Advent Sunday: Chapel of St John's College, Cambridge Sun, 29th Nov

[quiretenor]

ALAC files downloaded from Hyperion, and listened to with huge pleasure! Thanks again!

Excellent! A satisfied customer!

[ardcarp]

Sound away, ardy

Well, I just did, with St Paul's and Gloucester (but are we only imcluding the Evening Canticles?)
Anyway that leads me to the Leicestershire Chorale programme which I mentioned earlier, ending with the Coll Reg Mag, which is my third favourite (and probably the easiest to play.) The rest is:

Mag - Giles Swayne
Ave Maria - Bruckner
Angelus ad Virginem - arr Roberts (who he?)
Lute Book Lullaby - arr Shaw
Dormi Jesu - Rutter
Mag Quinti Toni - Praetorius
Mag - Part
The Shepherds' Carol - Chilcott
Omnes de Saba - Handl
Maria Wellt - Eccard (AKA When to the Temple Mary Went)
Nunc Dimittis- Holst
Mag - Coll Reg - Howells

Nothing to frighten the horses there, except there will be an organ improvisation after every couple of items, so maybe a tight hold on the reins needed there?
St James the Great, Leicester is a very un-grim Victorian pile, being a mock Byzantine Basilica. So the acoustics should be fantastic.

[DracoM]

What is an ALAC file?

Ref that Hyperion of St P's, in correspondence with John Scott during his NYC stint, we both agreed that the Amen from the Parsons Ave Maria was possibly the one of the most wonderful written.

Certainly a DID for me.

[jean]

Anyway that leads me to the Leicestershire Chorale programme...

I thought you were looking for stuff particularly for Advent?

Anything appropriate to the Annunciation or the Visitation will fit (as has been said), as will anything concerning Old Testament prophecies. Here are some items from the Liverpool Renaissance Music Group's recital next Sunday (Liverpool Cathedral Lady Chapel):

Sweelinck: Gaude et laetare Jerusalem
(Gaude et laetare Jerusalem, ecce rex tuus venit, de quo prophetae praedixerunt, quem angeli adoraverunt, quem Cherubim et Seraphim Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, proclamant )

Hassler: Canite tuba in Sion
(Canite tuba in Sion, vocate gentes annuntiate populis et dicite: Ecce Deus salvator noster adveniet. Annuntiate et auditum facite, loquimini et clamate: Ecce Deus salvator noster adveniet.)

Sweelinck: Ecce virgo concipiet

Hassler: Dixit Maria ad angelum; Beata es, virgo Maria

These would all do very well for Advent. The rest of the programme edges into Christmas and beyond.

[Nick Armstrong]

What is an ALAC file?

Ref that Hyperion of St P's

?

The Hyperion record is from Westminster.

And ALAC is the 'Apple Lossless' equivalent of FLAC files i.e. better than ordinary MP3 files...

Well, I just did

I thought you meant you were going to start a separate thread to poll people on their favourite Howells services...

[ardcarp]

Jean, I wasn't personally looking for Advent stuff, but thanks for the suggestions. I was actually replying to oddoneout.....

Going off at a slight but I hope permissible tangent, what choral pieces could be included in a concert which might be viewed or billed as a Christmas concert and therefore contain the usual suspects, but could make a nod to the fact that most such events are in Advent? Preferably without frightening the paying public too much. JSB is an obvious go-to, and there are, as already noted some rousing hymns/carols for audience participation, but perhaps the collective knowledge here could come up with something less obvious?

...and using Leicestershire Chorale's programme as a source of ideas. In fact it doesn't include any rousing audience participation nor anything particularly 'less obvious'. But it's a nice programme which should be OK for an audience of variable musical tastes.

Calibs. OK. I will!

[Nick Armstrong]

Excellent! A satisfied customer!

Does one infer that you are to be heard having a shout on the back row, Mr Cutie, sorry, QT?

[quiretenor]

Does one infer that you are to be heard having a shout on the back row, Mr Cutie, sorry, QT?

Sadly not! Persona non grata at the Abbey, I am afraid, but happy to recommend a fine rendition.

[oddoneout]

Thank you ardcarp and jean for your suggestions, which give me plenty to work on.
Organ interjections aren't a problem -our MD is an organ whizzkid, and provided such items aren't too long the audience often appreciates the contrast to vocal items,but the comment has set me thinking about another way to make the seasonal offering a bit less run of the mill, namely instrumental items, as we have choir members who can oblige, and have done in the past.

[quiretenor]

What is an ALAC file?

"Apple Lossless Audio Codec: Also known as ALAC, Apple Lossless is similar to FLAC.** It's a compressed lossless file, although it's made by Apple. Its compression isn't quite as efficient as FLAC, so your files may be a bit bigger, but it's fully supported by iTunes and iOS (while FLAC is not). Thus, you'd want to use this if you use iTunes and iOS as your primary music listening software."

** "FLAC: The Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) is the most popular lossless format, making it a good choice if you want to store your music in lossless. Unlike WAV and AIFF, it's been compressed, so it takes up a lot less space. However, it's still a lossless format, which means the audio quality is still the same as the original source, so it's much better for listening than WAV and AIFF. It's also free and open source, which is handy if you're into that sort of thing."

[Nick Armstrong]

Persona non grata at the Abbey, I am afraid

Thereby sounds to hang a tale! Anyway, just enjoying a further blast of my new purchase

[mopsus]

Ooops, sorry. I recall attending Malcolm Archer's last Wells Carol Service (on a Boxing Day, I'm pretty sure) with the combined boy and girl choristers. It was stunning.

That would have been in 2003, I think, and I believe the timing of the Carol Service changed soon afterwards.

[quiretenor]

"Apple Lossless Audio Codec: Also known
as ALAC, Apple Lossless is similar to FLAC.** It's a compressed lossless file, although it's made by Apple. Its compression isn't quite as efficient as FLAC, so your files may be a bit bigger, but it's fully supported by iTunes and iOS (while FLAC is not). Thus, you'd want to use this if you use iTunes and iOS as your primary music listening software."

** "FLAC: The Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) is the most popular lossless format, making it a good choice if you want to store your music in lossless. Unlike WAV and AIFF, it's been compressed, so it takes up a lot less space. However, it's still a lossless format, which means the audio quality is still the same as the original source, so it's much better for listening than WAV and AIFF. It's also free and open source, which is handy if you're into that sort of thing."

Well, I shan't bother next time!

[VodkaDilc]

I am probably the last person in the world to catch up with this. Being away for a couple of weeks around the start of Advent, I recorded the service and resolved to listen before Christmas. This is the first chance I've had.

As others have said, what an enjoyable start to Advent. Well engineered too. I was especially pleased to hear the Anthony Milner piece. I had started to think that he had been forgotten since his death. There must be others reading this who had the unforgettable experience of his lectures at various London colleges in the 60s and 70s. He was austere, frighteningly knowledgable and unique. (I'm trying to find the necessary polite words.) I am glad that his music has made a reappearance.

I noted that the 'Lo he comes' descant was by Robinson. Can anyone remember who wrote the version they used regularly some years back? I wouldn't even swear that it had a descant; just the most dramatic harmonies in the last verse I can remember hearing. Guest perhaps?

I was still shaken by the percussion in the Gardiner. I remember we discussed it last year. It's not needed.

[Wolsey]

I was still shaken by the percussion in the Gardiner. I remember we discussed it last year. It's not needed.

It was discussed two years ago, and as I said then, the third of the composer's Notes on Performance on the first page of the music - which includes the tambourine and side drum parts - says, "Percussion can be omitted, but is better included".