Songs of Ourselves

Songs of Ourselves
The Fourth Choir / Jamie Powe
Orchid Classics

The Fourth Choir, named sequentially after Hildegard of Bingen's three angel choirs, are a London-based a cappella ensemble of queer singers and allies known for performances in museums, nightclubs and festivals. They are conducted by Jamie Powe, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music's famous choral conducting MA and specialise in underrepresented voices both in the queer community and beyond. They have commissioned an important body of new works throughout their first decade and this debut album marking that anniversary opens with one such piece, Kerry Andrew's Wild Nights - Wild Nights! with text by Emily Dickinson. Their singing is celebratory, urgent, fragile and committed in equal measure and they clearly relish the ululating that intertwines the musical phrases. This is a choir who are compelling in new works, having a demonstrable appetite for complex textures.

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For me, the highlight was Stuart Beatch's Song of Myself (Walt Whitman): bright, open and compelling this is The Fourth Choir at their level best. It's pleasing to hear a choral album speak so directly to aspects of the Queer experience and especially underrepresentation, yet this is an album for everyone, not just us queers.

To read the full text of this review please visit Gramophone.co.uk (October 2025)