A list of all the recordings made prior to “Evensong for Ash Wednesday”
An excellent rendition of A. T. Davison’s arrangement of Allegri’s Miserere for male voices performed by the Caltech Glee Club, as part of their double-LP recorded in 1959. Published on distinctive translucent red vinyl, this extensive and varied collection is well performed and a delight to hear after over 60 years.
The first recorded performance of the Davison TTBB setting of the Miserere by an American collegiate choir in a purely sacred context. As to be expected from the choir of a religious seminary, the singing is of a higher standard, but interestingly the performance matches many of the glee club performances in style, tempo and use of dynamics.
The Davison (TTBB) arrangement of the Miserere is a poor second to Josquin’s ‘Missa Mater Patris et Filia’ included on Side One of this album, but the Miserere is unique in that it is presently the only know recording of the work made in The Philippines.
The ‘Storia Della Musica Italiana’ of which this recording is a part was a lavishly presented set of 40 LPs, in four leather volumes each containing 10 discs presented together with a sumptuous booklet in a cardboard slipcase. The publication was compiled by Cesare Valabrega for RCA Italiana.
This performance of the Miserere by the Choir of St. Michael, München is oddly not recorded in their own church, but in an Abbey church some 25km north-west of Munich. Of early recordings, it is a superior performance “without abbellimenti”.
A particularly fine rendition of the Miserere without abbellimenti, although this early pressing is far less acceptable than the later releases of the same recording.