Britten Saint Nicolas
Price range: £7.99 through £13.00
Andrew Kennedy Tenor
Stephen Cleobury Organ
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Britten Sinfonia
Directed by Stephen Cleobury
Release date: 21 October 2013
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge under conductor Stephen Cleobury presents Britten’s enchanting choral masterpiece, Saint Nicolas, with Hymn to St Cecilia and Rejoice in the Lamb, celebrating 100 years since Benjamin Britten’s birth. The recording features soloist Andrew Kennedy, a former Choral Scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, the renowned Britten Sinfonia, Sawston Village College Choir and Cambridge University Musical Society.
Director of Music, Stephen Cleobury, said: “I am delighted to have been able to record Saint Nicolas in King’s. The cantata was written in the year I was born, and I have known it and performed in it in various roles since I was a teenager. Britten’s links with King’s were strong; he frequently visited EM Forster in the College, and my two predecessors, David Willcocks and Philip Ledger, both worked closely with the composer.”
***** – Classical Music Magazine
***** – Financial Times
| Saint Nicolas | Britten, Benjamin | ||
| 1 | i. Introduction | 05:35 | |
| 2 | ii. The Birth of Nicolas | 02:43 | |
| 3 | iii. Nicolas devotes himself to God | 04:34 | |
| 4 | iv. He journeys to Palestine * | 08:19 | |
| 5 | v. Nicolas comes to Myra and is chosen Bishop *^ | 07:02 | |
| 6 | vi. Nicolas from Prison | 02:59 | |
| 7 | vii. Nicolas and the Pickled Boys * | 06:42 | |
| 8 | viii. His piety and marvellous works * | 05:03 | |
| 9 | ix. The Death of Nicolas *^ | 06:45 | |
| 10 | Hymn to St Cecilia | 10:25 | |
| 11 | Rejoice in the Lamb | 16:25 | |
| Total playing time – 76:32 | |||
| * Sawston Village College Choir ^ CUMS Chorus |
Recorded at 96kHz 24-bit PCM in the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, by kind permission of the Provost and Fellows, 23-24 June 2012 (Hymn to St Cecilia & Rejoice in the Lamb) and 14-15 January & 20 May 2013 (Saint Nicolas).
Producer & Editor Simon Kiln
Recording Engineers Arne Akselberg, Jonathan Allen
Mixing Engineer Arne Akselberg
Technical Engineer Richard Hale
CD Mastering Engineer Simon Kiln
SACD Mastering Engineer Andrew Walter
