1976 – St Paul’s Cathedral Choir
A private recording made during Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral in March 1976, with the cathedral choir, directed by Barry Rose. The solo quartet sang from the Whispering Gallery. [ARCM]
Recordings made in: England
1978 – Christ’s Hospital Singers
A fascinating recording by the A Cappella Choir of Christ’s Hospital School. The Miserere is unique in its use of a modified setting of the SATB section (the remainder mirrors Atkins), which both compresses and simplifies whilst still retaining the high ‘C’. Other features of the album include ‘Sound the Trumpet’ (Purcell), an excellent ‘Hear my Prayer’ Mendelssohn), and the school hymn ‘Praise the Lord for our Foundation’. Andrew March, the 1st treble – should be highly commended. John Shippen, who conducted the Miserere, was kind enough to share details of the recording with miserere.org.
1979 – The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
This four-disc compilation box set released in 1979 is a hint towards the more recent ‘Complete Argo Recordings’ CD box sets issued by Decca. It contains a wealth of music from King’s on the Argo label, including of course the Miserere from ‘Evensong for Ash Wednesday’.
1980 – The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
A documentary about the chapel of King’s College Cambridge and its choir, directed by Philip Ledger and accompanied by John Butt (organ scholar), made by Canadian company Prometheus Productions, and first made available in the USA on VHS by Home Vision Inc.
1982 – The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge
The first of a number of recordings that include Allegri’s Miserere by the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge, and use the new performing edition edited by George Guest in 1976. Recorded at 45rpm, the Meridian ‘Natural Sound Recording’ claims a ‘marked improvement in sound quality when it matters in the listener’s room’. Our copy of this recording is signed by George Guest.