PHI CD 210: THE GLORY OF THE TEMPLE CHURCH CHOIR VOLUME THREE, DIRECTED BY GEORGE THALBEN-BALL RECORDED 1960-1980

[1] The Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth - George Thalben-Ball (1896-1987)
[2] Psalm 130 Chant in D minor, Psalm 48 Chant in E flat
& Gloria Patri, Setting in E flat - George Thalben-Ball
[3] Te Deum Laudamus in E flat - Gerald Bullivant
[4] Jubilate Deo in B flat - George Thalben-Ball
[5] The Greater Light - Martin Shaw (1875-1958)
[6] When Jesus was born (Christus) - Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
[7] Flocks in Pastures Green abiding - J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
[8] Nolo Mortem Peccatoris - Thomas Morley (1557-1602)
[9] The Strife is O'er - Melchior Vulpius (c.1570-1615) arr. Henry Ley (1887-1962)
[10] He Was Despised (Messiah) - George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Soloist: Martin Griffiths
[11] Doubt Not Thy Father's Care - Edward Elgar (1857-1934) [12] Kerygma - Malcolm Williamson (1931-2003)
[13] Hymn of the Cherubim - Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
[14] Splendente Te - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) [15] Where Thou Reignest - Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
[16] Tarry No Longer - Walford Davies (1869-1941) [1.38]
Soloists: Bass: William Johannes. Tenor: Richard Dawson.
Trebles: David Abbott, Richard Matthews, Martin Griffiths & Ian le Grice.
Recorded in the Temple Church, London.
Organist & Director of the Choir: Dr. George Thalben-Ball

[1]-[5], [7]-[9], [11], [15] & [16] recorded April 1977 and issued in 1979 as
L.P. record PVA 4917 545: Music from the Temple Church. [13] & [14] from same sessions but unpublished.
Producer: Paul Vaughan. Recording Engineers: Norman McLeod & David Welsby.
[12] From Abbey L.P. record HMP 2280: The Temple Tradition. Recorded by Harry Mudd, 1980 reissued by arrangement with Oxbridge Records
[6] Private recording 1960. [10] Private recording 1976.
Digitally remastered from master tapes & produced by Martin Monkman, Amphion Recordings, 2004.
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 77.26

Released 21/9/04

Boys of the Temple Church Choir 1980

THE TEMPLE CHURCH CHOIR 1919-1981
Under the Direction of George Thalben-Ball
The Temple Church is one of London's greatest treasures. It lies to the west of the City and belongs to two major Inns of Court, the Inner and Middle Temple. The church was built by the crusading Order of Knights Templar, founded to protect pilgrims on the road to the Holy City. The Round Church, in transitional Romanesque style, followed the plan of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and was consecrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 10 February 1185 by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Quire, in "heavenward-aspiring Gothic", was consecrated on Ascension Day 1240 in the presence of Henry III and his court.
Following the dissolution of the Order of Knights Templar at the beginning of the 14th century, lawyers settled into the Temple, forming themselves into the Honourable Societies of the Inner and Middle Temple, two of the four Inns of Court. The governing body of Benchers acquired the freehold of the precinct from James I in 1608, one of the conditions being that they were to maintain the Temple Church and its services for ever, and this it has been their pride to do through four centuries.
In 1840 the fabric of the building was found to be in urgent need of major restoration and when this was completed two years later, the Masters of the Bench determined to establish a permanent choir of gentlemen and boys which should be "brought as speedily as possible to a high state of excellence".
From 1843 until the retirement of George Thalben-Ball in l981, there had been just three organists of the Temple, the others being E. J. Hopkins and H. Walford Davies, each contributing his own musicianship as shown in a widening repertory and constant aim for excellence.
In 1919 Thalben-Ball was appointed as assistant to Walford Davies, becoming organist and choirmaster in 1923. He was awarded the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Music in 1935. After 62 years at the Temple he retired in 1981 and was knighted in the following year. He died aged 90 on 18 January 1987. Although officially "Sir George" he will be for ever remembered affectionately as "Doctor" by grateful generations of Temple Church choristers.

The Temple Church Recordings
The recordings featured on the first two volumes of The Glory of the Temple Church Choir are, in the main, pre-war, and made in the Temple Church, accompanied by Dr. Ball on the famous Rothwell organ. By some miracle, the Temple Church escaped the Great Fire of 1666, but it was not so fortunate on 10 May 1941, when it was grievously burnt out during the last and worst night of the Blitz. Although much of the fabric survived, the organ, containing 'Father' Smith's original pipework, was completely destroyed. Both the church and its great musical tradition was to lie dormant for many years until in l954, following the most careful restoration by architects Walter and Emil Godfrey, the Quire was rededicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the presence of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. For that happy day, the chorister boys were loaned by Sir William McKie, Organist of Westminster Abbey. The new Harrison organ, formally installed in 1927 in Scotland, was presented generously by Lord Glentanar to the Temple. In the following year, the Temple Choir was re-established, which soon regained the same high standard as that maintained by Dr. Thalben-Ball before the war.
'His Master's Voice' renewed its interest in recording the choir, when several excellent records were issued in the l960s; we hope to make these available as CDs at a later date. Recording companies were, however, losing commercial interest in choirs by the end of the 1960s and although the Temple Church Choir continued to broadcast, no further records were made after 1967 until Paul Vaughan released Music from the Temple Church. These recordings were made in 1977, the L.P. was issued in 1979 but had a limited distribution. When he heard of AMPHION'S intention of issuing a definitive set of recordings of the Choir, then under Dr. George Thalben-Ball's direction, Paul Vaughan generously has made available the master tapes of his recordings, which include items not included on the original L.P.

© Amphion Recordings. 2004