A choir is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm, hand, and facial gestures.
Vespro della Beata Vergine, SV 206, is a musical setting by Claudio Monteverdi of the evening vespers on Marian feasts, scored for soloists, choirs, and orchestra. It is an ambitious work in scope and in its variety of style and scoring, and has a duration of around 90 minutes. Published in Venice as Sanctissimae Virgini Missa senis vocibus ac Vesperae pluribus decantandae, cum nonnullis sacris concentibus, ad Sacella sive Principum Cubicula accommodata, it is sometimes called Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610.
Sir John Goss was an English organist, composer and teacher.
Anglican church music is music that is written for Christian worship in Anglican religious services, forming part of the liturgy. It mostly consists of pieces written to be sung by a church choir, which may sing a cappella or accompanied by an organ.
John Henry Maunder was an English composer and organist best known for his cantata "Olivet to Calvary".
Patrick Hawes is a British composer, conductor, organist and pianist.
William James Mathias CBE was a Welsh composer noted for choral works.
Malcolm Archer is an English composer, conductor and organist. He combines this work with a recital career. Archer was formerly Organist and Director of Music at Bristol Cathedral, Wells Cathedral and at St Paul's Cathedral and Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College. He married Alison in 1994, and they have a son (b.1997) and a daughter. (b.1999)
Sir John Frederick Bridge was an English organist, composer, teacher and writer.
The Royal Choral Society is an amateur choir, based in London. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah in the inaugural concert. On 9 July 1891, the Royal Choral Society performed in a 'Grand Concert for the Visit of Their Imperial Majesties, The German Emperor and Empress', also attended by the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. From the beginning, performing premieres of new choral works has been a feature of the choir's repertoire. Both Giuseppe Verdi and Antonín Dvořák conducted the choir in premières of their own works, as have Edward Roxborough, Ariel Ramírez, Raymond Premru and Geoffrey Burgon in more recent years. The choir continued to be conducted by the most eminent musicians of the day, most notably Sir Malcolm Sargent, whose association with the choir spanned forty years. The present Music Director, Richard Cooke, took over the baton in 1995.
City Choir Dunedin is an auditioned mixed-voice choir in Dunedin, New Zealand. It accepts singers of all age groups from the wider Dunedin community and performs large-scale classical choral works. The choir's membership grew from an initial 45 to around 120 as of 2012. The Choir is a member of the New Zealand Choral Federation, which was formed in 1985 to promote high quality choral singing in New Zealand.
The Bach Choir is a large independent musical organisation founded in London, England in 1876 to give the first performance of J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor in Britain.
Webster Booth was an English tenor, best remembered as the duettist partner of Anne Ziegler. He was also one of the finest tenors of his generation and was a distinguished oratorio soloist.
Charles James Kennedy Osborne Scott was an English organist and choral conductor who played an important part in developing the performance of choral and polyphonic music in England, especially of early and modern English music.
Charles Harford Lloyd was an English composer who became a well-known organist in his time.
Ben Parry is a British musician, composer, conductor, singer, arranger and producer in both classical and light music fields. He is the Director of London Voices and Artistic Director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.
Blest Pair of Sirens is a short work for choir and orchestra by the English composer Hubert Parry, setting John Milton's ode At a solemn Musick. It was first performed at St James's Hall, London on 17 May 1887, conducted by its dedicatee, Charles Villiers Stanford. The piece is about 11 minutes in duration.
Vincent O'Brien, Irish organist, music teacher and composer. O'Brien was an important figure in early 20th-century Irish music. For some, he is mainly known as the first teacher of singers such as John McCormack, Margaret Burke-Sheridan and the writer James Joyce.
The state funeral of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, occurred on 2 February 1901, after her death on 22 January. It was one of the largest gatherings of European royalty.
Dunedin Symphony Orchestra is a professional symphony orchestra based in Dunedin, New Zealand. It hosts an annual subscription series of concerts in the Dunedin Town Hall, performing repertoire from the Classical, Romantic and contemporary periods. It also regularly accompanies Dunedin stage performances by the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Opera Otago and City Choir Dunedin.
