Westminster Cathedral: The Recording Venue
Way back when, one of my first tastes of high quality choral music came via the late great Sir Colin Davis. A bargain Philips Duo entitled "Mozart: Great Choral Works" heralded recordings of the (unfinished) Great C Minor Mass, the Coronation Mass and the (unfinished) Requiem.
The Great Mass in C Minor was a revelation, and I had noted at the time that it had been recorded, with the London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, in "Westminster Cathedral".
 |
| Source here |
Intrigued by the distinction between the famous Abbey of Westminster, and this "Cathedral", a search in the early days of Google (or Alta Vista or whatever rudimentary search engine was then in fashion) turned up my first glimpse of the great red-brick monolith that I would come to be so fond of.
Of course many, probably most, of the Cathedral Choir's own recordings have been made in situ, with excursions to All Hallows Gospel Oak (London) and Buckfast Abbey (Devon) as well-known exceptions to this, but I am still learning of other great recordings that have been made at the Cathedral. Today, for instance, I was made aware that Sir John Eliot Gardiner's 1993 world premiere (and Grammy - not Gramophone - award winning) recording of the young Berlioz' Messe Solennelle, thought lost until a clear-out of a Belgian church's organ loft in the early 1990s (found by one Frans Moors in an oak chest in the Church of St. Carolus-Borromeus in Antwerp), was made during a live performance at the Drome, also filmed for posterity. I haven't studied it in great detail yet, but I wonder if Cardinal Basil Hume was in the audience?
Here are the Kyrie & Gloria:
 |
| Source here |
Here is the interior of Church of St. Carolus-Borromeus in Antwerp. Gosh, if I were a long-lost manuscript score, this is certainly where I would want to be found in gentle repose!
