HAVPCD374 – Most Blessed and Glorious Lady
(To be released in March 2012)

A recording made with the Aid to the Church In Need to help Christians who suffer persecution or oppression for their faith.

The liturgical character of life at Lviv’s Seminary of the Holy Spirit encourages the formation of cantor groups in each seminary class, and each of these in turn leads the liturgical singing in the seminary’s chapel. These groups are composed of seminarians who have a good knowledge of the Church Typikon as well as of liturgical music. These groups are the bearers of the musical traditions of our seminary. However, there has always been a need for a small seminary choir that would be able to perform Church music professionally and set the tone for the life of the seminary community. This group could also represent the seminary in artistic, cultural and religious circles. As a result, every few years, a group of fellow seminarians gathered for this very purpose, but they never formed a permanent choir.

There had long been the idea of creating a stable group; however, it was only in 2006 that it was brought to life. At this time the octet began its work in a new format and in October 2008 it took the name “Theophoros” (from the Greek “God bearer”). Its major task is to work on the best examples of liturgical music, which then come to life in the seminary’s liturgical services. The octet’s particular heritage is a combination of some famous and some unknown compositions of sacred music, which differ in character and genres. Most of these pieces have been included on this album.

HAVPCD373 – Festival of Faith
(To be released in March 2012)

A recording made with the Aid to the Church In Need to help Christians who suffer persecution or oppression for their faith.

In 2008, the Seminary of the Holy Spirit in Lviv, Ukraine, celebrated the 225th anniversary of its foundation. To mark this occasion, several events took place over the course of the year that were designed to honour all those who, throughout the years of the seminary’s existence, zealously worked on the formation of priestly vocations. One of these events was the Festival of the Choirs of Greek Catholic Seminaries that took place on 6th December 2008 at the seminary in Lviv. The festival’s aim was to invite other seminaries to the celebration in order to experience the happiness of the jubilee together.

The festival of seminary choirs was a place for the seminary communities to meet and communicate, providing an opportunity to get to know one another better and share their accomplishments in the realm of choral music.

HAVPCD369 – Choral Music from Coventry Cathedral

Alistair Reid began his musical career as a treble at St Mark’s Church, Surbiton, Surrey and began playing the organ at the age of 13. In 1994, he became Organ Scholar of Hertford College, Oxford, where he conducted various choirs and orchestras, including the Oxford Chamber Choir. After graduating from the University of Oxford, he crossed the Atlantic to become Organ Scholar at Christ Church, Greenwich, Connecticut, while continuing his studies with Gerre Hancock at St Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, New York City.

COVENTRY CATHEDRAL CHOIR The boy choristers of Coventry Cathedral are drawn from schools around the city and they sing two services in the Cathedral each week. After a period of decline in numbers, the choirs has recently undergone a resurgence of recruitment and sponsorship. Having originally been drawn from one independent school in the city, the boy choristers are now drawn from the city at large, with at least fifteen schools represented. A complete reworking of the choir’s rehearsal schedule was undertaken in 2007-2010 and the choir is now back on course fulfilling its original roles of singing choral services in Coventry and performing as an international ambassador ensemble of reconciliation with, amongst others, centres of the Cross of Nails worldwide.

HAVPCD368 – Catholic Collection III

The Douai Abbey Singers, the lay-choir of the Abbey, have been an established part of the life of the Abbey since 1990. Benedictine monasteries have a long tradition of associated lay choirs. In the Middle Ages the function of the lay singers was often in association with services in the Lady Chapel or other chapels or chantries. Today at Douai the function of the choir is to assist and enhance the liturgy of the Abbey. The singers, who are predominantly amateur, have a schedule of some eighteen or twenty Sunday Masses and other feasts each year. They meet to rehearse for an hour and a quarter before each service. In Advent and Lent the singers perform larger-scale works in association with the monks, who give spoken reflections on the texts of the music.

Dr. John Rowntree was born in Scarborough, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, studied and worked as a civil engineer, later moving into music and undertaking post-graduate study in the universities of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Southampton. He later held lectureships in the University of Reading and King Alfred’s College, now The University of Winchester. He has written extensively in the field of liturgical music and the historic and contemporary organ and is well known, both in Britain and internationally, for his work as an organ adviser and consultant, He has been involved in choral music as a singer and conductor since his schooldays in Oxford. Since 1990 he has been Director of the Douai Abbey Singers, Organist at Douai Abbey and also Director of Music of St. Mary’s, the parish church of the Abbey.

Terence Charlston (Organ) is widely acknowledged for his engaging and expressive performances and he has been described as one of Britain’s leading early keyboard players. His enviably broad career ranges from solo and chamber musician, choral and orchestral director, to teacher and academic researcher. Born in Blackpool, Lancashire, he was drawn from an early age to the sound and repertoire of old instruments, especially the harpsichord, which he first experienced through recordings and BBC Radio 3 broadcasts. He took degrees in Oxford and London in organ, harpsichord and musicology.

As a harpsichord and organ soloist, he has toured worldwide, performing with many of the leading period and modern instrument groups and soloists, and his repertoire spans from the 16th century to the present day, reflecting his passionate interest in keyboard music of all types and styles. He can be heard on over 50 commercial CDs on harpsichord, organ, virginals, clavichord and fortepiano. His pioneering work as an educator is having a wide influence on the younger generation of performers. He founded the Department of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in 1995 and in September 2007 he was invited to join the staff of the Royal College of Music, London as professor of harpsichord and is International Visiting Tutor in harpsichord at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

HAVPCD367 – Take this moment

Take this moment This recording is the sixth collection of music taken from services celebrated by the Arundel & Brighton Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. The choice of music reflects the nature of those on pilgrimage, diverse in age and needs and all on their personal journey of faith. Parish musicians, schools, prayer groups and others may also find it a useful resource. It was recorded by musicians from the Arundel & Brighton Diocesan Pilgrimage.

The other recordings in the series are ‘Turn to me’, ‘O God I seek you’, ‘Kindle a flame’, ‘Let nothing trouble you’ and ‘As the deer longs’.

HAVPCD365 – Richard Pantcheff

Richard Pantcheff is internationally-renowned as a composer of the highest quality contemporary music. His output is predominantly for voices and instruments, and comprises numerous choral works, a song cycle, Sonatas, a Requiem, part songs, and a large number of works for Organ. His work is performed across the globe.

He commenced his musical career as Head Chorister of Ripon Cathedral, at the time of the Cathedral’s 1300th anniversary celebrations. During his time as a music scholar at Senior School, he corresponded frequently with Benjamin Britten, who acted as a mentor to him. He went on to read Music at Christ Church, Oxford, studying composition under Simon Preston and Francis Grier.

Richard Pantcheff’s compositions have been commissioned, performed, published, and distributed all over the world. They are frequently broadcast on national radio and TV stations, most recently across the US, the UK, Norway, Germany, the Caribbean, Canada, and South Africa. His music has received much critical acclaim, and been performed at many of the world’s best-known music festivals.

HAVPCD366 – English Fayre

This recording takes the listener on a tour of late nineteenth and twentieth century English organ music, as befits the instrument found in Winchester Cathedral. The programme opens with the first of the two cornerstones of the organ repertoire featured on this recording, Willan’s Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue in E flat minor.

Healey Willan (1880-1968) was born in England, and after beginning his career in London, emigrated to Toronto in 1913. The Introduction Passacaglia & Fugue was written three years later, and was dedicated to Sir Walter Alcock the then organist of Salisbury Cathedral. Clearly written with the Salisbury Father Willis organ in mind, the mysterious nature of the opening four bars is rudely interrupted by the dramatic fantasia, that forms the Introduction.

HAVPCD364 – The Organ of Chichester Cathedral

This eclectic musical experience is evident in his organ music, which also demonstrates a technical ability acquired from his composition lessons with Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Allegretto and Scherzo share a whimsical humour; the Andante tranquillo has a wistful, Elgarian quality and Folk Tune a haunting melody which is heard three times with different registrations. Paean is a Greek title for a choral hymn of praise to Apollo, but has come to denote an exulting musical piece. It is a ‘Tuba tune’ and was written for his then fiancée Edna May Kingdon.

HAVPCD363 – Bryd to Blow

The opening pieces, by William Byrd, are performed on what would have been the full extent of the available stops of a large organ of the period. The opening Fancy is performed on a solo Open Diapason, the main foundation stop on the large organ. The opening section has a choral quality, with voices introduced one at a time. The second section opens with fanfare-like chords, and gradually lines break away and become more flamboyant, building to a grand final cadence. For Salvator Mundi the hymn melody is heard in long notes between two embellished lines, and for the final grand Fantasia the full scale of the large organ is employed.

Papal Visit Radio – Heart Goves Unto Heart”
www.heartgivesuntoheart.co.uk

“Heart Gives Unto Heart” Papal Visit Radio is a taster for the proposed young Catholic radio station due to start broadcasting daily during late 2011. Many of the programmes for this eight day broadcast are produced by talented Catholic young people, in response to Pope Benedict’s encouragement for the Church to encompass modern technology to spread God’s word and to respond to the needs of Catholics of all ages.

“Heart Gives Unto Heart” internet radio will broadcast daily from 7am Tuesday 14th until midnight Monday 20th September to cover the Papal visit.

Our teams will be bringing you news, views, photos and interviews from many of the Papal Visit events. An enormous range of other programmes will be broadcast, highlighting the good that Catholics do within the community. ]]> http://www.heraldav.co.uk/papal-visit-radio-station/feed/ 0