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2 CD
✓ in stock |
€ 25.95
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| Label Signum Classics |
UPC 0635212049525 |
Catalogue number SIGCD 495 |
Release date 06 October 2017 |
Hertfordshire Chorus continue to build on their reputation for commissioning and performing some of the very best in contemporary choral music. In their first recording with Signum they are joined by the BBC Concert Orchestra for a 2CD set featuring James McCarthy’s Codebreaker (an exploration of the life of the pioneering computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing) and Will Todd’s Ode to a Nightingale (setting the famous poem by John Keats).
Hertfordshire Chorus is one of the UK’s finest symphonic choruses and has a reputation for high-quality and passionate singing, commissioning new music, performing challenging and often rarely heard pieces as well as much-loved and well-known works. It is at home in styles from the major classical works to jazz, music theatre, games music, rock and all points in between. David Temple MBE, one of the leading choral conductors in the country, has been its Musical Director since 2000.
The Chorus performs regularly in the UK’s major concert halls, has appeared frequently with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, has worked with Daniele Gatti, Thomas Adès and José Carreras and has made numerous recordings. Highlights of its engagements include Porgy & Bess with the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic under Wayne Marshall, the Game Music Festival with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Robert Kurdybacha and War Horse – The Story in Concert for BBC Radio in Coventry Cathedral.
Recordings have included Nova! Nova! – Joy to the World! (Louis Halsey) and Codebreaker/Ode to a Nightingale (James McCarthy and Will Todd) for Signum, as well as Michael Hurd Choral Music volume 2 for Lyrita. The Chorus has been broadcast on radio on many occasions, including on the BBC marking the Centenary of the 1918 Armistice performing Bliss Morning Heroes and Britten Ballard of Heroes, in Fauré Requiem and in a concert of Christmas music with José Carreras. Classic FM broadcast its concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. On television it has provided soundtracks on a number of occasions as well as singers for programmes as varied as First Night of the Proms concerts, Spooks and The Unofficial Science of Home Alone.
The Chorus has a special fund to commission new music and under David Temple’s direction its drive to encourage young composers has produced some of the most outstanding and successful new choral music of recent years, including works by Shruthi Rajasekar, Will Todd, James McCarthy, Roland Perrin, Orlando Gough and Howard Haigh. The Chorus is also particularly proud of the work it does with children and young people to help encourage the next generation of choral singers and music enthusiasts.
Will Todd taught himself the piano from an early age and grew up in County Durham, North East England where his grandfather was a coal miner and his parents were teachers. His love of improvising has been the central force in a wide ranging career of composing and playing. Will has worked with many of the UK’s leading music organisations including Welsh National Opera, Opera North, The Halle Orchestra, Opera Holland Park, The Sixteen, The BBC Singers and the BBC Concert Orchestra. He has also visited many countries performing and directing his music.
His love of choral music is reflected in a large output including masses, anthems and larger sacred concert works including Mass in Blue, which has been performed hundreds of times around the world since its 2003 premiere. His carol My Lord Has Come has become a worldwide favourite since it was included in Oxford University Press’s Carols for Choirs Five in 2012. Other widely performed choral pieces include Passion Music, Jazz MIssa Brevis and his arrangement of Amazing Grace. Will Todd also has an impressive list of theatre works including The Screams of Kitty Genovese, produced most recently by Tête à Tête Opera in London and Edinburgh, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Christmas Carol for Opera Holland Park, Migrations for Welsh National Opera and Song of our Heartland, commissioned by Opera North.
Will Todd is president and patron of a number of UK choirs. He strongly believes in music making for all, and his personal motto when directing choirs is ‘find the passion’. His music is published by Oxford University Press, Boosey and Hawkes and Tyalgum Press and released on Signum Records. Further information at www.willtodd.co.uk
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