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Listen to extracts from our live and studio recordings

For the past 30 years Crouch End Festival Chorus, under conductor David Temple, has been prolific in the recording studio and appears on well over 100 recordings. The variety of genres is remarkable and sets the chorus apart from all other choirs. This short selection is from some of our commercial recordings as well as excerpts from live recordings of our own concerts.

With thanks to Silva Screen Records, Chandos Records and BBC Radio 3 for permission to use these tracks.

J.S. Bach: St John Passion (extracts)

Recording one of J.S. Bach’s Passions in English was a risk in the current climate of authentic small-choir performances in German, but – as the many reviews have underlined – it paid off: the directness of the English translation is hugely compelling for an English-speaking audience, as are the agility and power of the choral singing.

“I must confess that – given a long-held preference for listening to (and performing) works in their original tongue – I was prepared to scoff at such an affront to Bach’s intentions. However, by the end of the opening chorus and the Evangelist’s first gripping appearance I was completely hooked.” Malcolm Riley, Gramophone

Ennio Morricone: The Mission: On Earth as it is in Heaven

Ennio Morricone's music from The Mission was one of the first Crouch End Festival Chorus recordings for Silva Screen Records. Since 2001 we have performed with Ennio Morricone on many occasions and are proud to have him as one of our patrons.

Britten: A Ceremony of Carols: This Little Babe

Sally Pryce, harp; Crouch End Festival Chorus; David Temple. Recorded live at St Michael’s Church, Highgate, 2011

Benjamin Britten creates an extraordinary echo effect by overlapping the three choral lines, originally written for three treble parts – simple yet incredibly effective! This recording of our concert performance show it is possible to achieve this level of clarity and effervescence even with a large choir.

Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast: In Babylon (extract)

Crouch End Festival Chorus; Hertfordshire Chorus; The Dessoff Choirs; London Orchestra da Camera; David Temple Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 2013

Crouch End Festival Chorus joined Hertfordshire Chorus and The Dessoff Choirs for this thrilling concert at the Royal Festival Hall. This clip demonstrates not only the power of the 300 voices but also their amazing clarity of words. Walton's writing uses the choir as if it were a brass orchestra – with brashness, attack and precision.

Rosner: Requiem: Passacaglia

Crouch End Festival Chorus; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Nick Palmer
Recorded at Abbey Road Studio One, July 2019 ℗ & © 2020 Toccata Classics Ltd

Recording this work by Arnold Rosner was a real privilege. It was really invigorating to come across a work so gargantuan both in the scale of its musical forces and also in its artistic invention. There is simply nothing like it. Both choir and orchestra throw themselves into this music with total abandon.

Danny Elfman: Edward Scissorhands: Main Title and Ice Dance

The sopranos and altos of Crouch End Festival Chorus produce a clean and beautiful sound that repeatedly attracts film and recording companies to work with the choir. This sparkling, balletic track from the Grammy Award nominated score of hit film Edward Scissorhands conjures up an immediately magical atmosphere.

Ryan Latimer: Frigates & Folly: I. Oh! Jolly is the Gale – II. In Old England (extract)

Commissioned by Crouch End Festival Chorus
BBC Concert Orchestra; Crouch End Festival Chorus; David Temple
Recorded live at the Barbican Hall, London by BBC Radio 3, 2018

This 2018 work by Ryan Latimer, taking text from Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, is one of the our most successful and enjoyable commissions. The words and music convey a wit rarely heard in choral music, allowing a performance that is fun for singers and audience alike.

Bernstein: West Side Story: America (extract)

The choral sound of West Side Story is a world away from that of Handel or Elgar and shows the choir revelling in variety, and bringing out their thespian qualities.

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius (extracts)

Crouch End Festival Chorus; London Mozart Players; David Temple. Recorded live at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London, 2019

Elgar is a particular favourite of conductor David Temple. These two short excerpts (‘Be merciful, be gracious’ and the ‘Demons Chorus’) could not be more contrasting. They are taken from a live ‘archive’ recording with the London Mozart Players.

Dimitri Tiomkin: The Alamo: Tennessee Babe

Crouch End Festival Chorus enjoys the challenge of adapting to different singing styles, and one of the favourites was that of a 1950s Hollywood Western choir. This sound is 5000 miles away from the style of the English choral tradition we are best known for!

Philip Glass: Songs from Liquid Days: Open the Kingdom

Crouch End Festival Chorus; National Sinfonia; David Temple. ℗ & © Silva Screen Records Ltd

‘Open the Kingdom’ from Philip Glass’s Songs from Liquid Days sets words by David Byrne, imagining the journey to death. It puts a spotlight on the tenors and basses of the chorus. The mesmeric, powerful repetition gives a typical Philip Glass soundscape, in which the build-up of textures and cross-rhythms reach a wonderful climax.

Mahler: Symphony No. 8: Finale (extract)

Naomi Harvey, soprano 1; Lynda Russell, soprano 2; Eileen Hulse, soprano 3; Julia Batchelor, alto 1, Kathryn Turpin, alto 2; Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts, tenor; Ashley Holland, baritone; Graeme Danby, bass-baritone; Finchley Children’s Music Group; Crouch End Festival Chorus; Hertfordshire Chorus; Forest Philharmonic Orchestra; David Temple
Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London, 2003

The dynamic and interpretative extremes required in Mahler’s music are well represented in this extract. Large choirs are certainly capable of raising the roof but can also produce the most meltingly beautiful pianissimo, as shown by the 250 singers at this performance.

“David Temple... brought great vitality and urgency to his reading and has proved himself to be an instinctive and insightful Mahlerian. This performance was an outstanding achievement for all concerned.” Alex Russell, MusicWeb International

Ennio Morricone: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Ecstasy of Gold

This iconic track features at the climax of Sergio Leone's 1966 film. It is well loved by many in the rock and pop world, cited as an influence by Noel Gallagher and covered by Metallica, and has almost always been in the encores at the concerts we have performed with Morricone.

Parry: I Was Glad

Crouch End Festival Chorus; Hertfordshire Chorus; The Dessoff Choirs; London Orchestra da Camera; David Temple. Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 2013

This gem of a piece was performed at the 1953 Coronation of Elizabeth II. Recorded live as part of a concert celebrating the anniversary of this event, the performance includes the ‘Vivat’ section, which is often omitted from concert performances.

John Williams: Saving Private Ryan: Hymn to the Fallen

For much of the music in its uniquely eclectic repertoire, the choir adapts to achieve the right sound, but this track represents the natural sound of Crouch End Festival Chorus: clean, warm, beautiful and passionate!

Will Todd: Rage against the dying of the light: II. Do Not Go (extract)

Commissioned by Crouch End Festival Chorus, Crouch End Festival Chorus; Forest Philharmonic Orchestra; David Temple. Recorded live at the Barbican Hall, London, 2014

Will Todd’s vibrant new work celebrated two anniversaries: Dylan Thomas’s centenary and Crouch End Festival Chorus’s 30th birthday. This driving and violent movement represents the uneasy journey from life to death.

Little Drummer Boy (Katherine Kennicott Davis / Henry Onorati / Harry Simeone)

There is something simultaneously soothing, moving and inspiring about this carol. Sky Sports licensed this recording in 2017 and again in 2018 to launch its Christmas football programme.