Elgar: The Kingdom Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players & David Temple

• Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934): The Kingdom, Op. 51: Prelude
• 1 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: Prelude 08:33
• The Kingdom, Op. 51: I:
• 2 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: I. In the Upper Room: "Seek first the Kingdom of God" 08:06
• 3 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: I. In the Upper Room: "Men and brethren" 08:26
• The Kingdom, Op. 51: II:
• 4 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: II. At the Beautiful Gate: The Morn of Pentecost: "The singers are before the altar" 05:27
• The Kingdom, Op. 51: III:
• 5 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: III. Pentecost: In the Upper Room: In Solomon's Porch: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come" 04:43
• 6 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: III. Pentecost: In the Upper Room: In Solomon's Porch: "And suddenly there came from heaven" 05:35
• 7 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: III. Pentecost: In the Upper Room: In Solomon's Porch: "Ye men of Judea" 13:26
• The Kingdom, Op. 51: IV:
• 8 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: IV. The Sign of Healing: At the Beautiful Gate: "Then they that gladly received his word" 09:09
• 9 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: IV. The Sign of Healing: The Arrest: "And as they spake" 08:22
• The Kingdom, Op. 51: V:
• 10 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: V. The Upper Room: In Fellowship, The Breaking of Bread, The Prayers: "The Voice of Joy" 08:44
• 11 Elgar: The Kingdom, Op. 51: V. The Upper Room: In Fellowship, The Breaking of Bread, The Prayers: "Give thanks first for the Cup" 08:47
• Total Runtime 01:29:18

Info for Elgar: The Kingdom

Recorded in the recently restored 1875 Victorian Theatre at Alexandra Palace, Crouch End Festival Chorus and David Temple present Elgar's The Kingdom. Joined by London Mozart Players the soloists include Francesca Chiejina, Dame Sarah Connolly Benjamin Hulett and Ashley Riches. Arguably Elgar's least well-known choral work, The Kingdom is a mixture of gentle conversational sections and astonishing dramatic passages, and David Temple believes it is the quality of the orchestral writing that elevates it to justifiably sit alongside Elgar's other notable works. "I am so taken with it… It is a gem from the first note to the last, and my desire to share this as widely as possible is reinforced by the present recording…One thing that cannot happen in a concert performance is ‘repeated listening’. A recording, by contrast, holds an open invitation at the end… to return to the beginning! This drip-feed allows the music to be deeply absorbed, and it is this which I believe will enable The Kingdom’s true quality to be more widely appreciated" (David Temple)

Francesca Chiejina, soprano
Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Hulett, tenor
Ashley Riches, bass-baritone
Crouch End Festival Chorus
London Mozart Players
David Temple,conductor

Crouch End Festival Chorus
Founded in 1984, Crouch End Festival Chorus has established a reputation as one of the world’s leading symphonic choirs, repeatedly commended for its communicative power and versatility. Under David Temple MBE, its conductor and co-founder, the choir gives concerts that illuminate the choral world with imaginative and bold programming, in which established choral works are mixed with commissions of great variety and innovation. The Chorus is much in demand among the top orchestras in the UK and performs regularly for the BBC, recently in John Adams’s Harmonium and Verdi’s Requiem at the BBC Proms, in 2023 and 2024 respectively. It has appeared in recent concert performances of Prokofiev’s Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of the October Revolution under Vladimir Ashkenazy and Berlioz’s Grande Messe des morts under François-Xavier Roth, among others. In constant demand for recording work and live promotions, the Chorus has worked with musicians from the rock and pop world and with television and film composers; recent highlights include recording the GRAMMY-nominated soundtrack for Rocketman and the music for the TV series Good Omens. It has also enjoyed regular collaborations with Sir Ray Davies, Ennio Morricone, Noel Gallagher and Hans Zimmer, all of whom are patrons of the choir. Recent recordings, conducted by David Temple, include the first in forty-five years of J.S. Bach’s St John Passion sung in English, which was released by Chandos Records in 2017 and continues to garner critical acclaim; the world-premiere recording of Hubert Parry’s oratorio Judith, released in March 2020 also on Chandos Records; the American composer Arnold Rosner’s Requiem – another world-premiere recording; and Britten’s Saint Nicolas with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

London Mozart Players
Founded in 1949 by Harry Blech to delight audiences with the works of Mozart and Haydn, the London Mozart Players is the UK’s longest established chamber orchestra. Known for its unmistakable British roots, the orchestra has developed an outstanding reputation for adventurous, ambitious programming from Baroque through to genre-crossing contemporary music. LMP has enjoyed a long history of association with many of the world’s finest artists including Sir James Galway, Dame Felicity Lott, Jane Glover, Howard Shelley, Nicola Benedetti, John Suchet and Simon Callow. The orchestra enjoys an international reputation, touring extensively throughout Europe and the Far East.

The London Mozart Players regularly performs on London’s premier concert platforms, including the Royal Festival Hall, St John’s Smith Square and Cadogan Hall as well as cathedrals and other concert venues across the UK. LMP is the resident orchestra at Croydon’s Fairfield Hall and will celebrate this venue’s reopening after refurbishment in 2019 with a gala concert which will also mark the orchestra’s 70th birthday. The orchestra’s anniversary year will see a wide range of concerts in the capital’s top concert venues including performances at Kings Place, Conway Hall and a return to Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. As one of the original pioneers of orchestral outreach work, LMP has enjoyed a host of relationships with schools and music hubs across the UK (and also in Dubai and Hong Kong), working with many teachers and heads of music to inspire the next generation of musicians and music lovers. As well as working with schools, LMP continues its 70-year tradition of promoting young up-and-coming musicians. Nicola Benedetti, Jacqueline du Pré and Jan Pascal Tortelier are just three of many young musical virtuosi championed early in their careers by the orchestra.

The LMP enjoys a special relationship with its audience. The orchestra always tries to break down the ‘fourth’ wall between musicians and audience, and this is achieved in part as the orchestra is self-directed. Many concerts, such as its acclaimed ‘Piano Explored’ series, involves a ‘deconstruction’ of the works on the programme, allowing greater understanding and engagement with the music and with the musicians themselves.

David Temple
has been awarded an MBE in the 2018 New Year's Honours, for his services to music. He began his life as a musician when, at the age of eighteen, he joined the London Philharmonic Choir. He taught himself to read music and was, within weeks, singing under conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, and Leopold Stokowski.

His passion for classical music drew him towards conducting, and after having made a number of commercial recordings he became the founding conductor of Crouch End Festival Chorus in 1984.

His extensive repertoire includes an impressive collection of commissions, from 1985 to 2018. With the Chorus he has conducted Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in a sold-out Royal Festival Hall and Harmonium by John Adams in the presence of the composer in the Barbican.

Released in 2017 is a landmark recording of JS Bach’s St John Passion (in English) with Chandos Records. He has also prepared the Chorus for concerts under conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Semyon Bychkov, Edward Gardner, and Jiří Bělohlávek.

David has also worked as a guest chorus master with the BBC Symphony Chorus and the London Symphony Chorus. He has recorded with Chandos Records, Signum Records, Hyperion, Meridian, Deux-Elles, Silva Classics, Decca, EMI, Warner Classics and Sony.

Since 2000, David has been Musical Director of the Hertfordshire Chorus; in June 2016 he recorded Will Todd’s Ode to a Nightingale and James McCarthy’s Codebreaker with the Chorus and the BBC Concert Orchestra for Signum Records. Will Todd's hugely popular Mass in Blue was also a Hertfordshire Chorus commission. David has toured extensively with the Chorus, in the UK with many visits to Sage Gateshead and also throughout Europe.

David relishes his collaborations with musicians from other genres, including Sir Ray Davies, Noel Gallagher, Ennio Morricone, and Hans Zimmer, all of whom are patrons of the Crouch End Festival Chorus. He has also worked with major rock bands such as Oasis, Take That and Muse.

In his work with Sir Ray Davies, he has toured the USA, appeared on the David Letterman Show (with New York's Dessoff Choirs) and on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. He also conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the 2011 Meltdown Festival.

Booklet for Elgar: The Kingdom