St Mary |
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Organist:
Organist and Rector Chori: Paul Hale (1989)
Assistant:
Philip Rushforth (1994)
Organ:
Nave triforium organ - Binns/Wood, Quire Screen organ - Nicholson.
The Nave organ has 3 manuals and 44 stops, and was rebuilt by Wood of Huddersfield in 1994.
The Screen organ has 4 manuals and 51 stops and was launched in 1997.
There are celebrity organ recitals (1998; 1999 advance news shown below).
Choir:
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24 boys, 2A, 2T, 2B (+ 6 auxiliary Lay Clerks) |
For over 1000 years this glorious cathedral church has echoed to the haunting voice of the Minster Choir, men and boys drawn here by the timeless tradition of scholarship and music which has given the small town of Southwell an international reputation for its quality.
Boys entering the choir begin an education, far broader than most, which will last them a lifetime. Whatever their eventual accomplishments, the background of discipline, dedication and sheer joy will always be a rich resource to draw upon.
Choristers, aged between 8 and 13, attend the Minster School, one of only two comprehensive choir schools in Britain. Based on two sites within the attractive town of Southwell, the Minster School enjoys one of the highest reputations in the country, combining a thoroughly modern education with a rich and varied curriculum enthusiastically supported by the parents and governors.
On the campus of the Minster School there is a special Junior Department for musically gifted children in which the choristers begin their time at Southwell. Sited within the senior school, and with access to a vast range of facilities denied to other junior schools, the Junior Department provides an outstanding education among stimulating company for girls and boys who often go on to play leading roles in the senior school, whether in music, the arts and sciences or in sport.
The Minster School is a very well supported Church of England Voluntary Aided school with an emphasis on developing the individual within an inclusive Christian ethos. All pupils attending the Junior Department are guaranteed a place in the main school which has a great emphasis on music as a part of both curricular and extra curricular activity. The school has a strong and vibrant sixth form whose members consistently achieve high grades at A level.
In the wider world, the Southwell choristers travel to many other places, nationally and internationally, their music delighting thousands through television and radio. It is this breadth of experience, combined with personal discipline and the pursuit of excellence which endows our choristers with a sense of confidence and ability as they go out into the world.
Jump to details of the annual voice trials
Services:
Mon (men), Tue (boys), Thu, Fri, Sat at 5:45
Sunday: 11 Mattins or Sung Eucharist, 3:15 Evensong.
Telephone 01636 812649
Recordings:
Priory, Abbey, Cantoris
eg: O Come let us adore Him (Abbey)
The Lord is my Shepherd (Cantoris, Nov 97)
A new
recording of the Nicholson (Quire) organ was released in October 1998. Featuring both
Paul Hale & Philip Rushforth, the 80 minute CD is entitled Southwell
Splendour. It will be available throughout the normal heritage and retail
outlets on the OxRecs DIGITAL label (ref OXCD-80), the Minster Shop and through Cathedral Classical 
. For more details contact
OxRecs DIGITAL (which now has its own 
web-site with its own e-mail)
The pieces are:
- Toccata on "Nun Danket alle Gott" - Egil Hovlund
- Chorale variations on "Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern" - Buxtehude
- Choral Prelude on "Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier" - J S Bach
- Variations on "O Filii et Filiae" - Jean-Francoise Dandrieu
- Harmonies du Soir - Karg-Elert
- From Douze Pieces Nouvelles - Theodore Dubois
March Triomphale
Offertoire
In Paradisum
Other
Information:
APPEAL
The Capital and Projects Fund has been established by Southwell Cathedral Council to raise funds to support the cathedral choir thereby ensuring the continuance of the great choral tradition of Southwell.
Enquiries and contributions: The Capital and Projects Fund Office, Minster Chambers, Church Street, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, NG25 OHD. Telephone: 01636 815965.
Organ Recitals
A new series of organ recitals began on Wednesday 24 June, 1998. All recitals commence
at 7.30pm; admission is £6 (£4 concessions), and are performed on the new Nicholson
4-manual quire organ:
| 24 June | Andrew Lumsden (Lichfield Cath.) | Gigout, Avison, Franck, Ridout, Bridge, Heiller, Widor |
| 15 July | Roger Judd (St George's, Windsor) |
Widor, Gigout, Saint-Martin, Bach, Hollins, Harris, Elgar |
| 12 August | Douglas Hollick (Int. Recitalist) |
Bach, Franck |
| 16 September | James Lancelot (Durham Cath.) |
Bach, de Grigny, Wesley, Mendelssohn, Rheinberger, Parry, Roger-Ducasse, Dupre, Messiaen |
| 31 August (3.30pm, free) |
John Pryer (Alexandra Palace) |
Holzmann, Elgar, Ogden, Bach, Alford, Saint-Saens, Pryer. This recital is on the 3-manual Binns nave organ. |
| 14 October | Paul Hale (Southwell Minster) |
Dupre, Bach, Buxtehude, Greene, Hindemith, Liszt, Franck, Dubois |
| 22 December | Philip Rushforth (Southwell Minster) |
Messiaen La Nativite du Seigneur (complete) with poetry readings |
| 1999 (brief advance notice) |
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| 23 June |
Jeremy Filsell (London) | |
| 14 July |
Prof. Christoph Lorenz (Dusseldorf) | |
| 11 Aug | Timothy Byram-Wigfield (Edinburgh) | |
| 15 Sept | Phillip Rushforth (Southwell) | |
| 13 Oct | David Hill (Winchester) | |
| Bank Holiday
Mondays at 3.30pm on the Binns 3-manual nave organ |
||
| 5 April | Paul Hale (Southwell) | |
| 3 May | Darius Battiwalla (Leeds) | |
| 31 May | Paul Derrett (Cheltenham) | |
| 30 Aug | Tomas Corns (Oundle Award) | |
Previous
Organists:
Harry Tupper (1918-1929)
George Francis (1929-1946)
Robert Ashfield (1946-1956)
David Lumsden (1956-1959)
Kenneth Beard (1959-1988)
