CHAPEL CHOIR

  • Chapel Choir leads the music at the school services in addition to giving concerts and singing services at various venues in the UK and abroad.
  • There are 65 members, all of whom have been auditioned. Amongst our members, we have former choristers from a number of Cathedrals and Abbeys.
  • Chapel Choir sings in St Paul’s Cathedral and Tewkesbury Abbey each year, and has toured in Austria, France, Germany, Italy and the USA. Other recent visits include St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle and Winchester Cathedral.
  • The highlight of the Choir’s year in 2013 was leading the singing in the Drumhead Service at the Festival of Remembrance in the Royal Albert Hall, in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, and broadcast on BBC1.
  • In 2008 Chapel Choir sang in Westminster Abbey for the service to mark the HMC Conference.

RECENT REPERTOIRE HAS INCLUDED:

Geistliches Lied – Brahms
Te Deum in C – Britten
Ave Maria – Bruckner
Christus factus est – Bruckner
Mass for Four Voices – Byrd
Introit & Kyrie – Durufle
Give unto the Lord – Elgar
The spirit of the Lord – Elgar
Jubilate a 8 – Gabrieli
Missa ‘Bella Amfitrit’ altera’ – Lassus
Alleluia: Caro mea – Matthew Martin (OD)
Mother of God, here I stand – Tavener
My Guardian Angel – Weir

CHAMBER CHOIR

  • Chapel Choir gives concert at Dean Close and further afield and sings a sacred and secular repertoire.
  • The 25 members are drawn from the more experienced singers in the school.
  • Chamber Choir visits an Oxbridge College Chapel each year, and has recently sung with the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge under Stephen Layton, and with the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge under Timothy Brown. Many former members of the Chamber Choir hold choral scholarships at Oxbridge and other universities.
  • The choir has broadcast live on Radio 3 from St David’s Hall, Cardiff and recorded the same concert for Hyperion.

RECENT REPERTOIRE HAS INCLUDED:

Jesu, meine Freude – Bach
A Ceremony of Carols – Britten
Messiah – Handel
Sure on this shining night – Lauridsen
Nunc Dimittis – Lukaszewski
Passio – Part
Magnificat quinti toni – Praetorius
Shakespeare Songs – Shearing
Serenade to Music – Vaughan Williams

COMMISSIONS

Dean Close has a long history of commissioning new music, including an annual Christmas Carol.

Recent commissions include:

  • The night he was born – Chilcott
  • Veni Sancte Spiritus – GoodallSusanni – Ives
  • Before the paling of the stars – Lavino
  • Alleluia: Caro Mea – Martin
  • A Song on the Nativity – Muhly
  • Moonless darkness – Wilby

CHORAL SOCIETY

  • Comprises pupils, staff, parents and friends of the School.
  • One performance per year in the Lent Term, usually in the Cheltenham Town Hall or the Pittville Pump Room
  • Rehearses at 7pm on Thursdays from September until the concert date.

DEAN CLOSE HARMONY

  • A capella group of up to 16 singers
  • Wide range of repertoire
  • Weekly rehearsal