Orchestral Anthems: Elgar | Finzi | Dyson | Howells
Britten Sinfonia, Choir of Merton College Oxford, Benjamin Nicholas
Benjamin Nicholas maintains excellent control of his forces in a recording that is sonorously generous and forward in sound. The Merton choirs (including the soloists) are in fine voice and...
Orchestral Anthems: Elgar | Finzi | Dyson | Howells
Britten Sinfonia, Choir of Merton College Oxford, Benjamin Nicholas
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Benjamin Nicholas maintains excellent control of his forces in a recording that is sonorously generous and forward in sound. The Merton choirs (including the soloists) are in fine voice and...
About
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.
Contents and tracklist
- orch. Douglas Hopkins
- Choir of Merton College Oxford, Britten Sinfonia, Girl Choristers of Merton College, Oxford
- Benjamin Nicholas
- orch. Arnold Foster
- Áine Smith, Ruairi Bowen, William Thomas
- Choir of Merton College Oxford, Britten Sinfonia
- Benjamin Nicholas
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Benjamin Nicholas on Orchestrated Anthems
25th Jul 2023
Merton College Choir, the Britten Sinfonia and Benjamin Nicholas present a selection of magnificent orchestrations of favourite church music.
Awards and reviews
August 2023
Benjamin Nicholas maintains excellent control of his forces in a recording that is sonorously generous and forward in sound. The Merton choirs (including the soloists) are in fine voice and the Britten Sinfonia play a colourful and sensitive role in this engaging repertoire. Hats off to Delphian in what is their most ambitious recording to date.
17th June 2023
The Anglican choral favourite, Finzi’s Lo, the full, final sacrifice, orchestrated for the 1947 Three Choirs festival and full of subtle woodwind detail, stands out. Dyson’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are notably rousing.
28th June 2023
The church acoustic might rub out some words, but you can’t deny the fervour of the Choir of Merton College, Oxford, and their director Benjamin Nicholas, or the extra splendour radiating from the musicians of Britten Sinfonia.
