A MERTON CHRISTMAS IN THE STILLNESS
THE GIRL CHORISTERS AND LOWER VOICES OF MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD
BENJAMIN NICHOLAS CONDUCTOR / ORGAN SOLO (tracks 10, 12)
1 Edward Elgar (1857–1934) Angelus [2:52]
2 Michael Head (1900–1976) The Little Road to Bethlehem [3:10]
3 Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych (1877–1921) Carol of the Bells [1:37] arr. Peter J. Wilhousky (1902–1978)
4 Errollyn Wallen (b. 1958) Peace on earth [3:52]
5 Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989) I sing of a maiden [3:00]
6 John Ireland (1879–1962) The Holy Boy [2:55]
7 John Rutter (b. 1945) Star Carol [3:17]
8 Traditional, arr. Michael Nicholas (b. 1938) Infant holy [2:07]
9 Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962) Hush! my dear [3:17]
10 J. S. Bach (1685–1750) Der Tag, der ist so [2:03] freudenreich, BWV 605
11 Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643–1704) Sing to the infant boy [5:34]
12 J. S. Bach Vom Himmel kam der [1:20] Engel schar, BWV 607
13 Traditional, arr. Edward Higginbottom (b. 1946) Rocking Carol [2:25]
SIMON HOGAN, ORGAN
CATRIN MEEK, HARP (tracks 4, 14)
14 Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) A New Year Carol [2:18]
15 Piae Cantiones (1582)
Up! good Christen folk [1:31] arr. G.R. Woodward (1848–1934)
16 Sally Beamish (b. 1956)
In the stillness [2:29]
17 John Joubert (1927–2019) Torches [1:39]
18 Christopher Dearnley (1930–2000) The growing limbs of God the Son [3:02]
19 Gustav Holst (1874–1934)
In the bleak mid-winter [4:30] arr. John Bertalot (b. 1931)
20 Michael Praetorius (1571–1621) and There is a flower springing [3:43] Melchior Vulpius (1570–1615)
21 Michael Praetorius
Come, thou redeemer of the earth [4:55] arr. G.R. Woodward / David Willcocks (1919–2015); descant by John Scott (1956–2015)
22 David Bednall (b. 1979)
Sweet was the song [4:17] (from MakeWe Merry)
23 John Rutter Candlelight Carol [4:12]
Total playing time [70:18]
In the stillness of a late afternoon in the city of Oxford, the lanes and alleys around Merton Street, south of the High, the bustling central thoroughfare, are usually quiet. On an afternoon in early summer the sun will be warming the golden Cotswold stone of the colleges’ quads and buildings, glinting off cobbles and ancient walls. An afternoon in the autumn might see fronds of mist creeping up towards Merton College across Christ Church Meadow from the River Thames beyond. And on a winter’s afternoon at dusk there could be wood smoke in the air and early evening frost gleaming and sparkling on the battlements of the city walls which form Merton’s ancient southern boundary. It’s a picture of stillness which, notwithstanding the advent of the horse-drawn cart, the bicycle and the internal combustion engine, hasn’t much changed around Merton College in the centuries since it was founded in 1264.
But since 2016, in term-time on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, that back-street stillness has been gently interrupted as the Merton girl choristers – the newest members of the college’s choral family – arrive for their choir practice and weekly service of Choral Evensong. As 4 p.m. approaches they troop through the college’s fifteenth-century gatehouse, dispersing for music theory or singing lessons. There’s tea in the College Hall at 4.30, and then it’s through the little archway to the right, into the Chapel Sacristy
– ancient leather-bound books lining the shelves along the walls – and up the steps into Merton’s thirteenth-century chapel, one of the glories not just of the college but the whole university. If it’s a summer’s afternoon, the sun may still be shining through the medieval glass of the windows; if it’s winter, or time for Evensong, much of the light in the chapel will be coming from the candles lighting the choir stalls.
Merton’s choral foundation – the umbrella under which the girl chorister scheme sits – was set up in 2008 and now comprises 30 graduate and undergraduate students, funded by choral and organ scholarships and conducted by a full-time Director of Music, providing a mixed voice ensemble of high standard and ambition to sing daily and weekly services in the College Chapel.
The Chapel Choir quickly established itself as a fixture on Oxford’s choral scene and since then has gone on to achieve acclaim well beyond college and city – indeed, internationally – through its programme of services, broadcasts, concerts and recordings with Delphian Records. The new girl chorister scheme – 24 choristers and 10 probationers aged 8 to 16 years old – finds its members from schools across Oxford and aims to complement similar choral outreach projects for young singers across the whole university. The Merton girl choristers sing Choral Evensong once a week but also join
the adult choir of the choral foundation for concerts, festal services, and for the college’s annual Passiontide at Merton festival.
But that weekly round of rehearsals and services was interrupted, for the Merton choristers as for all choirs, when the Covid pandemic imposed challenging restrictions on choral singing. That the Merton girl choristers were able to surmount these challenges so successfully can be seen and heard in this, their debut recording. In the Stillness is a programme of Christmas music drawn from across Europe and from several different periods and traditions.
Like Berkeley a Catholic, Edward Elgar wrote his short and delicate Angelus during a holiday in Tuscany. Elgar claimed to have adapted the words, which ask the Virgin for her prayers, from a Tuscan original though they may in fact be by the composer himself.
The season of Advent, the four-week period of preparation leading up to the Christmas feast, is a time of reflection and penitence in the Christian Church, an interval of prayer before the celebrations of the Incarnation can begin. The hymn Come, thou redeemer of the earth is a nineteenth-century English translation of a Latin original by St Ambrose, sung to a melody from seventeenth-century Germany.
The arc and journey of the Christmas story begins with the Annunciation, the moment when the startled Mary is informed by the archangel Gabriel that she is to bear the Son of God. Since medieval times the Virgin herself has been depicted as a rose of matchless beauty, her pregnancy the flowering of a perfect bloom. There is a flower springing portrays Mary in just this way, with two entwined versions of a sixteenth-century German hymn, the music by Michael Praetorius and Melchior Vulpius, sung in English translation. The twentieth-century British composer Lennox Berkeley (himself once an undergraduate at Merton) sets the fifteenth-century English lyric I sing of a maiden, matching the quiet thoughtfulness of the words to music of calm serenity.
The arrangement recorded here, by Sir David Willcocks, long-time Director of Music at King’s College, Cambridge, is crowned with a descant by John Scott, former Organist of St Paul’s Cathedral in London and then St Thomas’ Church, Fifth Avenue, New York.
In the Nativity story, Mary and Joseph’s journey from their Nazareth home to Bethlehem, five or six days’ travel away, is traditionally shown with a heavily pregnant Mary riding on a donkey (though neither of the biblical accounts include this detail). And much Christmas music invites us, likewise, to walk in the footsteps of the Holy Couple. Michael Head’s greatly loved setting of words by Margaret Rose tells of lambs at sunset, their neck bells ringing, quietly following The Little Road to
Bethlehem to the door of the stable where Mary gently rocks the new-born child. Sweet was the song (the words from a lute book in the library of Trinity College, Dublin) imagines the Virgin herself singing as she does so. David Bednall’s setting comes from a suite of Christmas choral pieces composed in 2018 for Benenden School.
adapted from a traditional Ukrainian tune and turned into a Christmas piece by the Ukrainian-American composer Peter Wilhousky.
While John Joubert’s Torches – a firm Christmas favourite ever since its publication in 1951 – eagerly commands us to hurry to the stable, and John Rutter’s Star Carol enjoins us to sing praises to the new-born King, in Hush! my dear Gabriel Jackson (who has written a number of important works for Merton College) instead sets a gentle ‘Cradle Hymn’ by Isaac Watts which looks in awe on the quietly sleeping baby.
Three of the pieces on this recording look to musical traditions rooted in Eastern Europe. Infant holy is a traditional Polish carol, heard here in an arrangement by Michael Nicholas –for many years Organist of Norwich Cathedral and father of the present conductor. Rocking Carol is an old Czech cradle song and this arrangement is by Edward Higginbottom, formerly Organist of New College, Oxford. Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, a Ukrainian composer and folksong collector who made many important contributions to the choral repertoire of his country, is now remembered almost exclusively for his Carol of the Bells,
When the new choral foundation was established at Merton College in 2008, it soon became clear that a new chapel organ would be required to do justice to the ever-expanding repertoire of the choir. This ambition was realised when a new instrument was commissioned from the American firm Dobson and completed in time for the celebrations of the college’s 750th anniversary in 2014. Equipped to do justice to every school and period of organ composition, it is heard here in two chorale preludes from the Orgelbuchlein – the early eighteenthcentury collection which J. S. Bach devised as a teaching method for composers and players alike. Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich clothes the chorale in bustling figuration, excitedly telling the joyful news of Christ’s birth. In Vom Himmel kam der Engel schar the chorale is accompanied by running scales which perhaps suggest angels eagerly descending from the heavens to the manger. In between, Sing to the infant boy is an English adaptation by Geoffrey Webber of music from a Christmas cantata by Bach’s near-contemporary MarcAntoine Charpentier.
For those (Christian or not) who live in the northern hemisphere there is something overwhelmingly poignant and affecting about the idea of Christmas in a winter landscape:
the new-born babe an image of hope and promise at the darkest, coldest, time of the year. Up! good Christen folk, adapted from an old German carol by the priest and poet G. R. Woodward, serenades the Nativity with church bells which are surely ringing out over a frosty English valley. In Errollyn Wallen’s Peace on earth, a harp ostinato falls like soft snowflakes over voices calling for light and concord, and In the stillness by Sally Beamish likewise pictures a frozen landscape framing a humble village church. But the fons et origo of all such December Christmas visions must surely be Christina Rossetti’s In the bleak mid-winter, unforgettably set by Gustav Holst in music of quiet simplicity, and performed here in a gentle elaboration by John Bertalot, formerly Organist of Blackburn Cathedral and later Trinity Church, Princeton.
words of ancient provenance which overlay pagan traditions of well-dressing, at the turn of the year, with the worship of the Virgin.
The strange paradox and irresistible attraction of the Christmas story -– that simple image of new life, born in innocence and sent as a light to comfort and save troubled humanity – is as compelling and powerful, as touching and tender, to those who espouse a religious faith as it is to those who would say they have none. That elusive paradox is surely summed up in the concluding piece on this Merton girl choristers recording. John Rutter, setting his own words in Candlelight Carol, pictures the stillness at the crib, the mother cradling her tiny infant, but also asks questions which look beyond this simple scene to the inexpressible mystery of what is to come:
Taking us beyond the moment of the Nativity and into the early life of the Christ Child, John Ireland’s The Holy Boy was composed originally as a prelude for piano, the words added later. The piece has since been the subject of many arrangements, by Ireland himself and others. The growing limbs of God the Son takes a lyric by the Anglican priest and author George Boorne Timms and transforms it into a beautifully crafted hymn by Christopher Dearnley, latterly Organist of St Paul’s Cathedral. Bringing to an end the month of December, if not the feast of Christmas itself, Benjamin Britten’s A New Year Carol sets
Candlelight, angel light, firelight and star-glow Shine on his cradle till breaking of dawn. Gloria in excelsis Deo! Angels are singing; the Christ child is born.
© 2022 Michael EmeryMichael Emery is a former Organ Scholar of Merton College who is now Artistic Director of the Danish National Vocal Ensemble and Concert Choir – the professional choirs of DR, Denmark’s public-service broadcaster, in Copenhagen.
1 Angelus
Ave Mary! Sancta Maria, mater Dei; ora pro nobis.
Look down, O Queen, on thy children lowly bending,
O pray for us to thy Son in joy unending; He once was weak, and a babe on earth, The angel told of the wondrous birth; He now on high in his Godhead dwells; We plead through thee, with the sweet, blest bells.
Through thee he came to us sinners, peace bestowing: Through thee our prayer now ascends, with firm hope glowing, To him, who once was a babe on earth, The angel told of the wondrous birth; And now on high in his Godhead dwells, We raise our hymn with the sweet, blest bells. Ave!
Anon., ‘from Tuscan dialect’, probably by Edward Elgar
Sancta Maria … – Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us
Beside an open door, as I drew nigh, I heard sweet Mary sing a lullaby. She sang about the lambs at close of day And rocked her tiny King among the hay.
Across the air the silver sheep-bell rang, ‘The lambs are coming home,’ sweet Mary sang, ‘Your star of gold is shining in the sky, So sleep, my little King, go lullaby.’
As I walked down the road at set of sun, The lambs were coming homewards, one by one,
I heard a sheep-bell softly calling them Along the little road to Bethlehem.
Margaret Rose (d. 1958)3 Carol of the Bells
Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells
All seem to say, ‘Throw cares away.’
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer
To young and old, meek and the bold.
Ding dong, ding dong, that is their song
With joyful ring, all carolling.
2 The Little Road to Bethlehem
As I walked down the road at set of sun, The lambs were coming homewards, one by one, I heard a sheep-bell softly calling them Along the little road to Bethlehem.
One seems to hear words of good cheer
From everywhere, filling the air.
Oh how they pound, raising the sound O’er hill and dale, telling their tale.
Gaily they ring, while people sing Songs of good cheer, Christmas is here!
Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!
On, on they send; on without end Their joyful tone to every home.
Peter J. Wilhousky
4 Peace on earth
And snow falls down on me, Peace on earth.
The night is dark and soft, Peace on earth.
The lights that sparkle in the square, The smoke that lingers in the air, Peace on earth.
5 I sing of a maiden
I sing of a maiden That is makèles, king of all kinges to here son she ches.
He came all so stillë There his mother was As dew in Aprillë, That falleth on the grass.
He came all so stillë
To his mother’s bowr
As dew in Aprillë, That falleth on the flowr.
He came all so stillë
There his mother lay
As dew in Aprillë, That falleth on the spray.
And grace falls down on me, Peace on earth.
The dark will turn aside, Peace on earth.
The fires that burn in every hearth Do sing our praise of Christmas past, Peace on earth.
Hear them singing, Peace on earth.
Errollyn Wallen
Mother and maiden Was never none but she:
Well may such a lady Godès mother be.
Anon., English, 15th c.
makèles – matchless; ches – chose
6 The Holy Boy
Lowly, laid in a manger, With oxen brooding nigh, The heavenly babe is lying His maiden Mother by. Lo! The way-faring sages, Who journeyed far through the wild, Now worship, silent adoring, The boy, the heavenly child!
Leave your work and your playtime, And kneel in homage and prayer, The Prince of Love is smiling Asleep in his cradle there!
Bend your hearts to the wonder, The birth, the mystery mild, And worship, silent adoring, The boy, the heavenly child!
Dim the light of the lantern, And bare the mean abode, Yet gold and myrrh and incense Proclaim the Son of God.
7 Star Carol
Sing this night, for a boy is born in Bethlehem, Christ our Lord in a lowly manger lies; Bring your gifts, come and worship at his cradle, Hurry to Bethlehem and see the son of Mary!
See his star shining bright In the sky this Christmas night! Follow me joyfully; Hurry to Bethlehem and see the son of Mary!
Angels bright, come from heaven’s highest glory, Bear the news with its message of good cheer: ‘Sing, rejoice, for a King is come to save us, Hurry to Bethlehem to see the son of Mary!’
See, he lies in his mother’s tender keeping; Jesus Christ in her loving arms asleep. Shepherds poor, come to worship and adore him, Offer their humble gifts before the son of Mary.
Lowly laid in a manger By Virgin undefiled, Come worship, silent, adoring, The boy, the heavenly child!
Herbert S. Brown (1872–1923)
Let us all pay our homage at the manger, Sing his praise on this joyful Christmas Night; Christ is come, bringing promise of salvation; Hurry to Bethlehem and see the son of Mary!
John Rutter; © 1972 Oxford University Press. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved.
8 Infant holy
Infant holy, Infant lowly,
For his bed a cattle stall; Oxen lowing, Little knowing
Christ the babe is Lord of all. Swift are winging Angels singing, Nowells ringing, Tidings bringing: Christ the babe is Lord of all!
Flocks were sleeping; Shepherds keeping Vigil till the morning new Saw the glory, Heard the story, Tidings of a gospel true. Thus rejoicing, Free from sorrow, Praises voicing, Greet the morrow: Christ the babe was born for you!
Anon., Polish, ‘W Żlobie leży któż pobieży’, trans. Edith M. Gellibrand Reed (1885–1935)
Soft and easy is thy cradle, Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay, When his birthplace was a stable And his softest bed was hay. See the kindly shepherds round him, Telling wonders from the sky! Where they sought him, there they found him, With his Virgin Mother by.
May’st thou live to know and fear him, Trust and love him all thy days; Then go dwell for ever near him, See his face, and sing his praise!
Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
11 Sing to the infant boy
Like her in faith to grow We will our reverence show; Seeking our Lord to know Let us draw near.
Child of the virgin’s womb, Born in a humble room, He takes away our gloom Now by his birth. Praise him, O cherubim, Sing forth, O seraphim, Archangels worship him, God here on earth.
Geoffrey Webber; text reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press 13 Rocking Carol
14 A New Year Carol
Here we bring new water from the well so clear,
For to worship God with, this happy New Year. Sing levy dew, sing levy dew, the water and the wine;
The seven bright gold wires and the bugles that do shine.
Sing reign of Fair Maid, with gold upon her toe, Open you the West Door, and turn the Old Year go.
Sing reign of Fair Maid, with gold upon her chin, Open you the East Door, and let the New Year in.
Anon., Welsh levy dew – raise to God
9 Hush! my dear
Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber, Holy angels guard thy bed!
Heavenly blessings without number Gently falling on thy head.
Sing to the infant boy, Sing now with holy joy, Let us our hearts employ To give him praise. In this our worshipping We will or tribute bring Thus to the infant King Our voices raise. Mary his mother mild, Spotless and undefiled, Holding her newborn child, Our Saviour dear.
Little Jesus sweetly sleep, do not stir We will lend a coat of fur; We will rock you, rock you, rock you, We will rock you, rock you, rock you, See the fur to keep you warm Snugly round your tiny form.
Mary’s little baby, sleep, sweetly sleep, Sleep in comfort, slumber deep; We will rock you, rock you, rock you, We will rock you, rock you, rock you, We will serve you all we can, Darling, darling little man.
trad. Czech, tr. Percy Dearmer (1867–1936)
15 Up! good Christen folk
Ding-dong, ding: Ding-a-dong-a-ding: Ding-dong, ding-dong: Ding-a-dong-ding.
Up! good Christen folk, and listen
How the merry church bells ring, And from steeple
Bid good people
Come adore the new-born King: Tell the story how from glory God came down at Christmastide,
Bringing gladness, Chasing sadness, Show’ring blessings far and wide.
Born of mother, blest o'er other, Ex Maria Virgine, In a stable (’Tis no fable), Christus natus hodie.
George Ratcliffe Woodward
Ex Maria Virgine – of the Virgin Mary Christus natus hodie – Christ is born today
For a new morn, And the presence of a child Soon to be born.
© 2007 Katrina Shepherd 17 Torches
Torches, torches, run with torches All the way to Bethlehem!
Christ is born and now lies sleeping; Come and sing your song to Him!
His Father’s house he enters in, Where rabbis teach their cure for sin, While in his heart he hears the call Which through his cross won life for all.
And he who rules angelic bands, Who high in heavenly glory stands, Now yields him to his mother’s will, A boy’s obedience to fulfil.
He all his radiant splendour hides, And he who made the stars abides
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign: In the bleak mid-winter A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty –Jesus Christ.
16 In the stillness
In the stillness of a church
Where candles glow, In the softness of a fall Of fresh white snow, In the brightness of the stars That shine this night, In the calmness of a pool Of healing light, In the clearness of a choir That softly sings, In the oneness of a hush Of angels’ wings, In the mildness of a night By stable bare, In the quietness of a lull Near cradle fair, There’s a patience as we wait
Ah, Roro, Roro, my baby, Ah, Roro, my love, Roro; Sleep you well, my heart’s own darling, While we sing you our Roro.
Sing, my friends, and make you merry, Joy and mirth and joy again; Lo, he lives, the King of heaven, Now and evermore. Amen.
Anon., Galician, tr. J.B. Trend (1887–1958)
18 The growing limbs of God the Son
The growing limbs of God the Son, The Father’s sole-begotten One, Prepare him for his work on earth, Who for mankind took human birth.
In wisdom and in grace he grows, Each step of human life he knows, In all save sin, like us was made, To be a fallen people’s aid.
With Joseph and the Mother blest, In form of servant manifest.
To him, the Father’s only Son, Let praise and honour now be done, Who by the Holy Spirit’s grace Took flesh to save our human race.
George Boorne Timms (1910–1997), in part based on J. B. Santeuil (1630–1697), ‘Divine crescebas puer’
Enough for Him, whom cherubim Worship night and day, A breastful of milk And a mangerful of hay; Enough for Him, whom angels Fall down before, The ox and ass and camel Which adore.
Angels and archangels
May have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim Thronged the air;
But only His mother
19 In the bleak mid-winter
In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan; Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak mid-winter Long ago. Our God, heaven cannot hold Him Nor earth sustain,
In her maiden bliss Worshipped the beloved With a kiss. What can I give Him, Poor as I am? –
If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb; If I were a wise man I would do my part, –Yet what I can I give Him, –Give my heart.
Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)
20 There is a flower springing
There is a flower springing, From tender roots it grows, From Eden beauty bringing, From Jesse’s stem a rose.
On his green branch it blows: A bud that in cold winter at midnight will unclose.
Pure Mary, maiden holy, The dream by prophets seen, Who in a stable lowly Above her child did lean, So gentle and serene: This was Isaiah’s vision, the tree of living green.
Anon., German, before 1600, ‘Es ist ein Ros entsprungen’, freely translated by Ursula Wood (1911–2007), from 'Two Carols' © 1945 Oxford University Press. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved.
The virgin womb that burden gained With virgin honour all unstained; The banners there of virtue glow, God in his temple dwells below.
Forth from his chamber goeth he, That royal home of purity, A giant in twofold substance one, Rejoicing now his course to run.
From God the Father he proceeds, To God the Father back he speeds, His course he runs to death and hell, Returning on God’s throne to dwell.
22 Sweet was the song
Sweet was the song the Virgin sang, When she to Bethlem Juda came And was delivered of a son, That blessed Jesus hath to name: Lulla, lulla, lulla, lullaby, ‘Sweet babe,’ quoth she, And rocked him sweetly on her knee. ‘My son, and eke a Saviour born, Who hast vouchsafed from on high To visit us that were forlorn.’
William Ballet’s Lute Book (16th c.)23 Candlelight Carol
How do you capture the wind on the water? How do you count all the stars in the sky? How can you measure the love of a mother Or how can you write down a baby's first cry? Candlelight, angel light, firelight and star-glow Shine on his cradle till breaking of dawn. Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Angels are singing; the Christ child is born!
Shepherds and wise men will kneel and adore him, Seraphim round him their vigil will keep. Nations proclaim him their Lord and their Saviour
21 Come, thou redeemer of the earth
Come, thou redeemer of the earth, And manifest thy virgin-birth; Let every age adoring fall, Such birth befits the God of all.
Begotten of no human will, But of the Spirit, thou art still The Word of God, in flesh arrayed, The promised fruit to man displayed.
O equal to thy Father, thou! Gird on thy fleshly mantle now, The weakness of our mortal state With deathless might invigorate. Thy cradle here shall glitter bright, And darkness glow with new-born light, Where endless faith shall shine serene, And twilight never intervene.
O Jesu, virgin-born, to thee Eternal praise and glory be, Whom with the Father we adore And Holy Spirit, evermore. Amen.
St Ambrose (c.340–397), ‘Veni redemptor gentium’, trans. John Mason Neale (1818–1866) et al.
But Mary will hold him and sing him to sleep.
Find him at Bethlehem laid in a manger: Christ our Redeemer asleep in the hay. Godhead incarnate and hope of salvation: A child with his mother that first Christmas Day.
John Rutter; © 1985 Oxford University Press. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved.
In 2016 Merton College became the first in the University of Oxford to introduce girl choristers. The twenty-four young singers attend a dozen different schools across Oxford and sing Evensong on Wednesdays during term, as well as joining the College Choir for special services and concerts. The choristers have sung for the Archbishop of Canterbury (the college’s Visitor) and have sung in Durham and Chichester Cathedrals. Recent concerts include Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Elgar’s The Apostles, and in 2018 they took part in the first performance of Gabriel Jackson’s Stabat Mater with The Marian Consort. They recently joined the College Choir to record Nico Muhly’s Song of Ephrem the Syrian on the Delphian label (Sleeper’s Prayer, DCD34232). This is their debut album.
Benjamin Nicholas is Director of Music at Merton College, Oxford and Music Director of The Oxford Bach Choir. As a conductor, he has appeared with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, The BBC Singers and The Holst Singers.
Benjamin was a chorister at Norwich Cathedral before holding organ scholarships at Chichester Cathedral, Lincoln College, Oxford and St Paul’s Cathedral. After a period as Director of Music of St Luke’s Church, Chelsea, he was Director of Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum and Director of Choral Music at Dean Close School. From 2011 to 2016 he served the Edington Music Festival, firstly as conductor of the Schola and then as Festival Director.
A graduate of the Royal College of Music, Simon Hogan combines a busy freelance career with organist posts at St Bartholomew the Great, London and Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Simon’s musical life began as a chorister at St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, and he has subsequently held posts at Salisbury Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral and Southwell Minster. As a soloist Simon has given recitals in venues across the UK, and is also the principal organist for JAM, an organisation which commissions and performs new music for brass, organ and choir by leading contemporary composers.
Catrin Meek
Catrin Meek is a London-based Welsh harpist. Since studying at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music she has performed throughout the country in a wide range of endeavours. Theatre work has been a focus, being the harpist for the London Musical Theatre Orchestra’s A Christmas Carol in the West End, deputising in the original Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and at English National Opera’s Man of La Mancha.
At the front of the stage she has played to rave reviews in the Handel, Boieldieu and Mozart harp concertos with orchestras in Wales and London. Her love of music has brought her to some of the nation’s finest halls, playing with the English National Ballet, recording at Abbey Road Studios and currently performing in the ENO’s The Valkyrie. She is grateful to the support of the Philharmonia Orchestra Martin Musical Scholarship Fund.
Benjamin has premiered many choral works, including music by Birtwistle, Dove, Gabriel Jackson, Kendall, Kidane, MacMillan and Weir.
The Choristers of Merton College Benjamin Nicholas Simon HoganGirl Choristers
Anna Donskikh
Zhara Gathenya-Kamau
Anastasia Goeldner-Thompson
Rosie Howard
Phoebe Hutt
Felicity Jones Harriet Kerr Emily Meredith Sophie Meredith
Rosie Price-Nowak
Hannah Rowe Anna Samuel Esther Samuel
Emilia Scaber
Katherine Scott Weijean Tan
Helena Thomas Freya Underwood
Robyn Underwood
Lara Ward Jacobs
Altos
LucyAnne Fletcher
Sutcliffe
William Waine
Tenors
Tom Castle
Clement Collins Rice
Denby Joseph Hancock Basses
Freddie Crowley
Tom Herring Edmund Saddington
Vocal Coach to the Choristers
Carys Lane
Chorister Tutors Leah Collins Lizzie Casey
The Merton College Girl Choristers
the generous support of David Harvey and Cheyney Ryan
thanks to the Warden and Fellows of the House of Scholars of Merton College, Oxford
Recorded
24-26 August 2021
of Merton College, Oxford
Producer/Engineer: Paul Baxter
digital editing: Jack Davis
digital mastering: Paul Baxter
Drew Padrutt
editor: Henry Howard
photograph:
photography: foxbrushfilms.com
Records Ltd – Edinburgh – UK www.delphianrecords.com
The Girl Choristers and Lower Voices of Merton College, OxfordMerton and Nicholas’ latest recording, focusing entirely on American music of the last forty years, begins as a striking ‘double portrait’ of two composers who have written or arranged works especially for the choir. The austere postminimalism of David Lang, in three pieces informed by elements of Jewish liturgy and thought, provides a striking foil to Nico Muhly’s more richly referential approach, that draws on his lifelong love of the Anglican tradition. Two solo organ works by Muhly and a transcription from his mentor Philip Glass’s opera Satyagraha are set in context alongside the more stylistically eclectic yet no less powerfully communicative sound-worlds of Libby Larsen and Abbie Betinis. Two final choral items draw on pre-existing traditions of the spiritual and the Baptist hymnal, in moving demonstration of the New World’s ability to honour its past while gazing firmly ahead.
‘a fantastic disc ... It gives a really enjoyable overview of what choral music is for and how wide is its reach’ — BBC Radio 3, Record Review, May 2020
Celebrating ten years since the inception of Merton College’s choral foundation, the choir’s seventh Delphian recording follows the themed anthologies which brought it such immediate critical acclaim with what will be the first in a series of close collaborations between the choir and individual living composers. Richard Allain writes music across a wide spectrum of genres; he and Benjamin Nicholas have put together a programme showcasing his oeuvre – from a setting of the Evening Canticles, animated then impassioned, to a sumptuous reimagining of the spiritual Don’t you weep when I am gone and Allain’s most performed work, the wedding anthem Cana’s Guest ‘beautifully-shaped performances by a finely constituted and fearless mixed choir … The sound is rich and full, allowed to breathe in an ideal acoustic.’ — BBC Music Magazine, October 2018
DCD34192
A recording of director Benjamin Nicholas’s favourite carols: two of John Rutter’s most exquisite works are complemented by orchestral versions of well-loved traditional fare. From the ecstatic brass fanfares that introduce O come, all ye faithful and Hark! the herald-angels sing to the intimate performances of Elizabeth Poston’s Jesus Christ the apple tree and Morten Lauridsen’s O magnum mysterium, Christmas old and new is celebrated with a fresh sense of all its magic and glory. The choir and orchestra loved making this recording, and it shows.
‘Benjamin Nicholas and his superb choir are on top form’ — MusicWeb International, November 2017
The choir’s fifth Delphian recording in five years again showcases the talents of its joint directors, with Peter Phillips’ love of polyphony complemented by Benjamin Nicholas’s flair and commitment in some of the twentieth century’s major choral works. Bookending these ‘favourites’ are Patrick Gowers’ now iconic Ascension Day anthem Viri Galilaei and Jonathan Dove’s newly minted Te Deum.
‘captivating … deliciously expansive … The choir’s singing is notable for its clarity, and [Nicholas and Phillips] bring to these performances a warm-hearted fondness which is as indefinable as it is apparent’ — Gramophone, April 2016
O Holy Night: A Merton Christmas Choir of Merton College, Oxford & Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra / Benjamin Nicholas
Richard Allain: choral music Choir of Merton College, Oxford / Benjamin Nicholas DCD34207
Viri Galilaei: Favourite Anthems from Merton Choir of Merton College, Oxford / Benjamin Nicholas & Peter Phillips DCD34174
Sleeper’s Prayer: choral music from North America Choir of Merton College, Oxford / Benjamin Nicholas DCD34232
