Bang! is an opera for young people by John Rutter to an English libretto by David Richard Grant. The opera was written for the Trinity Boys Choir, and the ensemble premiered the work at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon under conductor David Squibb on 14 March 1975. [1] [2]
The story is based on The Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The Catholics were persecuted by James I of England, so they plotted to blow up the Palace of Westminster. The story is narrated by the elusive Father Garnet, leader of the Jesuits.
The War Requiem, Op. 66, is a choral and orchestral composition by Benjamin Britten, composed mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The War Requiem was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, in the English county of Warwickshire, which was built after the original fourteenth-century structure was destroyed in a World War II bombing raid. The traditional Latin texts are interspersed, in telling juxtaposition, with extra-liturgical poems by Wilfred Owen, written during World War I.
Sir John Kenneth Tavener was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are The Lamb (1982), The Protecting Veil (1988), and Song for Athene (1993).
Sir John Milford Rutter is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music.
The Trinity School of John Whitgift, usually referred to as Trinity School, is a independent boys' day school with a co-educational sixth form, located in Shirley Park, Croydon. Part of the Whitgift Foundation, it was established in 1882 as Whitgift Middle School and was a direct grant grammar school from 1945 until 1968, when it left the scheme. The present name was adopted in 1954, to avoid confusion with Whitgift School. The school's head is now a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).
David Lang is an American composer living in New York City. Co-founder of the musical collective Bang on a Can, he was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion, which went on to win a 2010 Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance by Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices. Lang was nominated for an Academy Award for "Simple Song #3" from the film Youth.
A responsory or respond is a type of chant in western Christian liturgies.
Carols for Choirs is a collection of choral scores, predominantly of Christmas carols and hymns, first published in 1961 by Oxford University Press. It was edited by Sir David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques, and is a widely used source of carols in the British Anglican tradition and among British choral societies. A second volume was published in 1970, edited by David Willcocks and John Rutter, and the collection is now available in six volumes. A compendium edition was published later. In addition to music for Christmas, the collection also offers works that are suitable for other Christian festivals such as Advent and Epiphany.
The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge is part of the English cathedral tradition, having been founded to sing the daily liturgy in the College Chapel, though it is set apart from other English choirs of this tradition by the frequent inclusion of Continental works in its repertoire and its emphasis on polyphonic interpretations. Alongside the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, it is one of the two most famous collegiate choirs in Cambridge, having had over 90 recordings published. The choir consists of fifteen Choral Scholars and twenty Choristers and Probationers, all of whom are members of St John's College, many of whom have proceeded to become distinguished musicians.
Claire Rutter is an English operatic soprano.
Song of Arizona is a 1946 American Western film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and George "Gabby" Hayes. It was produced and distributed by Republic Pictures.
David Squibb was Director of Music at Trinity School of John Whitgift. He is most known for founding Trinity School Boys Choir, one of the busiest and most successful school choirs in the world. It has a high professional profile, both in the UK and abroad. Members have appeared at Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera and many opera houses abroad, including the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Opera Comique, Paris, and La Fenice, Venice. The choir is well known for its part in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream in which they have appeared in over one hundred and fifty professional performances, and they feature in the Warner DVD and Virgin Classics CD.
The Houston Boychoir (HBC) is a non-profit, independent vocal training, and music education organization in Greater Houston, Texas, US.
Angels' Carol is a popular sacred choral piece by John Rutter for Christmas. He wrote his own text, beginning "Have you heard the sound of the angel voices", three stanzas with the refrain "Gloria in excelsis Deo". It has been part of recordings of collections of Christmas music, including one conducted by the composer.
June Louise Squibb is an American actress. She began her career by making her Broadway debut in the musical Gypsy (1959). Her first film role was in the 1990 romantic comedy Alice by Woody Allen. She later had supporting roles in the films The Age of Innocence (1993), In & Out (1997), Meet Joe Black (1998), About Schmidt (2002), and Far from Heaven (2002).
Treenighedskirkens Drengekor is a Danish boys choir founded in Trinity Church, Esbjerg in 1964. The choir has performed widely in Denmark, the rest of Europe and in North America.
The Golden Vanity is a musical setting of an adaptation by Colin Graham of a traditional folk song, also known as "The Sweet Trinity", for boys' voices and piano by the English composer Benjamin Britten (1913–76). The composer described it as a vaudeville. The boys act out parts as well as sing; Britten wrote on the score: "The Vaudeville should be given in costume but without scenery ... The action ... should be mimed in a simple way and only a few basic properties, such as telescopes and a rope, are needed ... A drum should be used for the sound of cannon fire".
The "Shepherd's Pipe Carol" is a modern Christmas carol composed by John Rutter. Rutter composed the carol whilst he was an undergraduate at university in 1966 with it being published a year later at the behest of David Willcocks.
Christmas Lullaby is a popular sacred choral composition by John Rutter, a lullaby for Christmas. He wrote his own text, beginning "Clear in the darkness", three stanzas with the refrain "Ave Maria". Rutter scored the piece for four vocal parts (SATB) and piano, adding other versions. He composed it on a 1989 commission from The Bach Choir for the celebration of the 70th birthday of their conductor David Willcocks. It was first performed at the choir's Christmas concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, an event that Rutter knew from being a member of the audience as a boy.
"For the beauty of the earth" is a sacred choral composition by John Rutter, a setting of the hymn of the same name by Folliott S. Pierpoint. The work was published by Oxford University Press in 1980. Recorded several times, it has been described as "one of Rutter's more popular, enduring anthems".