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Welcome to St John's Church
an inclusive Church of England church, with a catholic spirituality
at the heart of Fulham since 1828
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Rheinberger - Dextera DominiSt John's Choral Scholars; Domenico Gioffre
00:00 / 02:24
Haydn - Insanae et vanae curaeSt John's Choral Scholars; Domenico Gioffre
00:00 / 06:33
Guest - For the FallenSt John's Choral Scholars; Domenico Gioffre
00:00 / 01:19
Tchaikovsky - Legend (The Crown of Roses)St John's Choral Scholars; Domenico Gioffre
00:00 / 02:34
Romantic & Modern Choral Classics is the Schola Cantorum's very first album. Listen to some of our sample tracks beside; our CD is available for purchase from the Parish Office - 02073 857634.
"O Holy Night" (original title: Cantique de Noël) is a sacred song for Christmas performance. Originally based on a French-language poem by poet Placide Cappeau, written in 1843, with the first line "Minuit, Chrétien, c'est l'heure solennelle" (Midnight, Christian, is the solemn hour) that composer Adolphe Adam set to music in 1847. The English version (with small changes to the initial melody) is by John Sullivan Dwight. The carol reflects on the birth of Jesus as humanity's redemption.
"A German Requiem", to Words of the Holy Scriptures, Op. 45, by Johannes Brahms, is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, a soprano and a baritone soloist, composed between 1865 and 1868. It comprises seven movements, which together last 65 to 80 minutes, making this work Brahms's longest composition. A German Requiem is sacred but non-liturgical, and unlike a long tradition of the Latin Requiem, A German Requiem, as its title states, is a Requiem in the German language.
"Adam lay ybounden" relates the events of Genesis. In medieval theology, Adam was supposed to have remained in bonds with the other patriarchs in the limbus patrum from the time of his death until the crucifixion of Christ (the "4000 winters"). The second verse narrates the Fall of Man following Adam's temptation by Eve and the serpent. John Speirs suggests that there is a tone of astonishment, almost incredulity in the phrase "and all was for an apple", noting "an apple, such as a boy might steal from an orchard, seems such a little thing to produce such overwhelming consequences.
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