Welcome
Although Christ Church Cathedral Choir is 500 years old, it is justly famous for the youthfulness of its sound and its daring and adventurous musical programming. Unique in the world as both Cathedral and College choir, the intimate acoustic of its musical home, Oxford's 12th-century Cathedral, has given it a relationship with early sacred music and the rhythm and vigour of contemporary idioms which is second to none.
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"To hear a choir like this is to hear a quality of musicianship with no equal anywhere in the world"
- Sunday Independent
The Choir rehearsing in Germany
Latest News:
Christmas Photos
Christmas Music at St. John's Smith Square, London
Wednesday 19 December at 7.30 p.m.
The Choir of Christ Church will be participating in the annual Christmas Festival at St John's Smith Square in a programme of glorious seasonal music through the centuries by William Byrd, Peter Warlock, Gustav Holst and Howard Goodall, who will be introducing the concert.
Tickets are available from the Box Office, St John’s Smith Square (www.sjss.org.uk); 020 7222 1061.
Cathedral Choir returns from triumphant tour to Kingston, Jamaica!
The Choir joined forces with the Chapel Choir of Kingston College for concerts in Kingston and Mandeville, as well as singing in Spanish Town Cathedral (the oldest Anglican cathedral in the Southern Hemisphere) and at the Manley School of Performing Arts in Kingston. More information can be found in the following links.
Christ Church - Chorister Voice Trials
Voice trials by arrangement for boys aged 7 to 9 years substantial bursaries available. Registrar@cccs.org.uk | www.cccs.org.uk (01865) 260650 3 Brewer Street, Oxford OX1 1QW
Latest Taverner Disc review
Christ Church Cathedral Choir’s recent recording of John Taverner’s Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas has been awarded the distinction of being an “Editor’s Choice” in the October edition of the prestigious Gramophone magazine.
In his review of the disc Peter Quantrill says:
“The Choir of Christ Church could hardly have made a more ambitious return to recording… Taverner’s Mass is the chef d’oeuvre of the greatest composer of his time, yet it has never before been recorded by the kind of liturgical choir which he had in mind; this is a courageous and significant act of reclamation. Courageous, because Taverner’s demands of phrase and melodic continuity are more subtle, but no less daunting in their own way, than those presented by Palestrina and Gombert… Christ Church are definitely the type of choir Taverner wanted.”
An interview with the Choir’s Director, Stephen Darlington accompanies the review in which he discusses the complexity of the music and the virtuosic demands it places on the singers.
Introducing his Editor’s Choice for the month, James Inverne writes:
“An important recording this, it is the first of the great Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas by an all-male liturgical choir. As the Christ Church Choir’s conductor Stephen Darlington says in his interview, the work had rather fallen out of that tradition, partly because of the sheer difficulty of some of the writing. The results sound fresh and properly devotional, though they may be controversial.”
The recording is available from Christ Church Cathedral Shop (mail-order by telephone 01865 201971) and from all good record shops.
Sunday Times & The Times review latest Taverner disc
From The Times:
Darlington conducts the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, with precision, warmth and vitality in the music of his predecessor John Taverner (c 1490-1545), who was thrown into the college’s stinking fish cellar for heresy then pardoned because he was 'but a musitian'.
In the mass Gloria Tibi Trinitas thrilling altos allow the cantus firmus to shine through the counterpoint. The treble line is strong, its soloist Gregory Bannan showing laser accuracy. The tenors have a light, boyish quality and the basses silky depths. The entire seraphic host sings Dum transisset with ethereal purity. No one can touch these 'mere musitians' in this repertoire.
Rick Jones
From the Sunday Times:
That the choir of Christ Church, Oxford should make the first recording using only men and boys of John Taverner’s Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas is singularly appropriate. Taverner was the first master of the choristers at Cardinal College, as Christ Church was called in 1526. Under Darlington’s direction, they sing the long lines of this great, rich-textured work with confidence and warmth. The solo passages are beautifully done, and the treble Gregory Bannan excels. The lovely Dum transisset Sabbatum completes the disc satisfyingly.
Stephen Pettitt
Radio 3 Broadcast
Sunday 24 June at 1600
Don't forget, this Sunday is doing a live Radio 3 broadcast at 4pm: A celebration of W H Auden.
Music for the broadcast includes:
- Britten Chorale
- Walton The Twelve
Evensong marking the Centenary of W H Auden
Saturday 23 June at 1800
Part of a special day of events and talks organised by Christ Church marking the Centenary of W H Auden. Two new pieces (set to word by Auden) will be premiered during the service:
In the deserts of the heart by Daniel Saleeb (words from In Memory of W B Yeats)
Winner of the 2nd Orlando Composition Prize 2007, open to all current graduates and undergraduates of the University of Oxford
O Living Love by Robert Saxton (words from For the Time Being - A Christmas Oratorio)
commissioned by Dr Stephen Darlington for the Choir of Christ Church, Oxford, with funds provided by the Friends of Christ Church Cathedral, especially for the service.
John Taverner's Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas released
John Taverner's Mass is generally regarded as his finest work which shows complete mastery of structure and polyphony in six parts. It is the first of the eleven mass settings in the Forrest-Heyther part-books, almost certainly collected together for use in Wolsey's chapel. The recording is the first to use the original forces of men and boys as envisaged by the composer and is on the top record label Avie Records. It has been sponsored by the Friends of the Cathedral and is available from Christ Church Cathedral Shop (01865 201971) and all good record shops.
Find out More »
Now at the iTunes store
We're pleased to announce you can now get many of the choir releases from the iTunes store: You can find our recent disc - Haydn: Stabat Mater, along with more than 10 of the recent Nimbus re-issued discs.
Find out more about iTunes »
New Video - Guilmant: Scherzo Symphonique
Clive Driskill-Smith plays Guilmant: Scherzo Symphonique on the Christ Church Rieger Organ.
Photographs
More photos added from the recent St. John Passion. (See photographs »)
New Video
For all those who missed the recent performance of the St.John Passion, we've put a video of the first two minutes of the rehearsal on the site - our thanks go to London Musici who were playing on the day.. We hope to add more as time goes on, so don't forget to check back with us! To watch the video, you'll need Adobe Flash player.
Watch the video »
Tour of Germany
In September 2006 the Choir completed a highly successful concert tour of Germany singing in Festivals in Merseburg, Halberstadt and Braunschweig to packed and enthusiastic audiences. (See photographs »)
Saturday 2 Dec 2006
The Choir sang at a major fundraising event for the international charity Emmaus. Celebrity readers included Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.
Tuesday 5 December 2006
Once again the Choir sang in aid of the Institute of Cancer Research in the Royal Hospital Chelsea along with a glittering cast of celebrities. The event was presented by Sir George Martin and readers included Patricia Routledge, Gloria Hunniford, Bernard Cribbins, Jane Asher, Anneka Rice and others! (see Photographs »)