Choir of New College Oxford
The New College Choir, Oxford, also known as the Choir of New College, Oxford, is one of England's most venerable and venerated ensembles, with an unbroken tradition dating back to the late 14th century. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the choir has become internationally prominent, with wide-ranging tours and a large catalog of recordings.
Oxford's New College, which has had that name for more than 600 years, was founded in 1379 and has featured choral singing in its splendid New College Chapel ever since the building was constructed -- shortly after the College was established. The number of boy choristers has remained constant at 16; the boys receive top-flight educations at the New College School and develop unusually deep musical skills, including the ability to sight-sing from Renaissance partbooks. The choir's primary function, since the beginning, has been to sing for choral Evensong daily and in other liturgical services during Oxford's school term. In addition to the boy choristers, there are 14 adult clerks, eight of whom have lately been Oxford undergraduates ("academical clerks"), while the other six are professional singers known as lay clerks or singers from the town. This basic configuration dates back to the 1380s and set the pattern for other collegiate choirs across England. A number of the most famous figures in British music have passed through the choir either as boys or as adult clerks; these include countertenor James Bowman, tenor James Gilchrist, and conductor Jeremy Summerly. An early CD-era recording by the group was William Byrd: Cantiones Sacrae (1589), which appeared on the CRD label in 1983.
Records of the College's directors of music stretch back to 1597. Prominent directors in the choir's modern life have been David Lumsden (1958-1976), who inaugurated the choir's touring activities, and Edward Higginbottom (1976-2014), who brought the choristers to new musical levels and built a strong recording program. The choir's current director of music is Robert Quinney, who also serves as organist; he is assisted by singing teacher Bronwen Mills. The New College Choir, Oxford, has toured extensively through Europe, North and South America, and Australia, as well as across Britain. Its catalog of recordings now numbers well over 100 items, which have appeared on a wide variety of labels, including, notably through the 2010s, Novum. The choir moved to Linn Records in 2020 for the collection John Sheppard: Media Vita. After a pandemic recording hiatus (the group did make video recordings, the New College Choir, Oxford, returned in 2023 on Linn with the album New College: Commissions & Premieres.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Sheppard: Media vita
Choir of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 23 Oct 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bluebird - Music Of Contemplation
Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stanford: Anthems & Motets
Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Byrd: Lamentations, Four Part Mass / Tallis: Lamentations I &II, Audivi Vocem De Caelo
Edward Higginbottom, Choir of New College Oxford
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Nowell, Sing We!: Advent & Christmas at New College
Classical - Released by Novum on 4 Nov 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
New College: Commissions & Premieres
Robert Quinney, Choir of New College Oxford
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 23 Jun 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Palestrina: Stabat Mater, Canticles & Motets
Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Coronation Anthems
Academy of Ancient Music, Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orlande de Lassus: Mass 'Tous les regretz' & Motets
Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 17 Mar 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maurice Greene, Select Anthems
Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Coronation Anthems
Academy of Ancient Music, Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Carols from New College
Edward Higginbottom, Choir of New College Oxford
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 5 Apr 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: The Sacred Choral Music
Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by Novum on 7 Jan 2013
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
A Ceremony of Carols
Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boyce: Select Anthems
Edward Higginbottom, Choir of New College Oxford
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 1 Mar 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gibbons: Second Service And Anthems
Edward Higginbottom, Choir of New College Oxford
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Traditional & Modern Carols
Classical - Released by Regis Records on 2 Aug 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Byrd: Cantiones Sacrae 1589
Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 1 Jan 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tallis, Gaude Gloriosa - Magnificat And Nunc Dimittis Motets From The Cantiones Sacrae
Edward Higginbottom, Choir of New College Oxford
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 24 May 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludford: Missa Benedicta & Antiennes Votives
Choir of New College Oxford, Christopher Borrett, Edward Higginbottom
Classical - Released by Phaia Music on 8 Feb 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo