Philharmonic Choir

Recordings by Charles Kennedy Scott’s renowned Philharmonic Choir

Mozart – Requiem – Agnus Dei – Lux aeterna – Cum sanctis
Garda Hall, soprano
Philharmonic Choir, Orchestra, Charles Kennedy Scott

His Master’s Voice D 1149
Matrices: CR 550-IA, 551-II (04879, 04880)
Recorded 6th July 1926, Queen’s Hall, London

The Requiem consists of the following sections:

1. Requiem aeternam – Kyrie
2. Dies Irae
3. Tuba Mirum
4. Rex Tremendae Majestatis
5. Recordare
6. Confutatis
7. Lacrymosa
8. Domine Jesu
9. Hostias
10. Sanctus and Hosanna
11. Benedictus
12. Agnus Dei, Lux aeternam & Cum sanctis

Kennedy Scott recorded 9, 1b & 2, 8, 7 & 10 and 3 on April 12th 1926. None of the takes were used. In the second session on 6th July 1926 he recorded 9, 1b & 2, 8, 7 & 10, 1a, 4 & 6 and 12 (2 sides – given here). From this session, parts 1a, 1b & 2, 8, 9 and 12 were issued. The soloists were Garda Hall, Nellie Walker, Sydney Coltham and Edward Halland. The solo trombone in Tuba mirum was Jesse Stamp. Thus only parts 5 and 11 were not attempted – both feature just the solo quartet (though this is also the case for 3). If the unissued matrices still exist, then there is a virtually complete 1926 Mozart Requiem lurking in the archives.

Interestingly, in the early recorded history of this work, Albert Coates was recorded live in 1927 conducting the Dies irae, Rex tremendae and Sanctus – this was at the same concert where Chaliapin performed Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Mozart and Salieri.”

Bach – St. Matthew Passion
25. Behold how throbs;
26. I would beside my Lord
Philharmonic Choir
Walter Widdop, tenor
Orchestra, Charles Kennedy Scott

His Master’s Voice D 1872
Matrices CR 2513-II, 2514-II (single side numbers 32-1577, 32-1578)
Recorded 11th June 1930, Queen’s Hall, London

Though the record labels indicate that the first side contains No.25 and the second No.26, the side join is in fact some way through No.26.

Walter Widdop was one of England’s most respected tenors of the inter-war years, particularly for his Wagner singing. He was one of the original 16 soloists in Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music.

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