Dancing Day: Music for Christmas
Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, Fifth Avenue, New York
Sara Cutler (harp)
John Scott (conductor)
Sent to press just days before his untimely death in August 2015, John Scott's last recording is Dancing Day, a programme of works for Christmas, made with his beloved Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys of Fifth Avenue, New York.
Recorded in the home of the choir in Manhattan, the recording is centred around two works for treble voices and harp performed annually by the boys of the choir under John's direction - Benjamin Britten's inimitable A Ceremony of Carols and John Rutter's companion piece Dancing Day. The choir is joined by Sara Cutler on harp.
Completing a compelling disc that features medieval texts and themes are further works for treble voices - Britten's A New Year Carol and Patrick Hadley's I sing of a maiden. The boys are joined by the men of the choir for works by Matthew Martin, Philip Ledger and William Mathias. Also included is John's own arrangement of the simple traditional Dutch carol King Jesus hath a garden, penned whilst organ scholar of St John's College, Cambridge.
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