St Thomas Fifth Avenue NYC

[DracoM]

Choir back and in very fine voice under John Scott.

Available to hear online are so far:

Durufle Requiem
Mathias Jesus Service Mag and Nunc
Victoria / Missa + motet Simile est Regnum Coelorum
+ very fine Guerrero motet in same Eucharist service
Stanford in C Mag and Nunc
Stainer anthem
Friedell canticles
+ others.

Webcasts are live UK time
Sunday Eucharist 4 p.m.
Sunday evensong 9 p.m.
Midweek evensong: 10 30 p.m.

Excellent sequences of organ music before and after services. All services can be retrieved online at www.saintthomaschurch.org/music/services

[chrisjstanley]

And even the first 46 verses of Psalm 78 to enjoy from 15th Draco!!!!!!!

bws
Chris S

[DracoM]

Yes, indeed...........forgot that!

Don't you agree, Chris, that they really are on cracking form. Pretty sure that JS has lost few boys so that there is a wealth of experience there. Two or three very fine solo treb voices and a very fine tenor dept. too. Some Bach coming up as well, which is not truly their usual beat.

[VodkaDilc]

This probably belongs on the "Gramophone-baiting" thread, but I was prompted to respond to the discussion about John Scott.

The decline of Gramophone is now universally recognised and hardly seems worth discussing any more. IRR is a wonderful replacement. However I noted some months ago that I have also started subscribing to the American review magazine "Fanfare'. Some of the CDs reviewed and many of the articles are rather obscure and I cannot claim to read every word. I was absolutely amazed though to see a fascinating interview with John Scott covering no less than eleven pages of closely printed text! Even IRR does not provide such depth!

[DracoM]

Well, if anyone wants to hear the choir in absolute top form and in a huge repertoire, then catch the Festal Eucharist from Sunday Oct 2nd.
A truly colossal sing - Rheinberger Mass, 'I was Glad' / Parry, an exquisite Bruckner Locus Iste, plus plainchant in procession [with bells!]. And after that the Walton Chichester Service for Evensong on the same afternoon. And a roof-raising voluntary of Tournemire.

Just go to St Thomas Fifth Avenue and 'Choral Services'.

[DracoM]

Those who might want to listen to the Festal Eucharist webcast today - Thanksgiving Day in USA - it starts at 4 p.m. GMT. The St T website is less than helpful about what is being sung, but the service setting is Jean Langlais's Messe Sollenelle, and there will be as usual two anthems: 'Draw us in the spirit's tether' /Friedell, and Ned Rorem's 'Sing my Soul'. John Scott is DoM.

[ardcarp]

Yes, they did Lobet at a cracking pace. Full tilt in fact. Maybe Bach isn't their strongest point, but full marks for effort. One has to admire the variety and sheer volume of stuff they get through. They do tend to stick with a single introit and set of responses for a week, so that helps.

[DracoM]

They have a German tour coming up next year, so I suspect that they are limbering up. Pretty daunting task. As ardfcarp says, Bach is not at the centre of their repertoire yet.

[ardcarp]

Feast Song for St Cecilia by Bernard Rose was the anthem at Evensong on Weds 23d.It is not a piece I have come across before, but I can thoroughly recommend a listen, both for the piece and its performance. BR had an interssting style, founded in tradition, maybe, but with an element of sometimes Brittenesque modernity trying to get out.

Incidentally, the music chosen for that service by John Scott (somewhat irritatingly referred to by the clergy as "maestro") was all by Tomkins and Rose, because Magdealen College Oxford was to give a concert in St T's that evening.

[DracoM]

'Maestro' seems to be the generic term used by almost all US public media for a conductor. It is used with some irony in UK, but I suspect not at all in US.

Totally agree about the Rose piece - came right out of left field for me - never heard it, but very listenable and inventive. Jolly well sung too.

[DracoM]

Worth checking out the Dresden Requiem / Auerbach webcast on the St T website. They have just had 14 of their senior boys with choristers from St Paul's taking part in a world premiere with the Dresden Staatskapelle / Vladimir Jurowski. Tough modern work, very solemn, very sombre and finely orchestrated.

The singing of the two St Thomas lead treble soloists is simply astonishing.

[DracoM]

Those who follow The Choir regularly will know one of our most regular contributors, Gabriel Jackson.
His Truro Service is being sung by St Thomas Ffith Ave NYC tonight [Mar 8th] at 10.30 GMT via the St T website LIVE at http://www.saintthomaschurch.org

[DracoM]

GJ's Truro Service [new to me] Easy on the ear, a tiny bit of wobble here and there.
BUT
James MacMillan can do it, but I don't get why there were so many of those little decorations etc beloved of traditional folk singers. In their idiom it works well, and yes, it works for JMcM, but I'm not sure repeating it in all parts pretty regularly did not rather hinder the flow and get in the way of hearing some suitably Lenten, sombre and appropriate writing.

[Chris Newman]

Those who follow The Choir regularly will know one of our most regular contributors, Gabriel Jackson.
His Truro Service is being sung by St Thomas Ffith Ave NYC tonight [Mar 8th] at 10.30 GMT via the St T website LIVE at http://www.saintthomaschurch.org

As a composer, Gabriel Jackson pops up at this summer's Salisbury International Arts Festival with a concert by Ex Cathedra conducted by Jeffrey Skidmore on Saturday 2nd of June in Salisbury Cathedral at 7.30.

Tallis, Spem in alium
Te lucic ante terminum
The Eight Tune - God grant we grace
The Third Tune - Why fumeth in fight
Striggio, Ecce beatam lucem
Gabriel Jackson, Sanctum est verum lumen (2005)
Alec Roth,Sol Justitiae
Earthrise (2010)
Tallis, Sing and glorify heaven's high majesty(1610)

Jeffrey Skidmore says "To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee (of the Festival), we are performing 40-part music from both Elizabethan ages. We are delighted to be returning to the Salisbury International Arts Festival to give a programme of music including two works specially written for Ex Cathedra, and the iconic model – the soaring, uplifting, remarkable, truly monumental Spem in alium."

For tickets, priced £12 to £40, call 0845 241 9651 or book online.

[DracoM]

Sorry, but I think that's a bit naughty. This has nothing whatever to do with St T, and is a blatant puff for a concert gig in UK. Erm....??