ABBA

Choir from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that has recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1953, when they performed Jeanne d’Arc au bucher by Paul Louis Charles Marie Claudel and Arthur Honegger on the Philips label. Eugene Ormandy conducted, as he did on most of their recordings, such as Rachmaninov: The Bells; Isle of the Dead, which surfaced about a year later.

On 26^th March 1957, they performed in a fundraising concert to help furnish the newly dedicated Peabody Hall, a huge dormitory on the campus of Temple.

They released one of their many yuletide offerings, The Glorious Sound of Christmas, in 1962. The Sound of Christmas hit the shelves in 1963. On 12^th September 1963, they helped christen WHYY-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1964, they issued A Christmas Festival and the TUC women recorded Claude Debussy’s “Nocturnes” on the CBS label. Their Greatest Christmas Hits were under the tree by the end of 1968.

In 1968, they won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Classical Choral Performance for their recording of Carl Orff’s Catulli Carmina.

Their rendition of George Frideric Handel’s “For Unto Us a Child is Born” from Messiah appeared on two various-artists compilations in 1969, Merry Christmas and A Very Merry Christmas – Volume Three. Merry Christmas also contained their rendition of the “Hallelujah Chorus”.

In 1972, they appeared on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s recording of Krzysztof Penderecki’s The Entombment of Utrenja.

They appeared on the various-artists compilation, A Gift of Christmas Favorites, in 1975. The year was not without controversy. Gottfried von Einem wrote a cantata for United Nations Day based on “Psalm 121”, but curiously left out an important line: “Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” The omission infuriated Israeli U.N. representative Chaim Herzog and the TUC, although Einem may have placated them by composing “The Keeper of Israel”.

In 1976, they appeared on yet another holiday recording, Christmas Presents. The Glorious Sound of Christmas was released on CD in 1986.

On 14^th January 1986, they sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and “Salvation” at a special ceremony honoring Bishop Tutu at Temple.

They released Johannes Brahms’ “Alto Rhapsody”, with Eugene Ormandy, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett, in 1988. In 1990, they appeared on Greatest Hits: Bizet and Greatest Hits: Cartoons. They gave a reading of Brian Abrams’ Kyrie in 1994. In 1997, their rendition of Requiem, Op. 5 of Hector Berlioz was released on the Sony label.

They gave a special concert to honour the victims of 9/11 on 11th October 2001.

In 2003, the Temple University Choir and Orchestra appeared on a recording of Antonin Dvorak’s Te Deum and Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. The University Singers and Women’s Chorus performed at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Philly and the Countryside on 5^th November 2003.

In 2007, they appeared on the monster boxed set, Beethoven: Complete Masterpieces.

They gave a performance of Tina Davidson’s “Listening to the Earth” at the Church of Holy Trinity in Philadelphia on 15^th April 2007.

In April 2008, it was announced that they were one of three choirs from Pennsylvania asked to appear at the ACDA Eastern Division Convention, which was held in Hartford, Connecticut.

They participated in a Gospel Extravaganza at the New Restoration Church in Henderson, North Carolina, on 8^th March 2009.

On 12^th February 2010, they performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat in tandem with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra and Westminster Choir. They also delivered a wall-to-wall Bach concert, with Maestro Helmut Rilling at the podium.

They gave an airing of “The Golem Psalms” by Andrea Clearfield at Kimmel Center in March 2010.

The choir also collaborated with Kenny Gamble and Patti LaBelle on their recording of “I Am an American”.

Temple University Choir recordings

O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fidelis) (Frederick Oakeley/John Francis Wade)

Director – Robert Page

Philadelphia Orchestra

Conductor – Eugene Ormandy

CD: Greatest Christmas Hits (Sony Music Special Products A 24993)

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