Advent Live, Vol. 2 Cambridge The Choir of St John's College & Andrew Nethsingha

• Jonathan Dove (b. 1959):
• 1 I Am the day 06:35
• Arvo Pärt (b. 1935):
• 2 Bŏgŏroditsye Dyevo 01:17
• Herbert Howells (1892 - 1983):
• 3 A Spotless Rose 03:30
• Cecilia McDowall (b. 1951):
• 4 A Prayer to St John the Baptist 04:08
• Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962):
• 5 Vox clara ecce intonat 04:53
• John McCabe (1939 - 2015):
• 6 The Last and Greatest Herald 05:49
• Traditional:
• 7 O Wisdom 00:52
• 8 O Adonai 00:56
• Otto Goldschmidt (1829 - 1907):
• 9 A Tender Shoot 02:01
• Hugo Distler (1908 - 1942):
• 10 Es ist ein Ros entsprungen 01:23
• Anthony Milner (1925 - 2002):
• 11 Out of Your sleep 02:49
• Judith Bingham (b. 1952):
• 12 Introduction – Hark, the Glad Sound 05:28
• Elizabeth Maconchy (1907 - 1994):
• 13 There Is No Rose 01:52
• Traditional:
• 14 O Root of Jesse 00:51
• 15 O Key of David 00:57
• Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767):
• 16 Ach so laß von mir dich finden 03:22
• Paul Manz (1919 - 2009):
• 17 E’en so, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come 02:48
• Traditional:
• 18 The Linden Tree Carol 01:53
• 19 A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: X. Deo gracias 01:14
• Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903):
• 20 Einklang 01:59
• Traditional:
• 21 Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending 05:09
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750):
• 22 Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, Bwv 661 03:11
• Total Runtime 01:02:57

Info for Advent Live, Vol. 2

The sublime Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge return with the second voluume in their Advent series – celebrating the advent season from within the Christian tradition; a season celebrated since at least the sixth century.

This splendid live recording, from within the Chapel of St. John’s College itself, features Christmas favourites, including Britten’s Deo Gracias from A Ceremony of Carols as well as gorgeous performances of lesser known works by modern composers including Jonathan Dove, Arvo Pärt and Paul Manz.

This album includes many staples of the Advent repertoire, including Otto Goldschmitt's A tender shoot, a piece which features at the start of our Advent services each year as well as on our first commercial recording in 1958, Hear my prayer.

Since 2008, Andrew Nethsingha began the practice of commissioning a new work for each Advent service, which has been made possible by a generous donation by an anonymous donor. This album features four of those commissions: Gabriel Jackson's Vox clara ecce intonat (2013), Cecilia McDowall's A Prayer to St John the Baptist (2018), Judith Bingham's An Introduction to Hark, the glad sound (2019), and the first commission in the annual series, John McCabe's The last and greatest Herald.

Choir of St. John's College Cambridge
Andrew Nethsingha, conductor
Anne Denholm, harp
Jakob Lindberg, archlute
Ignacio Mañá Mesas, saxophone
Hugh Cutting, counter tenor
Louis Watkins, tenor
Matthew Gibson, bass
Simon Grant, bass

The Choir of St John’s College Cambridge
is one of the finest collegiate choirs in the world – known and loved by millions from its broadcasts, concert tours and 100 recordings. Founded in the 1670s, the Choir is known for its rich, warm and distinctive sound, its expressive interpretations and its ability to sing in a variety of styles. Alongside this discipline, the Choir is particularly proud of its happy, relaxed and mutually supportive atmosphere.

The Choir is directed by Andrew Nethsingha, following in a long line of eminent Directors of Music, recently Dr George Guest, Dr Christopher Robinson and Dr David Hill. The choir's first release on its imprint with Signum Classics, Deo, won the Choral Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2017.

Andrew Nethsingha
Performing in North America, South Africa, the Far East, and throughout Europe, Andrew Nethsingha has been Director of Music at St John’s College, Cambridge since 2007. He has helped to set up a new recording label, ‘St John’s Cambridge,’ in conjunction with Signum. His first disc on the new label, DEO (music by Jonathan Harvey), was a 2017 BBC Music Magazine Award winner. Andrew Nethsingha was a chorister at Exeter Cathedral, under his father’s direction. He later studied at the Royal College of Music, where he won seven prizes, and at St John’s College, Cambridge. He held Organ Scholarships under Christopher Robinson at St George’s Windsor, and George Guest at St John’s, before becoming Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral. He was subsequently Director of Music at Truro and Gloucester Cathedrals, and Artistic Director of the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival.

Booklet for Advent Live, Vol. 2