John Joseph Elwes (original name John Hahessy) (born 20 October 1946), is an English tenorsinger.
Born in Lewisham, London he was Head Chorister in the choir of Westminster Cathedral, London. His musical and vocal education were furthered by the eminent harpsichordist George Malcolm, the then Director of Music. Under the name of John Hahessy ( his father was from Carrick-on-Suir, Co.Waterford, Ireland ) he had considerable success as a boy soprano - from BBC broadcasts and recordings with Decca to concerts with such conductors as Benjamin Britten. He made the 1st recording of Benjamin Britten's Canticle "Abraham and Isaac", singing the role of Isaac, accompanied by the composer. Britten later dedicated his "Corpus Christi Carol" to him. He went on to study at the Royal College of Music, and made his stage debut as a tenor in 1968 at The Proms.
John Elwes is particularly well known for his sensitive and musical performances. His repertoire is extensive ranging from Monteverdi, Charpentier, Rameau, Bach and Handel to Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Mahler and Britten. He regularly performs with the leading conductors of baroque, classical and contemporary music. He has sung in over one hundred recordings, including Dowland's First Book of Ayres, Schubert's song cycles Die Schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, Purcell's The Tempest, Bach's St Matthew Passion and Mass in B minor, Handel's Messiah and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008.
Selected recordings
Marc-Antoine Charpentier: "Vêpres Solennelles" H.540, H.190, H.50, H.149, H.52, H.150, H.51, H.161, H.191, H.65, H.77, John Elwes, Ian Honeyman, tenors, Agnès Mellon, Brigitte Bellamy, sopranos, Dominique Visse, Jean Nirouet, countertenors, Philippe Cantor, Jacques Bona, baritones, Choeur régional- Nord Pas de Calais, La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, Odile Bailleux, organ, conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire (2 CD CBS Sony 1987)
The War Requiem, Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The War Requiem was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, 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.
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