and thoroughly transformative musical experience.

Songlist: Requiem, Veni Sancte Spiritus, What Sweeter Music, Hymn To The Creator Of Light, Cantate Domino, Cantus, Te Deum

Review: Carry me home is an assortment of folk songs arranged for male voices including "Londonderry Air" and "O Waly Waly". Collegium Regale, which is composed of the choral scholars from the King's College Choir, explores the traditional songs of Britain, America, France and Hungary. Many of these familiar tunes, such as "Molly Malone" and "Shenandoah" were arranged by Keith Roberts who serves as the group's artistic consultant. The spirituals arranged by Robert Rice stray from the traditional style. His versions lean toward the lighter sounds of doo-wop and barbershop, particularly in "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child." Though, all pieces and especially the solos are sung beautifully.

Songlist: Dashing Away With The Smoothing Iron, Brigg Fair, Botany Bay, Il est ne le divin enfant, Myfanwy, The turtle dove, Londonderry air, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Nobody knows the trouble I seen, De gospel train, My sweetheart's like Venus, Ca' the yowes, Molly Malone, O Waly Waly, Ye banks and braes, Song of the Volga Boatmen, Shenandoah, Joshua, Steal Away, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Review: During the last thirty years of his life, Orlande De Lassus was the most celebrated composer in Europe. From the time that he took up the duties of maestro di cappella in the court of the Dukes of Bavaria at Munich, he began to be called 'prince of musicians' and 'the divine Orlande'. The pieces selected for this recording represent Lassus's treatment of them of death during the mature period. The first group considers the death of Christ; the second, the death of a Christian. Stephen Cleobury is associated with two of the most famous choirs; as Director of Music at King's College, Cambridge and Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers.

Songlist: Lamentatio Prima, Lamentatio Secunda, Lamtatio Tertia, Motet: In Monte Oliveti, Tract: Absolve, Domine, Introitus: Requiem Aeternam, Kyrie Eleison, Gradule: Si Ambulem, Offertoriu: Domine Jesu Christe, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Communio: Lux Aeterna, Motet: Vide Homo

Review: The Flemish-born Giaches de Wert was one of many foreigners to dominate the Italian music scene in the mid to late sixteenth century, therefore to this day his music is largely unknown to many. It is the second of three books of Motets which appears on this disc, written when his skill as a madrigalist had reached its height. As part of the Kings College Choir, the choral scholars of Collegium Regale perform independently of the choir, singing a repertoire that encompasses 15th Century sacred music, jazz, folksongs and pop. Directed by Kings College's and the BBC Singerâs renowned director Stephen Cleobury.

Songlist: O Crux Ave Spes Unica, Providebam Dominum, Hoc Es Praeceptum Meum, Benedicta Sit Sancta Trinitas, Hora Est Iam Nos, Hoc Enim Sentite In Vobis, Gaudete In Domino, Obsecro Vos Fratres, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Angelicus Domini Astitit, Amen, Amen Dico Vobis, Domine, Tu Es Qui Fecisti, Vox In Rama

Review: The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was first held on Christmas Eve 1918. It was planned by Eric Milner-White, who at the age of thirty-four had just been appointed Dean of King's after experience as an army chaplain which had convinced him that the Church of England needed more imaginative worship. (He devised our Advent Carol Service in 1934, and was a liturgical pioneer and authority during his twenty two years as Dean of York.) The choir included sixteen trebles as laid down in King Henry VI's statutes, but until 1927 the men's voices were provided partly by Choral Scholars and partly by older Lay Clerks, and not, as now, by fourteen undergraduates. Almost immediately other churches adapted the service for their own use. A wider frame began to grow when the service was first broadcast in 1928 and, with the exception of 1930, it has been broadcast annually, even during the Second World War. Sometime in the early 1930s the BBC began broadcasting the service on overseas programmes. It is estimated that there are millions of listeners worldwide, including those to Radio Four in the United Kingdom. In recent years it has become the practice to broadcast a digital recording on Christmas Day on Radio Three, and since 1963 a shorter service has been filmed periodically for television.

Songlist: Once In Royal David's City, Bidding Prayer, Up! Good Christen Folk And Listen, The Truth From Above, First Lesson, Adam LAy Ybounden, Second Lesson, Sussex Carol, In The Bleak Mid-Winter, Third Lesson, In Dulci Jubilo, God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, Fourth Lesson, A Tender Shoot, The Lamb, Fifth Lesson, Joy's Seven, Gabriel's Lesson, Sixth Lesson, Dormi Jesu, Riu Riu Chiu, Seventh Lesson, The Fayrfax Carol, While Shepards Watched, Eighth Lesson, I Saw Three Ships, Illuminare Jerusalem, Ninth Lesson, O Come All Ye Faithful, Prayer And Blessing, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, In Dulci Jubilo BWV729

Review: The Choir of King's College has recorded this new disc of contemporary Christmas carols commissioned especially for them. The new carols sung by the Choir each Christmas Eve are always eagerly awaited by audiences. Stephen Cleobury has developed a long-standing commitment to bringing contemporary compositions to the Choir's repertoire alongside the very traditional and he and the Choir are well known for their great support of new music and feature here a programme of pieces by a wide variety of modern composers. Among them, "The Gleam", a new piece by Gramophone Award-winning artist Harrison Birtwistle, "In Wintertime" by Lennox Berkely and "Bogoroditse Dyevo" (Mother of God and Virgin), which was a special gift to the Choir and Stephen Cleobury from Estonian composer Arvo Part. The disc also includes the Winter Solstice Carol, written by Giles and the carol "What Sweeter Music" by composer John Rutter.

Songlist: The Shepherd's Carol, On Christmas Day to My Heart, God Would Be Born in Thee, Bogoroditse dyevo (Hail Mary), Angels, In Wintertime, Christmas Carol, The Three Kings, What Sweeter Music, A Gathering, Illuminare, Jerusalem, One Star at Last, Carol for St. Steven, The Birthday of Thy King, Winter Solstice Carol, Seinte Mari moder milde, The Gleam, Christo Paremus Cantica, Spring in Winter, The Fayrfax Carol, Swete Jesu, Pilgrim Jesus

Review: Voices of Praise is a spiritually uplifting collection drawing from the rich catalog of King's College Choir. Programmed to the church calendar it is an album for all seasons. Known world over for their recordings of church music the Choir of King's College, Cambridge has a rich catalog of recordings on EMI Classics dating back more than 30 years. This new collection Voices of Praise offers the most popular church music from that catalog. Among the great church works included on this recording are the hymns " A Mighty Fortress Is Our God", " Morning Has Broken" and " All People That On Earth Do Dwell" (The Old Hundredth). This is a double CD release.

Songlist: All My Hope On God Is Founded (Michael), Morning Has Broken, Psalm 122, Totus Tuus, The truth sent from above, The Lamb, Hail, Gladdening Light, Psalm 84 "Quam Dilecta!", Come Down, O Love Divine, If Ye Love Me, Crucifixus a 8 Voix, My song is love unknown, Psalm 22: My God, my God, look upon me, Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Thine be the glory (tune Maccabeaus, after Handel), No. 120, Psalm 148 O praise the Lord of Heaven, Set me as a seal upon thine heart, The Head That Once Was Crowned with Thorns, O clap your hands, God Is Our Hope & Strength, The lord ascendeth up on high (Nun freut euch), Dear Lord and Father of mankind, Gloucester Service, Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Ein feste Burg), Psalm 150 O praise the God in his holiness, All People That on Earth Do Dwell, The Lord Is My Shepherd, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, And I Saw a New Heaven, Funeral Ikos, Faire Is the Heaven

Review: The Choir of King's College Cambridge sings some of the best-loved English anthems in the stunning fan-vaulted chapel which is famed throughout the world for its beautiful acoustic. The programme includes some of the most ethereal anthems, while those such as Parry's "I was glad", Stanford's "Coronation Gloria" and Vaughan Williams' "Let all the World" make it the perfect release to coincide with the Queen's Jubilee Celebrations. The candlelit camera work is elegantly done and in this respect the presentation is very dignified and understated, perhaps appropriately reflecting the King's sound. The performances are highly musical with the expected King's polish... Fans of the King's tradition around the world will relish this compilation of 'choral favourites'. Filmed in High Definition with 5.1 surround sound.

Songlist: Hail, gladdening light (Wood), Greater love hath no man (Ireland), I was glad (Parry), Bring us, O Lord God (Harris), And I saw a New Heaven (Bainton), Like as the Hart, Gloria in Excelsis (Stanford), Evening Hymn (Gardiner), Beati quorum via (Stanford), God be in my Head (Walford Davies), Vox dicentis: Clama (Naylor), Faire is the Heaven (Harris), Let all the World (Vaughan Williams)

Review: Every Christmas Eve for decades, the world-renowned Choir of King's College Chapel, Cambridge has broadcast the Festival o Nine Lessons and Carols worldwide on BBC Radio (Carols from King's is also televised by the BBC every Christmas annually). It never fails to inspire and appeal by bringing together readings from the Christmas story with the singing of traditional carols in which all may join: classic Christmas arrangements for the choir and exciting newly-composed anthems that often become choral classics. For countless people the broadcast of Nine Lessons and Carols is a major part of the Christmas experience. 

Now the King's College Director of Music, Stephen Cleobury, has created this album of forty-six of the most enduring choral pieces from the Festivals. Thirteen are published here for the first time, ten were specially commissioned for King's and seven are carols for choir and congregation. Wide ranging in sources, this collection includes arrangements by King's directors of music David Wilcocks, Philip Ledger and Stephen Cleobury and leading contemporary composers such as Richard Rodney Bennett, Bob Chilcott, Jonathan Dove, John Joubert, Roxanna Panufnik, Arvo Part, John Rutter, Peter Sculthorpe, John Tavener, and Judith Weir.

Christmas at King's includes a preface by Stephen Cleobury and a useful appendix of readings with relevant repertoire from the collection for those choirs who want to present their own Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.

Songlist: Once In Royal David's City, A Great and Mighty Wonder, A Tender Shoot, A Virgin Most Pure, Adam Lay Ybounden, Alleluya, A New Work Is Come On Hand, Away In A Manger, Be Merry, Benedicamus Domino, The Birthday of Thy King, Bogoroditsye Dyevo, Christo Paremus Cantica, God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In, I Wonder As I Wander, I Sing Of A Maiden, Illuminare, Jerusalem, In Wintertime, Infant Holy, Infant Lowly, The Infant King, It Came Upon The Midnight Clear, Jesus Christ The Apple Tree, The Lamb, Morning Song For The Christ Child, Myn Lyking, No Small Wonder, Love Came Down At Christmas, Noel nouvelet, Nowel, The Truth Sent From Above, O Little Town of Bethlehem I, O Little Town of Bethlehem II, Of The Father's Heart Begotten, On Christmas Night All Christians Sing, Sai Sveta Nakti, O Come, All Ye Faithful, The Shepherd's Carol, Silent Night, Sleep, Little Jesus, Sleep, Suo-Gan, The Three Kings, What Sweeter Music, When Christ Was Born of Mary Free, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Readings and Repertoire for A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Review: This unique collection approaches Advent afresh, drawing together 52 beautiful and accessible pieces that span the whole gamut of periods, styles, and traditions. Advent for Choirs is the perfect musical and liturgical resource for all church , cathedral, and concert choirs and includes approachable new settings, unjustly neglected music, and works not easily available elsewhere.

Songlist: Index Of Titles And First Lines, Thematic Index Of Music And Readings, Liturgical Introduction By Michael Perham, Advent Music, Other Suitable Advent Music, Adam Lay Ybounden, Advent Antiphons, Advent Prose, Advent wreath Prayers, Alma Redemptoris Mater, A Rose Is A Springin', A Tender Shoot, Blessed Are You Lord Our God, Blessed Are You Sovreign Lord, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, Canite Tuba, Come Thou Redeemer Of The Earth, Ecce Concpies, E'en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come, Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen, Fuit Homo Missus A Deo, How Beautiful upon The Mountains, How Lovely Are The Messengers, I Look From Afar, I Sing Of A Maiden, Jacob's Ladder, Jesus Christ The Apple Tree, Linden Tree Carol, Lo, There Came A Man From God, Matin Responsory, Matin Responsory, Never Weather-beaten sail, Nova! Nova!, O Adonay, O Emmanuel, O Key Of David, O Lord Of Lords, O Morning Star, O Oriens, O Rex Gentium, O Root of Jesse, O Sapientia, O Thou The Central Orb, O Wisdom, Peace Be To You And Grace From Him, People Look East, Prayer From The Blessing Of Light, Rejoice In The Lord Alway, Remember O Thou Man, There Is A Flow'r Sprung of A Tree, The Truth Is Sent From Above, Tommorrow Go Ye Forth, Vesper Responsory, Virga Jesse Floruit, Wake Oh Wake, Zion At Thy Shining Gates, As Jacob with travel was weary one day, Ave Maria, Behold, thou shalt conceive, Benedictus in C, Blow ye the trumpet in Sion, Bogoroditsye Dyevo, Cherry Tree Carol, The, Creator of the stars of night, Drop down, ye heavens, How shall I fitly meet thee, Joseph was an old man, Judah and Jerusalem, fear not, Pour down, O heavens, from above, Let all mortal flesh keep silence, Long ago, prophets knew, Magnificat in B flat, Man, assay, My soul doth magnify the Lord, O king of the nations, On Jordan's Bank

Review: Hymns from King's is a volume of 20 hymn arrangements for choir and keyboard by Stephen Cleobury - Director of Music at King's College Cambridge for more than 25 years. Covering the entire church year, Hymns from King's is not just a book of descants - it also contains varied arrangements and accompaniments for many of the most popular hymns sung not only at King's College, but also in churches around the world.

Songlist: O come, O come Emmanuel, Christians awake, salute the happy morn, As with gladness men of old, My song is love unknown, Jesus Christ is risen today, Thine be the Glory, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, Come ye thankful people, come, All creatures of our God and king, Alleluia, sing to Jesus, Just as I am, without one plea, Let all mortal flesh, Abide with me, O God our help in ages past, Lord of all hopefulness, Love divine, all loves excelling, Now thank we all our God, Praise my soul, the king of heaven, Glorious things of thee are spoken