Partsongs by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

It seems a paradox that we are far more familiar, both on disc and in the concert hall, with the music of Holst, Vaughan-Williams,  Ireland, Bridge, Bliss and Howells and yet we know far less of the music of Stanford, their composition teacher at the Royal College of Music. There is no doubt however, that his influence as a composer, conductor and teacher was far-reaching. He, together with Alexander Mackenzie and Hubert Parry, was said to be responsible for the flowering of British music in the late 19th and early 20th century — the so-called English Musical Renaissance —  with the Royal College of Music at its centre.

Born and raised in Dublin, Stanford came to live permanently in England, becoming professor of music at the University of Cambridge. His vast compositional output includes large structures such as seven symphonies, nine operas, ten concertos, six Irish Rhapsodies and four masses. He was equally at ease however, when writing musical miniatures and his songs, some of which are recorded on SOMM (SOMMCD 214 — A Century of English Song Vol. 2 — Sarah Leonard, Malcolm Martineau), have charm, lyricism and great sensitivity to the rhythm of words. Some have both beauty and magic (Peace, come Away, God and the Universe), others are melancholy and touching (Heraclitus, A Dirge, Farewell my joy) and some (The haven and On Time) are outstanding in their handling of choral harmonies and textures. All in all, a delightful disc.

Paul Spicer
Paul Spicer was a chorister at New College, Oxford. He studied with Herbert Howells and Richard Popplewell (organ) at the Royal College of Music. He is best known as a choral conductor, partly through the many CDs he made with the Finzi Singers for Chandos Records. He taught at the Royal College of Music in London between 1995 and 2008. He now teaches choral conducting at the Birmingham Conservatoire, where he also directs the chamber choir which has an increasing reputation through its regular recordings of British music, and at Oxford and Durham Universities.  Until 2001 Paul Spicer was Artistic Director of the Lichfield International Arts Festival and the Abbotsholme Arts Society, posts he relinquished in order to pursue a freelance musical career. He was Senior Producer for BBC Radio 3 in the Midlands until 1990 and today is in considerable demand as a composer. He has also been a much sought-after recording producer.

Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir is a group of twenty-four auditioned student singers who form an expert and flexible group. They perform with sensitivity, energy and panache and are gathering an enviable reputation for their musicianship partly through their increasing recording presence which reflects their conductor’s specialist interest in 20th and 21st century British music.