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1953 – Harvard Glee Club

Harvard Glee Club cover
Issue type Issue type:
Recording date Recorded: 1953
Release Date Released: 1953
     
Record label Label:
Recording medium Medium:
Catalogue number Catalogue: CRS-202
Collection status Archive: Available - physical medium
     
Miserere ID UID / Sort: 1953-hgc-gww-camb-53 / 110680
Last updated Updated: 16 February 2025

“Chansons & Motets”

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Issue type Original release with no significant reissues listed in the Discography

“Chansons and Motets” – an album jointly released with the ladies of Radcliffe Choral Society – is the first known published recording of the Miserere by the Harvard Glee Club – America’s oldest collegiate glee club. Early recordings by the Harvard Glee Club are important, as they form a reference for Glee Club performance practice given the edition of the Miserere set for male voices by A. T. Davison, and published as part of the “Harvard University Glee Club Collection” by E C Schirmer Music Co in 1922.

Choir Information

Choir Conductor
College choir Choir Country Link Harvard Glee Club website

Performance Information

Music note Performance language LatinVerses vv. 1, 3, 5, 7Recording duration 03:45
Performing edition A. T. Davison (TTBB), E. C. Schirmer Music Co, 1922Soloist No soloist in this performing edition

Daniel Pinkham, Organist
Edmund P. Allison and Barbara A. Connolly, Assistant Conductors

Recording Information

Recording date 1953Recording date Sanders Theatre, Harvard Memorial HallCountry of recording
Link Sanders Theatre WebsiteMap link 45 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

It is almost certain that the recording was made in the Sanders Theatre, given the concert performance referenced below in March 1953 that features the same music and soloists. However, this has not been confirmed. Inspired by Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, England, the Sanders Theatre is famous for its design and its acoustics.

Release Information

Album "Chansons & Motets"Release type Release year 1953
Record label Recording type Vinyl Recording format Mono, 10 inch vinyl, 33rpm
Catalogue number CRS-202Barcode No barcode
Other identifiers TV-19990 on label, TV19990-1C on Side 1, TV19991-1D on Side 2.

Label includes “Use 1 mil stylus, 6 grams pressure, NAB equalisation, Copyright 1953 Cambridge Records, Cambridge 39, Mass. U.S.A.”
Cover includes “NAB equalisation, Copyright 1953 by Cambridge Records, P. O. Box 125, Cambridge 39, Mass. Use 6 grams stylus pressure.”

The cover contains the following: “NOTE: On this record, the organ pedal tones have been recorded at their normal relative intensities. The use of a highly compliant pickup cartridge in a non-resonant arm is recommended.”

The recording is referenced in World’s Encyclopaedia of Recorded Music 1952 3rd Supplement (1953-1955)

Tracklist

Chansons
A1 Mon Coeur se Recommande a Vous – Orlandus Lassus (1532-1594)
A2 Nous Voyons que les Hommes (1557) – Jakob Arcadelt (1514? – after 1557)
A3 Petite Nymfe Folatre – Regnard (XVI cen.)
A4 Bonjour, mon Coeur – Orlandus Lassus (1532-1594)

Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orleans (1908) – Claude Achille Debussy (1862-1918)
A5 Dieu! Qu’il la Fait Bon Regarder!
A6 Quant J’ai Ouy le Tabourin
A7 Yver, Vous N’Estes Qu’un Villain

Four Motets for Voices and Continuo (1937) – Leo Preger (1907-)
Written for the Harvard Glee Club and the Radcliffe Choral Society
B1 Laetentur coeli
B2 Verbum caro
B3 Exsurge Domine
B4 Dextera Domine

B5 Benedictus from Missa: O admirabile Commercium – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1526-1594)
B6 Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618 (1791) – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
B7 Miserere – Gregorio Allegri (1580-1652)

Online References

Link "The Harvard Crimson" March 16, 1953 describes a concert at the Sanders Theatre featuring material from this disc

Physical Archive Details

Collection status Available - physical medium
Collection info Reasonable copy, showing its age. Thicker cardboard album cover, split at the edges.

Artwork & Liner Notes

Harvard Glee Club Chansons & Motets Front Cover
Harvard Glee Club Chansons & Motets Back Cover
Harvard Glee Club Chansons & Motets Inside Sleeve Front
Harvard Glee Club Chansons & Motets Inside Sleeve Back
Harvard Glee Club Chansons & Motets Label Side One
Harvard Glee Club Chansons & Motets Label Side Two

Media Samples

A full digital restoration of this recording has been completed by miserere.org and will be available soon.