Sleeper's Prayer: Choral Music from North America Choir of Merton College, Oxford & Benjamin Nicholas
- Nico Muhly (b. 1981):
- 1 Senex puerum portabat (Version for Brass & Choir) 07:18
- David Lang (b. 1957):
- 2 Again (After Ecclesiastes) 04:22
- Nico Muhly:
- 3 The Rev'd Mustard His Installation Prelude 03:05
- David Lang:
- 4 If I Sing (After Psalm 101) 03:46
- Nico Muhly:
- 5 A Hymn on the Nativity 04:29
- 6 Hudson Preludes: No. 1, Take Care 04:47
- Libby Larsen (b. 1950):
- 7 I Will Sing and Raise a Psalm 05:06
- Nico Muhly:
- 8 A Song of Ephrem the Syrian 05:25
- David Lang:
- 9 Sleeper's Prayer (Arr. for Choir & Organ) 07:20
- Philip Glass (b. 1937):
- 10 Satyagraha: Conclusion (Arr. M. Riesman for Solo Organ) 07:43
- Abbie Betinis (b. 1980):
- 11 Cedit, hyems 03:20
- Gerre Hancock ( 1934 - 2012):
- 12 Deep River (Arr. G. Hancock for Choir) 03:20
- Stephen Paulus (1949 - 2014):
- 13 The Road Home (After Graham's "Prospect") 03:28
Info for Sleeper's Prayer: Choral Music from North America
In barely a decade of existence, Merton College’s new choral foundation has ambitiously redefined the choral landscape of the great university city of Oxford through its twin commitment to excellence & innovation.
Now, focusing entirely on American music of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, this latest in a series of thematically conceived recordings begins as a striking ‘double portrait’ of two composers who have written or arranged works especially for the choir.
David Lang’s austere choral postminimalism, informed by a background of Jewish liturgy and thought, provides a striking foil to Nico Muhly’s more richly referential approach; Muhly fell in love with the Anglican tradition as a young chorister in Rhode Island.
Two solo organ works by Muhly, and a transcription from his mentor Philip Glass’s opera Satyagraha, widen the expressive gamut still further – from whimsical allusiveness to meditative calm – and are set in context alongside the more stylistically eclectic yet no less powerfully communicative sound-worlds of Libby Larsen and Abbie Betinis. Two final choral items draw on pre-existing traditions of the spiritual and the Baptist hymnal in moving demonstration of the New World’s ability to honour its past while gazing Firmly ahead.
"Merton’s new choral foundation aimed to combine tradition with bold innovation and they pull that off here with some daring. The programme alternates post- minimalist work by David Lang with more familiarly Anglican material by another contemporary Nico Muhly, including the wonderful The Revd Mustard His Installation Prelude, written for a London friend. The Merton singers are in great voice and Merton Brass could dep for the angels." (Choir Organ)
The Choir of Merton College Oxford
Benjamin Nicholas, conductor, solo organ
Benjamin Nicholas
is Reed Rubin Organist & Director of Music at Merton College, Oxford and Principal Conductor of The Oxford Bach Choir. As a conductor, he has appeared with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, The BBC Singers and The Holst Singers in works such as Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony, Holst’s Savitri and Duruflé’s Requiem.
During Benjamin’s time at Merton, the annual Passiontide at Merton festival has been established, the Dobson Organ has been installed, and the College Girls’ Choir has been founded. He was elected a Bodley Fellow of Merton in 2018.
Benjamin Nicholas has been involved in the commissioning of a great many works, and conducted the premieres of Charlotte Bray’s Bach Re-imagined in Southwark Cathedral with the City of London Sinfonia, Howard Goodall’s Veni Sancte Spiritusin Westminster Abbey and numerous choral works by Kerry Andrew, Birtwistle, Chilcott, Dove, Jackson, Martin, Muhly, Tabakova, Weir and Wilby in Tewkesbury and Oxford.
Benjamin was a chorister at Norwich Cathedral before holding organ scholarships at Chichester Cathedral, Lincoln College, Oxford and St Paul’s Cathedral. After a period as Director of Music of St Luke’s Church, Chelsea, he was Director of Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum and Director of Choral Music at Dean Close School. From 2011-2016 he served the Edington Music Festival, firstly as conductor of the Schola and then as Festival Director.
The Choir of Merton College
consists of 30 undergraduate and graduate students at Oxford University reading for degrees in a variety of subjects. The choir's primary duty is singing at regular services in the famous 13th-century Chapel.
Since the establishment of Merton’s Choral Foundation in 2008, the choir has gained an international reputation for offering the best of choral music through tours, recordings and broadcasts. In 2020, the choir won the award for best choral album at the BBC Music Magazine Awards for its recording of Gabriel Jackson’s The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. The choir’s discography on the Delphian Label has seen numerous five star reviews and many recordings have been named ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone magazine.
The choir has appeared at The Three Choirs Festival and the Cheltenham Music Festival, and recent London appearances include the concert series at St John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall and The Temple Church. The choir is regularly heard in concert with orchestra, and recent collaborations have seen the choir perform with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Elgar’s The Apostles), Instruments of Time and Truth (Bach’s St Matthew Passion) and Oxford Baroque (Bach’s Mass in B minor). The choir’s annual festival, Passiontide at Merton, has an established place in Oxford’s musical calendar, and has led to exciting collaborations with such groups as The Cardinall’s Musick and The Marian Consort.
Merton College Choir regularly tours overseas, and has recently visited the USA, Hong Kong and Singapore, France, Italy and Sweden. In 2017, the choir sang the first Anglican Service in St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
The choir’s commitment to contemporary music has seen numerous composers write for the choir. In recent years the choir has premiered works by Kerry Andrew, Birtwistle, Chilcott, Dove, Ešenvalds, Kendall, MacMillan, McDowall, Rutter, Tabakova and Weir. In July 2021, the choir gave the world premiere of a new work by Daniel Kidane.
Booklet for Sleeper's Prayer: Choral Music from North America