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Track List:

• With A Little Help From My Friends

  Lennon/McCartney arr. Peter Gritton (2'24)
  Neil Bellingham (Baritone)

• Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

  Seeger/Hickeson arr. Adrian Peacock (4'23)
  Helen Neeves (Soprano)

• Bridge Over Troubled Water

  Paul Simon arr. Robert Jones (5'22)
  Emma Brain-Gabbott (Soprano) Robert Bryan (Counter Tenor)

• In My Life

  Lennon/McCartney arr. Daniel Jordan/David Buckley (2'45)
  Helen Neeves (Soprano) Daniel Ludford-Thomas (Tenor)

• Nobody Does It Better!

  Sager/Hamlisch arr. Helen Neeves (3'02)
  Emma Brain-Gabbott (Soprano) Philip Tebb (Baritone)

• He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

  Scott/Russell arr. Robert Jones (3'12)
  Matthew Long (Tenor)

• Angel

  Sarah McLachlan arr. Daniel Jordan (4'02)
  Claire Seaton (Soprano)

• Bohemian Rhapsody

  Freddie Mercury arr. Matthew Morley (4'56)
  Jeremy Budd (Tenor)

• Stairway To The Stars

  Parish/Malneck/Signorelli arr. Matthew Morley (4'36)
  Helen Neeves (Soprano) Christopher Field (Counter Tenor)

• Teddy Bear

  Mann/Lowe arr. Keith Roberts (2'21)
  Daniel Jordan (Bass)

• Summertime

  Gershwin/Gershwin arr. Robert Jones (2'46)
  Rachel Chapman (Soprano)

• Fly Me To The Moon

  Howard arr. Robert Jones (3'10)
  Philip Tebb (Baritone)

• Autumn Leaves

  Mercer/Parsons/Kosma arr. Andrew Carter (3'55)

• True Love

  Cole Porter arr. Robert Jones (2'52)

• Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)

  Solomon Linda arr. Helen Neeves (2'31)
  Robert Bryan (Counter Tenor)

• Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

  Wallis Willis arr. Robert Jones (2'42)
  Rachel Chapman (Soprano) Neil Bellingham (Baritone)

The Choir of St Bride's Church, Fleet Street
Directed by Robert Jones
Organ/Piano Matthew Morley

The Highs and the Lows

The Inside Track with Ross Bowman

17th September 2008

2:30 pm - I have just arrived at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street amidst a flurry of activity. The famous choir of St Bride's is engaged in final rehearsals for their upcoming disc, which is to be recorded over the next three days.

As an objective observer and with limited musical knowledge myself, it is an ideal opportunity to get an insight into the often overlooked 'blood, sweat and tears' behind the familiar end result. It is a chance to indulge in the auditory sensation of a finely-tuned instrument in flight and witness first hand the necessary collaborative process that is essential from everybody involved in making the completed disc a musical success.

3:30pm - With rehearsals now in full swing and the sun beginning to stream in through the large side windows, I take a seat in the side aisle and savour the pot pourri of sound that has begun to diffuse throughout the church. The engineers scurry about setting up all the necessary recording equipment and have begun the time consuming task of taping down the mishmash of cables that snake their way throughout the building.

Andrew Watts, international counter tenor and a prominent choir member, has taken a step back from singing on this disc in order to produce it. He joins the colossal statues of Saint Bride and Saint Paul in watchful gaze over the unfolding scene. Andrew, with his vast musical knowledge, is meticulous in ensuring that everybody involved (the singers as well as the sound engineering team led by Edward Armitage) are 'singing' not only from the same song sheet but the same note too. The positioning of voices in relation to each other and in relation to the microphone is, as I am beginning to understand, paramount in achieving the best possible result.

Musical jargon abounds and I am keen to understand the mix of language being used. "Knitting", as I am to learn, is not an activity enjoyed exclusively with a yarn of wool and two needles. The process of "knitting" or editing bars of music together is an integral necessity to a producer's armoury and a necessary tool in bringing the best musical moments together to form a continuous melody.

6:30pm - An air of excitement is building as the choir return promptly from a short break. They settle down to record the first track of the evening - "Teddy Bear", an arrangement of this classic number for male voices. The initial thirty seconds are sensational and recording is proceeding hitch-free. I am captivated. Suddenly there is a loud stutter from one piece of recording equipment and a rather unhealthy ticking noise brings recording to a halt. Three further takes from the beginning and the same result... Could it be that the batches of blank discs being used are faulty or more worryingly... Is their a problem with the equipment?

Pin-dropping silence washes over the church as Andrew cradles his head in his hands in disbelief - the silence is telling. Only the gentle humming from a nearby pub down the road (which sounds like it is doing roaring trade) manages to ease the stifling tension.

There seems to be a definite problem with the equipment and with no back-up machine present and with time being money, an executive decision needs to be made. Andrew along with Robert Jones (Director of Music) and Edward Armitage decide that the best possible outcome for the evening will be to rehearse for another hour and then call it a night, returning slightly earlier tomorrow. The choir, who are fully committed to this recording, agree to an earlier start and an even later finish. The premature ending to the evening's schedule pushes pulses up to a more vigorous beat and expectation levels are raised a few notches. The disc has to now be completed in two sessions and not the allocated three.

18th September 2008

6:00pm - Everybody arrives in good time and with brand new recording equipment in place and two further back-up machines on hand; the opening track - Teddy Bear - 'kicks' off the evening's programme. Within a mere six takes there is enough top quality singing recorded and with all the equipment working a dream... we are moving swiftly on.

A beautifully moving rendition of "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" cascades effortlessly throughout the church like an ethereal whisper. Apart from the momentary disruption of the shuffling of feet and of pages being turned, twenty minutes is all that is needed for the desired sound to be achieved.

Just when it seems that the brakes have been released and we are moving at full steam, the reverberating sound of a lone drill from nearby road works shudders into the church! A paper-shuffling nightmare ensues during "Autumn Leaves" and everybody is made fully aware to the sensitivity of the microphones. Twenty-six takes later and the track is finally complete. A welcome twenty-minute break is called.

8:40pm - The intermittent disruption from road works has eased now only to be replaced by a string of stray ambulance sirens and high pitched screeching from the nearby pub! Despite the noise from outside, recording has to continue. A spine- tingling version of "Angel" featuring Claire Seaton with the choir now fills the church. The power of the text along with the uniqueness of Claire's delivery of the piece leads Andrew to remark: "How wonderful it is to hear the words so clearly!" "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" along with "In My Life", "True Love" and "With A Little Help From My Friends" are all completed in quick succession, devoid of any stray sirens and erratic drilling noise.

Tiredness is starting to set in fast and Andrew realising this, decides to call a halt to the evening proceedings. There is a quiet sigh of relief from the production team as recording comes to an end. The progress today has been a lot better than was anticipated. Eight tracks have now been recorded through a sea of noise disruption and the 'lid of the pressure cooker' has been ever so slightly lifted... Time now to do some 'investigation' into the source of the 'noise' coming from that pub!

19th September 2008

6:00pm - It is Friday night on Fleet Street and the nearby eateries are packed to capacity with people enjoying themselves. The noise once again proves to be a big problem during the first track of the evening - "Stairway To The Stars". The sensitivity of the microphone is further highlighted with the creaking of Robert Jones' shoes. The conductor quickly removes his shoes and continues to lead the choir in the comfort of his socks!

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a huge challenge for the choir. It is a complicated arrangement and is taking a long time to complete. We are still recording this track one hour later! The track is very technical with regards to the arrangement of harmonies and Andrew is adamant that everyone is to sing at the same speed and with the same energies.

A slight venting of frustration, privately from the control room and with his spectacles now in hand, Andrew is finally happy enough with the material recorded and we are moving on. A producer's insistence, as I am starting to notice and understand, can be relentless in achieving the best possible sound and the correct intensity of 'colour' to illuminate the canvas of a blank disc.

"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and "Summertime" are recorded in only a few takes with exquisite execution. The title track of the disc - "Nobody Does It Better!", is given a little more time, to ensure that it delivers the punch and power it deserves. Sounding car horns now join the eclectic ensemble of disruptive noise but recording soldiers on and by 8:50pm the track is done. The final ten minutes are just enough time to record "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and with the choir comfortable with this familiar anthem - two takes is all that is needed to get it right and that is a wrap.

It has been an extraordinary three days of both high and low emotion. The chance to watch from the shadows has given me a wonderful insight into the hard work required in completing the disc as well as the necessary collaborative process that is essential for success. It has caused me to be much more mindful of everyone involved in the process: the singers, the sound engineers and the production team, who have all worked together to co-create this disc. The end result is simply stunning - packed with an abundance of beautiful singing and harmony.It will most definitely take you on an exhilarating musical journey!

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Track List:

• Stabat Mater
• Cujus animam gementem
• O quam tristis et afflicta
• Quae moerebat et dolebat
• Quis est homo
• Vidit suum dulcem natum
• Eja mater fons amoris
• Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
• Sancta mater, istud agas
• Fac ut portem Christi mortem
• Inflammatus et accensus
• Quando corpus morietur

Soloists:
Claire Seaton - soprano
Andrew Watts - counter tenor

Chamber Organ:
Benjamin Bayl

Instrumentalists:
Nicole Wilson - first violin
Sylvain Vasseur - second violin
Amy Wilson - viola
Bozidar Vukotic - cello
Thomas Goodman - double bass

Recorded in St Bride's Church on 10th & 11th February 2005
Co-produced by Edward Armitage, Benjamin Bayl & Geoffrey Mitchell
Engineered & Edited by Edward Armitage
Photograph reproduced by kind permission of Gemma Iles
Cover design by Ben Kaye

The text of the Stabat Mater represents the kind of religious poetry that flourished in Central Italy in the late medieval times. It is based upon the prophecy of Simeon that a sword was to pierce the heart of Christ's mother Mary (Luke 2: 35). The concept of 'God' in Christianity is male, yet in the Stabat Mater and one other great religious text, the Magnificat, we find a unique feminine perspective. In its first eight stanzas the poetry expresses a deep compassion for the mother of Christ as she stands and watches her son as he suffers on the cross and in the second stanza direct mention is made to the prophesy of Simeon. After the eighth stanza the poet prays to Mary to let him share her grief and to let him suffer with Jesus and for her intercession. In the last stanza the poet prays directly to God for a place in paradise.

The words have been ascribed to Jacapone da Todi, a thirteenth century Franciscan monk but this is still very much in debate and authorship has also been ascribed variously to St Gregory the Great who died in 604, St Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), Innocent III (d. 1216), St Bonaventure (d. 1274), Jacopone (d. 1306), Pope John XXIII (d. 1334), and Gregory XI (d. 1378). Whatever its provenance it's clear that it was well known to all classes by the end of the fourteenth century. It is found in several European (but not English) Missals of the fifteenth century, but was not introduced into the Roman Breviary and Missal until 1727. In the Breviary it is divided into three parts: at Vespers, "Stabat Mater dolorosa"; at Matins, "Sancta Mater, istud agas"; at Lauds, "Virgo virginum praeclara".

The Pergolesi setting was written in about 1735 and was first printed in London in 1749. It became the most frequently published single work of the 18th century. Pergolesi (1710-1736) composed it at the end of his life which was spent at a Franciscan monastery in Pozzuoli and it was written as a replacement for the Allesandro Scarlatti setting in use at the church of Maria dei Sette Dolori in Naples.

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Track List:

• Priidite, poklonimsja
• Blagoslovi, dushe moja
• Blazhen muzh
• Svete tikhij
• Nyne otpushchaeshi
• Bogorodice Devo, radujsja
• Shestopsalmie
• Khvalite imja Gospodne
• Blagosloven esi, Gospodi
• Voskresenie Khristovo videvshe
• Velichit dusha Moja Gospoda
• Slavoslovie Velikoe
• Tropar', "Dnes' spasenie"
• Tropar', "Voskres iz groba"
• Vzbrannoj voevode

Soprano: Emma Brain-Gabbott, Rachel Chapman, Helen Neeves, Claire Seaton
Alto: Cathy Bell, Morag Boyle, Robert Bryan, Kate Symonds-Joy
Tenor: Jeremy Budd, Thomas Herford, Daniel Ludford-Thomas, Ben Thapa
Bass: Neil Bellingham, Simon Grant, Daniel Jordan, Richard Savage, Philip Tebb

Producer: Benjamin Rayfield
Engineer: Edward Armitage
Director of Music: Robert Jones
Recorded on 20th, 21st, 22nd January 2011

By the time he left Russia in 1917, Rachmaninov was greatly admired as a celebrated composer, conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre and an internationally touring virtuoso pianist. The Vespers op. 37 were written in less than two weeks in early 1915, but he probably envisaged it while working on The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom op. 31 (1910). In these two large-scale religious works Rachmaninov took Russian liturgical music to a new level, combining ancient Russian chant and folklore with Western polyphony.

The All-Night Vigil (Vsenoshchnoe Bdenie) known in the West as Vespers, is sung in Russian Orthodox churches and monasteries on the eve of holy days. In monasteries the service would start at 6 o'clock on Saturday evening and end at 9 the following morning, embracing both Vespers and Matins. Traditionally, nine of the numbers must be set to traditional chants, but the remaining six could be treated more freely by employing newly composed melodies. Ancient Znamenny , Kievan and Greek chants were transformed by the composer from single, repeated melodies into rich, polyphonic tapestries. These ancient chants, pearls of Russian religious music, were taught to Rachmaninov at the Moscow Conservatoire by S. V. Smolensky, to whom this work is dedicated.

The Vigil was premiered by Moscow Synod Choir under Nikolai Danilin in Moscow on 10th March 1915. Both public and critics were so enthusiastic that four more performances were arranged immediately, but the success was short-lived. Rachmaninov and his family left Russia on December 23, 1917, never to return. Despite the October revolution the Vigil was still occasionally performed until 1926, but it was not until the 1960s that it was performed again and recorded by leading Russian choirs. The Vigil is a glorious tribute to the rich tradition of Russian church music.

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Track List:

The Far Theatricals of Day
for Soloists, Choir, Brass Quintet and Organ
Music by Jonathan Dove - Texts by Emily Dickinson
Claire Seaton - Soprano; Andrew Watts - Counter-Tenor; Mark Dobell - Tenor; Philip Tebb - Baritone

• Will there really be a "morning"?
• The Birds begun at Four o'clock
• It rises, passes on our South
• Talk not to me of summer Trees
• It was a quiet seeming Day
• The Crickets sang and set the Sun

• I am the Day

  Anthem for unaccompanied choir
  Music by Jonathan Dove - Text from Revelation, 22:16,13

• The Three Kings

  Carol for unaccompanied choir
  Music by Jonathan Dove - Text by Dorothy L. Sayers

No Answer
for Soloists, Choir, Brass Quintet and Organ
Music by Timothy Jackson - various texts
Claire Seaton - Soprano; Jeremy Budd - Tenor; Philip Tebb - Baritone

• People Like Us (Chris Abani)
• Prison Lullaby (Maria Terentyeva)
• Terror - (Mikhail Kudinov)
• Contemplating a photograph of a church

  (Chris Albani & Vladimir Mayakovsky)

• From the Record on the Interrogation of the Accused (Lev Timofeyev)

• Into thy hands

  Prayer for unaccompanied choir
  Music by Jonathan Dove - texts of two prayers of St. Edmund

• Bless the Lord, O My Soul

  Anthem for choir and organ
  Music by Jonathan Dove - text from Paslm 104

Jonathan Dove's "The Far Theatricals of Day" for soloists, choir, brass quintet and organ, was composed in 2003 in response to a joint commission from the John Armitage Memorial and the Arts Patrons' Trust. It was written in memory of the composer and conductor Christopher Whelen (1927-1993) and is a setting of selected verses by the American poet Emily Dickinson, many of which remained hidden until after her death. The title is taken from another Emily Dickinson poem and illustrates the way in which the work as a whole represents the unfolding of a day, with opportunities for a theatrical element in performance. The opening movement begins in the distance with a soprano soloist and a single trumpeter and also features an off-stage chorus of male voices, while the second section begins with a wordless chorus of upper voices, still in the distance, leading to a representation of birdsong from the organ and counter-tenor soloist. The third movement is short and restrained, with simple chordal writing for choir and muted brass, while the fourth section, by contrast, uses more complex five-part counterpoint for the four vocal soloists and the horn, although the dynamic level remains basically gentle. The following movement begins with a dialogue between the tenor soloist and chorus, including some unpitched chanting from the choir, and continues with a section where the full power of the complete ensemble is finally unleashed - the final movement is a summing-up, containing elements of all that has gone before, with the musicians gradually leaving the stage until finally just the soprano and trumpet are left, as at the opening. The piece was a finalist in the 2003 Radio 3 British Composer Awards, and this is its first recording.

We follow this with two of Jonathan Dove's shorter choral works, with particular resonance for the Advent and Christmas seasons. "I am the day" was commissioned by the Spitalfields Festival and first performed in Christ Church, Spitalfields by the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1999. It is a setting of the legend of St. Christopher from the Book of Revelation and contrasts the hushed reverence of the opening phrase with a livelier, sparkling texture for the words "I am Alpha and Omega." Later on the traditional hymn tune for "O come, o come Emmanuel" is also woven into the writing. "The Three Kings" was commissioned by King's College, Cambridge for the 2000 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and uses a poem by Dorothy L. Sayers. The setting employs a different musical characteristic for each of the three sections, to represent the imagined variety in personality of the kings, although the opening motif, heard in the soprano part at the very beginning, provides a link throughout.

Timothy Jackson's "No Answer" was the 2002 commission for the John Armitage Memorial and is a setting of a group of poems whose writers were all political prisoners in Africa and Russia during the last century. The Nigerian writer Chris Abani was imprisoned and tortured a number of times following publication of novels and plays which were deemed to be seditious, beginning in 1985 when he was just 18. He was finally released in 2001 and wrote the poems shortly afterwards in response to the idea for this piece. The other texts used by Timothy Jackson are all from Russia, and were written while their writers were incarcerated, ranging in date from 1909 to 1985 - the translations from the original Russian are by Richard McKane. Musically, the cycle reflects the powerful and harrowing nature of much of the poetry - the first section begins strongly with the full brass ensemble and leads into a deceptively simple and gentle opening phrase for baritone soloist, while the second movement has a chid-like quality on the surface, with the organ imitating a musical box. The terror of the third section is vividly introduced by eerie effects from the low brass, while the fourth movement, which continues from the third without a break, is a virtuoso soprano solo supported by some haunting choral writing. Finally, the baritone soloist sings the words of an interrogation, while the choir heightens the atmosphere of menace with repeated cries of "No Answer," set to music based on semitones and tritones.

The bleakness and desolation of the ending of Timothy Jackson's work is followed by words of consolation in the form of Jonathan Dove's "Into thy hands", a setting of two prayers of St. Edmund commissioned by the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury with assistance from the Downing Fund. The commission was in celebration of the seven hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the canonization of St. Edmund of Abingdon (1175-1240) and was first performed in 1996 by the choir of Salisbury Cathedral in the Abbey of Pontigny, France, where St. Edmund is buried. The text is set fairly simply, with the opening harmony, based on a chord of the ninth, recurring at intervals throughout, and the use of pairs of voices set against one another is a particular feature. The final section is based on a hypnotic ostinato in the bass part, repeating the words "Into thy hands, O Lord and Father" against a contrasting text in the upper voices.

We end with a flourish, in the form of Jonathan Dove's setting of verses from Psalm 104, "Bless the Lord, O my soul," written for Eton College in 2000 in response to a commission from the Eton College Old Choristers Association in celebration of Eton's choir school, which closed in 1968. All of the trademarks of Dove's choral writing are here, beginning with a wordless, syncopated passage which sets upper voices against lower, followed by a restrained yet excited unison passage at the first hearing of the text, then close imitative writing at the words "Who coverest thyself with light." However, it is the organist who takes centre stage for much of the piece, with a virtuoso part which makes full use of the resources of a large instrument, contrasting rapid arpeggio passages with blazing toccata-like figuration to bring the work and the disc to a triumphant conclusion.

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Track List:

• Once In Royal David's City

  Gauntlett/Mann arr. Willcocks (3.29)

• Silent Night

  Gruber arr. Cullen (3.04)

• The Little Road To Bethlehem

  Michael Head (3.13)

• Benedicamus Domino

  Peter Warlock (1.39)

• O Little Town Of Bethlehem

  trad. arr. Vaughan Williams/Cullen (3.13)

• Away In A Manger

  Kirkpatrick arr. Willcocks (2.36)

• Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day

  John Gardner (2.12)

• In Dulci Jubilo

  trad. arr. Pearsall (3.33)

• While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

  trad. arr. Willcocks (2.29)

• There Is A Flower

  John Rutter (4.18)

• God Rest You Merry, Gentleman

  trad. arr. Willcocks (2.00)

• The Holly And The Ivy

  trad. arr. Walford Davies (3.10)

• The Shepherd's Carol

  Bob Chilcott (2.57)

• Mary's Magnificat

  Andrew Carter (3.25)

• Jesus Christ The Apple Tree

  Elizabeth Poston (3.27)

• Ding Dong! Merrily On High

  trad. arr. Wood (1.57)

• O Come, All Ye Faithful

  Wade arr. Willcocks (3.53)

• The Twelve Days Of Christmas

  arr. Andrew Carter (5.15)

• Deck The Hall

  trad. arr. Willcocks (1.23)

• The Lamb

  John Tavener (3.23)

• Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

  Mendelssohn arr. Willcocks (3.08)

• We Wish You A Merry Christmas

  trad. arr. Warrell (1.38)

This recording contains a representative selection of music which may be heard at a typical St. Bride's carol service, both traditional congregational hymns and more adventurous music for choir alone. The form of most of our Christmas services is based on the now traditional service of Nine Lessons with Carols, a service which is familiar to millions through the annual broadcast from King's College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve and the influence of this tradition remains strong on all who choose music for Christmas services.

The more traditional carols on this recording use arrangements and descants by Sir David Willcocks, except the versions of "O little town of Bethlehem" and "Silent Night," which are by John Cullen, who was Director of Music at Tonbridge School.

The choir pieces range from the Victorian era to our own century, although many of the texts are medieval, reminding us that the word "carol" itself dates from that period. "In dulci jubilo" is an example of a tune which was originally light and dance-like - the mid- Victorian composer Robert Lucas da Pearsall makes it into a more solemn and complex piece, using up to eight voice-parts. By contrast, Peter Warlock's "Benedicamus Domino", dating from the 1920s, is a lively setting of a text actually intended for New Year rather than Christmas. Dating from around the same period is the setting of "The Holly and the Ivy" by Sir Henry Walford Davies, one of the pioneers of church music broadcasting on the BBC. Elizabeth Poston was active as a composer around the middle years of the 20th century, and her carol "Jesus Christ the apple tree," based on a haunting and original melody sung by a solo soprano at the beginning and end, is probably her best-known work.

The remaining pieces are of more recent origin. John Rutter's music has been a constant feature of Christmas events over the past thirty years - his setting of the 15th-century text "There is a flower" is written for unaccompanied voices and begins and ends with a soprano solo. Bob Chilcott is steeped in the King's tradition having been both a chorister and a choral scholar there. His "Shepherd's Carol," written to an anonymous text, has became a firm favourite at St. Bride's over the past few Christmases. The arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by Andrew Carter, has something for everyone - musical enthusiasts will enjoy identifying the numerous quotations which illustrate the different sections, while others will appreciate the virtuoso demands made upon the singers and its overall sense of fun. Some of his carols also use the composer's own text - one example is "Mary's Magnificat," composed in 1986 in which Carter's words in the two outer verses frame a setting of the opening verse of the Magnificat sung by a soprano soloist.

We hope that this combination of musical and vocal expertise with an air of enjoyment will sum up the St. Bride's Christmas experience for all those who share it with us.