The Choir of New College, Oxford
Edward Higginbottom, director
Christopher Glynn, organ
In my Advent survey of dozens of settings of the Magnificat several years back, it early started to seem odd to me how many settings of this most female of songs, sung on the occasion of a probably 13 or 14 year old Mary finding out she was going to be a mother, calling herself the "handmaiden" of God was so often heard in men's voices, sometimes with boys singing the treble in settings written by men, especially in the context of ancient bans on Women being heard in church.
If I won the lottery I think I'd commission settings by women to be sung by women and girls, we need to hear more of those. I've got a feeling there are things they get about it that the guys need help to get.
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