Private School News

The Choir of Lancing College, directed by Neil Cox, present: SURREXIT 500 Years of Choral Music for the Church’s Year

Lancing College Choir:
There is a long tradition of excellence in choral singing at Lancing College. Major composers have written music for the choir: Benjamin Britten composed his cantata Saint Nicolas for Lancing’s centenary in 1948, and the College celebrated its 150th anniversary by commissioning Arvo Pärt to write a piece marking the event. The Choir gave the first performance of this new work, Triodion, in Westminster Abbey in April 1998.

Lancing College Choir, which consists of around fifty boys and girls, includes former cathedral choristers in its ranks. A number of young singers have been trained in the choirs of St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, St George’s Chapel, Salisbury Cathedral and Chichester Cathedral. The Choir has sung in concerts and services in major continental churches and cathedrals. In Italy, for example, they sang in St. Mark’s Basilica (Venice), and the Frari Church and St Anthony’s Basilica (Padua).

Many young musicians from Lancing have gone on to take up choral and organ scholarships at the universities of Cambridge (King’s College and St John’s College), Oxford (Magdalen College and Merton College) and London (Royal Holloway College and King’s College), as well as Gloucester Cathedral and Truro Cathedral.

The Chapel:
The famous Chapel at Lancing, the largest and one of the finest school chapels in the world, is home to the Choir. It is a magnificent neo-Gothic, Grade I listed building and is an impressive Sussex landmark. Over 90 foot in height, its internal vaults are matched in England only by those at Westminster Abbey and York Minster. It houses three fine organs, the Elliott chamber organ, the “two manual” Frobenius organ and the “four manual” Walker organ. Neil Cox oversaw the design and installation of the Walker and Frobenius organs in the Chapel in 1986.

Neil Cox, Director of Music of Lancing College Chapel:
Neil Cox has been Director of Music of Lancing College Chapel since 1978, and is responsible for the exceptional standard of the Choir today. Neil is also a composer and his compositions for O Maria, vernans rosa and Magnificat are featured on this CD.

The CD includes 50 minutes of unaccompanied choral singing – a feat rarely achieved by a school choir. This is a tribute to the students, to their previous training (many have been members of cathedral choirs from the age of and, of course, to the inspiration and dedication of Neil Cox.

Neil Cox is supported in his work by colleagues Nikki Dragonetti (a former chorister of Salisbury Cathedral), Damian Kerney (a former Head Chorister of St Paul’s Cathedral) and by singing teacher Martin Elliot (Westminster Abbey and Christ Church Oxford).

The CD: SURREXIT 500 Years of Choral Music for the Church’s Year:
The tracks on this CD represent the music that is sung in the College Chapel through the Church’s year. It features works by Tallis, Pratorius, Guerrero, Morales, Victoria and Michael Haller, and 20th century composers Vaughan Williams, Durufle, Elizabeth Poston, John Joubert, Richard Lloyd and Neil Cox.

The selection focuses on the wealth of a cappella, or unaccompanied music, from the great flowering of European sacred polyphony in the 16th century and on up, to present day. Interspersed are chorale preludes based on seasonal hymns, played on the Chapel’s Frobenius organ by Neil Cox, Edward Dean (Upper VI form, Organ Scholar) and Joseph Wicks (a 4th form Music Scholar).

Twenty students in the Choir on this recording have passed Grade 8 in singing. Edward Dean will take up a place at the Royal College of Music and Joseph Wicks, who is just 14 years old, was a ‘boy bishop’ at Salisbury Cathedral. Singers Tom Stockwell (Bass)and Ewan Stockwell (Tenor) are now singing at Truro and Gloucester Cathedrals.

The recordings on this CD were made in Lancing College Chapel and Boxgrove Priory, West Sussex.

Copies of the CD may be purchased from the Lancing College website, http://www.lancingcollege.co.uk at a cost of £.. (postage and packing)

Music at Lancing College:
At Lancing, all pupils enjoy a wide range of experiences and opportunities beyond the national curriculum. They are encouraged to embrace new interests in the spirit of self discovery: cultural, sporting, and practical activities all feature in the weekly timetable.

The Choir is one of these opportunities. Many youngsters at Lancing are very “contemporary” and a number of enthusiastic members of the Choir combine it with a range of very different activities, such as football or drama.

Music and Organ Scholarships:
Scholarships are available for new entrants to the Third and Sixth Forms, with special proficiency in music. In addition, Lancing College is keen to encourage talented young organists and there is one organ scholarship for the Sixth Form.

For further information on these scholarships, please contact Beverley Allen:baa@lancing.org.uk 01273 465968