St. Philip's CD

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john45
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St. Philip's CD

Post by john45 »

It has been pretty quiet in here since the flurry of activity over Ely ticket sales.
Here's a suggestion for a new CD (with examples) - but featuring the full St. Philip's choir rather than Libera alone and comprised only of sacred music. I know that some have already been done by Libera.
Polite comments welcome.


Miserere Mei - Allegri.

God so loved the World - Chilcott.

Totus Tuus. - Gorecki.

Bless the Lord - Taize.

Psalm 23 - Goodall.

Spem in Alium - Tallis.

In Paradisum - Faure.

O Magnum Mysterium - Lauridsen

Ave Verum Corpus - Mozart -

Pie Jesu - Rutter -

Mother of God , here I stand- Tavener. -

Vater Unser - Arvo Part. -

Hymn to the Virgin - Britten.

Magnificat in G - Stanford

Nunc dimitis - Burgon.

PS I think I have already heard all the above (except Totus Tuus) sung at St Philip's services.
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Surpinto
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by Surpinto »

You are so right, John, that it has been very quiet around here; too quiet. I was thinking of something to post about to revive the lively discussions this place is known for, but could not think of anything due to the absence of any Libera news. But this topic is especially appealing to me because this very thought you have expressed has occurred to me and to so many others over the years.

I would be absolutely delighted to hear the full choir sing a carefully selected collection of choral anthems, hymns, motets, psalms, etc. Hopefully nobody minds if I offer my own choices in addition to yours :wink:. I like the selection suggested, and some of the pieces were new to me. Thank you! :D

Since there are so many choices of beautiful sacred music available my choices are based solely on the compositions that have stuck out to me over the years. There are many others but this list is long enough! And, yes, I realize that some of the pieces I list are already well recorded by choirs world-wide.

But wait, would Masses be out of the question? I know that they sing the Mozart Requiem Mass as it is advertised on social media, but would a recording of some other Masses be a possibility? Sticking to Mozart I would want to hear K257 (Credo Mass), K220 (Spatzenmesse), and K317 (Coronation Mass). I am not providing links to those because a simple search should yield many results on YouTube or Spotify, plus masses have many parts and linking to them all is too time consuming for me. Then there is Haydn's (Hob XXII:7) Kleine Orgelsolomesse.

There is no shortage of sacred music and, further, any or all of these options would be amazing. However, even if the choir were to create such a CD would it not make them like pretty much every other choir of men and boys in terms of the recordings? Most of the music that both John and I have listed has been sung by multiple choirs over the years; and while new recordings of beautiful but perhaps lesser known or available songs by a top choir (whether that is St. Philips or not) are always welcome, I am not sure if that is the direction in which Mr. Prizeman desires to go. If he does decide to do it I would hope that he would focus his efforts on his own arrangements/compositions or on pieces which are lesser known and which have not been recorded by the likes of every English church choir.

An example of this is Maunder's cantata Olivet to Calvary which, as far as I know, has only ever been properly and professionally recorded by the Guildford Cathedral choir in 1966! Though lengthy in its entirety, this is a beautiful work and at least parts of it deserve more attention.

These are interesting thoughts and go beyond Libera, but into the core of what choirs in modern times choose to record and why. Very interesting discussion indeed.
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Yorkie
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by Yorkie »

john45 wrote: <span title="Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:40 pm">6 years ago</span> It has been pretty quiet in here since the flurry of activity over Ely ticket sales.
Here's a suggestion for a new CD (with examples) - but featuring the full St. Philip's choir rather than Libera alone and comprised only of sacred music. I know that some have already been done by Libera.
Polite comments welcome.


Miserere Mei - Allegri.

God so loved the World - Chilcott.

Totus Tuus. - Gorecki.

Bless the Lord - Taize.

Psalm 23 - Goodall.

Spem in Alium - Tallis.

In Paradisum - Faure.

O Magnum Mysterium - Lauridsen

Ave Verum Corpus - Mozart -

Pie Jesu - Rutter -

Mother of God , here I stand- Tavener. -

Vater Unser - Arvo Part. -

Hymn to the Virgin - Britten.

Magnificat in G - Stanford

Nunc dimitis - Burgon.

PS I think I have already heard all the above (except Totus Tuus) sung at St Philip's services.
I would cry with great joy if such a CD was produced. Great choices, classics one an all.
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Jay_S
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by Jay_S »

A good subject to discuss. There's much music mentioned by the others that I am unfamiliar with by name but I may know some of it by ear. I'd love to hear some music with the older Libera/St Philips members adding the deeper notes for the balance that I really enjoy from some of the English College Choirs. I don't think LIbera fans will mind that some of this music has already been performed by others and is readily available. Robert Prizeman's 'Libera shine' will make the music unique and interesting to many folks who enjoy this type of choral music :D
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enjaysea
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by enjaysea »

Miserere, and Mysterium are two of my all-time favorites.

This is my current favorite recording of O Magnum Mysterium, even though, alas, no trebles!
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Yorkie
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by Yorkie »

enjaysea wrote: <span title="Mon Jan 29, 2018 7:27 pm">6 years ago</span> Miserere, and Mysterium are two of my all-time favorites.

This is my current favorite recording of O Magnum Mysterium, even though, alas, no trebles!
I can't play that one in the UK. Is it better than this version?



I suspect my version is region locked as well so you might want to grab this:

New College Choir


**edit** Ok so I used my VPN to leap to Yankland and listen to your O Mag - it's noticably slower than what I'm used to, delicate but slightly more haunting to me (and not in a necessarily good way). I think if you are in a certain mood your choice could be very moving but I would have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it.
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enjaysea
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by enjaysea »

**edit** Ok so I used my VPN to leap to Yankland and listen to your O Mag - it's noticably slower than what I'm used to, delicate but slightly more haunting to me (and not in a necessarily good way). I think if you are in a certain mood your choice could be very moving but I would have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it.
Apparently I'm always in that frame of mind.

Nonetheless, very nice performance you recommended, and a clean recording at that. It also passes my test of a smooth and quiet ppp on the final Alleluia.
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filiarheni
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by filiarheni »

Your suggestion, John, was a big surprise for me (and of course got me thinking about whether it's just having fun with dreaming or maybe ... more?). I can relate to picking the songs you listed. Most of them are very beautiful also for me! Their advantage is that they already have been practised by (many of?) the boys, so the largest step would already lie behind them. But considering that there are already many recordings of them available, wouldn't this be a mere technical argument?
My concern (and I've seen that I agree in large parts with Surpinto) is that another rendition of well-known songs would be redundant, simply not as interesting anymore. All the more, as there are countless jewels living in the shadow of those others so that the St. Philip's Boys Choir could gain credits by contributing to making these songs accessible, make them known, fill gaps.
Also, in a number of cases, there may already exist a top version. For example, I'd have very much liked to nominate "As One Who Has Slept", but the Winchester Cathedral Choir for me sang the ne plus ultra! So, on the one hand, I'd find it hard to have found "my" version and then having to compare a St. Philip's Boys Choir version with it. It's nearly like having them enter into a competition, and that somehow hurts. Ok, this can be called my personal problem. But on the other hand, I'd also find it, I'm sorry, a bit boring, due to the above reasons.

Therefore I'm more inclined to Surpinto's suggestions (btw, I didn't know the Cantata by Maunder, and I like it a lot). I would recommend a small amount of "popular" songs not to overstrain people and to attract more of them, but have the majority consist of less known pieces.

Many thanks, John and Surpinto, for posting so much wonderful music! :D I have listened to all pieces with that CD background in my mind and thought about songs I would appreciate, in addition to many of those both of you selected and, in addition as well, covering more of the time of "now", for such a CD (and then I lost all discipline ... if I ever had any :roll: ). For example:

Agnus Dei, op. 77, 6 (Johann Nepomuk Hummel)

Agnus Dei (Karl Jenkins)

Ave Maria (Franz Biebl) - SSA version
or SATB version:


Dormi, Jesu (Mark Sirett)
(no good recording available)

Flight Song (Kim André Arnesen)

God Shall Wipe Away All Tears (Jenkins)

Hebe deine Augen auf (Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy)

Miserere mei, Domine (Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck)

O salutaris hostia (Ēriks Ešenvalds)

Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen
(Siegfried Fietz's setting of the admirable Dietrich Bonhoeffer's lyrics; totally known here, but there is no good recording to be found. I would really like, in some beautiful arrangement, one of this warm, peaceful song full of belief, confidence and hope, and there is an English translation available).

Wenn wir das Brot auf Händen tragen (Hans Florenz)

Zum Sanctus (Franz Schubert)


Having said that ...

... and in a just impossible contrast to such an extended list, I can't help feeling a distinct "but" considering such a project. And this "but" is the fact that it would probably prevent Libera from doing other things, two of which have priority for me. :arrow:
So yes, I could and would support a new CD by St. Philip's Boys Choir provided that it would not use up money needed and would not take rehearsal time and energy away from Libera to a) bring older or never performed songs live on stage, something many fans long for and would highly welcome, and b) to produce a new Libera concert DVD.

Please do not get me wrong. I'm not saying that I'm against this suggested CD project, and I would like the result, no doubt. But in case there actually exist time and financial resources, I predominantly favour putting all effort in DVD and the mentioned Libera song rehearsing. Because my heart's desire indeed is to have Libera sing more of the older songs in their concerts. And another DVD ... a dream. :) :)
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by kinda_k00l »

Recording(s) of the full St. Philip's choir is also a thought I sometimes have in mind. Thank you John and others for bringing this up as well as providing their music list (I don't know more than half of the pieces so this also brings new music to me to listen to). :D

I would love to listen to them all singing O Magnum Mysterium (Lauridsen), Ave Verum Corpus & the grand Requiem (Mozart). I would also add these two masses: Missa Papae Marcelli (Palestrina) & Messe de Notre Dame (Machaut) (always wanted to have the soprano & perhaps alto parts sung by young boys).

However, as Surpinto & filiarheni have mentioned, this is what other choirs do - singing extremely beautiful and well-known pieces. Not to mention St. Philip's would also be inevitably put in some sort of a competition. And I also don't want the CD (if there would be one) to interfere the activity of Libera. So besides Surpinto's suggestion, I have another crazy idea (just popped out of my head) - I'm imagining Robert having some Libera songs arranged in SATB for the full St. Philip's choir - I mean, it's not impossible for RP to do that and while the songs may not sound like the original ones, they cannot be worse either, just different I think. My ultimate nominations for my very own idea ( :lol: ) would be Benedictus Deus, O Sanctissima & How Shall I Sing.


P/S: I'm really glad to have seen this new thread. It's been reeeaaally quiet...
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john45
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by john45 »

Thanks to all who have participated in the thread so far. It has introduced me to several previously unknown interesting pieces. I agree with all the concerns that have been expressed and think that Kinda-kool has suggested the perfect compromise. Two or three tracks on the next album arranged to include the tenors and basses from St.Philip’s would be perfect.
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maartendas
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by maartendas »

What a wonderful topic and an exciting suggestion - to me, it was a new idea.
I agree with the suggestions made, especially Pärt, Britten and Mozart!

My addition to the list is Nunc dimittis by Arvo Pärt.
Just think who could do those solo parts!

Oh and the Ave Maria by Robert Parsons - heavenly!
You raise me high beyond the sky
Through stormy night lifting me above
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Re: St. Philip's CD

Post by andmar »

I’ve been in love with choral music for a while now and I’m thrilled when a new recording or a new CD or a new music video is posted or announced. In fact, I’m at the beginning of my road through the world of choral music. Luckily, there are plenty of outstanding choirs and plenty of wonderful recordings and videos and it will take me some time to get through even a small part of them.

Then there is Libera, a choir which won our hearts with very special, extraordinary music. Different. Pretty much unique. I ask myself, if I’d like Libera to be like other choirs, if I’d like Libera or St.Philip’s Choir to record “classical” choral music. Well, I’m sure they would do this in an outstanding way and I would love it. I have no doubt about it. But, honestly speaking, I would very much prefer Libera to stay Libera. I find it a good idea to have some lower male voices in addition to the trebles in some songs. This was done before on earlier albums and it did fit well.

I could not agree more with filiarheni:
filiarheni wrote: <span title="Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:09 pm">6 years ago</span> Please do not get me wrong. I'm not saying that I'm against this suggested CD project, and I would like the result, no doubt. But in case there actually exist time and financial resources, I predominantly favour putting all effort in DVD and the mentioned Libera song rehearsing. Because my heart's desire indeed is to have Libera sing more of the older songs in their concerts. And another DVD ... a dream. :) :)
Having a new concert DVD would be a dream indeed. I find it really a pity, that Libera’s amazing live performances are usually neither recorded nor filmed. I fell it pity for us – the fans – as most of us are not able to attend each and every concert, as well as for the boys and their families – as the performances are not preserved. So, I think that a new concert DVD would be very much welcome by all of us and I’m sure that many of us would support such a project.
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