The Christminster Singers
are Oxfordshire’s West Gallery choir, and amongst the country’s leading
exponents of this robust, vigorous style of singing, which flourished in
English country parishes during the 18th and early 19th centuries. They
have performed at national festivals, and on BBC television.
The choir’s repertoire, researched by director
Dave Townsend, concentrates on material found in manuscript sources from
Oxfordshire and Dorset, but also includes some secular pieces, and
examples from the parallel American Shape Note tradition. A particular
speciality is the music of 18th century Dorset composer William Knapp -
we have in fact recorded a whole CD
of Knapp's compositions
For more, see
www.christminster-singers.org.uk
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more about West Gallery and Shape Note singing. |