The choir of St Peter's Church, Nottingham

There is a long-standing choral tradition at St Peters, developed by men such as Vincent Trivett (Organist 1909-1947) and Kendrick Partington (Organist 1957-1994). We try to maintain a good "parish church" standard, and sing a wide range of accompanied and a capella church music: from Byrd and Gibbons to Howells and Leighton, by way of Mozart, Brahms, and the Victorian stalwarts such as Stainer and Stanford. We are fortunate to have the wholehearted support of the Rector in our attempt to maintain this tradition.

Sung services

We sing a full Choral Evensong on the second Sunday of each month, with the versicles and responses and the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis sung to a composed setting. On the fourth Sunday of the month there is a Ferial Evensong, when the responses are sung to the ferial setting as used at Southwell Minster, and the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are sung to Anglican chant. Except on certain feast days, the morning service on the first Sunday of the month is Matins, when at least one of the canticles (Te Deum, Jubilate Deo, Benedicite) is sung to a composed setting. At all these services and at the sung Holy Communion (on all Sunday mornings except the first) we sing an anthem.

The Director of Music

The role of the choirmaster is crucial for a successful choir, and not an easy one to fulfill. While teaching and maintaining a good standard of discipline and musicianship, he must also motivate, encourage and occasionally cajole the members of what is only a voluntary choir. Following Andrew Teague's move to Bradford Cathedral in March 2003, we are delighted to have appointed Philip Collin ARCOas our new Director of Music. Philip was organ scholar at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and has previously held two choirmaster posts at local churches.

Cathedral visits

From time to time we are invited to sing at cathedrals and other large churches when the resident choir is away. These events are a stimulus to us to give of our best, and give us the chance to sing in awe-inspiring buildings, usually with echoes to match. In recent years we have had the opportunity to sing in St George's Chapel Windsor, Malvern Priory, St Paul's Cathedral, Gloucester, Ely, Lincoln, Ripon  and Derby Cathedrals. We are usually offered the chance to sing in Southwell Minster once a year, and in 1994 we sang at the first ordination service for women to be held at that cathedral. A flying choir to match the bishops. In August 2000 we had a successful week singing the services at Chichester Cathedral and in August 2004 we toured northern France and Belgium, singing at Cambrai, Laon and Ypres.

Your choir needs you!

We are always in need of new members, particularly boys and girls from the age of eight upwards. Men with previous experience of singing alto, tenor or bass are also welcome. Trebles receive choir pay, and the more senior may apply for bursaries in return for a commitment to regular attendance. Scholarships are available to assist with fees for music tuition. Choir practice is on Friday evening, there is a sung service every Sunday morning and two Sunday evenings per month. We are not a professional choir and no-one is expected to attend all the time, but choristers are asked to indicate any absences in advance.

If you live in the Nottingham area and are interested in joining the choir, why not come along to a sung service and speak to the organist afterwards? If you do not live in this part of the world, search out your nearest parish church choir and present yourself for duty!

Michael Leuty

Hear the choir sing

We encourage the use of OGG VORBIS: a completely open and patent-free audio format which gives better quality than MP3. You can listen to OGG files with RealPlayer, WinAmp, Sonique or Zinf (FreeAmp) under Windows, and most players under Linux. Our recordings are provided in both OGG and MP3 formats.

Choral Mass & Evensong at Cambrai - 8th August 2004

Recorded at Cambrai cathedral, directed by Philip Collin
Peter Siepmann orgue de choeur (1)
Michael Leuty orgue de choeur, Dominique Artielle grand orgue (2)
We are most grateful to M. Artielle the organiste titulaire and to all the other staff at Cambrai cathedral, who made us so welcome during our visit.

Concert at Laon cathedral - 12th August 2004

Recorded at Laon cathedral, directed by Philip Collin

Choral Eucharist & Evensong at Southwell - 21st & 22nd February 2004

Recorded at Southwell Minster, directed by Philip Collin,
organ Peter Siepmann (Purcell) & Michael Leuty (Darke, Howells).

Choral Evensong - 29th October 2002

Recorded at Southwell Minster, directed by Andrew Teague.

Patronal Festival - 1st July 2001

Recorded at St Peter's Church, Nottingham, and directed by the composer.

Choral Evensong - 10th June 2001

Recorded at St Peter's Church, Nottingham, directed by Andrew Teague.

Chichester week: 28th August - 3rd September 2000

Directed by Andrew Teague, organ Michael Leuty.

Hear the organ

Played by Kendrick Partington Organist Emeritus
during a recital given at St Peter's on 30th June 2001.

These MP3 files are encoded at 96Kbps: 13.5kHz stereo.

Return to the Music contents page

http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/music/choir.htm
© St Peter's Church, Nottingham
Last revised 11th January 2007