Matthew Best (born 6 February 1957) is an English bass singer and conductor, especially of vocal music. He founded the ensemble

Corydon Singers Matthew Best (born 6 February 1957) is an English bass singer and conductor, especially of vocal music. He founded the ensemble Corydon Singers in 1973 and won the Kathleen Ferrier Award in 1981. From 1985, he was also a guest conductor of the Eng ...

in 1973 and won the

Kathleen Ferrier Award The Kathleen Ferrier Award is a prestigious contest for Opera singers held each April in London, England. The first competition was held in 1956. According to the ''Telegraph'', the competition has a record of "spotting winners". Originally conc ...

in 1981. From 1985, he was also a guest conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra. His recordings with

were made on the Hyperion Records label and focus on choral music by the likes of

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

and

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

. He is currently engaged as Music Director of the Academy Choir Wimbledon and as a Principal Study singing teacher at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

Discography

Matthew Best founded

in 1973 which achieved recognition as one of the foremost choirs in Britain. Indeed, in a light-hearted article in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 2002 on the potential for a connection to exist between the quality of football fans' singing and their team's performance,

David McKie David McKie (born 1935) is a British journalist and historian. He was deputy editor of ''The Guardian'' and continued to write a weekly column for that paper until 4 October 2007, called "Elsewhere". Until 10 September 2005, he also wrote a sec ...

wondered whether "Bolton could yet excel even Southampton if they cleared all their other supporters off the terraces and replaced them with the Corydon Singers". Under Matthew Best's direction

released their first recording, in 1983, of Bruckner motets. Their subsequent and numerous recordings, all for Hyperion Records and under Matthew Best's direction, earned the approval of the press in Britain, Europe, the United States, Japan and elsewhere. Matthew Best's 1990 recording with

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

Serenade to Music ''Serenade to Music'' is an orchestral concert work completed in 1938 by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, written as a tribute to conductor Sir Henry Wood. It features an orchestra and 16 vocal soloists, with lyrics adapted from the disc ...

and other works was selected as Record of the Year by both the

Guardian Newspaper ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

and

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

, and was nominated for the Brit Awards. Their recording of

Rachmaninov Vespers The ''All-Night Vigil'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, Pre-reform Russian: ''Всенощное бдѣніе'', ''Vsénoshchnoye bdéniye''; Modern Russian: ''Всенощное бдение'') is an a cappella choir, choral composition by Serg ...

was chosen as the preferred version in

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

's 'Building a Library' and their recording of

's Te Deum and Mass in D minor was selected as one of the top releases of 1993 by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's Record Review. According to Hans Roelofs, Matthew Best is one of the better performers of Bruckner's religious music. Matthew Best's recordings with performances of Bruckner's

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

, Mass No. 2 (1882 version), and Psalms 114 and

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

and his CD devoted to Bruckner's motets and his performances of Masses Nos. 1 and 3, Aequali, Libera me (II),

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

and

Psalm 150 Psalm 150 is the 150th and final psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Praise ye the . Praise God in his sanctuary". In Latin, it is known as "Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius". In Psalm 150, the psalmist ...

are regarded as being among the better available recordings. * Matthew Best, Corydon Singers, ''Bruckner: Motets'' - CD: Hyperion CDA66062, 1982 * Matthew Best, Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra wind ensemble, ''Bruckner: Mass in E minor, Libera me, Zwei Aequale'' - CD: Hyperion CDA66177, 1985 * Matthew Best, Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, ''Bruckner: Requiem, Psalms 112 & 114'' - CD: Hyperion CDA66245, 1987 * Matthew Best, Corydon Singers & Orchestra, ''Bruckner: Mass in F minor, Psalm 150'' - CD: Hyperion CDA66599, 1992 * Matthew Best, Corydon Singers & Orchestra, ''Bruckner: Mass in D minor, Te Deum'' - CD: Hyperion CDA 66650, 1993

References

External links

* *
Matthew Best (conductor)
Hyperion Records
Critical discography by Hans Roelofs of Bruckner's larger religious works

Critical discography by Hans Roelofs of Bruckner's smaller religious works

Academy Choir Wimbledon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Matthew English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) English basses 1957 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians