Liedertafel in Oxford

"... a perfection of blend and tone that was at all times extremely satisfying, and at times beyond sublime." Henley Standard

"Your concerts are just the sort of thing I love doing." James Bowman after singing with Liedertafel in Wadham Chapel on September 29th, 2007.

"Working with Liedertafel has been a great joy for me" Colin Dexter OBE (creator of Inspector Morse).

      Liedertafel, founded in 2003 by Duncan Saunderson, is a vocal quartet based in Oxford. "Liedertafel" ("Song table") has been a traditional title for men's voice singing groups in Germany since the beginning of the 19th century. In 1808 The Berlin Liedertafel was formed and, as with the English glee clubs, members met on a fixed evening each week to eat, drink and make music. Liedertafel carries on some of this tradition, albeit in a different order, and German and English male voice partsong is an important feature of their repertoire.
      Their first concert in Wadham College Chapel in August 2003 set English partsong and folksong melody against lesser known German romantic gems including some of Schubert's extraordinarily neglected 110 works for male voice choir.
      Liedertafel made its mark in Oxford in the following April where they explored the fascinating link between detective fiction, music and Oxford. This unique programme consisted of music featured in Dorothy L. Sayers's Gaudy Night; some of Inspector Morse's favourite music; works by Bruce Montgomery (Oxford organ scholar, Carry On film composer and under the pseudonym Edmund Crispin, detective author) and a partsong by Geoffrey Bush who co-wrote a detective short story with Edmund Crispin. For this concert Liedertafel was joined by Colin Dexter OBE, creator of Inspector Morse, who read from Sayers and his own novels.
      In Easter 2005 during Holy Week, Liedertafel performed a Mass by the much neglected 16th century Spanish composer Melchor Robledo.
In the summer they gave two concerts in St. John's College with a preview recital in the Oxford Botanic Gardens. The first concert "When Evening's Twilight Gathers Round" consisted of English sacred and secular music from the 11th century to the 16th century and Victorian and Edwardian partsongs. For the second concert, Liedertafel were again joined by Colin Dexter in "A Reminiscence in Words and Music". Colin, in his cerebral, inimitable and highly entertaining style spoke of the music he chose including one of Strauss's "Four Last Songs" sung by Julie Cooper, Wagner's "Pilgrims' Chorus", an anthem by Bruce Montgomery (alias Edmund Crispin - detective author) and an A.E. Housmann song setting - all this in the college where Montgomery, Housmann and Morse were undergraduates.
      In September 2005, Liedertafel gave a recital with the countertenor James Bowman accompanied by the lutenist Dorothy Linell in Wadham Chapel. This was repeated in Little St. Mary's Church, Cambridge in May 2006.
      Christmas concerts have consisted of music from Obrecht and Pygott to Lutoslawski and Stravinsky. In Christmas 2005 Liedertafel and Colin Dexter were joined by the outstanding 2003 BBC Chorister of the Year Harry Sever who is the first treble to record a complete Schubert song cycle.
      In last Summer's concert "Night Music", the programme consisted of a journey from youth, spring and morning to old age, winter and the night, using German and English partsongs from Spofforth's "Hail smiling morn" to Schubert's "Die Nacht". Colin Dexter enhanced each stage with a poem.

"These singers, all soloists in their own right, make a sound as far as possible from the fuzzily 'ecclesiastical' effect still associated with church choirs. I was going to say that they were at their best the more complex the music became, especially in such a masterpiece as the "Gloria" from the recently-discovered "Missa Ave Regina Celorum" of Jacob Obrecht (d.1505), a gem of Franco-Flemish polyphony. But that would be to underestimate the straightforward joys of good diction and perfect intonation in carols such as the 15th-century German "Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine" ..." Oxford Times

"The programme had been chosen with great care... complex musical structures were contrasted by the emotive simplicity of modern arrangements of traditional carols. And throughout, the ensemble produced a performance that was deeply satisfying in its attention to detail, allowing the music to speak directly to every listener." Henley Standard (After our Christmas concert held in 2007 in Trinity College Chapel.)

Liedertafel in Oxford Botanic Gardens.

"James Bowman's concert with Liedertafel in Wadham College Chapel was one of the most enjoyable performances I have been to in Oxford for a long time.... Liedertafel's approach was delightful, vivid in such frivolities as Henry VIIIs Adieu madame et ma maistresse, agonisingly intense in Brumel's Lamentations."           The Oxford Times.

Liedertafel give regular performances at the candlelit early 17th century chapel at Wadham College Oxford, built under the reign of James I.