He meets up with Directors of Music, Choristers, Choral Scholars and musicians to find out what give each choir a character of its own. Music – chosen by the Directors of Music John spoke to – includes works by Vaughan Williams, Rachmaninov, Judith Weir, Purcell and Elgar.

BBC Website
BBC iPlayer available until Sunday 26 April.

RE-MIXED & RE-MASTERED FOR MARCH 2013

Taking advantage of the latest advances in audio technology, this re-release of the first recorded survey of choral music the composer Richard Rodney Bennett is presented in a new stereo mix for the first time, in a spirit of tribute to his long and distinguished career.

The CD spans a period of over thirty years from the Five Carols written in 1967 through to A Farewell to Arms written in 2001. The disc also includes his virtuosic Sea Change, a luminous and visionary setting of various dreamlike texts; A Good Night, composed in 1999 for the ‘Garland for Linda’ project in memory of Linda McCartney and the Missa Brevis, his only piece of liturgical music, composed in 1990 for Canterbury Cathedral Choir.

Bennett’s choral pieces are all possessed of a gift for heart-melting, memorable and quintessentially English melody – and an instinctive lyric responsiveness to English poetry. Poetry always mattered intensely to Bennett and in his choral writing we find him setting some of the very greatest – Shakespeare, Donne, Marvell and Spenser – alongside slighter but exquisite lyrics by such poets as Herrick, Quarles and the medieval ‘anon’s.

Available to order from Collegium Records.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Bach Choir
with guest artists Over the Bridge
John Rutter conductor

AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE FROM COLLEGIUM RECORDS
available from Monday 28 November

Listen to music from the album using the special John Rutter musical advent calendar on YouTube; or listen to previews of a number of tracks from the album on Soundcloud.

1. Ding Dong! Merrily on High
2. The Colours of Christmas
3. In Dulci Jubilo
4. What is this lovely fragrance?
5. Away in a Manger
6. Hodie Christus natus est
7. Riu riu chiu
8. I wonder as I wander
9. Star Carol
10. Once in Royal David’s City
11. Silent Night
12. In the bleak midwinter
13. Gabriel’s Message
14. Fanfare – O come, all ye faithful
15. O holy night
16. A New Year Carol
17. Joy to the world
18. Sleigh Ride
19. Deck the Hall
20. The Christmas song
21. The Twelve Days of Christmas
22. Have yourself a merry little Christmas
23. Fanfare – Hark! the herald angels sing

DECCA 2782129

Available from Oxford University Press – 978-0-19-338237-4.
and from Hinshaw Music in the USA – HMC2319

A recording of the anthem is available on Decca Records available from iTunes, and from record stores.

A behind the scenes look at the recording of the Aurora Orchestra’s first release on Decca Classics. Produced and engineered by John in the Britten Studios at Snape Maltings, the recording of Nico Muhly’s music released in June 2011. With session footage and interviews with Nico Muhly (composer), Nicholas Collon (conductor), Thomas Gould (violinist), and producer John Rutter, the video introduces Nico’s music and how the whole project came together.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Artwork by The Partners and film produced by Stanton Media.

This month sees the launch of a new series of videos with John Rutter, in which the composer discusses his seminal ‘Magnificat’.

John gives a unique insight into the genesis of the work, and a guide to each of the movements. An invaluable resource for anyone wishing to perform the work or interested in John’s composing.

Wells Jubilate
Look to the day
To every thing there is a season
Carol of the Magi
O Lord, thou has searched me out
Most glorious Lord of life
Look at the world
Veni Sancte Spiritus
Lord, thou hast been our refuge
I am with you always
The King of Blis
Winchester Te Deum

Purchase the CD from Collegium Records

Offering a unique insight into one of today’s best-loved works of choral music, John Rutter has created a series of short films about his setting of the Requiem.  Available on YouTube, these films cover the personal and musical impetuses which drove John to begin working on the piece; its relationship to other Requiem settings; his choice of texts; and a detailed movement-by-movement look at the music which will be invaluable to singers preparing the work.