Ode To A Nightingale by Will Todd and Code Breaker by James McCarthy

The two works presented here were both commissioned by Hertfordshire Chorus as part of its long-standing commitment to broadening the repertoire. James McCarthy's 'Codebreaker' takes as its subject the life and death of Alan Turing, while Will Todd takes up the challenges posed by Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale'. Complete with a nightingale.

Hertfordshire Chorus
BBC Concert Orchestra
David Temple Conductor
Julia Doyle Soprano

Signum Classics Label
Recording details: June 2016
Watford Colosseum, United Kingdom
Produced by Nigel Short
Engineered by Mike Hatch & Robin Hawkins
Release date: October 2017
Total duration: 83 minutes 27 seconds

CD 1: Code Breaker by James McCarthy

1. Opening
2. Wondrous Light
3. Gordon Brown's Apology
4. Song of Songs
5. Deep is the Night
6. Enough
7. I Shall Meet Him Again
8. Outbreak of War
9. At Sea
10. De Profundis
11. A Mother's Lament
12. If Death is Kind

CD 2: Ode to a Nightingale by Will Todd

1. Introduction
2. My Heart Aches
3. O for a Draught of Vintage
4. Fade Far Away
5. Away! Away!
6. I Cannot See
7. Darkling I Listen
8. Thou Wast Not Born for Death
9. Forlorn!

Ode to a Nightingale was commissioned by Hertfordshire Chorus, with generous support from Rod Jones, a patron of the choir for many years. It was first performed on 11 May 2011 at the Barbican Hall, London. It is dedicated, in the words of Rod Jones ‘to Hertfordshire Chorus, to my wife, Rachel, a chorister for 50 years in 2011, and to all who appreciate wonderful choral music and the very best of English poetry.’

Hertfordshire Chorus are joined by the BBC Concert Orchestra for a 2CD set featuring Will Todd’s Ode to a Nightingale (setting the famous poem by John Keats) and James McCarthy’s Codebreaker (an exploration of the life of the pioneering computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing).

"The BBC Concert Orchestra offer superb support to both composers and the engineering is up to Signum’s customary excellence. This important release should be in every keen choral singer’s Christmas stocking" Gramophone

"Splendidly recorded and performed… I give a thorough recommendation to this issue" Music Web International

"For me, this is undoubtedly the choral album of the year " The High Arts

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If you would like a CD signed by Will Todd please enter in the box below any required dedication to be written on the CD booklet. eg: To Carol Happy Birthday from Will Todd