Acknowledged
to be the definitive Discography and Collection of recordings from choirs of gentlemen and boys singing in the English Cathedral
Tradition.
In the fullness of the time the Collection will be left to a musical or educational establishment becoming
a National resource for study, research and listening.
Preserving a Unique and Priceless Heritage
of Recorded Church Music
A
very warm welcome to my website which I hope you will find enjoyable, interesting and informative.
We live in a golden age of recordings, where new CD's from our great choirs appear almost monthly. How fortunate
we are to be able to hear almost every cathedral and collegiate choir from the comfort of our own home.
What we
tend to forget is the vast amount of recordings which were made before the advent of CD's, with choirs turning
out 1000's of LP's from the mid 1950’s.
The really enterprising choirs were recording from the early 20th century on 78rpm records,
with the first ever choir recording appearing in 1902 from St Andrew's Church, Wells Street, London. This was followed
by Westminster Cathedral in 1907 and Westminster Abbey in 1911. Between this first recording and the demise of the 78rpm
record in the mid 1950's, 80 choirs had recorded over 550 records.
Everyone is aware of the major labels, such
as Argo, Abbey, EMI and Decca – but there were, as there is now, a myriad of independent and small private
labels producing some absolute gems.Nor
does this take into account the many 1000s of private recordings made by enthusiastic amateurs - these one-off recordings
are amongst some of the most rare and important in the collection.
This unique and priceless recorded heritage
of choirs, great and small, from the very first 78rpm record to the CD's of today, must be preserved....... before more
recordings are lost for ever. This is the aim of my Collection.
Please don't hesitate to contact me on
any aspect of the Collection, Website or Recordings in general. You may either send anemailor contact me onSkype.
To be kept up to date with the latest news regarding the
Collection, Discography and Website subscribe to the bi-monthly Newsletter and previous editions may be read in thearchive.
Historic recordings for your listening pleasure and a slide
show of LP sleeves
You will find a selection of rare and historic
recordings from the Collection at the top and bottom of most pages. They may take a few seconds to load after pressing
play.
Also, a selection of visually stunning LP sleeves are presented as a slide show and are best appreciated
by viewing 'full screen' Hover mouse over sleeve to open controls and 'full screen' takes
a few seconds to engage when pressed.
Listening Post
THE FIRST CHOIR EVER TO RECORD IN 1902
Choir of
St Andrew's Church Wells Street London directed by F. Docker
Psalms 23 and 42 This recording 5th October 1908
and released early 1909
Single sided 78rpm Gramophone Monarch Record
PLEASE BUY ME A CUP OF COFFEE! The Discography, Collection and Website are funded entirely by myself. If
every web visitor donated £2.00, the cost of a coffee, they would be contributing to keeping this vital
work moving forward. You can of course donate more if you wish!
You can donate using your credit/debit
card or with Paypal.
My passion for music started as a young chorister, progressing to organ lessons and playing for
evensong at the age of 13. University to read music combined with organ scholar, during which time founded choir
of boys and men at local church. Taught music for many years and now my main interest is listening to choirs in situ and collecting
recordings.
