New London Children's Choir 1

Listen to an excerpt from the final pages of The Ice Mountain

RONALD CORP

THE ICE MOUNTAIN

John Addison, narrator
Alexander Wells, piano

New London Children's Choir
Members of the New London Orchestra
Ronald Corp, director

Duration: 54' 52"

Naxos 8.572777

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Both CDs [Ice Mountain and Hurd Pop Cantatas] serve up delightful material in different ways. Corp sets Emma Hill's blank verse to a more modern and inventive kaleidoscope of styles hinting at Lloyd Webber, Bart's Oliver!, Menotti and Orff's Music for Children. Corp's recent children's opera is the more demanding to perform... The well-drilled choir (aged 7-18) proves it can sing in different parts and deal with complex rhythms and unexpected word patterns... Both are immensely accessible and at times irresistible and genuinely poignant.... Members of the New London Orchestra provide a sensitive and reliable backing to both discs.

Neil Patrick, Light Music Society Magazine, Issue 53, Autumn 2011

MICHAEL HURD

POP CANTATAS

Jonah-Man Jazz
Prodigal
Rooster Rag
Swingin' Samson
Captain Coram's Kids

John Addison, narrator
Alexander Wells, piano

New London Children's Choir
Ronald Corp, director

Naxos 8.572505

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See also The Shepherd's Calendar by Michael Hurd

Listen to 'Nineveh City was a City of Sin' from Jonah-Man Jazz

Hurd's Cantatas (written between 1966 and 1989) sound easy to teach and sing... Hurd's pieces are cast in the idiom of faux jazz along with simple ragtime and swing rhythms... immensely accessible and at times irresistible and genuinely poignant.... Members of the New London Orchestra provide a sensitive and reliable backing...

Neil Patrick, Light Music Society Magazine, Issue 53, Autumn 2011

BRITTEN

Friday Afternoons, Op. 7
Sweet was the Song
King Herod and the Cock
The Oxen
Fancie
The Birds
Three Two-Part Songs
A Wealden Trio: 'Christmas Song of the Women'
A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28

Alexander Wells, piano
Skaila Kanga, harp
New London Children's Choir
Ronald Corp, director

Total duration: 62' 09"

Naxos 8.553183

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'Ronald Corp directs bright, refreshing performances of a delightful collection of Britten choral pieces written for children’s voices. The New London Children’s Choir is relatively large and is recorded against a lively hall acoustic, but there is no lack of impact, and the tenderness of expression as well as the liveliness is consistently refreshing…the Ceremony of Carols brings ensemble remarkably crisp for a biggish choir, and these performances justify the decision to have full ensemble treatment for all of the Friday Afternoons sequence.'

Penguin Guide, January 2009 (Three Stars)

PIGS COULD FLY

Ronald Corp:

Give to my Eyes, Lord
Five Flower Songs
Spring (When Daisies pied)
'At Day-Close in November'
(from Hardy Songs)

And songs by Britten, Bliss, Maw, Skempton, Richard Rodney Bennett, Maxwell Davies, Vaughan Williams, Woolrich, Rutter, Tavener, Chilcott, Tansy Davies and Philip Godfrey

The New London Children's Choir
Ronald Corp, conductor
Alexander Wells, piano

Total duration: 66' 07"

NAXOS 8.572113

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Corp’s own contributions are all gratefully conceived for children’s chorus and are very enjoyable. They are all written in a simple and easy-going language which is pleasant on the ear and, no doubt, very enjoyable to sing... Very good recording and notes.

Bob Briggs, MusicWeb International

Listen to an excerpt from Spring

Listen to an excerpt from Five Flower Songs