English Español
Français Nederlands
Deutsch русский
Japanese Chinese
Home | Browse | Choirs | Trebles | Singers | Films | Books | New Releases | Events | Search | | Links | Contact BCSD | Sign In
9 CHOIRS   Africa | W. Europe | E. Europe | Middle East | North America | Oceania | Scandinavia | South America | SE Asia | UK

  The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor    (est. 1348) Classical Choir of Men and Boys 
Print Friendly Page 
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor The Choir of St. George's Chapel comprises 23 boy choristers and twelve Lay Clerks singing alto, tenor and bass. The boys are educated at St George's School which is situated in the Castle grounds, and the Lay Clerks live in the Horseshoe Cloister, just to the west of the Chapel, and on Denton's Commons.

St George's Chapel exists to provide a place to give thanks to Almighty God and to pray for the Sovereign and the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and the work of the choir is central to that aim. The choir was founded at the same time as the founding of the College in 1348 and, with the exception of the Commonwealth period (1649-60), has sung the services continuously since then. The choir sings regularly in the presence of the Queen and other members of the Royal family, and in recent times sang at the marriage of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones; it sang also at a concert in celebration of the seventieth birthday of Her Majesty the Queen, and at celebrations for the eightieth birthday of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. The choir sang at the funeral of Princess Margaret in St George's and also at the Thanksgiving service for her life held in Westminster Abbey.
Related Sites
Official Site: St. George's Chapel Choir, Windsor
BCSD: Richard Birchall
Former head chorister and soloist.
BCSD: Robert Stephen
Former head chorister and soloist.
A Day of a Chorister at St. George's School
Wikipedia entry

Search Google for 'The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor': Web - Images
 
Featured Recordings Compact | Full
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - Sacred Music by John Tavener
Sacred Music by John Tavener (Helios CDH 55414, CD) June 2013
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor  
Sacred Music by Sir John Tavener (born 1944). Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor. Christopher Robinson, conductor. James Oxley, tenor; Matthew Brook, baritone; Colin Cartwright, countertenor. Roger Judd, organ (trk. 8). Recorded July 11-13, 1990. Re-issued June, 2013. (Re-issue of Hyperion CDA 66464 from 1991)
Available at   hyperion-records.co.uk
Available at   prestoclassical.co.uk
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - O How Glorious Is The Kingdom
O How Glorious Is The Kingdom (Delphian  DCD34048, CD) June 2006
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor  
The Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, offers a sumptious programme of jewels from the anthem tradidion whose repertoire spans five centuries. Works by Parry, Brahms, Ouseley, Gardiner, Tallis, Bach etc.
Available at   MDT
no cover
Sir. William Harris Anthems (Naxos 8570148, CD) 2006
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor  
Choir of St. George's Chapel Widsor Castle sing the Anthems of Sir William Harris , this is part of the English Choral Music on the Naxos label.
  1.   O hearken thou  
  2.   Strengthen ye the weak hands  
  3.   Faire is the heav'n  
  4.   Lord of Love  
  5.   King of Glory  
  6.   Praise the Lord  
  7.   The night is come  
  8.   The shepherd men  
  9.   O joyful light  
10.   From a heart made whole  
11.   I said to the man  
12.   Bring us O Lord God  
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - Abide With Me
Abide With Me (Naxos 8.557578, CD) 2005
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor  
Recorded 27-29 April 2004, Church of the Sacred Heart, Wimbledon.
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - Tomkins: Cathedral Music
Tomkins: Cathedral Music (Helios CDH 55066, CD) October 2001
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor   Simon McGee   Simon Rendell   Thomas Roach   James Rugg   Andrew Wickens  
Conductor: Christopher Robinson. Trebles: Thomas Roach, James Rugg, Simon McGee, David Leeming. Boy Altos: Simon Rendell, Colin Cartwright, Rory Waters, Andrew Wickens. (Re-issue of Hyperion CDA 66345 from 1989)
Available at   Amazon.co.uk
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - Christmas Joy, Volume Four
Christmas Joy, Volume Four (Priory PRCD 671, CD) 1999
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor   Hugh Brunt  
Available at   Amazon US
Available at   Barnes and Noble
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - Britten: Saint Nicolas; Hymn to Saint Cecilia
Britten: Saint Nicolas; Hymn to Saint Cecilia (Hyperion CDA 66333, CD) 1989
Featuring Harry Briggs   The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor  
Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Harry Briggs (treble) Corydon Singers, Girls of Warwick University Chamber Choir, Choristers of St George's Chapel Windsor.
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - I Was Glad / Parry - Cathedral Music
I Was Glad / Parry - Cathedral Music (Hyperion CDA066273, CD) August 1988
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor   Richard Murray-Bruce   Andrew Wickens   Timothy Woodford  
Conducted by Christopher Robinson. Timothy Woodford (Boy Soprano) Richard Murray-Bruce (Boy Soprano) Colin Cartwright (Boy Alto) Andrew Wickens (Boy Alto).
Available at   Amazon.co.uk
no cover
20 Christmas Carols from St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (Abbey/SCS Music , CD) November 1984
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor   Oliver Hinton   Tristan Rice   Paul Rickard  
John Porter, organ. Jeremy Collin, Martin Denny, Martin Pickering, Oliver Hinton, Tristan Rice, Paul Rickard, trebles.
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - Great Occasions at St. George's
Great Occasions at St. George's (Guild GRSP 7019, LP) January 1982
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor   Nicholas Robinson   Edward Wickham  
direced by Christopher Robinson with John Porter (organ) produced by Barry Rose. Soloists Edward Wickham and Nicholas Robinson (Trebles) Colin Cartwright (counter tenor) Martin Pickering (Tenor)
  1.   Praise To God In The Highest (Campbell)  
  2.   How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place (Brahms)  
  3.   King Of Glory, King Of Peace (Harris)  
  4.   Prelude In E Flat (Harris)   Organ Solo
  5.   I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes (Walford Davies)  
  6.   Te Deum Laudamus In C (Stanford)  
  7.   Finale from Symphonie I (Vierne)   Organ Solo
  8.   Rejoice And Be Merry (Robinson)  
  9.   Jubilate Deo (Britten)  
10.   Five Negro Spirituals (Tippett)  
no cover
Mendelssohn: Hear My Prayer . . . O for the wings of a dove (Columbia (Light Blue) DB. 9233 (12-inch), 78 RPM) September 1927
Featuring Master T.L.J. Grant Anderson   The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor  
Retail price 4/6. Deleted March 1942.
A & B: Mendelssohn's anthem (1844) (wds by William Bartholomew (1793-1867) based on Psalm 55, vv. 1-8) Recorded on two sides 28 March 1927 (matrices WAX2536-3, 2537-1) with the Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor & organ accomp. directed by the Revd Dr Edmund H. Fellowes. Recorded in St George's Chapel.

C.M. Crabtree in The Gramophone (Sept. 1927, p. 152) writes that this is "not a good [record]", but the anonymous reviewer in The Sound Wave (London, Sept. 1927, p. 545) comments: "The best parts are the concerted ones. The solo boy has a good voice, and sings with that utter absence of all expression that is typical of the usual choir-boy. The recording is inclined to blast at times -- particularly on the 'ev' of the last every -- but that may be due to the machine used."
  Side A -   Hear my prayer (Mendelssohn)  
  Side B -   O for the wings of a dove (Mendelssohn)  
Books Compact | Full
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - Choristers of St George's Chapel, The
Choristers of St George's Chapel, The (Berkshire , Book) 1980
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor  
by Neville Wridgway.
The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor - Children of the Garter by Russell Thorndike (1937)
Children of the Garter by Russell Thorndike (1937) (Rich & Cowan Ltd. , Book) 1937
Featuring The Choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor   Russell Thorndike  
(Arthur) Russell Thorndike (1885-1972): "Children of the Garter. Being the Memoirs of a Windsor Castle Choir-Boy, during the last years of Queen Victoria." (London, 1937: Rich & Cowan Ltd. large 8vo pp. xi, 224. 24 photographic plates.)
The author was the Shakespearean actor & novelist brother of Dame Sybil Thorndike. This very readable account of his six years at Windsor is full of amusing anecdotes & affectionate pen portraits. The Master of the Queen's Music was Sir Walter Parrat & Thorndike illustrates his methods like this:
"What are you getting nervous for in that 'run'?" he would demand from a new boy. "There's nothing to fear about it. It's a good 'run' I assure you. It has stood the test of time, and is quite a famous 'run'. But it must be treated with a full control, and if you are going to be stupidly nervous, it shows that you are thinking about your silly self, instead of this capital piece of music, which is much more important than the feelings of a mere boy." For a piece of faulty singing we got no pity. It was a crime to let down composer or choir.
This page last modified on Monday, December 11, 2006
Copyright © 2013 The Boy Choir & Soloist Directory