DE PROFUNDIS Choral works by Parry and Elgar by Hertfordshire Chorus

Hubert Parry, Edward Elgar

Hertfordshire Chorus

DE PROFUNDIS Choral works by Parry and Elgar

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Signum Classics
UPC: 0635212100523
Catnr: SIGCD 1005
Release date: 17 July 2026
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1 CD	€ 19.95	Preorder

Label
Signum Classics

UPC
0635212100523

Catalogue number
SIGCD 1005

Release date
17 July 2026

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

This album brings together major choral works by Hubert Parry and Edward Elgar, reflecting the richness of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British music. At its centre is Parry’s De Profundis, a large-scale setting of Psalm 130, widely admired by contemporaries for its emotional depth, contrapuntal mastery and expressive journey from penitence to hope. Parry’s anthem God Is Our Hope and Strength complements it with a grand, confident vision of choral architecture and spiritual assurance. Elgar is represented by the intimate partsong The Snow and the charming Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands, inspired by Alpine landscapes and folk traditions, capturing a more personal and lyrical side of his art.

Artist(s)

Hertfordshire Chorus

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...

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.

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David Temple (conductor)

Composer(s)

Edward Elgar

Eward Elgar was a British composer, who stood on the forefront of the revival of English music around 1900. Many of his works have entered the international concert repertoire, although there are performed more often in Britain than elsewhere.
Although Elgar is often considered as a typically English composer, he has primarily been influenced by composers on the European continent. He was contemptuous of folk music and had little respect for English Renaissance and Baroque composers. Instead he was particularly inspired by Dvorák, Händel and Brahms, and the clarity of 19th-century French composers, which resonates through his orchestrations.
Elgar was autodidact, and learned to play the organ, violin and viola at an early age within the musical family in which he was brought up. He also composed and arranged music for various ensembles. He became somewhat well-known with his overture Froissart, but only gained international recognition after composing his Enigma Variations in 1899. Currently researchers are still trying to find out which melody Elgar has hidden within the variations.
Other famous works by Elgar are the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, the oratorio The Dream of Gerontinus and the Cello Concerto.

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