Gramophone's Rankings of Top Twenty Choirs in the World
  • Jenny Donelson
    Posts: 243
    This is an interesting story on a recent Gramophone ranking of the top 20 choirs in the world.

    The actual Gramophone ranking can be found here.

    The interviewer in the NPR article cites this quotation from Susanna Beiser that I found to be particularly interesting:
    "It's not necessarily some vague "Britishness" either, that makes their choirs so good. I think it's worth pointing out that it's the Church of England. The Anglicans rule choral music. The Catholics, on the other hand, to whom much of the repertoire rightfully belongs, have not sustained their music traditions as well, and their choirs mostly sound bad when they're not doing some guitar mass or something. But even before Vatican II, I don't think they were keeping up. From what I hear, the Church of England is in terrible shape, attendance-wise, and now with the move by a growing number of conservative Anglicans to reconcile with Rome, the choral tradition may end up being the primary contribution of 500 years of English Protestantism."
  • Simon
    Posts: 153
    Rankings like this are often very subjective in nature of course - but still interesting. Certainly under their previous conductor James O'Donnell (now at Westminster Abbey - ranked nr. 16) the Westminster Cathedral Choir was seen by many British choral 'experts' as being the epitome of what Britain had to present in their choral tradition. They're still top of the bill in my opinion.
  • IanWIanW
    Posts: 756
    It’s also the private schools, many of which have strong music departments and chapels with choral traditions, and the Oxbridge Colleges with their chapel choirs. Of course, these in their turn owe much to the Anglican tradition. I wouldn’t say that the members of the best British choirs always come from this background, but it creates expectations and critical mass at various skill and commitment levels, not just the very best.

    The London – Oxbridge Triangle also comes into play. It would be considered quite a small area in American terms, and the concentration of singers and other musicians in such a small space is another factor.

    This is the time of year when I suggest that any of you who would like a week’s immersion in an entirely Catholic take on the British singing tradition might like to try Spode Music Week. Next year’s program is still being worked on, but the pattern is:
    • Daily sung mass and compline (mostly chant and polyphony).
    • Two choral course works, one sung liturgically at the end of the week, the other performed in concert.
    • Orchestra (optional, but most levels of skill accepted).
    • Daily lectures and recitals.

    The program for 2011is still to be finalised, but you’ll get an idea from last year’s which I’ve attached. Dates are 13th - 20th August 2011, and the venue is St. Edmund’s School, Canterbury, whose pupils include the boys of the Cathedral Choir – which brings us back to the debt we owe to the Anglicans!
    spode brochure 2010.pdf
    121K
  • Maureen
    Posts: 675
    They pretty much disregard all monastic choirs and most continental choirs, plus all Asian, South American, African.... No children's choirs at all.

    Seriously narrow. It pretty much boils down to "the top twenty choirs we like, which record and tour a lot, and which are composed of adults".

    It's a lot like The Sing-Off: "the top American a capella show choirs that sing pop music or jazz standards while doing choreography, and aren't involved in barbershop or polyphony or Gregorian chant or anything like that".
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    It's been a few days, but I would like to draw everyone's attention to the American rebuttle by Patrick Quigley, conductor of Miami's professional choir Seraphic Fire.

    http://www.choralnet.org/view/273690
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Well, the whole matter is politically charged, slanted, and only looks to polyphony as the basis for a 'choir'. An entirely English perspective. Money talks.
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    I agree, Francis. In the wider perspective, though, choir really does mean polyphony or homophony to most musicians - not monody. Even as a sacred musician and chant practitioner, I consider chant to be a separate category from or niche category in mainstream choral music.

    Now within Catholc sacred music, that is another matter, also politically charged, with the possibility of being slanted....
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    So, the only real value in a list like this is helping uninformed but interested lay people like myself have a list of choirs to go find and listen to.

    So... what other choirs do you all think should have been on the list. (I'll take notes.)
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,368
    The Houston Chamber Choir
    St Thomas' Church (Episc.), New York
    St John's (I believe) Cathedral (Episc.), Denver

    As commentary - and I should be interested in the opinions of others here - Some of the recording of Westminster Cathedral lack the blend that can be heard from many of the other English choirs. The boys, in particular, seem to have cultivated a rather reedy tone. Then, there is the unfortunate matter that they always have the organ droning away in their plainchant.

    More choirs and 'groups' -
    Canticleer
    The Hilliard Ensemble
    And others which would make a long list
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Rundfunkchor

    http://www.rundfunkchor-berlin.de/content/e54/e75/index_eng.html
  • IanWIanW
    Posts: 756
    St. John's College, Cambridge.

    And on recent form (Mahler 2, Beethoven 9, Carmina Burana) London's Philharmonia Chorus is coming up on the outside rail in the symphonic chorus stakes.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,046
    OK, if we're going to play "your list", how about narrowing it down to CATHOLIC choirs/scholas? Which groups out there with some Catholic connection have made recordings worthy of emulation? And we can be flexible about this; Bruno Turner once said that Pro Cantione Antiqua existed to do the music he could no longer do in the Church.
  • BruceL
    Posts: 1,072
    Jackson, as usual, I agree with most of your recs. However, I do like the "reedy" sound of Westminster Cathedral's trebles. I think it's one of the more charming traits of the choir, especially in Renaissance polyphony, so much so that they are immediately identifiable on recording because of it. You could never get away with that with mature female sopranos!
  • richardUKrichardUK
    Posts: 85
    Regarding Bruno Turner, he is now in his 80's and is acting as musicological advisor to a new London-based choir of 12 men, which is widely beng seen as the reincarnation of Pro Cantione Antiqua, performing mostly unaccompanied and at the original low pitch for Renaissance polyphony. The name of the choir is "Continuum" and I will post more info and some videos as they become available.
  • richardUKrichardUK
    Posts: 85
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Continuum/169468653095911
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