Cathedral Music: Spring 2003

Cathedral Music

ISSN 1363-6960 APRIL 2003

Editor Andrew Palmer

21 Belle Vue Terrace Ripon

North Yorkshire HG4 2QS ajpalmer@lineone.net

Assistant Editor Roger Tucker

Production Manager Graham Hermon

Editorial Advisors

David Flood & Roger Overend

FCM e-mail address FCM@netcomuk.co.uk

Website Address www.fcm.org.uk

The views expressed in articles are those of the contributor and do not necessarily represent any official policy of the Friends of Cathedral Music.

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Roger Tucker

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Cover: Rochester Cathedral. Peter Smith. Newbery Smith Photography. © Jarrold Publishing.

Cathedral MUSIC Cathedral MUSIC

The Friends of Cathedral Music

Registered as Charity No. 285121

An internationally supported Society – Founded in 1956

Founder

The Revd Ronald Ellwood Sibthorp (1911-1990)

Patron

The Rt. Revd E. W. Kemp

President

Dr George Guest CBE Vice-Presidents

Sir David Calcutt QC, Dr Lionel Dakers CBE, Dr Francis Jackson OBE Anthony Harvey Chairman

Professor Peter Toyne DL, Cloudesly, Croft Drive, Caldy, Wirral, Cheshire CH48 2JW. peter.toyne@talk21.com

Council

Donald Bunce, Colin Clark, Dr Lindsay Colquhoun, Philip Emerson, Malcolm Johnson, Jonathan Milton, Very Revd Michael Moxon, David Price, Geoffrey Shaw, Very Revd Michael Tavinor, Julian Thomas, Peter Wright.

Secretary

Michael Cooke, Aeron House, Llangeitho Tregaron, Ceredigion, Wales SY25 6SU

Tel: 01974 821614 joycooke@aol.com

Treasurer

Anita Phillips, Rowan Lodge, 53 Fourth Avenue, Chelmsford CM1 4EZ

Tel: 01245 352035 anita@rowans.force9.co.uk

Publicity Officer & Advertising Manager

Roger Tucker, 16 Rodenhurst Road, London SW4 8AR

Tel: 020 8674 4916 roger@cathedralmusic.supanet.com

Diocesan Representative Co-ordinator

John Craddock, 105 Casterton Road, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 2UF

Tel: 01780 763756

Membership Secretary

Donald Bunce, FCM Membership Department, PO Box 207, Scarcroft, Leeds LS14 3WY

Tel: 0845 644 3721 (UK local rate) or +44 113 293 700 info@fcm.org.uk

Secretary for Gatherings

Peter Smith, Paddock House, 7 Orchard View, Skelton, York YO30 1YQ

Tel: 01904 470 503 PeterSmith@robertpeter.fsnet.co.uk

Sales Officer & Secretary for Leaflets

Joy Cooke, Aeron House, Llangeitho Tregaron, Ceredigion, Wales SY25 6SU Tel: 01974 821614 joycooke@aol.com

National Gatherings 2003/4

Summer Gathering and AGM

Peterborough Cathedral

13-15 June

Autumn Gathering

St Davids Cathedral

10-12 October

Spring 2004

Rochester Cathedral

Dates TBA

Summer Gathering and AGM 2004

Salisbury Cathedral

26-27 June

All information:

Peter Smith, Secretary for Gatherings, Paddock House,Orchard View, Skelton, York YO30 1YQ

PeterSmith@robertpeter.fsnet.co.uk

Non-members are welcome

George and Nan on tour. Photo Alan Mould.

‘

’ CM Comment Andrew Palmer

nevertheless one he saw through. George died suddenly on 20th November last year aged 78, after suffering heart failure. Our condolences go to his wife Nan and their two children David and Elizabeth.

Traditional Virtues and something good about Songs of Praise

From generation to generation

George Guest’s reign at St John’s College, Cambridge, spanned 40 years as Organist, beginning with a fruitful two-year partnership with the organ scholar straight from Selwyn College – David Lumsden – as his first assistant who later became Organist of Southwell Minster.

George had a huge influence on standards in cathedral music and his legacy is still very much alive, with no less than nine of his organ students (St John’s designation of organ scholar) becoming cathedral number ones. In chronological order they were: Peter White, Jonathan Bielby, Stephen Cleobury, John Scott, David Hill, Adrian Lucas, Andrew Lumsden (crossing a generation), Andrew Nethsingha and Philip Scriven. There are also many others, including Jonathan Rennert (St Michael Cornhill), Ian Shaw (the former sub-organist at Durham Cathedral) and the late, lamented Brian Runnet (the Organist of Norwich Cathedral), so tragically killed in a car accident.

The final chapter in this career dedicated to cathedral music opened after George had left St John’s. He accepted the Presidency of FCM and threw himself into our activities, attending gatherings at which he endeared himself to members because of his eloquent advocacy of the highest standards in choral services, and opposition to any hint of populism. He was quite horrified at the idea of a ‘jazz evensong’, or using popular instruments to attract people to worship in Anglican churches, declaring these strategies to be ‘unworthy’. He had no interest in being merely a figurehead, and attended meetings of the Council, at which he spoke out on all matters including grants and those which touched on his lifelong beliefs. His final duty was to chair the group which chose Peter Toyne as our new chairman, a task he found onerous but

Imagine my surprise at hearing Pete Waterman on BBC Songs of Praise from Coventry Cathedral (Sunday, December 15th) waxing lyrical about traditional Christmas carols and the role of choirs. It was a programme that came to fruition after he attended a Christmas concert at his daughter’s school in 2001, where there was not one traditional hymn sung throughout the evening. The head of Religion and Ethics at the BBC agreed to make a Songs of Praise programme that would take a group of children and teach them how to sing ‘proper’ carols. The plan was to pick around 80 strong-voiced candidates from the West Midlands aged between 11 and 18 and form a choir which would sing in Coventry Cathedral. Local schools began the auditions, whittling down about 5,000 possible singers to a more manageable 360. A panel (which included Rupert Jeffcoat, Master of the Music at Coventry Cathedral) was chosen to cut the numbers down, to fit a format close to that of ITV’s Popstars and Pop Idol

The next day in the Daily Mail Mr Waterman expanded upon comments made in the programme, writing about his sadness at the way music has been so downgraded in the school curriculum and giving some interesting anecdotes. It is a shame that this innovation came out of the absence of the traditional. For me it is not just at Christmas that this problem occurs. Anyway, congratulations to someone as popular as Pete Waterman for raising this issue and even more applause for Songs of Praise for spotlighting this crucial issue

DVDs v CDs

According to some doom-mongers the death of the compact disc is nigh. There does seem to be a proliferation of compact discs in all areas of music to the extent that the market is being saturated and this presents serious problems for the viability of the industry. Some of the finest cathedral choir and organ recordings

were done in the era of direct-cut disc recording then later, on analogue tape and now using digital media. The medium is less important than the atmosphere at the recording sessions. Earlier systems, because they precluded editing, demanded one-take performances. It’s like live broadcasting: you can’t have a second go at it, so you tune yourself up to a higher pitch of readiness. By the same token, recordings made at live performances in front of an audience very often have the inspirational edge on studio-based sessions. I worry about whether record producers can create the environment which achieves an inspired performance at a recording session which is not an actual service. Sometimes recordings are approached in too clinical a way. Our late president was never guilty of this: he always regarded each session as an act of recreation, as is true of Sir David Willcocks and Barry Rose.

Is the repertoire being done to death?

What is the rationale for producing 70 minutes of cathedral anthems one after another or for that matter 12 pairs of canticles, which were not written to be performed in this way? Record producers however tell us they sell. It’s a phenomenon that has taken off through the advent of the compact disc with its extra playing time. Could it be that the spiritual element is increasingly lacking as the catalogues get larger and larger?

The exciting new phenomenon of the DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) has not yet taken off. As Roger Tucker is discovering, there is much more to enjoying a DVD than just sitting in a comfy chair in front of the television: it is multidimensional and interactive. (Roger will be examining and reviewing DVDs in the next issue). So let’s invest in DVD players, which are now rapidly dropping down in price, and open up new horizons for cathedral music enjoyment in the home. David Hill wants to explore this at St John’s College, Cambridge, when he arrives there later this year as he told David Flood in the last edition of CM.

STOP PRESS

As we go to print we learn of the death of one of our vice-presidents, Dr Lionel Dakers. A full obituary will appear in the October edition

‘George had a huge influence on standards in cathedral music and his legacy is still very much alive.’

George Guest 1924-2002 A Tribute

Former CATHEDRAL MUSIC Editorial Adviser

Alan Mould, Headmaster of St John’s College School, Cambridge from 1971-90, looks back over the life of our late president.

Ours is the age of the mobile: upwardly mobile for preference. Stay in a post for five years and colleagues start muttering about lack of ambition. Cathedral organists are expected to be lofthoppers: organ scholar here, suborganist there, the top job in a modest place, the top job in a grand place, then – if you’re lucky – the top job in the top place. Fortunately not quite everybody succumbs to this restlessness. There is another way, but it is open only to the very special: find your job and make it the top place.

That was George Guest’s way. His professional CV could hardly be briefer: chorister at Bangor and Chester; sub-organist at Chester; then to St John’s College, Cambridge, first as Organ Student then as Organist (for 40 years) and Fellow (for 46). That’s it.

Very boring? No ambition? Nothing could be further from the truth. George’s professional career was, in his chosen field, amongst the most exciting, energetic and influential of all time.

Of course, George’s professional grasp extended far beyond the confines of a single college. For almost 30 years he was a university lecturer at

Cambridge and for much of that time also University Organist. For a year he undertook a professorship at the Royal Academy of Music. He was one of the RSCM’s special commissioners and an assiduous examiner for the Associated Board. As his renown grew, so responsibilities came his way, responsibilities which he undertook with generosity, being at various times president of all three leading associations of organists, not least the Royal College itself. He cherished the invitation to become president of FCM. And there were specially strong and active links with Welsh and American music. A fluent Welsh speaker, he became a major figure at eisteddfods. And his choir-training in America was a special joy to him, continuing after his retirement from Cambridge. But amidst all this widespread busyness, never was there the slightest doubt that his heart, mind and soul were centred on his beloved St John’s College and its chapel music.

Important foundations had already been laid at St John’s by George’s distinguished predecessor, Robin Orr. There is no sense in which it could be said that George took over a run down or failing establishment. Robin’s time as organist had been interrupted by

the war; in the early 1950s it had become clear to him that his major work was going to be in composition and teaching. But, before he persuaded a doubting college council to let him hand over the chapel music to his 27 year old organ student, Orr had already laid the foundations of what, under George, was to be a transformation. He had brought about a major rebuild of the organ, including, at George’s urging, the striking Trompeta real . And he had phased out the last of the ageing lay clerks, replacing them by altos, tenors and basses made up entirely of young, enthusiastic undergraduate choral students.

One major problem remained to be tackled. The St John’s choristers were drawn from one of the last of the country’s elementary day-boy-only choir schools, of a kind normal at the turn of the century but by 1950 almost everywhere replaced by more academic and challenging preparatory schools. Local boys joined the tiny school and the choir at the age of seven or eight and left when their voices broke to go on to apprenticeships or clerkships or trade. Down the road at King’s was a choir school that selected from all over the country and boarded bright, clever boys from cultured, professional homes, preparing them for scholarships to the best public schools in the land. George needed better quality treble material to work on. In 1955 the much-loved Sam Senior, headmaster of St John’s College Choir

‘George’s professional career was, in his chosen field, amongst the most exciting, energetic and influential of all time.’

School since 1912, was due to retire. George was determined to seize the hour. But so were some of the college council who saw it as the opportunity to relieve the college of a choir school altogether. Battle royal ensued, culminating in a campaign, engineered by George, to rain down upon the master and fellows letters and telegrams from all the country’s top musicians (including a famous one from Vaughan Williams in Italy, a special treasure in the Guest archive) begging the college to retain its choir school. George won. A substantial house was found and converted for school use, a good headmaster and staff were appointed, and in September 1955 the new preparatory choir school was up and running. But the college had said no to boarding. George, nevertheless, elected nonlocal boys to choristerships and boarded them in nearby homes – then presented the college with an obviously unsatisfactory fait accompli . During 1957 builders converted the school’s upper floors into dormitories. George had all he wanted: a first class organ, twelve keen choral students and the educational facilities for recruiting choristers of high potential.

Now all that was required was a choirmaster of genius. A well-known musician tells of how, when he was a choral scholar at King’s, studying in the music faculty, George Guest as a young university lecturer offered a masterclass on the training of boys’ voices by way of attendance at one of his morning chorister practices. A group of King’s choral scholars decided to go along, partly for a lark. As the practice went on they were more and more amazed. At the end they burst into spontaneous cheers. It had been revelatory.

The speed with which George moved his choir into the top league was astounding. Within a decade he had begun recording for Argo, starting with an anthology of popular choral items, notably a solo Hear My Prayer from the young Alastair Roberts. For many of his 60 or so recordings, continuing demand has ensured that CD reissues remain in today’s catalogues. Some of these broke new repertoire ground; others – one thinks especially of his Britten Missa brevis and Ceremony of Carols – brought to wellknown music a brilliant new timbre of sound. Others were simply very fine performances, such as the series, taken over by St John’s from King’s, of the Haydn masses which the then Prime

Minister, Edward Heath, took as his gift when he visited the Pope in 1972.

Broadcasts of the St John’s choir had begun in the 1950s and in due course they captured the airwaves for two major regular items, the Ash Wednesday Evensong with its Allegri Miserere mei (in Latin, not English as sung somewhere else) and, later, the Advent carol service of music and readings in a structure unique to St John’s.

Recitals outside Cambridge began to feature, at first modestly insular and later on a world-wide scale. There were difficulties about these. In the first place, George had a dread of flying and it was only with great courage at first that he faced flights to the USA and later as far afield as Australia and

underestimated. When, in 1978, the choir sang in the Sydney Opera House, all 2700 seats were sold and a further 2500 hopefuls had to be turned away. By this time his fame as a choirtrainer and the prestige of his choir meant that he was attracting to St John’s as organ students, choral students and choristers some of the finest young candidates in the land. This is part, but only part, of the explanation for the galaxy of household names now in high esteem who were trained by George: directors of music at King’s, St John’s (soon), St Paul’s, Winchester and two of the Three Choirs Festival cathedrals, the founder and director of the King’s Consort, leading operatic baritone Simon Keenlyside, to name just some

Japan. Then the tutors were not keen that their undergraduates should have their studies interrupted and the bursars were wary of commitments that might see the college bailing out a financial crisis. But on money George was pretty canny. Faced with quite proper bursarial tight-fistedness he managed to beg substantial gifts from well-wishers, placed in bank accounts drawable only on his own signature. And by and large he ensured that tours paid for themselves, initially, as in his 1970 tour of the United States, being his own tour manager , subsequently securing watertight funding from impresarios in host countries. Indeed, his ability to pull in the crowds was sometimes

of the very top achievers amongst the many distinguished musicians he nurtured. His recruitment techniques could be idiosyncratic. There was a little-publicised occasion when an exceptional bass candidate came to compete for a choral award, stating King’s as his first choice and St John’s as his second. That year St John’s examined in the morning. George was determined to ‘hook’ him and, with some connivance from the then dean, persuaded the young man to lunch with them. Two bottles of sherry and uncountable brandies later the poor man was capable of no more than being assisted onto a train at Cambridge station. King’s neither saw nor heard him. He proved an

‘The speed with which George moved his choir into the top league was astounding.’

excellent St John’s choral student. It had been a good lunch. When choosing boys there were some clear guidelines. Any boy who might grow stout was unlikely to win a place; on the other hand younger brothers from proven good stables began with a huge advantage. A sparkly manner helped. ‘How old are you?’ George asked one candidate. ‘Seven’, he replied; ‘And how old are you, sir?’ He was in!

Boys’ voice trials revealed two sides of George’s character. In the morning, in the privacy of his college rooms, he could be, without any unkindness to the candidate, hilariously funny, capable of drawing out the most unlikely home truths. In the afternoon, in chapel, when the short-listed sang in the presence of everyone’s nail-biting parents, he was wondrously and gently kind and encouraging. Every parent left

feeling that their son had acquitted himself well, whether successful or unsuccessful.

How was it done, this brilliant achievement of his? How did he not only create one of the greatest of all choirs but raise the whole level of expectation of what a fine choir should and could achieve, and bring about a widespread enrichment of the sound heard in English cathedrals and colleges? Above all, standards mattered. Evensong, even with next to nobody there, had to be very, very good. It was an act of worship and only the best was good enough. Because it mattered so much to him, the contribution of those playing and singing with him had to be equally committed. Idleness or casualness, a tenor who had failed to learn his notes or a chorister who yawned, instantly brought forth the cold wind of his

GHG: The Early Cambridge

Years

Sir David Lumsden, Assistant Organist, St John’s College, Cambridge, 1951-53 recollects.

George and I came up to Cambridge within a year of each other, he in 1947 from the Royal Air Force and myself in 1948 from the Royal Artillery. George was four years my senior and had seen war service: I had simply served two years as ‘Organist of Stonehenge’ (strictly speaking the Garrison Church at Larkhill). He was organ student at St John’s, I was organ scholar at Selwyn and the gap seemed enormous, almost unbridgeable. At first I naturally gravitated towards King’s - the Christmas Eve carol service had penetrated even the northern outback from which I came - and I soon became a pupil of Boris Ord. John’s at that time was more low-key, producing excellent music under Robin Orr but lacking the public impact of the more famous choir ‘down the road’. This was to prove George’s great inspiration and challenge, very much in his mind from the start. He and I hit it off at once and soon we were collaborating musically. He would invite me to accompany concerts with his Lady Margaret Singers, at that time the leading (the only?) credible mixed chamber choir in Cambridge, long before the admission of women to men’s

dismay and disapproval. It was no fun being excluded from the warmth of his gratitude. The notes indeed had to be right, but that in itself was insufficient: there had also to be feeling. A note was only part of a phrase, and all phrases had a shape which was itself part of a larger passage. Every singer had to watch, not so much the beat (‘What beat?’ I hear ex-choral students asking!) as the mood, the emotional movement, the electric charge he was offering. As the climax of a passage drew near his left hand would grasp his neck (Was he suffocating? No, he was calling on the boys to give him more throat timbre) and his right hand would become a tight fist, shaking rapidly in passionate vibrato. On occasions such as this, simply from the congregational stalls one knew one had experienced something transforming, miraculous almost. One former choral student recalls such an occasion in the Abbaye aux Hommes at Caen when, towards the close of a Tallis mass, the men did not know whether they would get to the end as their eyes filled with tears at the wonder of it. I too carry Tallis ever in my memory. Throughout the 1980 tour of Japan George offered as an encore the little five-part hymn O nata lux de lumine. For me, had they sung nothing else, that would have been

colleges and the burgeoning mixed college choirs which now adorn Cambridge musical life. One performance sticks clearly in my mind – Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb in Selwyn Chapel. It was my first experience of music making in public at that level and I was terrified. I was comforted to learn that George felt the same way: his sangfroid on the podium belied the nervousness and punishing self-criticism which he suffered then and (I believe) for the rest of his career. The most vivid illustration of this came early in his first year as Organist of John’s - he was so uncertain of himself that the offer of a university lecturership was too much for him on top of his new responsibilities with the Choir and he disappeared for two weeks to sort himself out: he had to be coaxed back.

His appointment as Organist of St John’s in 1951, immediately after completing Tripos, staggered the musical world, and not just in Cambridge. The only comparable shock had been Francis Jackson’s appointment (a mere lad he seemed at the time) immediately succeeding Sir Edward Bairstow at York in 1946. The immense distinction and success

‘How did he not only create one of the greatest of all choirs but raise the whole level of expectation of what a fine choir should and could achieve.’

beauty enough. Sometimes the commitment asked for or accepted was almost beyond reason. One night, during the second choir tour of Australia in 1982, the head chorister and chief treble soloist, Hal Vernon, walked through a plate-glass window. He needed 69 stitches. The following evening he was on stage singing his solos.

It would be wrong to imply that George’s great moments were always the climaxes. Amongst the most wonderful occasions were when he chose to accompany the psalms. Sometimes it was simply a meditation on the chant’s harmony; sometimes there would be a touch of wordpainting, but never obvious or vulgar. If there were thunder and lightning there might indeed be a palpable shaking of the stalls, yet never such as to drown the words. When the psalmist was in verdant pastures there might be just the hint of birdsong, almost inaudible. Sometimes the accompaniment was inaudible, because George had decided imperceptibly to withdraw all accompaniment, a most beautiful effect. Sometimes it was done for a practical as well as an aesthetic reason. An organ student would be alongside him. George would silently slip off the

seat and whisper ‘You take over now’; as imperceptibly as before, the organ student would resume a gentle accompaniment – and to widespread puzzlement George would be found down below, a member of the congregation. That would have been a little jape from a man with a lovely sense of humour and fun. He was never

of both these appointments we now take for granted, even as we rejoice in them, but at the time they were regarded as highly speculative and risky! George hit his first major problem on his second day in office. His organ student had played his first service on Thursday (the voluntary is still recorded in the Voluntary Book), failed LittleGo (the qualifying Latin exam at that time) and gone down by Friday, leaving George alone in charge of this great choir. The first I knew of this was an urgent hammering on my front door. By then I had graduated and become a research student at Selwyn under Bob Dart - more importantly, Sheila and I were newly wed and had set up home together in Garden Walk. By a happy coincidence Sheila had been at college with Nan, who was not yet on George’s horizon but later, of course, became his wife. “For God’s sake come and play for me this weekend - I’m on my own”, cried a harassed George and having by now vacated the organ scholarship at Selwyn I was free and happy to agree - ‘’Just for the weekend, ‘til I can sort something out”......... My first service included Britten’s C major Te Deum, then quite new and thought to be exceedingly difficult, especially for the organ accompanist: more panic but a strong sense of fellow feeling with George and a determination on the part of both of us to make it work. Indeed, so much so that the weekend turned out to be two years, two of the most happy and formative years of my whole life, both personally and musically. Working day in day out at George’s level, with a professional choir of men and boys, was quite a new experience for me. I owe George a great debt of gratitude for that time, without which my life and career would undoubtedly have been very different.

At the time the boys attended a small school in All Saints

happier than when teasing dance music or swing from the piano keys, a gift he had honed in Bombay night clubs when in the RAF. As choral students who joined him at the Mitre or the Baron of Beef for the 20 minutes between practice and Evensong knew, he was a brilliant raconteur and, if anything, an even more brilliant mimic. ➤

Passage and George soon felt the limitations this imposed, the basis of his determination to found what is now one of the most outstanding choir schools in the country. Lay clerks were gradually replaced by young, undergraduate choral students. This worked surprisingly well and quickly, mainly because the average age of undergraduates was much higher then than now since many of them had served for years in WW II and came up five or six years older than they do today, with great vocal advantage.

George set about a strict regime of training and enthusing the newcomers with results which soon attracted attention from outside Cambridge. At this time William Morgan, the great Johnian Welsh scholar and first translator of the Bible into Welsh, was to be celebrated nationally and George immediately set about having the choir sing in Welsh. Hour after hour was spent in this long and arduous process and I remember more than once thanking my lucky stars that I only had to play the organ in Welsh. The great moment came when the BBC broadcast the anniversary service, but only on the Welsh Home Service, which was transmitted only in Wales and not strictly audible in East Anglia. George and I went to great lengths to try to catch even a whisper of sound over our very ordinary radio, subjecting it and ourselves to all manner of contortions. Here, though we did not realise it at the time, was the first fruits of George’s famous love affair with Wales and its language and culture. Other more audible broadcasts and recordings followed and within the short two years I was at St John’s – as assistant organist, never as organ student since I was a member of another college – most of the foundations of George’s phenomenal success were in place. ➤

A couple of vignettes still stick in the mind – George regularly disappearing after the anthem and before the sermon on a Sunday evening – “play them out – I must change for Hall” –on his way across the road to the Mitre.

George at the joint choral scholar trials held in Boris Ord’s rooms in King’s: “Just watch out – they won’t take the real singers, they’re after blend before quality. Then WE can take them........”

There is no doubt that George’s first few years at John’s were uneasy, tinged with anxiety and personal insecurity. He was young and relatively inexperienced, he was naturally sensitive and self-deprecating, he felt he must compete with the choir ‘down the road’, he was not inspired by academic work for its own sake, the choir school needed radical reform, the men in the choir had to be recruited in a highly competitive environment and brought round to his way of thinking and performing – he had clear ideas of the style and sound he wanted but he also knew that his ideal could not be manufactured overnight. No one would believe this now. The John’s tradition as we know it is entirely George’s brainchild.

He created a choir of immense range and subtlety: he maintained the highest standards every day of his life: he established the Advent and Ash Wednesday broadcasts: his recordings are collectors’ items: he toured the choir infinitely farther afield than ever before. All this could only have happened through his vulnerability, his sensitivity, his musical instincts, his perpetual, restless searching for something different and better, his refusal to accept anything but the best from himself as from his colleagues.

(Was it the real Liverpudlian virger Wilf Rossiter speaking, or was it George being Rossiter? The two were indistinguishable.) And his social contacts with his singers were an important element in his deep care for them, as also was his profound distress when things went wrong: when an exam was failed, or unrequited love sent a young man into the depths, or a chorister seemed to lose all interest.

Faced with uncooperation or, much more rarely, downright opposition he could be a dogged combatant, as will be evident from his fight for the choir school. Great ingenuity was exercised in pursuit of what he deemed to be right. Some time, I think in the late 1980s, Cambridge City Council, as part of an ongoing but ineffective campaign to make Cambridge impenetrable to anything on four wheels, decided that St John’s Street would be one-way, southwards. George lived northwards. So he continued to leave the college gates and turn north into astonished southbound traffic. On the rare occasions when he was challenged by police or traffic wardens he would politely produce from his pocket a letter, dating, I think, from the 1950s when there had been some temporary

Many of George’s former organists and singers have gone on to forge distinguished careers for themselves – all acknowledge that George was one of the great influences in their lives and in the musical life not only of John’s and Cambridge but of Britain and indeed the whole Englishspeaking world. We all salute him. We mourn with Nan, David and Elizabeth. We all feel the greater for having known him – our loss is unfathomable.

‘Many of George’s former organists and singers have gone on to forge distinguished careers for themselves – all acknowledge that George was one of the great influences in their lives.’

George receiving a bouquet while on tour in Japan.

Photo Alan Mould.

restriction, giving him exceptional permission to turn north. (In any case George’s driving was the stuff of legend.) He was deeply suspicious of media people. Once, when the choir was being televised, his instructions to the choir were, ‘Gentlemen and boys: pay no attention to any men walking around with clipboards or calling each other ‘dear’. One Wednesday a live broadcast of choral evensong was to be followed by a recording of the men singing a plainsong compline. George had been unusually pressed and no time had been found to practise the compline. When the plainsong recording was due to begin and the producer asked “Are you ready?”

George said, “Yes we are. Right now, gentlemen, exactly as we rehearsed it yesterday, please”.

His 40 years as Organist were anything but static. Change was gently effected: the introduction of compline and plainsong; Sunday matins giving way to Sunday eucharist with wonderful opportunities for new repertoire; the college’s long-serving hymn book being beneficially replaced by the English Hymnal. Traditions like the Ascension Day carol from the tower were enhanced and novelties soon became traditions,

such as the annual Welsh evensong on St David’s Day. Above all, the range of music was continually widened, forwards by the commissioning of new works, backwards to the earliest of the Tudors, outwards from Britain to embrace composers from Italy and Germany,

Langlais’s Messe Solonelle was sung superbly in the enthralled hearing of its blind and aged composer. But then every day of my 19 years working in partnership with George was a privilege and a joy.

There is nothing conventional if I choose to end by recording that little of this would have been achieved from this passionate, sensitive man if he had not been constantly supported, encouraged and loved by his caring wife Nan: always there, never ruffled, offering security and calm in their comfortable, welcoming home. They are blessed by two splendid children, David and Elizabeth, both themselves musicians, and – a special late joy of George’s closing years – two little grandsons. To Nan and the family, I am sure, all members of FCM offer their deepest gratitude, condolence and blessings.

Scandinavia and Russia, the United States and, above all, France. He had a special feeling for 20th-century French church music, to which his great recordings of Fauré, Duruflé and others bear lasting witness. One of the greatest privileges of my life was to be present at the college eucharist at which Jean

With thanks to a number of helpfully reminiscent friends, most particularly Canon Charles Stewart, Precentor of Winchester.

As we go to print we have learned that a memorial service for Dr George Guest will be held in the Chapel of St John’s College, Cambridge on Saturday 3 May 2003 at 12 noon – it is however by ticket only.

Jonathan Rennert Remembers

Jonathan was Organ Scholar at St John’s (1971-4). He has been Organist & Director of Music at St Michael’s Cornhill, in the City of London, since 1979. Here he looks back at his time as one of George Guest’s organ scholars.

Muchhas been written about George Guest since he died last November: about his outstanding achievement in raising the St John’s College Choir to international prominence; about his adoption of a special style of boys’ tone, as well as the introduction of a new musical repertory to the Anglican liturgy; and about his lasting influence on generations of former choral and organ scholars who now sing, play and conduct in churches, cathedrals and concert halls the length and breadth of the country. My brief, as one of his former organ scholars, is to contribute a personal viewpoint. Before going to Cambridge, my piano and organ teachers had made me aware that although one’s performances should be historically aware, natural laws of breathing, movement and stress would always ultimately decide questions of musical interpretation. George’s intuitive approach to choral music complemented this teaching. Tempi, style, rubato and dynamics seemed obvious to him; and, when his blood sugar level may occasionally not have been at its highest at a pre-evensong rehearsal, he could show

his frustration that not all his musicians were approaching a setting or anthem from the same perspective. Any tension at rehearsal, though, tended to be sorted out in the Baron of Beef or the College bar later. “A pint of Abbot, George, or a Bell’s?”

He was enormously proud of his choir, and his loyalty to his singers was reciprocated: they not only admired his fine musicianship, but also delighted in what they saw as his mild eccentricities: his advocacy of anything Welsh, his loyal support for Chester City football team, and his pretence at naiveté in telling stories. When former choral and organ scholars meet, we still, almost without thinking, do our ‘George impersonations’ as we converse.

When I was George’s organ scholar, David Willcocks was in charge of the superb King’s Choir down the road. King’s was renowned for its beauty and blend. By contrast, George encouraged both men and boys to sing almost as soloists, with energy and emotion, and always intense sense of the inflexions and meaning of the words. This could result in a loss of

‘Every day of my nineteen years working in partnership with George was a privilege and a joy.’

Alan Thurlow, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Chichester Cathedral and FCM’s third Chairman worked closely with George Guest on FCM matters. Here he pays his own tribute.

George Guest became a legend in his own lifetime. Obituaries in newspapers and journals have already paid warm tribute to his achievements: to his vision in saving and in building up the choir at StJohn’s College, Cambridge, in the lean years which followed World War II and in making his choir into one of the most famous and well respected in the world.

I had the good fortune to be a student in Cambridge in the late 1960s and early ’70s: years when, aided by the accessibility which came through the emergence of recording, the ‘John’s sound’ was beginning to assert itself (Stephen Cleobury was Organ Scholar at the time). The warm and projected treble singing, the full-bodied sound of the choral scholars and the colourful and (for England) novel use of gentle vibrato, all combined to provide a distinctive choral style, far removed from what we were used to hearing when visiting other English choral

foundations. The ‘Continental style’ was often used as a description of the sound of the John’s boys but, even if it owed something to the Vienna Boys’ Choir (the only overseas boys’ choir generally known in England at that time), it was nevertheless totally personal: it was George Guest’s own style; and how glorious it was - admirably suited to the acoustics of the chapel. Complementing this was an interesting and explorative repertoire of music, opening up new horizons for those nurtured on the traditional Anglican diet of English composers.

George Guest’s personality and his faith shone through his music-making. That he could be a hard task-master was never in doubt; but his vibrant personality, his love of and conviction for the music which he was performing and his dry sense of humour endeared him not only to his choir but to all who came into contact with him or who admired him from the touchlines.

perfect blend, and occasionally of balance and even ensemble. What was extraordinary was that it also allowed George’s own feelings to fire the imagination of his singers, to create performances of enormous emotional fervour and excitement. Carefully rehearsed tempi and dynamics would be forgotten as George rose up on his toes, powerfully communicating his passion through his unconventional arm gestures and perhaps more importantly through his eyes, which willed boys and men to give every last ounce of themselves and more. Equally dramatically, I remember a stunningly magical, perfectly controlled ppp start to the Sunday morning introit, Messiaen’s O sacrum convivium, in a crowded yet totally silent chapel.

It was a very fortunate moment for the FCM when, following the death of Sir Charles Groves, George Guest accepted the invitation to serve as our president. Typically, he did not regard this position simply as an honorary one. He was not prepared only to lend his name and reputation as a figurehead: he became actively involved in FCM affairs, attending and from time to time chairing annual general meetings and meetings of the Council and - much appreciated by the membership- frequently attending our regular gatherings, getting to know the members and always ready to make a speech or to give a vote of thanks as the occasion demanded.

Part of George Guest’s greatness was his loyalty to St John’s College and his length of service there as organist. St John’s became his vision and his life: the world of church music is all the richer for what he achieved there and for what he taught us, whether as students, singers or performers, or simply as listeners.

The FCM is proud that, in his retirement, Dr Guest became associated with us as our president and grateful that he did so much to further our work. We send to George’s wife Nan, and to their family, our condolences in their bereavement, together with our great appreciation of all that George achieved and all that he gave to generations of lovers of choral music. He will be sadly missed.

His single-minded devotion to his choir gave him the dogged energy to reorganise the choir school, appoint and train 40 years’ worth of choristers and organ and choral scholars, chase recording contracts and organise ambitious choir tours to many parts of the world. It also resulted in the highest musical standards. But it tended to embrace a lack of compromise and barely-concealed disdain for some university colleagues and members of the clergy who did not share his priorities. Moreover it led to an apparent loss of personal direction when he retired.

George was proud that undergraduates searching for religious experience were not all drawn to the triteness of the happy-clappy student Christian Unions. In his autobiography A Guest at Cambridge (Paraclete Press, 1994) he wrote: ‘... young people resent being patronised, and my experience at Cambridge has convinced me that there is a most definite reaction on the part of young people to the trivial in worship. In an ever-changing and often frightening world they look increasingly for dignity, for tradition.’ His work lives on through his recordings and pupils. It is particularly appropriate that his memorial service is to be held in St John’s Chapel. This is, after all, the building that he loved and in which he trained us all. Perhaps the greatest compliment to his work was the appointment in 1991, as his successor, of another of the country’s finest choir trainers, Christopher Robinson, who has, in his own style, ensured that the St John’s Choir remains one of the world’s most admired.

‘His single-minded devotion to his choir gave him the dogged energy to reorganise the choir school.’

‘John’s sound’

Maintaining a commitment:

From my earliest school days, when I pushed my bicycle across the cathedral close in Hereford (riding your bicycle in the Close being a punishable offence!), I have been attracted to cathedrals. These massive monuments remain in some important sense both worldly and undomesticated. It is not just their size that sets them apart from parish churches. Cathedrals proclaim a generosity of spirit, which still has the power to enchant and to scar the imagination – to disturb and to exalt the human spirit.

At their best they model to society at large a form of ‘koinonia’ or collegiality that is rooted in corporate prayer and service, because they require a small village of individuals to run them: clergy, musicians, singers, craftsmen, vergers, administrators, cleaners, caterers and salespeople. They are inevitably open to the changing traffic of the world as it passes by, and comes in and out. Cathedrals draw people to drop in without commitment – to wonder and to explore. Cathedrals are vast buildings – and are expensive to maintain – but we keep them open because in their counter-cultural size and unusable space, they represent values which have not been finally lost and which people still hope will somehow be regained in nurturing the religious life of the nation.

Rochester Cathedral is set on the Pilgrim Way – the old road that led to Canterbury and, beyond that, to Rome and the Holy Land. Chaucer walked it; people still do today. But Rochester was a place of pilgrimage in its own right as well. In about 1201, William, a baker from Perth, was murdered just outside the town. Such was his reputation as a devout pilgrim that the townsfolk insisted that he should be brought within the town’s walls and buried in the monastic church. Soon his tomb was said to be a place of miracles, and it became a shrine. People began to flock to it. Today, alas, there is nothing left; it was completely destroyed during the Reformation. But the cathedral is still here, its stones soaked in the prayers of all those pilgrims who have come hererejoicing, or troubled, or sick. Many people still come to the cathedral today with their hopes and fears.

Gone are the days when cathedral clergy could quietly get on with their prayers, their reading, and their care of

Precentor Canon Ralph Godsall on life as the new boy at Rochester Cathedral.

the daily passing traffic of a cathedral precinct. The day-to-day running of cathedral departments and a range of management tasks now predominate. Today cathedral chapters are accountable to all kinds of bodies on all areas of cathedral governance. The involvement of so many others in the day-to-day governance of the cathedral distracts residentiary canons from their primary function as ‘advisers to the bishop and as counsellors in holy things’. Meetings and papers proliferate

The most important function of a cathedral is its offering of daily worship. Other activities – mission, evangelism, teaching, preaching and even the provision of a seat for the bishop – are bound to be of a secondary importance, if we believe that ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God and to worship him for ever.’

One of the glories of Rochester Cathedral is the tradition of sung services, in particular evensong. It is, in its dignified words and

The issues and challenges for cathedral music at Rochester are complex. The core musical unit consists of a choir made up of 14 boys (four of whom are probationers) and six 1ay clerks, directed by the Organist and Director of Music, who is assisted by a part-time SubOrganist. Girl choristers were also introduced to Rochester seven years ago. There are at present 16 girls (three of whom are probationers) who sing a number of the statutory services as a voluntary choir. Applications for choristerships continue to decline, partly because of Rochester’s close proximity to London and partly because of the choir’s current commitment to sing on six days of the week, including Saturday afternoons.

A generation ago local parents from the lower socio-economic groups saw choristerships as a way of getting a reasonable and cheap education for their sons in return for their singing. Today’s choristers come from the professional classes, and despite the best efforts of the Chapter to obtain sponsorship for one hundred per cent scholarships for boys from lower socio-economic groups it is proving difficult to find boys from such backgrounds, possibly because of the requirement that they must attend the cathedral choir school. In conversation with other cathedral precentors, it has been interesting to learn that cathedrals without schools, which have to recruit without the incentive of choral scholarships, are finding it easier to recruit across the social spectrum.

Interestingly, the recruitment of girl choristers is far easier, possibly because they are not required to attend the cathedral choir school.

Both systems give the singing boys and girls great opportunities, and one of the most welcome recent developments at Rochester is the way in which cathedral clergy, head teachers and organists are now prepared to share problems and to learn from one another. The addition of girls as members of the core musical unit has presented chapter with financial and administrative problems, but there are many benefits. Girls now participate actively in cathedral worship. They are being given the same educational and musical opportunities as boys. In addition to the benefits to the girls themselves, their inclusion is enabling Rochester Cathedral to provide a wider and more varied programme of musical activities, both in the cathedral and also in the diocese.

The future of cathedral music at Rochester depends on maintaining a commitment within chapter to chorister training and education, and developing the resources necessary to employ skilled and imaginative adult musicians as directors, organists and singers. An immediate and ongoing responsibility of the Precentor is to ensure the level of funding needed to sustain a choir of professional standard to meet a variety of liturgical settings.

Cathedrals increasingly see themselves as complex institutions with a diversity of functions and focuses, and substantial

financial responsibilities and liabilities. The awakening of a management culture, the review recorded in Heritage and Renewal and the consequent institutional reform required by the Cathedrals’ Measure 1999 have effected a move towards a more sharply defined organizational structure, with lines of reporting, teams and departments, and a new pattern of governance and scrutiny with far greater lay involvement. These changes bring to the fore the contrast between the informal understanding of status, protocol and good personal relations on which cathedrals formerly depended, and the new ethos of a wellrun, accountable, efficient, managed organization. With this new ethos comes an expectation of professionalism.

I discern two kinds of professionalism emerging at Rochester: first, a professionalism of administration, financial discipline, management and operation, applicable to every part of the organization; second, a professionalism based on the sharing of skills, experience, knowledge and understanding. These two kinds of professionalism should not separate `administrators’ from `ministers’ (including musicians); rather, a process of planned development and training throughout the organization is encouraging inter-professional respect and understanding.

Nowhere is this more clear than in the new Liturgy and Music Department of the Cathedral. There was no department when I arrived, but there is now a coherent administrative unit operating within an agreed budget within the structure of the cathedral organization. It acknowledges that the work of singers and musicians goes well beyond the functions of singing and playing at divine services, and brings them into a working relationship with vergers and stewards and many other members of the wider cathedral community.

Rochester hopes its Precentor will sing like an angel, balance liturgical expertise and musical training in equal measure, be a good communicator, be skilled in administration and management, and be able to retain a sense of humour and proportion at all times! The new Precentor at Rochester is not a trained musician. However, he can understand the needs of the musicians, relate to their concerns, and effect good communication. It is one of the most important working relationships within the cathedral. Such a healthy relationship helps to produce a climate marked by creativity, integrity and trust.

‘Rochester hopes its Precentor will sing like an angel, balance liturgical expertise and musical training in equal measure.’

Photo courtesy of Medway Council.

Robert Quinney, winner of the 2002 RCO Performer of the Year competition and Philip Scriven, Organist and Master of Choristers at Lichfield Cathedral, discuss the competition and the future of cathedral music in the Church today.

Shaping up for the Future

PS Robert, congratulations on your recent success with the RCO Performer of the Year competition. How do you think this will affect the course of your career?

RQ It has certainly already raised my profile as a player, and a number of recital engagements have come in as a direct result of the competition. I have been keen for a while to do more solo performing, so the competition success was timely in that respect.

PS How do you see your career developing?

RQ I think there’s room within the general context of cathedral and collegiate music for a wide variety of activities, of which solo organ playing is one. I’m very fortunate to be Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, a post which is both demanding and relatively flexible. One aspect of my career that there isn’t really much time to develop at the moment is the academic side, something I hope I can rekindle at a later stage.

PS Do you think it is possible in today's competitive climate to make a name for yourself today without winning a big competition?

RQ It’s difficult to ‘kick-start’ a career without a competition success of some sort. The prestige of a cathedral post is no longer enough to guarantee a steady stream of recitals – if indeed it ever was. Recital series organisers are (for obvious reasons) not keen on asking untried players, whether they have a church position or not, and the shady business by

which organists reciprocate each other’s invitations is perhaps not as widespread as it used to be. It is, however, a shame that series often end up presenting the same few very well established organists and, consequently, a narrower variety of music than would be the case if the net were cast a little wider.

PS What areas of the repertoire do you specialise in?

RQ My first love is the music of Bach, in which I have an academic as well as a performing interest. Bach’s organ music is one of the most extraordinary oeuvres of any composer: in many ways it’s quite different from the rest of his output, and the brilliant integration of different genres and styles in the organ music fascinates me. In the organ music we meet Bach face to face, as he was an organ virtuoso himself, and I think there is bound to be something special – more private, perhaps – in the music a composer writes for his own instrument. As well as Bach my interests encompass British keyboard music of the 16th, early 17th and late 20th (and early 21st!) centuries: in the latter category is Francis Pott’s monumental Passion Symphony Christus, a demanding (in that it lasts twoand-a-quarter hours) but totally compelling work which, sadly, I have played only once, as it doesn’t fit into a typical recital programme! I’m also very fond of the music of Jehan Alain and, increasingly, Reger.

PS What do you think of the current trends in organ performance, such as the growth of interest in improvisation in this

country, and the increasing popularity of transcriptions?

RQ Improvisation has become popular over the last few years. Concert improvisations feature more in programmes of British players than they used to, under the influence of French organists. Just as exciting, however, is liturgical improvisation, which is, of course, the source of the European improvisation traditions. I find myself doing quite a lot of it at Westminster Cathedral: the Catholic liturgy is perhaps more open to improvisation and Martin Baker, himself a virtuoso improviser, has instituted a number of improvisation ‘points’ in both Mass and Vespers. Thomas Trotter has for some years been largely responsible for a revived interest in transcriptions. This can only be a good thing: the playing of orchestral transcriptions strengthens the organ’s connection with the wider musical world; it provides a better choice of repertoire for the organist – very little transcribed music is of a low quality, while rather a lot of ‘straight’ organ music is; and it capitalises on the strengths of the 19th and early 20th century British organ –variety of tone colour, power and ease of operation.

PS Organ music still suffers from a poor image in the wider musical scene. What do you think organists can do to improve the way the instrument and its repertoire are viewed?

RQ Four things occur to me. Firstly, concert halls should have good organs on which regular recitals are given – as at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and ➤

Robert Quinney

the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester – this is an important step towards establishing the organ as a solo instrument in its own right. Secondly, organists have a responsibility to play good music that engages with the audience – there is no excuse for playing bad music, yet it features in so many recital programmes! Thirdly, I find it helps to speak to the audience, especially in a situation where the player can’t be seen. Of course it’s rare that a concert pianist or a member of a string quartet address the audience, but they don’t have the dual problems of an instrument that mitigates against direct communication and a repertoire that can seem arcane if no explanation is offered. Finally, it is essential that some organists pursue concert careers independently of the Church. I’m not planning on doing this myself, because my interests lie in a number of areas including church music, but it is important that opportunities are given for artists like Gillian Weir, to take the most notable example, to continue their promotion of the organ and its repertoire uncompromised by other commitments.

PS Could you tell us a bit about your work at Westminster Cathedral? What does it entail, and what would you say makes the music there so distinctive?

RQ I accompany the choir, conduct two or three times a week, and discharge a number of administrative duties, including organising the Sunday afternoon recital series (in which I give most of the concerts), booking singers for ad hoc services, recordings, etc., and maintaining the choir library. Westminster Cathedral’s music differs in many respects from that of its Anglican counterparts. For a start, our daily choral liturgy is Mass, not Evensong (we do sing the office of Vespers every day, just before Mass, but it only lasts about fifteen minutes and is sung mostly to chant). Because of this we have a much bigger repertoire of masses than Anglican choirs, most of them drawn from the Renaissance, and it’s from that period that most of our motets come as well. This affects the way the choir sings (pure Italianate vowels lend themselves much better to musical line than English diphthongs and consonants!), as does the large amount of melismatic chant we sing – on average three plainsong propers in each mass. The choir stands not in an enclosed ‘quire’, but almost out of sight in the Apse, a half-domed area behind the high altar: the distance from the congregation encourages well-projected, open-throated singing, and the acoustical properties of the Apse are much more generous to voices than the average Quire. From an organist’s point of view, it’s perhaps a shame

‘The sorry state of music in, for example, many of the French and Spanish cathedrals should convince us of the need to defend our own traditions while they are still flourishing.’

that so little of the repertoire is accompanied, but we have the consolation of the Grand Organ, which stands on the West wall, and from which most of the voluntaries and all the recitals are played. Built by Henry Willis III between 1922 and ’32, it is the finest solo instrument I have played, and working at it is a daily pleasure.

PS There is plenty of debate about the future of cathedral music. How do you see it shaping up?

RQ There always has been, and ought always to be space for an elite group of musicians in a great Christian building –even in the earliest days of the monastic foundations there were designated musicians among the monks, and song has always been integral to worship. Music also has an essential role to play in the edification of the faithful, and good music is naturally better able to do this than bad (and it’s worth asserting in passing that musicians are uniquely, if not exclusively, qualified to make value judgements over music). The sorry state of music in, for example, many of the French and Spanish cathedrals should convince us of the need to defend our own traditions while they are still flourishing. The daily opus of sung worship is an invaluable link with our past, as steadying influence in a hectic and violent world. In doing this, however, we must be alive to changing times, and must not fall into the trap of regarding change as anathema to tradition. I suspect, for example, that the service of Evensong needs careful consideration – does it actually work on anything but a musical level? Now that daily Evensong has developed into a much more grandiose event than was almost certainly intended by its designers, the idea of simply reciting the office in straightforward rotation of psalms and readings perhaps needs rethinking, as does the balance between the form and function of musical settings.

PS With the ever increasing pressure of recruitment, what do you think are the most beneficial aspects of a chorister’s experience that we need to emphasise?

RQ The educational value of choristerships is perhaps the strongest selling point for cathedral choirs: there is no better way for a musician to start his or her training, and even children who don’t end up as musicians benefit enormously from four or five years of dedicated team-work and the daily challenge of preparing and performing music.

PS Westminster Cathedral has commissioned works from a number of notable composers recently. Which do you think are the most important composers writing church music today, and which really have something original to say?

RQ At the present time there is an important distinction to be made between church musicians who occasionally write music for their choirs, and who are therefore concerned mostly with producing functional pieces that suit particular occasions and particular

produce the best music, because the musical world is quite strictly demarcated – we’re not really expected to be interested in composing, let alone be any good at it! It is rare, therefore, to find a composer like Philip Moore, whose music is conceived out of and for a liturgical tradition but is of an exceptionally high quality by anyone’s standards.

people, and composers such as Peter Maxwell Davies and James MacMillan, both of whom have recently written Masses for Westminster Cathedral Choir. These latter are the musicians who ‘really have something original to say’, because their masses are products of broad influence and wide experience, and they come to the texts with a freshness that those of us who hear ‘Kyrie eleison’ or, for that matter, ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord’ every day are unable to muster. The essential difference is that, these days, we rely on professional composers rather than generalists like you and me to

Maxwell Davies is an interesting case, because he is both strongly antiecclesiastical (he is an atheist) and deeply respectful of church music traditions, as well as being an incisive commentator on contemporary social issues. His mass, which makes extensive use of the antiphon Dum complerentur dies Pentecostes and the hymn Veni creator, seems to me a profoundly humanistic response to the mass text – a celebration of song as an experience shared with the length and breadth of humanity (hence the two plainsong themes) – which also pays respect to liturgical tradition and works tremendously well as a festal mass setting. It’s certainly not a concert setting of a liturgical text like Poulenc’s Gloria MacMillan’s Mass seems in some ways remarkably similar in outlook to Maxwell Davies’, though the composers have quite different beliefs and write very different music. Both masses are underscored with a dark quality, an equivocating presence which refuses to allow words like ‘dona nobis pacem’ to resolve into an idealised evocation of peace. Great artists make statements which they might not recognise as their own, because they act as ciphers for contemporary society in its widest sense. We should be suspicious of any mainstream composer who attempts a ‘straightforward’ setting of texts like the Gloria and Agnus Dei, given the complex and uncomfortable relationship we are all bound to have with God in a largely secular age. The ‘spirituality’ practised by certain contemporary composers has more to do with New Age-style escapism than the challenges of Christian belief. I think it’s very important that composers within the mainstream continue to write music for the Church: however, unlike Stanford and Parry (both of whom were international musical figures who certainly didn’t regard themselves as ‘church music composers’) modern composers will not write religious music unless they receive commissions to do so, for the simple reason that religious observance is no longer an integral part of most people’s lives.

PS Robert, thank-you for sharing your thoughts on these important issues and best wishes for your forthcoming recitals.

‘Which do you think are the most important composers writing church music today, and which really have something original to say?’

Philip Scriven

The Lay Clerks Tale

The Apocrypha has it that a certain church musician, mindful of Ripon’s modest standing as a city (in England playing minor only to Wells’s minimus) enquired of one chorister parent as to where it might be possible to find lay clerks for the choir. “Well – er…” (came the reply) “… usually in the One Eyed Rat!”

Uniquely the Book of Common Prayer –after the Ripon use – continues the evening office beyond 2 Corinthians 13 and into premises located on Allhallowgate (some five minutes’ walk from the Cathedral and by repute only three minutes back) dedicated to a little known deity rejoicing in the name of

Harry Winter, a tenor lay clerk at Ripon Cathedral joins his colleagues regularly at the One Eyed Rat in Allhallowgate.

‘One Eyed Rat’ (but originally to ‘Lord Nelson’ – hence the one eye). Here gather the lay clerks to slake their thirsts after the nightly tussle with Gibbons, Stanford, Howells, Bryden et al, and to set the world to rights. Available to them is a wide and constantly changing variety of real ales, fruit wines and Continental bottled biers which makes this pub unequivocally the best in the city. There is a fine garden to enjoy on sunny Sunday afternoons and also in May an annual German Bier Festival, at which times it has been noted with some relish that the Schlelkerla Rauch and Erdinger Wiesse available at the one end of the bar are amply counterbalanced by the Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Mitchell’s Lancaster Bomber at the other!

Illustrated is a fine gathering of the

George Sixsmith &Son Ltd Organ Builders

chaps (including acting organist Andrew Bryden) following evensong on Tuesday January 21st, which featured renditions of Purcell in Bb and Expectans Expectavi (of Charles Wood). In the best of traditions antiphonal insults were exchanged (interestingly the photograph has divided exactly between Cantoris and Decani with the camera, as it were, at the altar) however even the least able among us may celebrate the pub’s motto:

‘In the land of blind mice

The One Eyed Rat is king!’

It is recommended that visiting choirs should avail themselves of this facility and also any passing waifs or strays with an interest in cathedral music should make a point of joining us on Evensong evenings in term at the witching hour of about 6.30pm.

My Spirit Rejoiceth

Directed by Richard Tanner

Organist: Greg Morris

Settings of the Magnificat

The organs of Douai Abbey played by Terence Charlston including Toccata and Fugue D mi Pedalexercitum G mi Fantasia and Fugue G mi Prelude. Trio and Fugue C maj

Pastorella in F maj Fantasia in G maj

In this new series we go round the country visiting lay clerks’ favourite watering holes.

Where do lay clerks hang out in your part of the country? If your local hostelry is worth a mention drop the editor a line along with a photo of the lay clerks partaking in a pint.

‘...where it might be possible to find lay clerks for the choir. “Well – er…” (came the reply)

“… usually in the One Eyed Rat!”’

Photos by Graham Hermon.

Canterbury Gospels: The

Twelve-year old Canterbury Cathedral Chorister Michael Hawkes describes the excitement and preparation of the Enthronement of the 104 Archbishop of Canterbury

Question: Was it worth the hours of practice beforehand? (Our halfterm holiday had to be moved to enable us to be at the cathedral for the enthronement, therefore disrupting our attendance at school; We practised the same pieces for hours; The cathedral was turned into an ugly film set full of scaffolding and television lights.)

Answer: Definitely!!

As the day of the enthronement got closer and closer mixed feelings of worry and excitement built up in the Precincts. Policemen and sniffer-dogs patrolling around nearby houses and dustbins and the windows of the cathedral being sealed, an alarm put in the practice room and BBC lorries parking outside the cathedral added to the tension.

A newly commissioned piece and lots of pieces new to our eyes were sight-read by us; chairs appeared all over the cathedral; cameras peeked over walls; familiar faces from the cathedral appeared on the television.

enthronement of Dr Rowan Williams

The great day dawned bright and fair –The Dean will have been mightily relieved; the only thing worse than a worried dean is a wet worried dean! To our surprise, the morning singing practice was mercifully relaxed and shorter than we expected! It seemed that everything was on track for a successful day!

The enthronement itself was very exciting. As we processed in it suddenly dawned upon us that this was the ‘Big One’ – the most magnificent and important service in our (or any chorister’s) career. (Although we did have the Royal Maundy last year!) Benches of Bishops, clusters of Canons, vast hordes of vicars –everyone who was anyone was there... or so it seemed. We saw Prince Charles and the Lord Lieutenant of Kent, representing the Queen. Tony Blair was there as well as many other politicians, including the Lord Chancellor and the Speaker of the House of Commons. The Anglican Primates, representatives from all other Christian denominations and other religions processed past us; there were Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, and probably Muslims too. We at last realised just how important throughout the world our Archbishop is.

Dr. Rowan Williams, resplendent in gold cope and mitre, Welsh and English dragons facing one another across his chest, made a dramatic entrance to his cathedral, after hammering three times on the door as we sang Jubilate Deo

The congregation of 2,300 had waited excitedly for this moment and their delight at seeing him was obvious.

The Archbishop was welcomed, the Mandate for his enthronement having been read, he was enthroned twice, once as Archbishop of this diocese and once as Primate of all England. He was given three seats: St. Augustine’s throne, the Cathedra in the Quire and the Prior’s seat in the Chapter House.

All the choristers enjoyed the enthronement hugely, as everything went smoothly, and it was a great experience to be singing on television and in front of such a huge congregation. We enjoyed all the pieces we sang, especially the Festival Te Deum by Benjamin Britten, in which Joe Rawlins starred with a two page long solo. We all thought that Frititi (the African singers and dancers from Brixton) were amazing and it was hard for all the choristers to keep still! (Apparently the choir probationers, in the congregation, couldn’t keep still!)

As we were processing back to St. Andrew’s chapel after the Foundation Ceremony in the Chapter House, we experienced something new, our first ever round of applause in a service, rather than a concert! We noted that most of the people applauding were clergy!

The enthronement will be an experience that none of us choristers will ever forget! (When we are old men we can bore our grandchildren about it!!)

‘...the only thing worse than a worried dean is a wet worried dean!’

Micheal Hawkes is the chorister top left. Photography David Manners.

Recruit a Friend Programme

MUSIC

Theenthronement of an Archbishop is an event which we in Canterbury Cathedral both enjoy and dread at the same time. It is a fabulous occasion, under the eyes and ears of the whole Anglican Communion worldwide. It is a wonderful opportunity to welcome so many guests from home and abroad; a fantastic festival day, but for the Cathedral staff a long period of intense preparation.

For the musicians, a considerable amount depends, of course, on the wishes of the Archbishop himself; on the elements which he particularly wants to have included in his most special and daunting occasion. Then, through much pondering and discussion, a programme of music is devised which, we hope, covers as many of the wishes and requirements as we can.

Such an occasion is an ideal opportunity to commission a new work. Whereas for the Enthronement of Archbishop Carey a new Te Deum was composed by Grayston Ives, for this occasion it was anthem by James Macmillan. As the date, 27th February, was the annual remembrance of George Herbert, the anthem was set to part of his poem To my successor. It was sung as part of the intercessions towards the end of the service and its reflectiveness was well suited to the moment.

The cathedral choir’s other extensive contributions were, firstly, to sing whilst the processions entered (a period, shared with organ music, of 50 minutes) and, secondly to sing Psalm 8 as a gradual between the readings. The hymns are chosen in consultation with the Archbishop and for their particular suitability for the occasion. Such is the acoustic of Canterbury, with nave and quire being quite separate in many ways, that hymns are always tricky to control. This time, at the more informal moment in the service, the exchange of peace, one South African and one Urdu melody were sung. Members of the congregation joined in as they were inclined; some just enjoyed the performance by the choir and our guests, the African drum and dance group Frititi

Since the Archbishop’s worldwide role is so very important, the incorporation of some African dance was an obvious way to demonstrate it during the service. Frititi provided a vigorous, colourful and suit-

ably arresting contribution, just as the Archbishop was greeting his fellow bishops from all parts of the world. It had been my unusual task to find such a group and then to go and work out with them the detail of their performance. Not that I am an expert in African dance!

Our other guests illuminated the Archbishop’s Welsh background. The choir of St Woolos’ Cathedral, Newport, sang a work commissioned for his enthronement as Archbishop of Wales: Come my way, my truth my life by John Sanders. The most unusual element, though, was the performance of a Penillion: a setting for harp and soprano soloist of a poem by Ann Griffiths: two independent musical lines brought together in one piece. A very typically Welsh form, this was performed by two friends of the Archbishop, Rachel Grey and Bethan Walters and they fascinated the congregation, not just in the music but also since this must have been the first time that the Welsh language had been heard at an enthronement in Canterbury.

Television cameras, lights, cables, microphones; police and security officers in considerable number could not detract from the splendour of the occasion. For the choristers, the chance to be TV stars for a few minutes and to perform for HRH the Prince of Wales, the Prime Minister and many members of the Government as well as over 2000 other guests was a huge thrill. To sing at an enthronement gives them something like a membership of an exclusive club, along the lines of singing at a coronation. The memories will live long, as the Cathedral goes on to host many other great occasions. This was the third consecutive enthronement in which I have played a part; they are all, like this one, thrilling times.

Thisissue of CATHEDRAL MUSIC includes a copy of the FCM’s new membership recruitment leaflet with an invitation to members to recruit a friend. The new leaflet is largely based on the results of a marketing survey led by Philip Emerson between September and December last year. 121 people completed questionnaires, representing about 5% of the membership. In addition 59 people participated in 10 focus groups which looked at leaflets used by other charitable organisations. An abridged version of the marketing survey results is being sent to all FCM Diocesan Representatives. By way of encouragement, members who sign up a friend or anyone else for that matter, may be entitled to a free full length CD of cathedral music. New members may also be entitled to this CD, which has been generously sponsored by Priory Records and is a compilation taken from existing Priory choral and organ tracks. The terms and conditions of the offer are explained on a slip inside the leaflet.

Diocesan Representatives Recruitment Prize

At the FCM Council meeting on February 15th it was agreed to award an annual Chairman’s Prize to the Diocesan Representative recruiting the most new members year-on-year. To be as fair as possible to all concerned it was decided to base the award on percent increase rather than absolute numbers, with a lower limit of at least five new members. In addition to the prize, which will probably be a set of three Priory CDs, the Chairman offered to throw in a bottle of champagne. The prize will be awarded at each AGM.

Russell Missin

1922-2002

OBITUARY

Russell Missin was Organist and Master of the Music at Newcastle Cathedral from 1967-1987. For 20 years he maintained a high standard of church music, as well as inspiring a generation of boy choristers and pupils with his enthusiasm, commitment and humour. He held his first organist post at the age of fourteen. After service in the RAF he trained as articled pupil and assistant at Ely Cathedral. He met his wife Muriel, who came to him for singing lessons, and they married in 1961, and had two sons. In 1967 Russell was appointed to Newcastle Cathedral. In 1977 the cathedral school, which provided the boys' choir was forced to close, and he set about recruiting from schools all over the city. Despite the loss of regular daily practice, the choir maintained a full repertoire. His other lasting achievement was overseeing the rebuilding of the ailing cathedral organ resulting in one of the finest instruments in the north of England, completed in 1981. He died peacefully on 28th November after a long illness.

Dr David Flood, Organist and master of the Choristers and CATHEDRAL

Associate Editor recalls his important day.

The Sounds of Cathedral Music in the British Library

by Timothy Day

What has happened to all those old recordings of cathedral choirs and cathedral organs?

Has anyone retained copies of the choir of Westminster Abbey singing Christmas carols before World War I, or the choir at St George’s Chapel Windsor singing Stanford in G, or Wesley’s Ascribe unto the Lord under E.H.Fellowes? Or that pre-war disc of Sir Walter Alcock playing Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 532 at Salisbury? And have any of his famous improvisations been preserved? Or that Anthology of English Church Music sponsored by the British Council and issued by Columbia in the 1950s with Dykes Bower at St Paul’s and Ord at King’s and Andrews at New College, Oxford and Jackson at York? Or even LPs: where can you now hear those Treasury of English Church Music discs that EMI put out to accompany the printed texts of the music in volumes published by the Blandford Press in 1965? Can you hear The Nine

Lessons and Carols from King’s on Christmas Eve in, say, 1958? Or can you hear anywhere more recent history, the first broadcast by the choir girls at Salisbury Cathedral, for example, on the Eve of the Feast of the Annunciation of the BVM in March 1993?

The answer is that you can indeed listen to all these recordings – and to Alcock improvising at the 1937 Coronation – in The British Library, the vast new edifice next to St Pancras Station. The Station, designed by George Gilbert Scott, was opened in 1867; the Library, designed by Sir Colin St John Wilson and created out of the same red-brick and Welsh slate, and the largest publicly funded building constructed last century, was opened by the Queen in 1998. The core of this new Library was formed out of the library departments of the

‘...you can look at the original 1595 part-books of Byrd’s Mass for five voices.’

British Museum. Which means that you can not only listen to English cathedral music being performed, but at the same time you can examine the volumes of Boyce’s Cathedral Music, or you can look at the original 1595 partbooks of Byrd’s Mass for five voices, or at the edition of it prepared by Barclay Squire and R.R.Terry and published in 1899, or at Philip Brett’s 1981 edition, part of the new Byrd Edition. You can turn the pages of Thomas Tudway’s manuscript collection of ‘the most celebrated Services and Anthems used in the Church of England from the Reformation to the Restauration of K.Charles II. Composed by the Best Masters’. Or you can examine the manuscripts of Howells’ Three Rhapsodies for organ op.17, or Tippett’s Plebs angelica, the war-time motet written for Canterbury Cathedral Choir.

The Sound Archive was established in the 1950s as the British Institute of Recorded Sound, and remained an independent Government funded organisation until it became part of the British Library in 1983. There’s not just music in the Sound Archive, but spoken literature and drama, oral history and news and features broadcasts, and the sounds of every imaginable species of wildlife from every corner of the globe, and from the depths of the oceans.

And the music collections include not just classical music but also pop music and jazz and other classical musics like those of India and China for example, and traditional musics from all over the world.

The classical music collections may be divided into three categories: there are commercial discs – 78rpm shellac records, 33 1/3 rpm long-playing discs, and CDs from all over the world. Then there’s broadcast material: access is provided to all the recordings in the BBC’s own Sound Archives and there are a huge number of BBC broadcasts besides these, recorded by the Archive independently of the BBC under special license between the early 1960s and 2000. Then there are donated collections of privately-made recordings such as the Stowkowski collection and the Shura Cherkassky collection, and the discs and tapes assembled by the composers Elisabeth Lutyens and Elizabeth Maconchy of performances of their own music. Bernard Martin, who runs the record company OxRecs Digital, has given a privately-made disc of the music of Bernard Rose made under the composer’s direction with his choir at Magdalen College, Oxford

in 1981. Peter Phillips, the conductor of the Tallis Scholars, recently loaned for copying a series of interviews he recorded with cathedral organists while researching two articles on the state of cathedral music published in Early Music in 1980.

There has never been legal deposit for recordings in this country, as there has been for books since the 18th century. The Archive probably obtains about 85 or 90% of all UK classical releases; the companies are encouraged to donate material by their trade association, the British Phonographic Industry. It buys selectively from abroad as funds allow, acquiring, for example, KOCH INTERNATIONAL’s discs of the Choir of St Thomas’s Church, New York. The collections were built up after the war, essentially by amateur musicians, at a time when the musical

enced by changing ideals.

Many musicians and music-lovers imagine that the BBC have preserved a huge number of their broadcasts. It is indeed a very large number but as a proportion of the whole broadcast output over eight decades it is very small. Until the 1980s a typical BBC contract with a performer stipulated that a recorded programme could be used for one re-transmission and that a new contract would have to be negotiated for any further use of the tape. Contracts were so tightly drawn to protect performers’ interests. But it meant that tapes which could not be re-used immediately were rarely retained. Sometimes extracts were preserved, though even this was very expensive before tape was introduced in the 1950s. Of the Christmas Eve carol services at King’s College, Cambridge that

profession and the universities were largely sceptical about the value of recordings, either for performing artists or for musical historians. The entire collection of shellac 78rpm discs numbering hundreds of thousands has largely been built up by personal donations, for which reason there are still some surprising gaps to be found. In 1995 a small but significant gap was filled when a private collector gave the Archive a Gramophone Company set of discs of ‘Morning Prayer, Church of England’, as they are advertised, sung by the Choir of St Andrew’s, Wells Street and recorded in 1909. This includes what must be the earliest anglican chanting recorded and it’s significant since it gives an idea of 19th century Cathedral Psalter-style delivery untouched by the reforms in chanting which began after the Great War. The next recorded examples, sung by St George’s, Windsor under Fellowes in 1925, must surely have been influ-

Sir David Willcocks directed between 1958 and 1973, for example, only three years appear to have been preserved by the BBC, the services in 1958, 1963 and 1972. Until the British Institute of Recorded Sound began recording most of them in the early 1980s, very few broadcasts of Choral Evensong had been officially preserved.

A distinguished English scholar wondered ten years ago about the early recordings of the ‘fascinatingly terrible, though once esteemed, cathedral and chapel choirs from the first decade or two of the century: why did they sing so horribly?’ It’s certainly true that recordings of cathedral choirs, even from midcentury, can come as something of a shock. Before 1925 the designation ‘choir’ was a misnomer. Until the introduction of the microphone in 1925, it was possible to capture only a few voices. ‘The Choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor’ which made records at ➤

‘...a small but significant gap was filled when a private collector gave the Archive a Gramophone Company set of discs of ‘Morning Prayer, Church of England’, as they are advertised, sung by the Choir of St Andrew’s, Wells Street and recorded in 1909.’

the Gramophone Company’s studios at Hayes in 1924 actually consisted of half a dozen boys with the three lower parts sung by solo men’s voices. Even with electrical recording, which at least made possible the capturing of the full choir in the chapel itself, there were inevitable distortions. Boys’ voices were more difficult to record on both the acoustic and early electrical processes, and this is likely to be the main reason why the balance is always wrong, why the boys sound fainter and more distant than they should. Or than they actually did.

The listener today is struck by the individuality, sometimes the rather unfortunate characterfulness, of the lower voices in these old recordings. This is not necessarily because of the inadequacies or failings of the singers themselves. E.H. Fellowes emphasised that the lay clerks at Windsor in the years he directed the choir were the equal of any in England. For the early electrical recordings, made after 1925, a single microphone was placed a few feet above the singers’ heads, and it was not possible to capture much sense of a building’s acoustic until the development of the longplaying record. These were not performances produced for the micro-

phone; the men phrase and articulate and project as they would have done for a congregation standing 40 or 50 feet or more away from them. And E.H. Fellowes and R.R. Terry and Ernest Bullock might well have wished their singers not to sustain the lines too smoothly, but to give the notes power and strength of attack, allowing the building to play its part in depersonalizing the voices with its resonance, which effect is simply not caught by the microphones of the time.

So recordings, even recent ones, always have to be ‘read’, have to be interpreted, just like any other historical document. Certainly standards everywhere have improved through the influence of broadcasting and recording. A Joint Committee on religious broadcasting of the Convocation of Canterbury considered in 1932 that ‘The medieval rivalry, to which we owe so many of our priceless treasures in craftsmanship in stone and wood, might, in our day, be appealed to in singing, and the wireless be the means of bringing home even to the village that voted that the Earth was flat the possibility of better things.’ That same year Fellowes’ successor as choirmaster at Windsor, Sir Walford Davies, was wel-

coming broadcasting while being under no illusions about the challenges it posed: ‘The microphone is a relentless truth-teller. But it is good to have to stand up to it, because a choir can only do so after untiring teampractice and the most devoted selfeffacement for the sake of the music and its purpose’, he said in an article in The Musical Times . He was equally enthusiastic about recording for the gramophone and equally sure of the beneficial effects it would have in the long run: ‘Is there any church music recording yet in existence that has reached, or (as one may someday hope) begun to reach, or to surpass, Toscanini’s orchestral recording? Does that mean that we cannot reach such a standard? Of course it does not’. As a renowned broadcaster himself, he realised very early that the microphone required different techniques, that singers must cultivate ‘the purest and most conversational tones of which they are capable’. If they sang in their customary manner, it would sound to the listening ear ‘as absurd as it would look to the perceiving eye if actors painted their faces in order to speak with a single fellow-man’, he thought.

An important question which historians of music in performance always have to ask themselves is this: why wouldn’t this tenor of 1928, or this pianist of 1907, or this conductor of 1946 be too impressed with the performances we hear today? Why wouldn’t Fellowes and the singers on that 1927 record of Gibbons’s Hosanna to the Son of David be so admiring of today’s performances of that work by the choir of Christ Church, or King’s, or by The Sixteen, by choirs today which we hold in such high esteem? What we judge roughness in voice production, say, or unforgiveable sloppiness in ensemble may well have been for those musicians and their congregations and the early listeners to this disc an aspect of its expressiveness. Our own meticulous and breath-taking unanimity of attack and careful blending and precision might have struck them simply as too good to be true, as lacking character and personality. Sir Walter Parratt, the choirmaster at Windsor between 1882 and 1924 did not wish to descend from the organ loft and direct the choir, even in unaccompanied repertory. A loss of spontaneity, he felt, would not have been compensated for by a gain in precision in ensemble.

‘Is there any church music recording yet in existence that has reached, or begun to reach, or to surpass, Toscanini’s orchestral recording?’

Nor would excessive smoothness and exquisite ensemble have necessarily been considered desirable. To Terry and his contemporaries the sentimentality and softness of Victorian church music anathema. One of the qualities that Terry and other writers emphasise in this 16th century repertory is its ‘virility’, Terry talks about the ‘strong, virile music of our early English composers.’ In the introduction to the first Tudor Church Music volume the editors draw attention to Taverner’s ‘amazing vitality and virility’. Terry re-calls his last meeting with Philip Heseltine, and remembers him as ‘healthy, tanned and exuberantly high-spirited...virile and splendid.’

Mus Docs, Mus Bacs, English cathedral and collegiate organists in the second half of the 19 th century ‘poured out beautifully correct and blameless harmonies’, Terry laments, ‘nearly all devoid of virility.’

In his History of Music in England of 1907 Ernest Walker discusses Tallis’s Absterge Domine , Salvator mundi , Derelinquet impius , O sacrum convivium and ‘their superbly confident manliness of style’. R.W.Church, the famous historian of the Oxford move-

ment and Dean of St Paul’s in Stainer’s time, frequently used the word ‘manly’. Writing of the High Church school of the 18th century, he pointed out that there was nothing effeminate about it: ‘it was a manly school, distrustful of high-wrought feelings and professions, cultivating self-command and shy of display’. It may not be fanciful to guess that the rather assertive, no-nonsense delivery of these early 20th century lay clerks is deliberately cultivated. Smoothness, blend, homogeneity are the desiderata of later decades and younger singers. Terry, after all, believed that you always should sing the music as though you meant it.

To try and understand a performing style it’s often illuminating to listen to another style which is listened to by admirers and advocates of the first with distaste. In 1922 about 70

singers drawn from Roman choirs which included St Peter of the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel gave two concerts in the Albert Hall. The editor of the Musical Times, Harvey Grace, who was to become the organist and choirmaster at Chichester Cathedral was not impressed: ‘these Vatican youngsters were harmless enough in the soft passages, but when power was required the quality was painfully shrill...(the choirs’) gusty changes from pp to ff, sudden pp’s at points where neither text nor music seem to call for them, an almost entire absence of any degree of power between the extremes of soft and loud, and the trick of ending most works with a long-held whisper, do not appeal to us when applied to the Palestrina school.’ A glimpse of the style on which Grace is commenting may perhaps be had from a ➤

‘In the British Library’s Sound Archive you can listen to George Guest forging new styles at St John’s College in the 1950s.’

recording by the Cappella Sistina of the singing Palestrina’s Sicut cervus in June 1931.

In the British Library’s Sound Archive you can listen to George Guest forging new styles at St John’s College in the 1950s. You can hear the style of the choir more or less as it was when he became organist in 1951 in a recording of Matins made by the BBC for sale to overseas broadcasting organisations in 1953. You can listen to the sounds that inspired him to aim at the cultivation of different timbres, to the sound of the boys at Montserrat Abbey near Barcelona whom he had heard singing Victoria on an HMV recording released in 1953 and also to the Copenhagen Boys’ Choir who had come to the Aldeburgh Festival in 1952 and had then made a recording of Britten’s Ceremony of Carols with the composer conducting released in 1954. You can listen to Dr Guest explaining his aims and the means he used to try and achieve them, striving to give the boys ‘much bigger, more dramatic voices than most’, developing in each boy ‘a range extending over three octaves, from E flat or D below middle C to the G above top C’, and encouraging them when singing top notes not to maintain a relaxed physique but ‘to adopt something of the poise of an all-in wrestler’.

If this huge collection of recordings makes one thing about musical performance plain, it’s that performing styles change, that performing traditions are continually being remade. This realisation, or at least its clear demonstration in actual performances over ten decades, can be liberating for performers, inspiring respect for the endless resourcefulness of succeeding generations of executants, and at the same time encouraging boldness in today’s performing musicians.

Such a collection also provides scholars with incomparable source material for new ways of writing musical history. It may be that it will one day seem very curious that for so long the historians of a performance art were so concerned with texts rather than with the music in actual performance.

Why did these singers cultivate this particular tone quality? Why did their director impose these emphatic rallentandos on the music when none are marked? To what extent is the technology of the time distorting what we hear on this recording? How

many microphones were used? Why were these particular works recorded and not others? What were the contemporary views on these performances? How were these 1960s performing styles greeted when the discs were re-issued in the 1990s? How does this performance on a commercial disc compare with this live broadcast of the same year? Why does the singing style of these lay clerks alter in this way in these two decades? What were the ages of these lay clerks?

A recording will prompt a host of questions and many will necessitate the consultation of other kinds of source material: this Gramophone review; a choir training manual like Sir George Martin’s Choir Boy Training of 1892; a polemical lecture like Francis Pott’s Why Murder the Psalms? of 1903; an archbishop’s view on the essence of the psalms and the need for their presentation in an ‘even and steady and unbroken Recitative’ in The English Psalter of 1923; this recorded interview with Sir David Willcocks; this record company studio session sheet recording; or a cathedral musician’s autobiography like Sir Frederick Bridge’s of 1918, A Westminster Pilgrim: being a record of Service in Church, Cathedral and Abbey, College, University and Concert Room, with a few notes on Sport

The timbre of voices, tone colours, blend, balance, the quality of a crescendo, the particular manner of enunciating consonants, characteristic phrasings and articulations, all such details are components of a musical style which is itself part of a constellation of values, and not just aesthetic ones but also social and spiritual and moral ones.

So the British Library’s Sound Archive should be of interest to all cathedral musicians and all students of the history of cathedral music. And as a pioneer musicologist in this new field pointed out recently, consulting this new source material, listening to recordings, is such a delightful and enjoyable thing to do.

Timothy Day is Curator of Western Art

Music at the Sound Archive of the British Library, and the author of a chapter on’English cathedral music in the twentieth century’ in The Cambridge Companion to Singing edited by John Potter (Cambridge University Press, 2000). Further information about the British Library and its Sound Archive may be found at www.bl.uk

‘...such a collection provides scholars with incomparable source material for new ways of writing musical history.’

Little known, but magnificent

Of all the major cathedrals in England, Peterborough is the most likely to produce the reaction ‘I’ve heard of it, of course, but I’ve never actually been there’. How surprising it is that this magnificent building, undoubtedly one of the greatest Romanesque churches of England, is so little known. Members of the Friends will have the chance to put that right at the summer gathering and AGM 13-15 June and see for themselves – and to experience at first hand the superb restoration, which will by then be largely complete, following the disastrous fire of November 2001.

The monastic foundation dates back as far as a Saxon abbey of the 650’s which was destroyed by the Danes some two centuries later. It was refounded by the Benedictines some time after 950 and rapidly grew in importance so that, when the church was destroyed by fire in 1116, there were sufficient funds to make an almost immediate start on a church of very ambitious dimensions, almost certainly designed by the same man who had recently completed the nave at Durham. As usual, building work started at the east end and, by the time the western end of the nave was being built in the 1180’s, the massive roundarched Romanesque style had largely been overtaken by the pointed arches of Gothic. Unusually, the Abbot of the time felt that it was important to continue in the same style so there is no abrupt change as happened, for example, at St Albans.

By the 1220s, however, his successor had different ideas and decided to add a new west front in the latest Gothic style. The size of the three Gothic arches is bold in the extreme but the result is puzzling, not to say slightly awkward, as the proportions of the exterior do not tally with the nave and aisles behind. There is a spiky feast of pinnacles which does nothing to prepare the visitor for the calm elegance of the great Romanesque interior.

Since the Gothic west front was added,

little has been done to change the building. Larger windows were installed in the 1400’s, giving an unusually well-lit interior, and the retrochoir was added around 1500 (an especially delicate example of late-Perpendicular, designed by the architect of the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge). The Victorians were kind at Peterborough. Very few of the windows received stained-glass, and what is there is mostly of the brightcoloured 1850’s rather than the muddy turn-of-the-century. The major restoration came late (the mid-1880’s) and was undertaken by a particularly sensitive architect (J L Pearson) who did much to conserve the structure without imposing his own character on the building. The splendid ciborium is his, as is what is perhaps the finest decorated floor of that period anywhere in the land. His design for a noble central spire, which would have given this long building a lovely external ‘lift’, was unfortunately never executed.

Perhaps the greatest thrill of the interior, after its sense of immense lightness and space, is the wooden ceiling of the nave, painted around 1230 and, almost unbelievably, still in situ. But only just. The fire of 2001, started one evening by an arsonist on the north side of the crossing using plastic chairs as fuel, was discovered very quickly and doused with skill and bravery by the fire service. Afterwards, the temperature monitors in the roof revealed that the timbers up there had been only a few minutes away from the point when they would have ignited by spontaneous combustion. As it was, the ceiling (which had just been restored after several years of careful work) was covered in an oily residue which has taken a year of painstaking work to remove.

The organ was less fortunate. Built in the early 1890’s by Hill on a very grand scale (the firm had, after all, not long completed the organ for Sydney Town Hall), it received possibly the finest of Arthur Hill’s cases ten years later. Rather needlessly enlarged in the 1920’s (but fortunately without much of the original organ being altered or removed), it was beautifully restored in 1982 by Harrison & Harrison, with the late Michael Gillingham as consultant. It was largely taken back to its original tonal concept and became among the finest and most distinctive of any cathedral organ in the country – but, being Peterborough, is not nearly as well known as it deserves! The fire badly scorched the case, and severely damaged the Choir department which was closest to the source of the fire; the rest, although damaged by the heat and the thick chemical smoke, needs only careful restoration and, after 18 months dismantled in the north triforium, is about to be taken back to Durham with completion anticipated by Christmas 2004.

Like the building and its organ, Peterborough’s choral tradition is not among the best-known in the land. People of my immediate postwar generation will recall with pleasure the ➤

Colin Menzies out and about in Peterborough looks round the cathedral.

time of that great choirmaster and composer Stanley Vann (still alive and in his early 90s) and a pioneering record of the early 1960s featuring the then almost unknown music of Richard Dering and Adrian Batten. For more than 25 years, the music has been in the capable hands of Christopher Gower, currently working with Mark Duthie (assistant director of music with particular responsibility for the girls’ choir) and Oliver Waterer (assistant organist).

The Chapter is determined to ensure that the finances of the music are as

sound as possible. The Dean, the Very Revd. Michael Bunker, points to the fact that the annual expenditure on music as a proportion of the cathedral’s overall income is among the highest in the land. He also believes that the success of the 1996 Appeal, which raised almost £7.5 million, owed much to the regard in which the musical tradition of the cathedral is held both in the city and throughout the far-flung diocese. Of that amount, over £1 million went to a permanent musical endowment. The £30,000 given by FCM in recent years is

much appreciated, not only in financial terms but also as a sign of outside recognition of the desire to maintain high standards at Peterborough.

There are three choirs at Peterborough. The all-male choir consists of 20 boys (plus five probationers) and six lay-clerks (augmented to 12 on some Sundays and major services from among a group of regular supernumeraries). Since 1996, there has also been a girls’ choir which has enabled an increase in the number of sung weekday services – but, to avoid overstretching other resources, one of those is a regular girls’ voices only service. Christopher Gower admits that the recruitment of lay clerks is increasingly a problem in a city which, unusually for its size and regional importance, has no university or comparable tertiary institution.

Saturday evensong is not generally sung by either of those choirs, but most frequently by the cathedral’s own voluntary choir which is effectively the third part of the choral set-up at Peterborough: it also does a great deal of gap-filling during the holidays.

There is no choir school as such. Boys over the age of 11, and the girls throughout, are educated at the King’s School,

Makin Organssetting the tone at Peterborough Cathedral

In November 2001, Peterborough Cathedral suffered a devastating blow when fire rendered their famous Hill/Harrison pipe organ unplayable. Makin Organs quickly answered the emergency call to supply an organ capable of accompanying Cathedral services. Christopher Gower, Organist and Master of the Choristors says, “Immediately following the fire we were very quickly supplied with an organ which proved to be a very effective accompanimental instrument for all the Christmas services. Its larger replacement, which we will retain for at least two years, has a wide variety of distinctive registers and is more than capable of supporting the singing of a large congregation in the nave.”

For details about Makin Church Organs and a FREE demonstration CD call 01706 888100

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MAKIN ORGANS CHURCH ORGAN BUILDERS

Peterborough Cathedral

‘He also believes that the success of the 1996 Appeal, which raised almost £7.5 million, owed much to the regard in which the musical tradition of the cathedral is held both in the city and throughout the far-flung diocese.’

founded by Henry VIII in 1541 at the same time as the former abbey church became the cathedral of the new diocese he had created. The younger boys are educated at Peterborough High School. Unfortunately neither site is readily walkable from the cathedral, so the choristers have to be fetched and carried in mini-buses. A recent and very valuable addition to the musical resources is the allocation to the Music Department of Laurel Court, an attractive early-Georgian house only yards from the south transept. Not only does it provide space for practice rooms and the library but it also has some recreational space and provides a much-needed physical point of focus for the choirs. This has helped the Canon Precentor (Bill Croft) and the Canon Pastor (Stephen Cottrell) to expand their existing pastoral and supportive ministry to the entire musical establishment which has been a factor in so many of the singers remaining worshippers at the cathedral when their choral participation has ended. Beyond Laurel Court is the attractive jumble of buildingssome adapted from former monastic use, others Georgian or Victorian (and even one by Lutyens) - which formed the evocative setting for the close at Barchester in the delightful television series of some years ago.

Touring is not a major part of the Peterborough routine: the boys went to New Hampshire in 1998, and are going to Bourges in France this year, while the girls went to Belgium in 2000 and a tour to Poland is on the stocks for them later this year.

Cathedral in Peril

A c collection o of t the w world s best-lloved c church m music recorded b by Peterborough Cathedral C Choir directed b by Christopher G Gower re-rreleased i in a aid o of t the Cathedral E Emergency A Appeal following t the d disastrous f fire on 2 22nd N November 2 2001

Jerusalem • • J Jesu j joy o of m man's d desiring • • H Hallelujah C Chorus

Panis A Angelicus • • T Trumpet V Voluntary • • J Jesus C Christ i is r risen t today God b be i in m my h head • • C Crimond ( (The L Lord s m my s shepherd)

I w waited f for t the L Lord • • A Abide w with m me • • W Widor’s T Toccata

Hear m my p prayer ( (O f for t the w wings o of a d dove)

Dear L Lord a and F Father o of m mankind • • A Ave M Maria • • T Thine b be t the g glory Nimrod • • T The d day t thou g gavest • • C Close t thine e eyes

The Cathedral organ – one of the finest in the country –was seriously damaged by the fire and now lies silent. This fine recording, originally made in 1996, is re-released in aid of the Emergency Appeal, and profits from its sale will be used to restore the organ to its former glory. By buying this CD you will bring nearer the time when the organ’s glorious sound will once more fill this great Cathedral.

The Peterborough Cathedral

More important in many ways is the annual Festival with the neighbouring cathedrals of Ely and Norwich, which will this year be in Peterborough and coincides with the FCM gathering.

If the fire has understandably dominated the life of the cathedral for the past year-and-a-half, it has not in any way diminished the worship or the musical activities. The only service not to have taken place in the cathedral was the early Eucharist the morning after the fire, and only one sung service was lost in the entire post-fire period.

It would have been understandable if, after successfully raising many millions of pounds in the late 1990s, the Cathedral Chapter had been daunted at the prospect of raising another £1.5 million to augment the insurance settlement. Not a bit of it: the challenges have been met with vigour and enthusiasm and Christopher Gower is looking forward to the completion of the organ project which may include one or two points dropped from the 1980 overhaul (notably the possible resiting of the Choir organ). When I visited in January 2003, only the north transept was in use, the nave and chancel being filled with scaffolding. By Easter, most of the interior should be back to normal. By the time of the FCM visit, the cathedral will be largely restored and this wonderful building will be looking at its best for our many members who have never quite got round to visiting it before.

ORDER FORM

The Peterborough Cathedral Trust

Details on the Peterbrough gathering from Peter Smith Paddock House, Orchard View, Skelton York YO30 1YQ PeterSmith@robertpeter.fsnet.co.uk

‘Christopher Gower is looking forward to the completion of the organ project.’

40 Years On

There can be few reading this who remain unaware that the choir of Guildford Cathedral was established in 1961. Our relative youth leads many to imagine that little can have changed since that time. After all, you may be thinking, it’s only 40 years. This is wishful thinking on an epic scale.

All of those currently at the ‘sharp end’ of cathedral music know that recent years have seen enormous changes to the broader educational and social context within which cathedral choirs operate. In particular, there has been a fundamental shift in people’s attitudes to children, and in their assessment of the demands it is reasonable to make on them. Academic pressure now comes at a far earlier age. As a consequence, the recruitment of boy choristers, in particular, has become a far more difficult thing than it ever was. But there is still considerable interest in what we have to offer, and I am convinced that many parents are still keen for their children to have the ‘chorister experience’. The challenge we have to meet is that far fewer are prepared to sacrifice their family life to achieve it – and, we might well ask, why should they? There is little to be achieved by hand-wringing; if we are to survive at all we must work in the world as it is, and what follows here is an account of the way in which we, in Guildford, reviewed our system in an attempt to come to terms with changing circumstance.

Like most cathedrals, Guildford in the 1990s was using a system that in its essen-

Guildford Cathedral Organist Stephen Farr writes about recruitment.

tials had remained more or less unchanged for decades. Choristers (all day boys) were recruited on a relatively informal basis from within Lanesborough, the choir school, after passing the usual academic entrance tests. During school terms the boys rehearsed on four mornings a week, and sang three Evensongs. On Saturday afternoon, about 90 minutes of chorister and full rehearsal preceded Evensong at 4.00pm, while Sundays involved the singing of Eucharist, Mattins and Evensong at 9.45am, 11.30am and 6.30pm respectively, with an hour of rehearsal before the evening service. Special timetables were arranged for the Christmas and Easter periods if they fell in school holidays.

This was by any measure a challenging timetable, especially so for families with several young children and/or with long journeys each day. There is no doubt that this routine had been viable in the past, but similarly there is no doubt that by the mid 1990s, with fewer families every year willing to commit the required amount of time to the choir, things were not as they should be in terms of recruitment. This was not a straightforward matter of publicity. Lanesborough (the choir school) has always had plenty of musically capable boys making applications to enter the school; the problem for the cathedral was persuading families to consider a chorister place as the obvious next stage.

After one notably dispiriting recruitment round – all but one of the seven families to whom we offered probationer

places declined, and the choir ran for a year or two on only 11 or 12 boys, rather than the normal 17 or 18 – it was clear that the assumptions that were made at the choir’s foundation had to be revisited. We found only a limited range of options for change open to us. Our priority was to explore every method possible to enable the timetable of services to continue unaltered, so we first considered ‘widening the net’ by recruiting choristers from more than one school. Unfortunately, there is no other suitable school anywhere near the cathedral, and transport problems are often considerable for the boys we have now, given the increase in traffic congestion since the 1960s; furthermore, the school and cathedral are about two miles apart on opposite sides of town. Given all this, there was no conceivable way of arranging rehearsals to suit two or more different school timetables; and in any case, parents were clearly finding our demands unpalatable. The obvious step, therefore, was to work forward from the degree of commitment which people were willing to offer us – still very considerable, it must be said – and to set our sights accordingly. (I should say now that the Dean and Chapter were unfailingly supportive of the process that followed).

As a first step, we discussed with numerous individual families specifically what had dissuaded them from accepting the place we offered. The unanimous response was that the choir could not easily be combined with family life. Our existing arrangements meant that the boys were in essence working a seven-day week, with huge amounts of added travel and late night homework thrown in as a consequence; when were they supposed to see their families, or spend time with friends? It did not take long for us to reach the conclusion that we should release the boys from some of their duties, and we quickly settled on

‘Our existing arrangements meant that the boys were in essence working a seven-day week.’

Saturday Evensong. In making this decision, we had to accept that in some circles we could not win. Some criticised us for ‘diluting’ the tradition here, and from a safe distance advised us to lecture parents the more eagerly about the reasonableness of our requirements. These were doubtless the same people who would have been voluble in their criticism if we had changed nothing and crossed our fingers while the choir slowly expired on its feet. But in general, we found that those connected with the choir and those in the congregation accepted

and supported the need for change. The benefits have undoubtedly far outweighed the disadvantages. We have experienced a renaissance in interest from families; the boys are less tired by the end of the weekend; their parents are (even) more supportive and positive, feeling quite correctly that we have the boys’ interests at heart and not just our own. The boys themselves have enjoyed increased availability for sports fixtures – after all, they are still children, and not full time professional musicians – and they have more free social time with families and friends. In

the broader context of cathedral life, Saturdays are now more frequently available for visiting choirs and for concerts by outside bodies, which has helped to make the cathedral more accessible to a wider community. These changes have come in the context of many other new initiatives and projects connected with the music here; we have recently established a girls’ choir, for example, which has given us a wider range of options in planning our musical activities and enables a far more flexible use of resources. Although we still have to deal with the increasing incidence of early voice change and its effect on older chorister numbers, the general picture has been very encouraging.

Change is never easy – least of all in a new Anglican cathedral, where traditions are guarded all the more jealously because they are new. I am not advocating that every foundation should follow our path, and those institutions that find themselves able to maintain the full programme of weekend services should be congratulated on their good fortune. But those that are finding the going hard may wish to revisit their arrangements as we did, if only to conclude that all is working as it should.

HARRISON & HARRISON are FRIENDSOF CATHEDRALMUSIC

Our recent work has included:

LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL

Restoration and reconstruction of Hill organ with addition of thirteen-stop nave division.

Opening recital by Andrew Lumsden October 2000

ST DAVIDS CATHEDRAL

New organ of 54 stops based on Father Willis pipework.

Opening recital by Roy Massey November 2000

RIPON CATHEDRAL, new mobile nave console.

Opening recital by Kerry Beaumont January 2001

ELY CATHEDRAL

Restoration of H&H organ, with eight new stops.

Opening recital by Wayne Marshall March 2001

EXETER CATHEDRAL. Selective overhaul, and new 32ft reed installed; Minstrel Organ forthcoming.

ST GEORGE’S CHAPEL, WINDSOR CASTLE

Clean and overhaul now complete.

PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL

Organ dismantled following the fire; reinstallation 2004

HARRISON & HARRISON

ST JOHN’S ROAD, MEADOWFIELD, DURHAM DH7 8YH

Telephone 0191 378 2222Fax 0191 378 3388

e-mail h.h@btinternet.com www.harrison-organs.co.uk

Photograph by C.R.A. Davies

What or who inspired you to take up the organ?

I grew up in the diocese of Salisbury and used to visit the Cathedral there whenever I could (and still do). The combination of Richard Seal in front of the choir, and Colin Walsh at the organ, was a coming together of two very great talents which inspired me greatly.

What is your favourite organ to play?

I have been very fortunate in my career, so far, in working at cathedrals which house some of the finest instruments in the land. The Harrison organ of Westminster Abbey, the Father Willis instruments at Truro and Lincoln and now on to the renowned T.C. Lewis organ at Ripon. Of course, they all have their own personalities but, it was often said of John DykesBower that after he had left Truro, if anyone mentioned the Truro organ to him his eyes would begin to water. That is an emotion which I understand and share.

What is your favourite building?

I mentioned earlier about having grown up in the Salisbury diocese and no other cathedral does it for me quite like Salisbury. As a small boy I would kneel on the back seat of the car, as we drove through the city, until the cathedral had disappeared from view and, years on, that first glimpse still blows me away. And as for the organ......…

Simon Morley, 38, has been appointed as Director of Music at Ripon Cathedral.

Here he talks to CATHEDRAL MUSIC about his passions.

So what music inspires you? Do you have favourite anthem or set of canticles? It is always difficult to try and choose any one set of canticles or an anthem but the settings of Herbert Howells have to be, for me, the pinnacle of them all. Howells always seems to keep one eye on the eternal and one can often obtain real glimpses of heaven through his music.

And a favourite organ piece?

Again, I am not sure that I have one favourite organ piece. There is so much high quality music for the organ. I don't know whether this is the moment to mention the art of improvisation, which I am very interested in and at which, of course, the French excel. I think the recordings of Pierre Cochereau have been an enormous inspiration to me and to spend time in France, especially over a weekend hearing it done, is wonderful.

And what about a composer?

You have to go a long way to beat the melodies, harmony and orchestration of Rachmaninov. I think all of the above is probably portraying me as a bit of a romantic which I suppose I am.

What do you like on television or radio?

There is a Saturday morning radio programme in America called Car Talk which is run by two brothers who give advice to people who ring in with problems regarding their cars and so on. It is hilariously funny but sadly, of course,

you have to be in the States to hear it although I think it may be available now on CD.

(For those surfers among CM readers try www.cartalk.cars.com)

for newspapers and magazines: Daily Telegraph and What Car?

Does any outstanding event or recital memory stay with you?

I have been the organist at two Royal Maundy services, the first in Truro and then at Lincoln and was presented to the Queen afterwards. There were also, the two Enthronement services of the Bishops of Truro and Lincoln and the Holy Week and Easter services are always particularly moving. Thrilling as the big occasions are, sometimes a weekday evensong with only a handful of people present, can be very memorable, with the building in semi darkness as we offer the Opus Dei

So what is the first thing to be done in Ripon?

Let the removal man in and pour a large barcardi and coke (for me).

What was the last CD you bought?

Classic Sinatra. I find it important to listen to other types of music and Come fly with me is an all time great. I play it in the car and as the music gets louder, the car seems to go faster.

Do you have any time for hobbies?

I love flying and was fortunate enough to be able to fly to New York on Concorde a few months ago.

Having studied at Trinity College of Music , London, Simon became Organ Scholar of Westminster Abbey in 1988, going on to become Assistant Organist of Truro Cathedral from 1990-2000. Since 2000 he has been Assistant Organist of Lincoln Cathedral.

‘Howells always seems to keep one eye on the eternal and one can often obtain real glimpses of heaven through his music.’

Richard Osmond rounds up the news from DRs

inQuire Centenaries and Festivals

I make no apology for starting with a parish church this time. I am grateful to Ian Harrison, Organist of St. Stephen’s Bournemouth, for sending me details of their May Festival, which this year marks the centenary of the birth of Percy Whitlock (died 1946). The name alone would justify inclusion in this journal, but the programme (3rd - 5th May) includes performances by the Chichester Cathedral Choir, a recital by Graham Barber, and performances of Whitlock’s Solemn Te Deum (Sunday evening), Francis Jackson’s 5th Organ Sonata (first performance by the composer) and the first performance of a festival commission Missa Whitlockiensis by Anthony Caesar (Saturday at 10.45, Festival High Mass). Further information from the Church’s website; www.ststephensbournemouth.org or telephone (01202) 485664. For once, (goodness only knows how!) getting onto someone else’s mailing list has been highly beneficial!

There is at least one other notable centenary this year, the birth of Sir Lennox Berkeley. Both he and Whitlock will feature in this year’s Southern Cathedrals Festival (Salisbury, 17th - 20th July). The Festival will also feature music by Bax and Jongen (both died 1953). Importantly, I understand that 2003 is the centenary of the first SCF, (though this did not amount to much more than an annual joint Evensong until 1932 (war years apart)). Next year will see the 40th anniversary of something like the present format (directed in 1964 by Christopher Dearnley).

Other SCF highlights will be a commission from Barry Ferguson and a performance of the MissaSarisburiensis by Francis Jackson.

Other news from Salisbury mainly concerns what was obviously a highly successful FCM Gathering on 25th January, with over 100 Friends present, from as far away as Cornwall, Devon,

Gloucester, Staffordshire, Sussex, Somerset and Oxfordshire. The all-day meeting began with Eucharist celebrated by the Bishop of Salisbury, followed by a fascinating short demonstration of the girl choristers in rehearsal under Simon Lole, preparing the music for the following day’s Eucharist, (psalm, motet by Villette). My correspondent comments in particular that members were ‘struck with the attention to detail and the aim to seek perfection in the singing of praises to God’. Professor Peter Toyne, FCM’s Chairman gave a talk on his vision for the future of cathedral music and the role of FCM. As a consequence, ten new members were recruited by the end of the day. The Bishop then spoke on Musical Wallpaper; is there more to worship than this? Both sound like potential fuller articles here (editor please note). Canticles and anthem at Evensong were both by Harwood.

Next year’s gathering is planned for Saturday 31st January 2004, commencing at 2.00pm. Sounds like something not to be missed.

News from Winchester is mainly of travels, to Florence 23rd - 25th March, (a cathedral with which Winchester has particular links), and to the Early Music Festival in Göttingen, (late May/early June).

In March, Sarah Baldock, assistant director of music, won second place in the prestigious Dallas International Organ Competition, against competitors from all over the world (the ‘local boy’ came first).

In the absence of the Precentor (Canon Charles Stewart) on sabbatical this term, his predecessor, the Revd Roger Job has been making a welcome reappearance as acting precentor. The death is reported with regret of Dr. John Patton, for many years a resident of Winchester and almost a ‘fixture’ at Evensong. He will be widely remembered and appreciated as editor of A Century of Cathedral Music 1898 - 1998

inQuire

He died on 17th September 2002. There are plans for an FCM Diocesan Gathering on Saturday 11th October of this year.

I was reflecting recently that a recent visit to one of our cathedrals had revealed temporary portaloos entitled The Occasional Offices and that some other such might perhaps be revived. The Cathedral Prayer Book, edited in part by Stainer, provides a choral setting of The Churching of Women – an experience, as one precentor put it to me recently, for which most of us are still waiting. A Choral Commination might reasonably describe parts of my postbag (‘cursed is he that removeth his cathedral’s organist …’).

More Twinning

Twinning seems the order of the day. Peterborough will be visiting their French partners in Bourges in May, which they have not done since 1980. Bishop and choir will take part in the Sunday Song Mass. Chapter and choir at Peterborough look forward to welcoming FCM members for the AGM and Summer Gathering during the weekend of 13th - 15th June. It is hoped that most of the scaffolding which has filled the building during the period of post-fire cleaning will be gone by Easter, leaving the building and furnishings in splendid condition. Evensong following the AGM on Saturday 14th will be sung by the combined men and boys of Peterborough, Ely and Norwich, and include no less than three anthems. Evensong on the Friday will be sung by the girls and men of Peterborough and the Sunday services by Peterborough’s boys and men. Our Secretary for Gatherings has arranged a full programme for the weekend (see page 4 for Peter Smith’s details, if you are not already on the mailing list for gatherings).

It is good to receive a despatch from Derby, where the new joint Diocesan Representative, Graham Peel, has sent in an update. Peter Gould can now ➤

look back on 20 years as Master of the Music. He regards as his proudest achievements the creation of a boys’ top line in 1983, and then in 1997 the introduction of an independent girls’ top line. Musically, the last 12 months at Derby have been particularly busy, since 2002 saw the 75th Anniversary of the Cathedral’s hallowing in 1927. Among the many special services, three were marked by specially commissioned music from Malcolm Archer, Richard Shephard and Jonathan Willcocks. Peter, whose position is now full-time, says he cannot remember a time when the Choir was singing at a better sustained standard. The highlights for him were the broadcast Evensong in September and the Choir trip to Italy. In March 2003, the Dean of Derby, the Very Revd Michael Perham, became an Honorary Fellow of the RSCM. Other events this year will be choir trips to Osnabrück and Portsmouth, and the eagerly awaited completion of work on Derby Cathedral’s new Visitor Centre. On 27th September, there will be an FCM Gathering at the Cathedral, lasting through the afternoon and evening, when, following Evensong, members will be invited to a concert given by the Choir.

Vice-President Tony Harvey writes to give us an update on events at Lincoln. Colin Walsh becomes Organist Laureate. Aric Prentice combines the post of Director of Music and Organist and Master of the Choristers with that of Director of Music at Lincoln Minster School. Charles Harrison, a former chorister at Southwell Minster and latterly Organist of St. George’s Church, Belfast, replaces Simon Morley as Assistant Organist as he moves to Ripon Cathedral as Organist, in succession to Kerry Beaumont, who resigned last year. FCM’s first Ronald Sibthorp Chorister, Richard Lynch (12) is now a coveted Copeboy. He is regarded as an excellent team leader, whose dedication and enthusiasm are infectious.

St. Albans bade farewell, on Christmas Day, to Tony Edwards, who had been a tenor lay clerk for over 30 years (your columnist has to declare an interest having been best man at Tony’s wedding to Sally, solemnised by Robert Runcie when Bishop of St. Albans).

The Quire of Exeter Cathedral was full (extra chairs brought in!) on Saturday 1st February for a candle-lit Concert of Music for Epiphany and Candlemas. The audience listened in

rapt silence to an opening sequence of polyphonic pieces, with the girls and men singing Victoria, Byrd and Handl before the High Altar. The boys responded from their Choir Stalls with a Tomkins anthem and a sublime performance of Parsons’s Ave Maria Mozart’s rarely performed and tuneful Te Deum in C suited the girls’ voices admirably. Sadly, there was no CCTV to reveal just how Andrew Millington and Paul Morgan disposed their hands and feet (without coming to blows!) for Samuel Wesley’s lively Duet for Organ

The centrepiece of the programme, Britten’s Ode to St. Cecilia brought all fifty voices together for the first time in a glorious performance, with spinetingling scherzo and exciting climaxes in which boys and girls voices blended effortlessly. After Mulet’s Carillon Sortie had demonstrated the recently refurbished organ to great effect, the boys and men moved outside the golden gates into the nave to perform (unseen) three of Poulenc’s Motets for the Christmas Season. The effect was magical, with superb tuning and dynamic range. Then all voices united again in powerfully sung eight-part favourites, Holst’s Nunc Dimittis and

Walton’s Jubilate. The audience’s response was generous and prolonged. FCM members were left looking forward to a memorable national gathering in March, featuring music by S S Wesley (with a procession to his grave) and the participation of the cathedral choir of Gloucester (where SSW was also cathedral organist). The girls’ choir will visit Belgium in July.

Tuning In

Radio 4 reported (You and Yours on 30th January 2003) from Truro where ‘new Government money’ has helped to fund an Outreach scheme to encourage singing in outlying primary schools. The cathedral choir sends staff and choristers to share their expertise with interested schools, most of which do not have their own music specialists, nor even a teacher able to play the piano. These visits have led to the formation of a Cornwall Junior Choir, with fixtures planned at Tate St. Ives and Truro Cathedral, whose chorister recruitment may also benefit. Similar schemes are apparently under consideration at Westminster Cathedral, St. Paul’s, Lichfield, Hereford and Ampleforth.

inQuire

On the following day during some broadcast feedback, the producer of Choral Evensong is reported as admitting that some ‘smoothing of the sound’ took place to assist those listeners simultaneously engaged in household tasks. I gather that the response of some FCM members was unprintable (in this column, anyway!)

Southwark Cathedral Choir attracted large numbers both to its annual Advent and Christmas Carol Services and to their annual December concert to raise money for their tour fund (despite the absence of Handel’s Messiah from the programme). Plans for forthcoming tours include Paris and environs this summer, and an ambitious plan to visit the Antipodes in 2004. The Southwark Girls’ Choir, which visited Bergen in Norway (Southwark’s twin) in the autumn of 2002 is attracting its own backers, one of whom is enabling them to visit Prague this Easter. BBC Radio 3’s Choral Evensong came to Southwark on 15th January, which afforded the Choir the honour of singing Psalm 78 (note: do choirs still compare notes on how long they take to sing these 73 verses? It’s got faster here lately!)

Southwark also hosted the service broadcast on 12th February as a memorial to those killed in the Bali bomb blast. Towards the end of last year Archbishop Carey’s last consecration took place: Thursday 17th October was an emotional occasion for all concerned.

Despite having no choir school of their own, Southwark’s trebles continue to rival the front lines of other London cathedrals. One of the leading trebles was recently selected to perform in a forthcoming production of Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Shakespeare, whose borough Southwark was, would surely have snapped him up for one of his own company of Roaring Boys.

Yorkshire Blows its own (Jubilee) Trumpet

Leeds Parish Church reports a traditionally actionpacked programme of autumn and Christmas events, starting with the Friends of the Music Festival on Michaelmas Day, with Bristol’s Canon Brendan Clover as guest preacher. At the service the new Jubilee Trumpet on the organ was dedicated. This was provided by the Friends of LPC from the generous legacy of Melville Cook. Rutter’s Requiem with the chamber version accompaniment was ➤

Sir Thomas Allen; Peter Hurford; Susan Gritton,Stephen Roberts, City of London Sinfonia,St Albans Bach Choir; Choirs of Westminster Cathedral,Southwell Minster and St Albans Cathedral; The King’s Consort with Robert King, Lorna Anderson and James O’Donnell; BBC Radio Big Band with Barbara Dennerlein; Bach Choir of Bethlehem and Bach Festival Orchestra from the USA

International Organ Competitions Jury David Briggs (UK),Hans Fagius (Sweden), David Higgs (USA),Thomas Trotter (UK) and Ben van Oosten (Netherlands)

Principal

Sponsor:

sung liturgically at All Souls’ Tide while the Fauré setting featured on the evening of Remembrance Sunday. Soloists for both were drawn from the treble line, Simon Barker and James Brown (Simon gaining a Merit in Grade VIII Singing at the end of the autumn term – one of a clutch of excellent exam results over the past year).

The LPC Boys and men were joined by their counterparts from Ripon for a special recital directed by Andrew Bryden and accompanied by Simon Lindley in the glorious Chapel at Rudding Park, near Harrogate, presented and sponsored by the bankers Coutts & Co. Coutts made generous donations to the appeals of both choral foundations.

The full foundation appeared again at Leeds Town Hall for the first Monday lunchtime concert of December, in collaboration with the Choir of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Leeds, a partnership widely acclaimed not just musically but also ecumenically.

LPC’s own vocal resources have again been regularly enhanced by the greatly appreciated input of St. Peter’s Chamber Players. Christmas Midnight Mass featured Schubert in G with the top line provided by the girls and members of St. Peter’s Singers. The Epiphany Eucharist by the men and boys drew a good congregation to the Mass K192. Carol services included tributes to the former FCM President, the late Dr. George Guest.

Future plans include a complete St. Matthew Passion in English on the last Sunday in March and the 2003 Yorkshire Three Choirs Festival (at Leeds) in October. The progress of the Choral Foundation Appeal has been encouraging, with promises and pledges over one-fifth of the way towards the £500,000 target. A nomadic display and an appeal website generously sponsored by Leeds business concerns are both under development.

A special choral event on the afternoon of 17th May sees the LPC foundation joined by the Choir of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, under Ian Curror, including Evensong (3pm) followed by a short recital by the Chelsea Choir. Visits to the Royal Hospital have been a regular feature of LPC tours recently and this return match is eagerly awaited. Full details are available from March.

News of three Cambridge Colleges

20th June

Jesus

College

The CD of Carols was out in time for Christmas and has been well received. Both the Chapel Choir and the Mixed Choir have each recorded a Choral Evensong featuring English composers of the last century, and encompassing the whole Evensong ‘experience’, starting with the ringing of the Chapel bell. The CD will be on the Regent label and is due out for Easter.

Meanwhile, a repertoire of anthems for treble voices is growing steadily and these will feature in future services, concerts and recordings. At Epiphany, the Choir sang a Eucharist and an Evensong at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, where their director, Timothy Byram-Wigfield, was previously organist. It is hoped that such visits, made while the university is out of term, will become a tradition at Epiphany-tide.

The combined choirs gave a concert of church music by Ralph Vaughan Williams on 19th March. At Easter the Mixed Choir will sing in Poitiers (France), visiting the shrine of the College’s Saint, Radegund.

St. John’s St. John’s is preparing to say goodbye to Christopher Robinson, who retires this summer after serving as College Organist since 1991. My man in Cambridge reports that the Commemoration service for our late President Dr. George Guest will take place in St. John’s Chapel on Saturday 3rd May at 12.00pm. The Choir continues to record for Naxos; composers to be featured this year are Elgar and Lennox Berkeley.

Kings

Forthcoming events notified are:

Holy Saturday (19th April)

St. Matthew Passion in the College Chapel with the Academy of Ancient Music (Box Office: 01223 331212).

29th May

St. Thomas Leipzig (as part of the St. Thomas Festival), music by Purcell, Handel and Bach, again with the AAM.

9th June

Spitalfields Festival, London. Rachmaninov, ‘Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom’.

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, music by Janacek, Kodaly, Britten, Ives and Berstein.

First Things Last

The current year in Canterbury has been coloured by the loss of one Archbishop and the arrival of his successor. Archbishop Carey, as all his predecessors, was a stalwart supporter of the Cathedral musicians, a great entertainer of the choristers at Christmas and a good friend to all the community. The cathedral choir was delighted to be able to play a part in the ceremonies which marked the end of his time at Canterbury. Preparations for the Enthronement of Archbishop Williams are well advanced at the time of going to press and will be old news by the time CM hits the streets (or pews!). A new anthem has been commissioned from James Macmillan and will take its place in a service full of traditional music, but also with some unusual colour. The cathedral choir will naturally play a central role in the service, which is being broadcast worldwide.

The Choir has toured briefly in nearby Europe, notably to its twin city of Reims, and is visiting the Netherlands and Germany early in 2003.

The cathedral community was delighted in 2002 to celebrate the conferment of the honorary degree of Doctor of Music by the University of Kent on David Flood, while 2003 will see further festivities for the 80 th birthday of his predecessor, Dr. Allan Wicks (see page 45 for Dr Flood’s birthday interview with Allan). Our Canterbury correspondent’s report concludes with the words: ‘The musical foundation continues to flourish and visitors or pilgrims in their thousands are thrilled by the daily offering’.

Enough said.

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Allan Wicks celebrates his 80th birthday this year. CATHEDRAL MUSIC sent Associate Editor and Master of the Choristers at Canterbury Cathedral David Flood to interview his predecessor.

A Unique Experience

DF I know from good experience that you have some wonderful stories, but what do you think were the most momentous points of your career?

AW Well, my first impulse is to say: Friday nights, in the cathedral, at 5.30, singing Evensong, unaccompanied, and in February maybe with probably only about four people there. I always thought that those were amongst the most magical moments and I never quite got over feeling that. In fact, I never got over walking into the Quire, let alone Evensong, but obviously there were very exciting things that happened as well. I suppose one has to say that when a Pope first puts his foot in the cathedral, and in fact on English soil; that’s the sort of thing that doesn’t often happen in somebody’s lifetime. And although the reception he got from the congregation was so terrific, the music we had so carefully rehearsed was completely washed out by the congregation loudly applauding His Holiness!

I had to encourage the forces to keep going in spite of that fact, but it didn’t alter what was a most wonderful occasion. I could think of some others: the Maundy services, which were really wonderful occasions. But, you know, the life of the cathedral doesn’t really depend upon that sort of thing. You’ve got the high points and so on, but the music makers in cathedrals have high points all the time. There aren’t many days on which the music is so pedestrian that you yawn and in fact I don’t remember.

DF I’d like you to think back to early days now, to when you were in York or

Manchester, times about which I know very little.

AW Yes, I went to York of course terribly green because I’d only been an organ scholar and then off to India during World War II. When I came back, not only was I green, I couldn’t play, I hadn’t played for years. I couldn’t play in India because there was nothing to play on, and what’s more I was not allowed to tell the Juhans (I was in an Indian regiment) I was a musician in civvy life because musicians are the lowest caste in India. I found myself working for one of the greatest organists of his era (and still is), a musician absolutely through and through. So it was really quite terrifying and the first two years are certainly a bit of a blur because I spent so many hours practising, in order not to disgrace myself the following day. But there were great things at York because we had a dean there who was very, very good at putting on fine services and making sure they were all watertight and that there were going to be no hiccups or anything like that. I have to be honest and say that although I prefer Canterbury to York as a building, nevertheless the nave at York is quite something: I remember carol services in the nave and the sound of the choir at the far end (I was the in the organ loft) was an annual thrill.

And then, Manchester – huge contrast, rather a dry acoustic, quite a small cathedral with a magnificent organ. It was a time when I was probably closer to the adults in the choir than I had ever been or was to be. They

were an excellent lot, all very good singers and all practically musicians in their professional life as well. To give you an example, if you were rehearsing something and you made a very small point, then you’d see at least one or two faces giving that sort of look which means ‘you’re on the right track, boy!’ It was always very encouraging.

DF Think about some of the funniest stories!

AW Well, the first comic one – it wasn’t really funny, it was comic – was at York, because the Dean of York was a huge expert in stained glass and he spent years restoring the glass after two world wars had caused damage. As he said, “I’m constantly finding St John’s head in Abraham’s beard!” When finally the great east window was finished, we had a service of celebration. The Dean said he would very much like to have a little moment of theatre and would I organise four people to go up onto the window at the very top and sing a very short motet at a given signal. I went up, and it was very high, there was no safety rail and the Dean and Chapter would undoubtedly have been penalised thousands of pounds if anyone fell down, but up they went. The Dean was talking in his inimitable voice about ‘Glazier Lazenby’ and then at the given point somebody shone a torch – blink, blink, and they sang Cantate Domino, and afterwards the Dean came down and blessed us all, and said “The window spoke with a voice of its own!” Marvellous! It was fantastic and we all stood there giggling inwardly and thinking what a great chap he was! ➤

DF Then you had things in Canterbury. I’ve heard tell of when you had to do the recording for the Cathedral Appeal, and you had to go to London and rehearse with Vera Lynn?

AW Yes. That was an amazing thing. What happened was that these famous show-business people recorded a carol with piano accompaniment. We then went up to the recording studio in London and they re-hashed the voices without the piano, played it back to us and then we sang. Well, Dame Vera Lynn was singing one song and of course I was all prepared for that. I knew we wouldn’t have any problems over the top line, because she was going to do it. Well she was, but she did it in the tenor register, because by then her voice had slipped! So we suddenly had to reverse everything in order to accommodate her tune in the tenor part, and on the spot too.

I wish that I had been a bit cleverer at reading up the research that was going on in Tudor and early music. And I wish that I had organised myself in such a way that to sing that repertoire, we did not have 16 or 18 boys and, in the early years, only six men, three a side. Later on, even when we had twelve men, they were still oversung by the boys. Had we broken the choir up into smaller groups with each of them singing a part of the motet, Mass, or whatever, we could have had a more equal balance of voices. I think that the thrill of doing that music would have been greatly enhanced for the singers, and I think that the effect also would have been very different.

DF We do it nowadays, also when we sometimes have only five boys a side because the flu’s gone through them all: you still get this wonderful sound.

AW That, certainly. There was never any problem. You see, York was and still is a day school and we never had any problem. I remember saying to a don at Oxford who was organist of New College, “If you weren’t here, where would you like to be?” and he said “York.” I said “Why?” He said, “Because they’ve got such wonderful voices, ready made. The Yorkshire people, they really can sing”. When I went there, I remembered those words because we had some really wonderful singers, and a small catchment area. In Manchester we had Chetham’s Hospital, of course, which had not become a music school then but was the school which supplied the choir, and a lot of those were day-boys as well.

DF But with lay clerks it’s much more tricky now. Down here, I remember, in the early eighties, you would occasionally appoint a lay clerk who would come down to sing, and to find another job that would keep him and all his family together would be quite easy, whereas nowadays that’s almost impossible.

AW Yes, I can understand that it is very difficult to keep it going, and I hope the people in power are thinking about that.

DF One of your major reputations is for encouraging new music and new composers. Which were your most fruitful collaborations do you think?

DF And everybody managed it without blinking an eyelid?

AW Well, the tenors or the countertenors came to my aid and put themselves on the top line. I don’t know what we did, but we did something!

DF You’ve had many characters around you. I know of some of them who have created eye-blinking or smilecreating moments. We have had tenors in the choir who’ve moved the nave choir stalls around during the service.

AW We’ve had lay-clerks who’ve taken their shoes off during the sermon, and then one of the other lay clerks have pinched one of their shoes and he has had to go out in one shoe and one bare foot!

DF It must happen quite regularly! What about the things you might want to go back and change, or say ‘I wish I’d done that instead’?

AW Yes, I’ve got one main thing.

AW It is wonderful.

DF You’ve seen some dramatic changes in cathedral and church music. Have they all been for the better, do you think?

AW On the whole, yes. The repertoire was big enough then, but that was 75% late 19th and early 20th century. We weren’t easily tempted to go back further than Byrd and certainly one wasn’t asked to go any further forward than Vaughan Williams, so in that way things did improve a great deal. By then, there was more repertoire coming up but nothing like there is now, with wonderful editing, all sorts of discoveries and also not just English music, but lots of other music.

DF So the repertoire has expanded hugely with lots of wonderful composers coming forward. But one thing that might be different, perhaps not quite so good now, is the question of recruitment?

AW I began first of all by commissioning organ music, because I found that composers didn’t write music because they weren’t asked to, and, what’s more, they were scared to write music for the organ because they didn’t know anything about it. Certainly it’s a tricky instrument to write for, but I discovered what could happen with a little encouragement: especially if I offered to give them some ideas – and I don’t mean musical ideas – but what you can do with the organ. It is difficult to pick out any particularly fruitful ones since they were all so refreshing.

DF In the realm of choral music, your major collaboration was with Alan Ridout.

AW Indeed it was! There he was, on the spot, with this wonderful ability to write for any combination of voices and instruments, and who revelled in finding texts and who would talk me through the music beforehand and if necessary alter things. I was spoilt: it really was wonderful. He also wrote a lot of good organ music for me.

‘I wish that I had been a bit cleverer at reading up the research that was going on in Tudor and early music.’

Rob Fuller (www.fullerphotos.co.uk)

DF I remember an occasion when latterly I went to ask him for a piece for a Radio 4 broadcast, on a Tuesday. By the Thursday afternoon the phone call came saying “I’ve got a piece for you!” And it was very, very good.

AW Yes, funnily enough, I had the same experience because I had never seen him until I met him through one of our lay clerks, because they lived next door to each other in Chatham. So I went up there and I met him, we talked and we realised that we pretty much thought the same way about things. We had a broadcast coming up that October (this was about August) and I said, “Do write us a set of responses, and we’ll broadcast them in October”. He did, and we did.

DF Wonderful. How much notice did you get? When did the copy arrive?

AW The copies arrived I think about ten days later.

DF So you had time to rehearse?

AW Oh, yes, we had lots of time to rehearse.

DF Because quite often I find with commissions that they arrive very, very late.

AW Yes, that is often a problem!

DF In Canterbury, now, you were an amazing influence on the lives of choristers and organists. What were you looking for as you chose them?

AW Have they got a good ear? Can they read well? And I mean read words well, because when you’re tackling the Psalter you’ve got to know where you’re going. The last thing really was to worry too much about the voice unless they had not got one at all, because if they had any sort of voice it was up to me to help them to develop it.

DF You turned out some golden voices, thinking of Andrew Lyle and people like that. Did they start from very ordi-

nary beginnings or did you spot them at the outset?

AW I think they were born to be that way. I can’t say I guessed they were going to be as good as they were, but certainly had an inkling that we were on to something good. And again, you see, it was because there were two or three of them. Immediately you get this competition! And boy, do they work hard!! So we had wonderful times; and, of course, a lot of humour. I think that singers sing well if they smile a lot. Sometimes the humour can be quite cruel. I remember on one occasion we were doing a bit of plainchant, and I said to one of the boys, “You can be the cantor”. He was a very fine singer, a very impulsive, nice boy, and he launched himself into this plainsong ➤

‘I said, “Sister Donald! Adjust your wimple!” Whereupon

collapsed,

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as if it was an aria by Richard Strauss! So I said, “Sister Donald! Adjust your wimple!” Where-upon the place collapsed, half of them not knowing what a wimple was, but the other half did. And he blushed and nevertheless conceded and took the point.

DF What about those who have gone on to be great musicians, like Mark Elder and Stephen Barlow? Did you have any inkling when they were in the choir that they were going to be something very special?

AW No! Except that all my geese were swans!

DF They keep in touch, don’t they?

AW Oh, yes, especially now that I’m getting very ancient, and that they’re getting more ancient! People turn up, and tell me amazing things about what’s happened, some of which I can remember and some of which I don’t even believe, but they swear that they happened!

DF They do. The most amazing thing is that they come back readily and are glowing with the memory that they have. AW Well, it makes me feel very small, because they thank me and keep on saying things like “I couldn’t have done this if it hadn’t been for you”. And I think to myself, good lord, if only they knew! They were my inspiration and I’m delighted to hear that I was theirs.

DF As you said ages ago, the inspiration for us who work with children is just huge. When they come back to you and say, “You have delivered me into this position” or “given me this inspiration”, it’s wonderful; the obverse of what you expect, in many ways, as you have worked so hard with them. Are you still playing the organ?

AW No, not if I can help it!

DF Have you played at all since you retired?

AW Yes, I’m a village organist here and I play on Sundays. I think about three years after I retired I decided that 40 some years of practising two or three hours a day was enough and that I wasn’t going to practise and therefore I wasn’t going to play! And I haven’t missed it because I have discovered … well, I’ll bore you by saying ...I have discovered Wagner! That’s a full time job!

DF It certainly is! You have a huge collection of recordings, haven’t you? I remember you always going to buy the latest disc.

AW Yes, I’ve spoilt myself. But I have learned an awful lot of music through it and as a listener I’ve discovered that this magic that we play with as musicians is equally wonderful when you are at the receiving end.

DF What’s giving you great joy at the moment? You were revelling in chamber music 20 odd years ago.

AW I still do!

DF Are you still enjoying the contemporary things?

AW Yes. I find some of the present ones a bit tricky but I’m always ready to have a go because otherwise I feel I’m going to stagnate. I don’t much mind stagnating if that means Mozart or Beethoven, but on the other hand it’s rather good to have a bit of Mr Turnage assaulting my ears. I’ll try them all, especially orchestral music and concertos and some very interesting things come out, but I find their chamber music rather harder to take. Nevertheless, you never know, there’s always magic lurking somewhere!

DF There certainly is. What do you think the future holds for people like me? Do you think it’s all sunshine?

AW Oh, yes! Absolutely! You’re only just beginning.

DF Those of us in my position: it’ll be good from here on in?

AW I’m sure it will be: I think the understanding and huge interest in music that people have certainly goes for church music, and the number of discs that come out, there must be a public for them; certainly I’m one of them! I always tend, of course, to be optimistic about everything, even when the car’s in the ditch and I’m in the rain …

DF People keep telling us, you see, that congregations are going down, whereas in cathedrals, and our cathedral as you well know, congregations are going up.

AW Well you see, in a way the cathedral is open every day of the week and there is a sung service at an hour when people are coming out of work. It’s a unique experience visually, orally, spiritually. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to steal into the cathedral

now, sit behind a pillar and the magic gets hold of one. I’m learning new things when I hear you and the choir.

DF It’s a great inspiration and those of us who are living through it I think will look back with such wonderful experiences.

AW We are so lucky.

‘I always tend, of course, to be optimistic about everything, even when the car’s in the ditch and I’m in the rain…’

Choirs and Cloisters

The death of Freddy Hodgson after a short illness in April 2002, closes a significant chapter in the recent history of English cathedral music. In a career spanning some 70 years he was a member of several cathedral, collegiate and royal foundations, one of the last of a whole generation of fine singers whose lives were spent in choirstalls, rather than on concert platforms and whose talents were dedicated principally to serving cathedral music. The possessor of an alto voice of remarkable purity and timbre, Freddy was a great ambassador for his art. Eschewing the term counter-tenor, his was a voice which was distinguished in its own right and pre-dated the countertenor revival led by Alfred Deller.

Born in Sheffield , the son of a dentist, he remained a proud Yorkshireman with characteristic wit and forthrightness long after he had moved to pastures new. After early promise as a treble he joined the choir of Sheffield Cathedral, where he sang as a chorister until the age of 18. He was always adamant that the voice never actually ‘broke’, but simply shifted down a gear and within a year he was able to secure his first professional appointment as an alto, as one of the six lay clerks of St Michael’s College Tenbury, now sadly defunct. After two years at Ouseley’s idyllic rural foundation, Freddy competed successfully for a vacancy at Lincoln Cathedral and was appointed as a Lay Vicar by Dr George Bennett, exchanging the intimate collegiate atmosphere of Tenbury for the soaring gothic towers of one of England’s finest medieval cathedrals. His salary rose from £100 at Tenbury to a significantly augmented £150 pa at Lincoln.

He spent three years happily refining his technique and relishing his first major cathedral appointment until 1930 when a vacancy occurred for an Alto Vicar Choral at Lichfield. Freddy did not hesitate to apply, as Lichfield had an enviable reputation, its college of Vicars Choral the highest paid cathedral singers outside London and enjoy-

ing the privilege of life tenure through the freehold system. The standing of the cathedral choir and its collegiate prestige was reflected in the fact that Freddy was the youngest of 50 applicants who competed for this particular vacancy. He was delighted to be appointed, following a voice trial taken by the Cathedral Organist, Ambrose Probert Porter, who had been an articled pupil of Sir Herbert Brewer at Gloucester. The trial was very demanding and culminated in a performance of the set piece, Bach’s Schlafe, mein liebster which candidates had to sing in the crossing, to the Organist, the Chapter and the nine Vicars Choral who sat on benches specifically placed for that purpose at the far west end of the nave!

London until well into his 80s.

In the post-war years he resisted an overture from H.K Andrews to join the choir of New College Oxford, but in 1950 when the first alto vacancy for 20 years arose in the choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, he was invited by Dr (later Sir) William Harris to apply and did so successfully. In many ways he was reluctant to leave Lichfield, but the attractions of a free house within the Horseshoe Cloister and the noble traditions of a choir in the royal foundation prevailed. His subsequent career at St George’s afforded many highlights. In addition to maintaining the opus dei at Windsor through the daily round of chapel offices and special services such as the annual Garter service, Freddy was proud of having been part of the great choir assembled for the Coronation by Sir William McKie in 1953, towards the beginning of his tenure, and similarly of serving his sovereign by singing 25 years later at the Silver Jubilee service in St Paul’s, shortly after his retirement from Windsor, when he participated as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal.

Freddy would always recall with particular fondness the time he spent in Lichfield. It was here that he and his beloved wife Beth raised two sons and it is surely significant that he devoted two chapters of his autobiography to Lichfield and its musicians. He began to establish a name for himself, singing with the BBC Midland Singers and also with the Lichfield Cathedral Quartet, a male voice ensemble with an august reputation in the midlands, singing at masonic lodges and broadcasting regularly for the BBC. Freddy maintained a lifelong interest in male voice ensemble singing and was an active member of the 300 year old City Glee Club in

It was to this more modestly scaled, though equally prestigious choral foundation at St James Palace that he was appointed after reaching the statutory retirement age for lay clerks at Windsor. His time there helped significantly to fill the gap left by the sad loss of Beth. To feel that he still had a contribution to make musically and to belong to the royal household as an increasingly distinguished and revered elder statesman of cathedral or collegiate music, was a great comfort to him in old age. Indeed, his latter years were remarkable for the energy which he showed in works which reflected the many aspects of his life’s work. Foremost amongst them was the publication in 1988 of his memoirs, Choirs and Cloisters in which his sixty years experience of singing in choirs was duly recorded and spiced with characteristically droll anecdotes about the inhabitants of closes and choirstalls. Such was the success of the book that it sold out two editions, the first with a

Michael Guest, Senior Vicar Choral at Lichfield Cathedral looks back over the life of Charles Frederic Hodgson 1907- 2002

‘Freddy would always recall with particular fondness the time he spent in Lichfield.’

foreword by the late Gordon Reynolds, (whose own work, Organo Pleno contains the dedication – ‘For Freddy Hodgson, who may command anything’), and a second edition with foreword by James Bowman.

It is surely testimony to Freddy’s stature among cathedral musicians that one of the most distinguished counter-tenors of our time should champion the work of a fellow artist. It was James who was instrumental in arranging production of a CD, assembled from privately recorded tapes, of Freddy’s singing, and which was launched at a splendid party at Windsor three years ago. Freddy would chuckle happily as he recounted the

fact that he was probably the only recording artist to launch a career with a first CD at the age of 92! The lasting friendship of a wide miscellany of colleagues and acquaintances up and down the country was very important to him and as a fine penman letters from him were always to be treasured. He enjoyed nothing more than to talk to current practitioners about news from cathedral choirs and to share in the fellowship that he was once active within. He kept himself remarkably up to date with what was going on in cathedrals and though happy to reminisce, never allowed himself to dwell in the past.

A man of great generosity of spirit,

much loved by family and friends for his kindness, humour and Christian humility, he will be much missed. His legacy includes a remarkable collection of diaries, which he kept meticulously, recording uniquely, the daily life of a cathedral musician through half a century. These diaries are now in the possession of his elder son, Dr John Hodgson, and one hopes that when time allows, they may be made available for a wider readership to enjoy.

Freddy Hodgson will always be remembered as a fine singer and an authority on the alto voice, whose contribution to the history of English cathedral music in the 20th century was probably unparalleled.

‘ O God, my heart is ready, my heart is ready, I will sing and give praise with the best member that I have’

60 Seconds in Music Profile

Julian Thomas has been Assistant Organist & Director of the Girls’ Choir at Norwich Cathedral since September 2001. He was a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral and then a music scholar at Charterhouse, later becoming Organ Scholar at Jesus College, Cambridge. After graduating he worked for two years at Lincoln Cathedral, prior to moving to Norwich. He has recently joined the Council of the FCM.

What piece have you been inspired to take up recently and why?

Messe de la Pentecôte by Olivier Messiaen. I am fascinated by Messiaen’s music because it is such an individual voice; the larger works such as this are full of so much variety that they make really rewarding learning.

How have you tackled it?

Gradually! Some pieces I learn very quickly, but with Messiaen you just have to chip away at it slowly and get to know it really well.

Have you been listening to a recording of the piece and if so, which one(s)?

Olivier Latry’s new box-set of Messiaen’s complete organ music has become my bible because it is so colourful and inspiring, but I listen to others as well. Generally though I prefer to learn a piece first and then listen to recordings to enhance my interpretation, rather than simply ‘copying’ someone else’s thoughts.

When will you be introducing it to your repertoire, and are you learning it mainly as a recital piece?

Hopefully for Pentecost this year. It works well as a recital piece but one must remember that it is fundamentally liturgical music and works perhaps best in that context, so I shall certainly play some of the movements before and after services too!

What or whom made you take up the organ?

Hearing the organ every day as a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral really inspired me to want to learn it – there’s no way I would be doing the job I am now if it had not been for those early years under Richard Seal, with Colin Walsh and David Halls at the console!

Which organists do you most admire?

Ones with vision and versatility: Gillian Weir, Colin Walsh and Olivier Latry would certainly rate highly.

What was the last CD you bought?

Choral Music of William Walton, sung by St. John’s College,

‘Philippe Herreweghe’s recording of Bach’s B minor Mass with Collegium Vocale reminds me just what is to be a church musician and the standards we can all aspire to.’

Cambridge under Christopher Robinson. For pleasure though, I tend to listen more to orchestral and chamber music because it’s more of a break from work!

Has any particular recording inspired you?

Philippe Herreweghe’s recording of Bach’s B minor Mass with Collegium Vocale reminds me just what is to be a church musician and the standards we can all aspire to –the Sanctus in particular is fabulous.

Who is your favourite composer?

Johannes Brahms (his chamber music is just exquisite), but I’m always changing my answer to that question.

What would be the music list for your perfect Evensong?

Probably a Howells canticle setting (Collegium Regale or the Gloucester service), Psalm 104, Gibbons Hosanna to the Song of David, or Harris’s Bring us, O Lord God as the anthem, and some Bach organ music at the end. Again though, if you asked me next week it might well be something completely different, maybe Byrd, Stanford and Taverner.

What music did you have at your recent wedding?

Gigout Grand Choeur dialogué, Parry I was glad, Stanford Beati quorum via, Langlais Messe solennelle, Fauré Cantique de Jean Racine and Dupré Prelude & Fugue in B to name but a few. It was quite a musical feast, as you might imagine.

What pieces would you include in an organ recital you were performing?

That’s a bit difficult to answer in the abstract, because so much depends on the instrument, the building, the occasion (whether it’s an informal lunchtime concert or a ‘high-brow’ evening performance)! I’m going through a bit of a French phase at the moment, so probably some Dupré, Widor and Franck; I love Howells’ earlier organ works (the rhapsodies and psalm preludes, for example); and, though it is a cliché, I nearly always include at least one piece of Bach: it’s like a lemon sorbet at the end of a really good meal – there’s always room for a bit of Bach!

What has been your favourite organ to play?

The ‘Father’ Willis at Lincoln Cathedral. I love playing mechanical action instruments and they are undoubtedly better for one’s technique, but to me you just can’t beat the sound of an English cathedral organ (and you get the acoustic for free).

How do you cope with nerves?

As long as I have practised properly I find nerves to be an advantage because you need a bit of adrenalin to give a really inspired performance. Playing live on a BBC broadcast is, in my view, actually preferable to a recording session because you know you only have one chance to get it right. (I guess many of my colleagues would beg to differ!)

What are your hobbies?

Cooking (and food & drink generally), walking and outdoor pursuits, crosswords and puzzles. Also, I must confess to finding a certain fascination with trains, though I don’t own an anorak and I certainly never loiter on the end of platforms number-spotting!

Do you play any other instruments?

Piano and cello (not to mention harpsichord and assorted percussion instruments like most other organists).

What was the last book you read?

Music & Silence by Rose Tremain.

Peter Smith poses the question: FCM National Gatherings – why have them ?

Since I took on the post of Secretary for Gatherings last year, and discovered the amount of work involved in the organisation of national gatherings, I have asked this question several times.

It is 16 years since I attended my first national gathering in Derby, organised by our Vice-President, Tony Harvey, who did a sterling job as Secretary for Gatherings for many years. I recall a wet but very enjoyable weekend, including dinner on a steam train which shunted up and down a short stretch of line as each course of the meal was served (it didn’t really matter as we couldn’t see anything through the windows anyway!)

The music in the cathedral was inspiring. I was hooked on gatherings. As soon as it finished, I was looking forward with eager anticipation to the next one.

A recent survey has indicated, not surprisingly, that the main reason members go to gatherings is to listen to the beautiful choral music sung at cathedral services.

The second most important reason is to meet other people who have a shared interest in cathedral music. As listening to the music can easily be done on an individual basis, I conclude that fellowship with others is the prime reason for attending a national gathering. Attending a series of gatherings in our cathedral cities is a wonderful journey round Britain’s marvellous heritage.

As gatherings have become more popular, there are limitations on what can be offered, particularly with regard to catering. A Festal Dinner, usually on the Saturday evening, has become a

regular and popular event. It enables members to enjoy each other’s company and provides an opportunity to publicly acknowledge the tremendous work done by directors of music and organists and the support given (in most cases!) by the cathedral clergy. Members always enjoy seeing behind the scenes, for example, observing rehearsals. Extension of the weekend to Friday or Thursday enables inclusion of visits to local tourist attractions such as the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh. In recent years, the AGM has been a short gathering on a Saturday in June. I intend in future that this will be a full national gathering. This means there will be three gatherings annually, one in the spring, one in June (for the AGM) and one in the autumn.

The venue for the AGM this year is Peterborough. This will give an opportunity to see the restoration work done after the horrendous fire which could easily have destroyed the organ and the choir. The programme will include Choral Evensong sung by the combined choirs of Peterborough, Ely and Norwich and a visit to Burghley House and Stamford. Early booking is advisable. See Colin Menzies article on page 27.

The autumn gathering is at St. Davids on 10-12 October. This is the first national gathering held in this beautiful and unique cathedral on the scenic Pembrokeshire coast – an opportunity not to be missed. If you wish to receive details of these or future gatherings, please ensure that your name is on the mailing list by contacting the Membership Secretary.

‘I conclude that fellowship with others is the prime reason for attending a national gathering. ’

Peter Toyne & Peter Smith share a joke.

Trio of Chester organists: L to R David Poulter, John Sanders and Roger Fisher

PRCD 921 - Olivier Messiaen The Organ Works Volume 1

£7.99 Gillian Weir

The Organ Of Århus Cathedral, Denmark

PRCD 922 - Olivier Messiaen The Organ Works Volume 2

£7.99 Gillian Weir

The Organ Of Århus Cathedral, Denmark

PRCD 802 - Le Tombeau d’Eugénie

£13.00 Neil Wright plays the Cavaillé-Coll Organ of Farnborough Abbey

PRCD 738 - The Complete Organ Works of

£13.00 Johann Ludwig Krebs Volume 5

The Organs of St. Barnabas, Dulwich and St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich (John Kitchen)

PRCD 798 - Greater Love Hath No Man

£13.00 The Choir of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Directed by Mervyn Cousins with Richard Lea (Organ)

PRCD 779 - The Anthems of Charles Wood Volume 2

£13.00 The Choir of Gonville &Caius College, Cambridge Directed by Geoffrey Webber with Gavin Roberts & Timothy Kennedy (organ)

PRCD 711 - The Complete New English Hymnal Volume 11

£13.00 The Choir of Wakefield Cathedral

PRCD 712 - The Complete New English Hymnal Volume 12

£13.00 The Choir of St. Edmundsbury Cathedral

T. Nobbly Turtle

2003 is providing a bumper crop of anniversaries, and I find them a useful peg on which to hang the music at my London church. January gave us Robin Milford (born 22nd January 1903) so I dug out In the bleak midwinter, highly appropriate on a day when London had its first snow for a decade; and how many of you know Lord, let me know mine end, a frighteningly intense interpretation of the words? Howells died twenty years ago (23rd February 1983) and Harris, thirty (6th September 1973): Whitlock and Berkeley both have centenaries; we can assign Thomas Morley’s death to 1603, and Richard Lloyd will be seventy on 25th June. It would be good if we could give them all a little extra attention in our music schemes.

Then there is Thomas Tertius Noble, who died 50 years ago, on 4th May 1953. We shall know more about him later this year, when Giles Brightwell’s edition of his memoirs is published, but until then we shall have to make do with extracts from an appreciation by the late Dr C. H. Moody, first published in English Church Music, October 1953:

‘The death of Thomas Tertius Noble at the ripe age of 86 ended an illustrious and not uneventful career. Born at Bath in 1867, he became organist of All Saints, Colchester, in 1881, and of St John’s, Wilton Road, London, in 1889. Here he was succeeded a year later by Dr G. J. Bennett, afterwards organist of Lincoln Cathedral. In 1886 Noble had been elected an Exhibitioner at the Royal College of Music, where he studied under Stanford, Bridge, and Parratt. (He never gained a University degree,

by Timothy Storey

quently Bishop of Truro.

‘From the date of my appointment to Ripon (1902)I enjoyed a close and intimate friendship with him. Throughout his long life he was a vital force. At York he founded the Symphony Orchestra, and I have happy memories of the weekly rehearsals in the huge music room of his house in Minster Court. His energy was unbounded and infectious. His happy temperament never varied, and his unfailing tact was remarkable. He never drove, and succeeded by his gift for leadership. When Bairstow followed him at York he found a choir which compared favourably with the best in the land. In stature Noble was small; his dapper figure that of a wellgroomed schoolboy. He was a lovable man, who rarely if ever made a disparaging comment on any of his contemporaries.

ARCM being his sole academic qualification).In 1890he left Wilton Road to become Stanford’s assistant at Trinity College, Cambridge, and there he composed the music to The Wasps of Aristophanes. In 1892he succeeded Basil Harwood as organist of Ely Cathedral. This post he filled with distinction until 1898, when he followed Dr Naylor at York Minster. In the preceding year he had married Meriel, daughter of Dr Stubbs, then Dean of Ely, and subse-

‘It was, I think, in the Spring of 1913 that he came to see me in Ripon and presented me with a bombshell – “I’m leaving York for New York.” He went on to say that he had been offered and had accepted the post of organist and choirmaster at St Thomas Episcopal Church, Fifth Avenue. I was shocked. “You can’t leave York Minster for a modern church in America,” I said. He replied, “If I had your absorbing antiquarian tastes I couldn’t.” He went on to explain the advantages, musical and financial, of such a change. They were alluring. Cathedral organists in England have never received salaries commensurate with their position and responsibilities. Moreover, it had been made clear to him that church music in the United States was badly in need of a pioneer. “I have

‘...it had been made clear to him that Church music in the United States was badly in need of a pioneer.’

Photo: reproduced with permission York Musical Society

no intention of remaining permanently in America,” he added. “In 20 years I shall be in a position to return and settle down comfortably in England.” That was not to be.

‘Noble was a good mixer. The American people took him to their hearts and he liked them. His influence for good, especially where church music was concerned, cannot be overestimated. The standard he had set up was amply demonstrated when I attended the services in St Thomas’s Church on Easter Day, 1941. If my memory serves, there were 40 choristers, and 20 singing men – a fully professional choir, and not augmented for the occasion. No English cathedral has a choir of like dimensions. The singing was superb, and incidentally the great church was filled by the élite of New York. Noble’s playing was, as I had always found it, worthy of one of Parratt’s most distinguished pupils: restrained, artistic, beautifully phrased. He retired in 1943, (New Grove says 1947) and went to live for the remainder of his life at the beautiful house he had built at Rockport, Massachusetts. In his last letter to me, which, although he had become totally blind, was written by himself, there was no shadow of self-pity.’

He is, sadly something of a ‘one-work composer.’

The Evening Service in B minor was written at Parratt’s suggestion, on the scale and after the model of Walmisley in D minor, and familiarity should not blind us to the fact that it is a beautifully crafted masterpiece. The companion Morning and Communion Services are good as well, and Dr Francis Jackson has written a Kyrie for the latter to meet present-day liturgical requirements: give Mozart etc. a rest, and try it! The A minor Evening Service also has its admirers, and there are several others still obtainable from Banks Music Publications, but of the anthems only Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God seems worth reviving. The early unaccompanied sacred part-songs (O sapientia, Souls of the righteous etc.) are hampered by the Dean of Ely’s text: it is amazing what a composer will set to please his father-in-law! Most of the later works were written to commissions from American choirs, and first published in the USA, but their style is very dated.

His greater achievement, then, was his pioneering work in New York, and the musical establishment he set up continues to flourish under Dr Gerre Hancock. He was rather forgotten in York, only the B minor service being retained in the repertoire: Bairstow was not particularly impressed by his involvement with America, a nation he heartily despised, and according to Dr Jackson was wont to refer to him as T. Nobbly Turtle, a name one sadly has difficulty in forgetting!

from Choirs and Places where they sing

BOY BISHOP PREACHES ABOUT FAMILY & CHORISTER LIFE

Ewan Stockwell (13), Head Chorister of Salisbury Cathedral became Bishop of Salisbury for a day last December. In an ancient ceremony based on medieval traditions Ewan took on the role of Boy Bishop during Evensong. The annual event takes place around the time of the Feast of the Holy Innocents. The Bishop of Salisbury hands his staff to the chorister and installs him on his throne. The boy preaches a sermon (which he will have written himself) and blesses the people – a ceremony that is a lesson in humility and recognition of wisdom and youthful innocence. Ewan, dressed in replica bishop’s regalia – complete with a ring on his finger and the pastoral staff – talked about family life, sprinkled with anecdotes, as he’s one of triplets and of chorister life in his sermon.

SALISBURY CATHEDRAL GOES GLOBAL

Such is the pull of Salisbury Cathedral that its third Be a Choristerfor a Day attracted a young visitor who sings with her local Episcopalian church in Hartford, CT, US. She travelled 3000 miles to join in for the day, having read about the event on the cathedral’s website! By coincidence she was off to Washington National Cathedral the following week with her own choir as part of a huge gathering of girl choristers there, the massed choristers sang the aptly named anthem The Journey by Salisbury’s Director of Music, Simon Lole. More than 85 children from as far afield as Brecon, London and East Sussex took part in a day that focusses on experiencing life as a chorister. Simon Lole said: “The day was a resounding success. Together with their parents, the youngsters found out about and experienced something of the life of choristers and chorister families. This was our third open day and it is an extremely useful way of addressing many of the issues facing families when they are thinking about a choir school as well as a perfect opportunity for us to enthuse the children musically. Without a doubt, running these open days has helped us with our recruitment of good choristers – both boys and girls.”

‘The companion Morning and Communion Services are good as well, and Dr Francis Jackson has written a Kyrie for the latter to meet present-day liturgical requirements: give Mozart etc. a rest, and try it!’

PERCY WHITLOCK Church Musician

Sunday, 1st June 2003 marks the centenary of the birth of the English organist and composer Percy Whitlock. Since his premature death, a month short of his 43rd birthday on 1st May 1946, his music has survived the various vicissitudes of ‘taste’. This is in a large part due to the work of the Percy Whitlock Trust, a charity founded in 1983, which has brought back into print Whitlock’s organ music, supported commercial recordings, restored the large corpus of orchestral titles and financed the present author’s biographical study of Whitlock (Thames Publishing, 1998, revised reprint, 2003, by Sessions of York). In his centenary year Whitlock’s music is being performed in cathedrals, churches and concert halls around the world. Over 60 events have been arranged so far: in addition to allWhitlock organ recitals in Boston (Mass.), Bournemouth, Chester, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Long Island, Salisbury, San Francisco, there will also be performances of the Symphony in G minor for organ and orchestra in Chatham, London and Kuala Lumpur. This article, however, concentrates on Whitlock’s considerable organ and sacred choral output.

Percy William Whitlock was born in Chatham, the only child of William and Annie Whitlock. They were Northamptonshire folk, keen singers and stalwarts of both Rochester Choral Society and local amateur operatics. Annie determined that her son ‘should have an interest in the art of music, and to this day I can never hear certain tunes without visually recalling my first theory book with its ‘Great Stave’ and its staggered notes which it was my painful duty to identify.’

At the age of seven and a half Percy joined Rochester Cathedral Choir as a probationer. Here he fell under the benevolent and encouraging eye of the

cathedral organist, Bertram Luard-Selby (1853-1918), a well-travelled and wealthy musician who had studied in Leipzig (and shared lodgings with Charles Villiers Stanford, no less). From 1881-83 Selby was organist at Salisbury Cathedral. He moved to Rochester in 1900, staying until 1915, when he moved to Bradfield College. His successor at Rochester was Arthur Charles Lestoc Hylton Stewart (1884-1932), organist of Blackburn Parish Church. A musical martinet, Stewart nonetheless generously nurtured Whitlock’s obvious talents, writing to the Dean and Chapter in November 1917 that ‘The boy does splendid work in the choir, and has been invaluable in playing services on a few occasions when I have been absent, and he is unquestionably a very great genius, and worthy of help.’ Whitlock reciprocated the compliment in an obituary notice written after Stewart’s tragic and untimely death from meningitis in November 1932, just six weeks after his arrival at St George’s Chapel, Windsor: ‘I knew him as my choirmaster when, as a small boy, I stood in awe of his deep voice and stern eye. Later I knew him as a friend – the friend of a lifetime, for whom no kindness was too great, no details too insignificant.’

In addition to transforming the cathedral’s music Stewart strove hard to raise the standards of other local church choirs through his Diocesan Choir Festivals. Rochester Choral Society (for whom Whitlock served several years as accompanist) benefited too from Stewart’s industry and high ideals. It was Stewart who brought Whitlock’s early attempts at sacred choral composition to the notice of the SPCK. They published an unaccompanied motet The Saint Whose Praise Today We Sing in 1923, followed the next year by the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G, the first of three settings of the evening canticles.

by Malcolm Riley

By this time, 1924, Whitlock had completed four years at the Royal College of Music where he studied composition with Stanford and Vaughan Williams and the organ with Henry Ley. The organ remained Whitlock’s primary musical love; he considered it to be ‘an instrument which can bring us nearer to heaven than any other’. His fascination started early when he was still a chorister. He went so far as to adorn the family harmonium with extra ‘dummy’ pipes and ‘pretend’ stop-knobs. Like many other organ enthusiasts Whitlock was an inveterate collector of ‘specs’. In 1919 he wrote to a friend: ‘I go trying organs in my holidays and have tried 34 different ones up to now. The new organ in Liverpool Cathedral is going to be a whopper, isn’t it? Just fancy – 218 stops and 86 pistons! I’ve got a picture of the console.’ A fellow Royal College student, recalled accompanying Whitlock on a visit to Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, London: ‘Part of that never ending “Specification Hunt” in which he indulged – finding H L Balfour, the organist there, with Percy shyly mounting the stool and although he had never before seen the terrifyingly large instrument, giving a never-to-be-forgotten performance, by heart, of the great B minor prelude and fugue by Bach.’

Whitlock was also an inspired improviser. In 1956, ten years after Whitlock’s untimely death, his friend Leslie Barnard recalled that ‘it was an experience not easily to be forgotten to hear the (Bournemouth) Pavilion organ demonstrated by Percy Whitlock …his improvisation seemed to be going somewhere: there was a steady, rhythmic for-

ward march, a sense of style and form with no clichés of harmony and no dreary meandering.’

Despite the dozens of live broadcasts that he went on to make in the 1930s and ’40s, there are very few recordings made by Whitlock. Those which survive reveal a strong feeling for tonal colour, rhythmic stability and textual clarity. In November 1926 Rochester Cathedral Choir, directed by Hylton Stewart with Whitlock at the organ, made the first electrical recordings to be made outside the studio for the Columbia label. These now rare 80 rpm discs included the premiere recordings of Stanford’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B flat

During the rest of the 1920s Whitlock worked mainly in the Medway towns, primarily as Organist and Choirmaster of St Mary’s Church, Chatham and as Stewart’s assistant at the cathedral, speeding between the two on his twospeed Enfield motorcycle ‘Nancy’. A steady stream of new music flowed from his pen, including the unaccompanied hymn-anthem Jesu, grant me this, I pray (published posthumously in 1946) and

the anthem Glorious in Heaven, accepted by Hubert Foss for his fledgling OUP catalogue in 1927. Whitlock supplemented his organist stipends with private teaching: two of his Rochester pupils went on to achieve greatness in the field of light music, the theatre organist George Blackmore and the composer and arranger Leon Young, famous for his composition of Acker Bilk’s Stranger on the Shore! Whitlock’s health had never been strong and it finally gave way in 1928. Tuberculosis was eventually diagnosed and he was packed off to Midhurst Sanatorium in Sussex. On his doctor’s recommendation Whitlock gave up his Chatham post exchanging it for lighter duties at St Matthew’s, Borstal. It was for this small parish church that Whitlock composed his Simple Communion Service in 1930. Also dating from this period are the three exquisite communion Introits, the Evening Cantata and the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis – Plainsong, still frequently sung to this day.

In March 1930 Hylton Stewart dropped a bomb-shell by announcing

his departure from Rochester for his home city, Chester. There was some hope that Whitlock might succeed him, but in the end the Dean and Chapter took the advice of Edward Bairstow who recommended his former pupil, Harold Bennett, organist of Doncaster Parish Church. A move now seemed inevitable. Whitlock considered church posts in Liverpool and at St Alban’s Abbey before successfully applying for the Directorship of Music at St Stephen’s Bournemouth, a J L Pearson-designed, High Anglican, mini-cathedral. Despite an annual salary of £200 and a glowing acoustic, there were huge drawbacks. The choir consisted of only sixteen boys and one alto (the other choirmen having left in umbrage), the vicar was weak and ‘Jesuitical’, there was a ladies choir led by a jealous spinster sacristan, and the 1898 Hill organ was hopelessly antiquated. However Whitlock set to work, building up the choir, rejuvenating the repertory and constantly composing. His first organ volume, the celebrated Five Short Pieces (composed in Rochester in 1929) had quickly established his ➤

‘Despite the dozens of live broadcasts that he went onto make in the 1930s and ’40s, there are very few recordings made by Whitlock. Those which survive reveal a strong feeling for tonal colour, rhythmic stability and textual clarity.’

L to R: Sir Henry Wood and Percy Whitlock, Bournemouth 1938.

distinctive voice, but it was the music subsequently composed at St Stephen’s which consolidated his reputation as a distinctive and instinctive composer for the organ. The pair of Fantasie Chorals are by turns, wistful, passionate, triumphant, reflective and dramatic. The Four Extemporizations are effectively character sketches – of Delius (in the miniature tone-poem Carol), and three new Bournemouthian friends, the Rev Peter Priest (represented by a thistlefloss-like toccatina, Divertimento), Charlie Keel, faithful head chorister at St Stephen’s (an oasis of calm and serenity, Fidelis) and Bernard Walker – schoolmaster, artist and composer – (the vigorous and uplifting Fanfare). The organ-writing in Whitlock’s Solemn Te Deum is equally exacting and rewarding.

In the SevenSketches on Verses from the Psalms Whitlock’s organ-writing is even more idiomatic and drew considerable critical acclaim upon their publication. The anonymous reviewer in the April 1936 Organists’ Quarterly Record declared that ‘In all these pieces there is a wealth of harmonic interest and variety which avoids the mere ‘cleverness’ of the earlier music; there is beautiful and often noble melody in profusion; and there is behind each (Sketch) a poetic mind which makes of the limited tonal scope of the organ a real musical instrument capable of expressing in its own way almost as much as the orchestra can do. If Mr Whitlock had done only this for our instrument he would deserve our lasting gratitude.’

The monumental, 40 minute long Sonata in C minor (1935-6) (dedicated to the thriller writer Dorothy L Sayers and

the fictitious heroine of her Lord Peter Wimsey novels, Harriet Vane) was written during a turbulent period in Whitlock’s life. His beloved father had died suddenly in May 1935: despite five years of toil Percy was worried about the retention and recruitment of choristers at St Stephen’s, not helped by the evil machinations of his musical detractors, and Mussolini’s Abyssinian campaign raised his fears of another European conflict.

A lifeline was thrown by Lawrence Harker, manager of Bournemouth Pavilion, who persuaded the Town Council to appoint Whitlock as full-time Borough Organist for a salary of £350. He resigned from St Stephen’s in September 1935, becoming almost immediately doubtful as to whether he and his wife Edna would be ‘deserting the substance in pursuit of the shadow’. Whitlock had held the part-time municipal post concurrently with his church work from 1932, revelling in the three-year old, dualpurpose, four-manual Compton organ in the Pavilion. His work there encompassed playing theatrical entr’actes, pantomime interludes, the national anthem after travelogues, solo recitals and, most importantly, joining the famous Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra and its founding conductor, Sir Dan Godfrey, for BBC broadcasts and twice-weekly concerts.

Whitlocks’ next organ publication, the Plymouth Suite, reflects this secular environment. The five dedicatees were delegates at the 1937 Incorporated Association of Organists’ Annual Conference in Plymouth. Concerning the Suite Whitlock wrote to a correspondent in 1939: ‘I am inclined to agree that the other pieces, except for the Toccata, are somewhat reminiscent of my earlier things, but what would you do (?) I had in mind the early Five (Short) Pieces, in the hope that some of the weaker brethren might find something familiar to them, and not too difficult to manage in the often inadequate rehearsal times at their disposal.’

The coming of war in September 1939 brought a temporary halt to serious composition. Instead Whitlock applied his intellect to the organisation of Food Control for Bournemouth, the office of which was conveniently situated in the Pavilion’s Ballroom. Between office work, fire-watching, writing music journalism for the local newspaper, hosting evacuees and occasionally playing the organ, Whitlock managed to prepare a collection of Six Hymn Preludes, some of them dating from almost 20 years earlier. His final published organ music, the three Reflections are quiet, unhurried gems,

especially Pazienza (‘Patience’). As VE day approached Whitlock dashed off a celebratory anthem Come, let us join our cheerful songs

In 1945, despite a dozen years of municipal musicianship he still hankered for a cathedral position. Encouraged by the organ builder, Henry Willis III, he considered applying to St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. In the end, though, he continued to work as the secretary to the orchestra’s conductor, Monty Birch, spending ‘most of my time typing letters about artists, programmes, band-arrangements etc, interspersed with organ interludes in musical shows. The chances of doing real organ music mostly depend on the BBC (who have been very kind) and occasional opportunities during our normal concerts. The result is that my life is very full of non-productive work, and I am not altogether sure that this is so bad a thing: the theatre work keeps one alive, and the other things take a certain perspective, but it slows up the process of composition considerably. …I’m afraid my position is aggravated by the state of my blood-pressure, as I have to be careful not to overdo things…’

It is clear from the few photographs there are of Whitlock at this time that he had prematurely aged. His health continued to deteriorate to such an extent that his kidneys began to fail, depositing crystals behind his retinas, causing lattice vision. His last few weeks were spent practically blind, bed-ridden, trying to conserve sufficient strength to take a short taxi ride to the Pavilion for his weekly Sunday evening appearance. His final performance took place on Good Friday, 1946, when he played a selection from Parsifal. As an encore he chose one of his great favourites, Saint-Saens’ Third Rhapsody on Breton Carols. Percy Whitlock died at 9pm on 1st May 1946 with his wife at his side.

His passing (on the same day as that of Sir Edward Bairstow) drew widespread tribute. Leslie Barnard praised Whitlock’s ‘musicianship, sincerity, charm, enthusiasm, and sense of humour …a unique and delightful character who will be remembered with affection by all who came in contact with him.’

Whitlock’s organ music is highly distinguished and has maintained a steady and useful place in the repertoire. His church music has fared less well. Its conservative idiom has been overshadowed by the richer and more esoteric output of Howells and others. However, there are at least half a dozen anthems of note and three useful settings of the evening canticles. His name crops up regularly on cathedral lists.

‘The organ-writing in Whitlock’s Solemn Te Deum is equally exacting and rewarding.’

Dr Donald Webster 1926-2002 OBITUARY

Donald was a man of many parts–organist, choirmaster, composer, teacher, lecturer, critic, family man, and – not least – a son of Yorkshire. From his early days as a boy chorister at Leeds under Albert Tysoe and Melville Cook he sustained close links with the city’s historic parish church, fulfilling later roles of sub organist and historian returning to his native county on retirement from Napier University in Edinburgh.

His was actually a very busy ‘retirement’, not least in respect of his activities as a critic. Regular contributions to Musical Opinion, The Organ, CATHEDRAL MUSIC, Choir Schools Today and, not least, The Yorkshire Post showed him as a musician of profound discernment and catholicity of taste. Infectious enthusiasm imbued his teaching and writing with a particular fervour which sometimes bordered on passion. His writings in The Yorkshire Post were not confined to the aesthetics of critcism; he was a frequent contributor of feature articles – letters to the editor, too, often found him in equally trenchant mode, for Donald took his causes seriously and felt deeply about many of them.

Many of his former pupils and students achieved considerable success in their chosen fields and his work at Morley Grammar School and colleges in Bradford, Huddersfield and Edinburgh gave him much satisfaction. Organist posts included St Matthew’s Chapel Allerton, Leeds (while still a schoolboy) and fruitful periods as Sub Organist of Leeds Parish Church to Donald Hunt and Organist of Palmerston Place Church of Scotland, Edinburgh.

His contribution to the study of church music, especially the music of

hymnody, was extensive and wide-ranging. Our Hymn Tunes (which began life as his doctoral thesis) and The Hymn Explosion and its Aftermath remain required reading for all serious students. In more recent years, a number of his vocal and instrumental arrangements have appeared in print from Banks Music Publications at Sand Hutton. His setting of Hilariter (Oecumuse) is widely acknowledged as one of the very finest of all Easter carol arrangements.

In the latter years of the last century, the Anglican choral and congregational traditions can have had few more doughty champions. No lover of the worship-song or the 20 th century church light music group he! The tenor of his argument against some contemporary trends in hymnody was, in essence, that there was so much good material around that he could see no need for acceptance of what he regarded as inferior matter and it was this philosophy that underpinned his widely distributed and acclaimed Church Music Society paper on the hymn explosion.

As conversationalist and dinner companion Donald Webster’s contributions to the communities in which he lived was as much appreciated as his professional work, for he was a sociable and likeable man. How one misses those early morning telephone conversations in which the world was put to rights and many a hobby horse ridden with a firm hand on the verbal reins!

He bore the debilitating illness of his final months with fortitude, making a very special effort to be present at Leeds Town Hall for a concert by Emma Kirkby in January of last year. He died in St Leonard’s Hospice York on the Tuesday of Holy Week and his

funeral at Leeds Parish Church was followed by a Memorial Evensong (also at LPC) in May. He leaves a widow, Joan, and a son, Christopher Webster – the architectural and ecclesiastical historian.

As was to be expected, he left very detailed instructions for the funeral, a service enhanced by magisterial organ playing from the ever nimble fingers and toes of his great friend Dr Francis Jackson – never has East Acklam sounded so splendid, or so steady of gait. Donald would, most definitely, have approved.

He would, too, probably have been immensely amused, and possibly even tickled pink, to overhear one of the senior Churchwarden’s sotto voce aside to a colleague that DFW had drawn a larger congregation for his service than that for the very well attended civic event in celebration of the life of her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

‘His setting of Hilariter (Oecumuse) is widely acknowledged as one of the very finest of all Easter carol arrangements.’

‘How one misses those early morning telephone conversations in which the world was put to rights and many a hobby horse ridden with a firm hand on the verbal reins!’

J T Godfrey, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

Sir: I was heartened to learn from your interview with FCM’s new Chairman, Peter Toyne, in the last issue of CATHEDRAL MUSIC, that he sees the magazine and the marketing of it as very important to the future of the FCM and its influence on the future of the music we love. I would like to see CATHEDRAL MUSIC more widely available, in other words, to those of the public who love the music and the traditions that we love but are not FCM members. My wife and I have only been members since 1996 simply because I saw a copy of the magazine for sale in the bookshop at Winchester Cathedral. Previously we had never heard of the FCM, or seen the magazine and we were delighted to ‘join up’ and benefit from what it offers and what we can offer in return. I have to add that I have never seen a copy of CATHEDRAL MUSIC on sale anywhere else since that time.

The stronger the membership of FCM becomes, the more can we not only enjoy but also prosper this wonderful and unique form of music. I am sure there are hundreds of people ‘out there’ who would join if they only knew about FCM and what it does and offers. In this connection there are two points I would make via your columns to our new chairman:

Can there be a well-thought out drive to recruit more new members? Is there some way that CATHEDRAL MUSIC can be made more widely available? Currently we don’t even see it in cathedral bookshops, never mind the high street. (I appreciate the problems of extended print runs and unsold copies etc.)

As one who spent the greater part of his life in public relations, I feel this is an area which is well worth consideration by our Council, which would, no doubt, go hand-in-hand with what Roger Tucker already does.

S R Lancelyn-Green MA Poulton Lancelyn, Bebington, Wirral.

Sir: On December 24th, Christmas Eve, there was published in the Times a letter from Mrs Bradt of Buckingham-shire in which she lamented her failure to find a cathedral service of nine lessons and carols with the ‘proper’ (i.e., King James Bible) words. It amazes me that this should be a problem because I thought every cathedral in the land would have one. I, and I assume the majority of the Friends of Cathedral Music, have been unaware of this because most of us are too busy with our own parish services and celebrations to be able to attend. Even in our own parish of Thornton Hough we have the traditional service, (including the Revd Milner-White’s bidding prayer of 1918). Our shepherds ‘abide’ and are subsequently ‘sore afraid’ in the majestic, mystical and timeless language so many of us yearn to hear and we welcome congregations totalling the equivalent of about 25% of the total population of the parish in Christmas week.

I would be interested to hear from any cathedrals which do not have the traditional service, whether they have any evidence to support the apparent decision that something else is more popular/populist/accessible/politically correct, or whatever. Also whether any actual research has been done to discover what the congregation (or more to the point, potential congregation) prefer. Finally, and perhaps a little more contentiously, is the decision made by the master of the music or by the dean. I am sure many of us would be interested to hear from a few of our cathedrals on one or more of these questions. Perhaps most interesting, if there are any positive responses, would be those relating to my second question, that of research! Without hard evidence all decisions must be based on conjecture, must they not?

Richard Turbet. Site Services Manager, Arts and Divinity, Queen Mother Library, University of Aberdeen.

Sir: In a letter in the October 2002 issue of C ATHEDRAL M USIC , David Martin refers to the possibility that Latin-texted music could have been

sung in the Chapel Royal during the reign of Elizabeth I. Given the current state of knowledge, Roger Bowers, as quoted in the letter, is right to state such an occurrence is inconceivable. There is no surviving evidence that any music with a Latin text was ever sung in or by the Chapel Royal during her reign. Also, the politico-religious situation of the day would have militated against it: see Douglas Bolingbroke’s succinct and cogent account in English Catholics in the time of Byrd , (Annual Byrd Newsletter 5 (1999): pp.4-5). It really is time myths such as this were set aside and only dusted down in the event of some hard evidence emerging to support them.

Dr Roger Bowers. Jesus College, Cambridge.

Sir: In the context of my article The Prayer Book and the Musicians (Issue 1/01), your correspondent David Martin wonders if the issue in 1560 of a Latin translation of the Prayer Book indicates that music to Latin texts could have been sung in Elizabeth’s Chapel Royal. Such a practice is indeed reported by all the text-books on Tudor music, widely reproduced in sleeve-notes for LPs and CDs. Fluent in Latin Elizabeth certainly was, but in fact her antipathy to the use of Latin in the church service was evident. In this respect, she adhered to the Reformation principle that the public liturgy, wherever conducted, must be in a vernacular language ‘understanded of the people’. There were circumstances in respect of which a case for the use of Latin could be made, and in 1550 a translation of the 1549 Prayer Book had been issued as a matter of course. With this, however, Elizabeth had no sympathy, and she made no move to issue a corresponding translation of her Prayer Book of 1559 until actually petitioned to do so by those among whom its use might have been felicitous. She yielded, but the 1560 translation was issued under royal letters patent strictly limiting its use to just that very small constituency, precisely identified. It might have been used only in the chapels of the Oxford and Cambridge colleges (where it could be thought incongruous and even damaging to the education of the students, to use the vulgar tongue for divine service when all other activities were conducted in Latin) and be educated clergy not in church but only in their private devotions. The manner in which Elizabeth wholly

declined the opportunity given by her own letters patent to include the Chapel Royal among institutions licensed to use the Latin Prayer Book suggest clearly her hostility to the prospect of its engagement there. Indeed, such exclusion meant that its observance by the Chapel would actually be unlawful under the terms of the 1559 Act of Uniformity. It is only rational to suggest that Elizabeth’s prohibition in the use of the Latin Prayer Book for the liturgy of the Chapel Royal service extended also to the singing of Latin motets as anthems and indeed this can be safely inferred. Had Latin been adopted for any part of the services conducted there, we can be sure that the puritan agitators of the time would have included its use among those ceremonial practices of the Chapel, which they so roundly abominated. Their total silence on the matter indicates that on this score the queen was giving them no grounds for complaint. It appears that, in practice, very little use was ever made of the 1560 Latin Prayer Book. Few Oxbridge chapels are known to have possessed even so much as an odd copy for the bookshelf; perhaps it was by one such chapel (now unidentifiable) that in or soon after 1560 Thomas Tallis was commissioned to compose his Latin Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, but its use there cannot have persisted long. Rarely thereafter did the Latin Prayer Book require re-printing and probably its engagement in practice was limited to private observance by the better-educated clergy. And the singing of music to sacred texts in Latin after 1559 can have been a source only of domestic recreation and edification and by no means a devotional observance in church executed by a professional choir.

Barry Williams, Beddington, Surrey.

Sir: I refer to the article entitled Chapel Voices by Stephen Beet and Roger Tucker. Stephen Beet’s meticulous research into the choir training skills of yesteryear have revealed not just a modern deficiency of knowledge but a wanton disregard for the most delicate of musical instruments – the boy’s voice. Whereas in days of yore, the bel canto and other methods of vocal production were handed down from generation to generation, nowadays it seems to be assumed that the acquisition of skills as an organist automatically confers qualification as a vocal coach, choirmaster and conductor. In a recent survey published by the Association of British Choral Directors it seemed that less than 20% of cathedral organists had received any formal training as choirmasters and a similar proportion had not had singing lessons. Small wonder than that choristers develop grave problems in vocal tone and that voices nowadays do not last as long as might be expected. The research into vocal disorders and their causes is not well established nor very well documented but it seems little of this has filtered down to the rehearsal room. There are far too many pressures on the tradition of cathedral music without the added risks associated with careless choir training and bad voice production.

I look forward to reading more of Chapel Voices.

Chapel Voices. We had hoped to include the first part of Stephen Beet and Roger Tucker’s survey about singing in schools in this edition of CATHEDRAL MUSIC. However, owing to the obituaries for George Guest, it has been held over until the autumn (Ed).

Letters may be shortened for publication. All general points and comments welcomed. Please send letters by 25th August 2003 to: The Editor, 21 Belle Vue Terrace, RIPON, North Yorkshire HG4 2QS Fax: 0870 137 1531 ajpalmer@lineone.net

YOUTHFUL REMINDER

FCM Council member and organist at Portsmouth Cathedral, David Price, took part in a debate on National Youth Strategy at the General Synod last November. A recent BBC news report said that the most popular form of activity for children & youngsters on a Saturday morning was not sports related activities, nor dance, nor even piano lessons - but singing. David told Synod that he would like to see cathedral musicians working with diocesan youth officers to use music – as it always has been – as a tool for evangelism with the young. He discussed a scheme at Portsmouth run by the assistant organist Classroom to Choirstalls working with a number of schools (who may have no musicians on the staff) running a singing club. At the end of the term, those who want to are encouraged to join the church choir. “Let’s not fall into the trap of always assuming that all young people are into the ‘trendy agenda’. I was involved in Rave in the Nave at Ely Cathedral in 1993. A feature of that night has stuck with me – the nave was full of bouncy castles, tuck shops and an arena for a rock band, but at one point in the evening the candlelit Lady Chapel (which was set aside as a quiet space for adults) was packed with hundreds of teenagers listening to a Gregorian chant choir singing the litany of the saints, and later some Taizé & Iona music. Meanwhile their parents and youth workers were bopping to the rock music in the nave!

News from Choirs and Places where they sing

“As someone who runs a youth choir I have on a couple of occasions endured a sermon from an Evangelism Officer who has berated our church for having no youngsters, blissfully unaware that right under his nose were four rows of 22 children and young men in the choir. For some reason they don’t count. Why? I think we would all agree that choirs and music groups are the best youth movement the church possesses. It involves them and gives them a stake in worship, it commits them to a church and lets them play a full role in partnership with adults,” David said.

WHO SAID CHOIR PRACTICE WAS BORING?

Portsmouth Cathedral sold 980 copies of their revealing calendar – raising £2000 for Macmillan Cancer Research and a local family refuge. Choral scholars in Portsmouth Cathedral Choir posed and all the lads involved are also ex-cathedral choristers themselves (Ely, Wells, Portsmouth). The calendar idea caught the choir’s imagination – it shows chunky chaps singing, ringing bells and certainly not keeping their shirts on. Jeans are resting low enough on the hips to show off underpants’ designer labels. The calendar inspired by a famous Women’s Institute forerunner was the brainchild of choirmaster and organist David Price. He said: “It’s all in very good taste. We have themed each month and every idea has some connection with what we do as singers in a cathedral choir. It is a refreshing story about the Church of England and a great example of some young guys doing something that’s fun because of their membership of the church and of Portsmouth Cathedral Choir’. The nine ‘gorgeous’ young men revealed their hidden talents in the form of a calendar which was designed to surprise, delight and amuse. The Bishop of Portsmouth has fully endorsed the project and said “I support anything that involves young people having fun and congratulate these lads who have bared more than their souls to raise money for local charities”.

BRADFORD’S NEW ORGANIST

Andrew Teague took up the post of Organist & Master of the Choristers at Bradford Cathedral on April 1st. Andrew, 52, read music at Oxford and was until recently Director of Music at St Elphin’s School, Darley Dale, Derbyshire. He is also an examiner for the Royal Schools of Music, organist and choirmaster at St Peter’s Church Nottingham and Associate Director of the Anglican Chorale in Ottawa, Canada. He lists his hobbies as cycling, cooking, gardening and classic car restoration.

In its inclusion of works inspired by the Christian religion the 2002 Proms season was outstanding. One of its two main themes the Old Testament, produced nine major works for choir and orchestra. The season in fact opened with Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast in a magnificent performance by the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. This was followed by Haydn’s Creation on the second night in a vibrant performance by the Choir and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, who was among the first conductors to embrace the possibilities of authentic performances.

For me the outstanding concerts were those featuring religious music by Handel and Bach. Israel in Egypt (Prom six) was given a stirring and vital performance by the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra under the agile baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner with a wonderful line up of nine soloists. Right at the end of the season came the choral masterpiece based on the Old Testament story of Samson The dramatic choruses and solos were performed by five soloists and The 16 accompanied by the Symphony of Harmony and Invention, conducted by another pioneer of authentic performances, Harry Christophers.

The BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales delivered a searing performance of Dvo˘rák’s Stabat Mater (Prom 11) under the authoritative direction of Richard Hickox. This concert was the culmination of this orchestra’s exploration of Dvo˘rák’s music. The work is conceived on an epic scale unprecedented at that time in Czech music. In fact Dvo˘rák himself conducted it at the RAH on his first visit to England in 1884. There were two Passions: Prom 21 was a complete performance of Bach’s setting of St Matthew, sung in German. Outstanding for me amongst the nine soloists were John Mark Ainsley as the Evangelist and the counter-tenor Robin Blaze. The choral support came from three groups, the Choir of the English

Proms Retrospect

Roger Tucker looks back to last year’s season in the Royal Albert Hall.

Concert, the New London Chamber Choir, and the boy and girl choristers of Southwark Cathedral, who sat in separate groups to the left and right of conductor Trevor Pinnock, making one of his final appearances with the English Concert. The performance was outstandingly expressive and reflective with beautifully balanced narration and arias.

Prom 47 presented a previously unknown liturgical work by the Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina. Her St John Passion was one of four commissioned for a unique celebration for the Bach year in 2000. In this she interleaves passages of the gospel in Russian with verses from Revelations. This occasion was the first complete performance with

matic performance, both authentic and refined.

its sequel St John Easter, telling the story of the Resurrection. This was an allRussian performance with four soloists, the St Petersburg Chamber Choir and the Kirov Opera Chorus and Orchestra under Valery Gergiev. The whole work was immensely powerful and impressive. Elijah (Prom 56) received an outstanding performance from a Mendelssohn specialist Kurt Masur, who until recently was director of the composer’s own orchestra, at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Here we heard the London Philharmonic Orchestra with its own choir combined with the Philharmonia Chorus. Elijah is the second most popular sacred work in this country and is always sung in English. This was a dra-

Prom 32 presented The Music for the Coronation of George II (including all four Handel Coronation Anthems) given by the King’s Consort and its choir conducted by Robert King. It has to be said that the RAH despite its size and resonant acoustic is no substitute for Westminster Abbey. But it was framed by semi-staged contributions from trumpets and drums processing down the steps to the front of the arena. A rich musical feast. There were also two late Proms for me: Stephen Cleobury directed the BBC singers with the City of London Sinfonia in three brilliant works: Walton’s The Twelve and Duruflé’s Requiem both sung with the orchestral setting, in each case to their great enhancement; the orchestration enriches the invention. The third work was Simon Bainbridge’s Chant for 12 amplified voes and large instrumental group. This was one of the BBC’s commissions for its ‘Sounding the Millennium’ project. It was designed specifically for the vast acoustic of York Minster and transferred well to a giant concert hall. The concept was complex, the 12 singers, each standing behind an acoustic shield, were heard only via the microphones and amplifiers relayed to seven loudspeakers flying from the roof. The instant anticipation was of a painful gimmickry. In the event the experience was one of the most exciting new concert works I have heard. I wish I had been at the premiere in the Minster in November 1999.

The other concert, in the last week, was a golden occasion under the title: The Genius of Renaissance Spain The Cardinall’s Musick under Andrew Carwood built a stunning programme around Victoria’s Missa pro victoria interspersing it with motets and instrumental music by Morales, Guerrero and others. The performance was of the highest standard and especially including two organ solos played by James O’Donnell. This rich selection at Proms 2002 will hopefully be matched by this year’s programme, no details of which are yet released.

‘For me the outstanding concerts were those featuring religious music by Handel and Bach.’

Book Reviews

CELESTIAL MUSIC: SOME MASTERPIECES OF EUROPEAN RELIGIOUS MUSIC

Wilfred Mellers

085115 8447 £45

This book can be a difficult read in places – a hard slog some might say. However, don’t let that put you off. There are plenty of interesting facts and polemical opinons. It is rather like reading the progamme notes for all those choral society concerts you have been too – but that is a benefit of the book. Wilfred Mellers informs us that the book is written in his 87th year and ‘therefore likely to be my last.’ The book is full of musical quotations and plenty of poetical ones too. Particularly from Emily Dickinson, as we have an analysis of Aaron Copland’s 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson for voice and piano In this book Mellers does

not shy away from asserting his opinions. He does have a knack in the 300 pages of making the reader look back over works that are very well known. Here we have a collection of his essays written for a magazine over a period of time, on religious music in our field from chapter one on Hildegard of Bingen through Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Pärt, Macmillan and Tavener. The author’s knowledge over this 87 years comes through clearly and he writes with authority on subjects like the baroque and romantic eras and is thorough on Mozart’s Requiem andHaydn’s Creation. He also makes comment on Verdi’s Requiem – ‘By the close of this first movement we recognise that, whereas Verdi’s agnostic requiem is as vividly theatrical as are his operatic imitations of human action, Brahms’s agnostic requiem, remains soberly within Lutheran tradition’. Mellers’s argument at the end of the chapter on Howells is that poignant ‘religious’ music needs no further justification if it makes it possible for us to survive’. Mellers attended the première of Britten’s War Requiem and in this chapter brings conviction to his writing. The full gamut of European music is covered too. In fact this book is like one of those many opera books expanding on the librettos. Here we have a rather good book detailing all the big choral works, that we know and love and delving deep into the compositions with numerous musical illustrations. In the end, Mellers concludes that ‘religious music is likely to remain our aural bread and wine: whether it be Gregorian chant, which is the rudimentary language of Christian prayer: or a mass by Byrd… or Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, which confronts the unknowable in anxious pride or angry exultation… although paradox cannot be evaded, it is life-enhancing’.

Andrew Palmer

Whitlock Organ Scores

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CD Reviews CHORAL

GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN

Choral Music for Lent, Holy Week and Easter. Wilby If ye love me; Gibbons Drop, drop slow tears; Vierne Kyrie eleison (Messe Solennelle); de Vitoria O vos omnes; Wynn Jones Ave Regina cælorum; White

A prayer of Saint Richard of Chichester; Brahms Geistliches Lied; Cousins Crux Fidelis; A Ceremonial Flourish; Messiaen Le Banquet Céleste; Leighton Solus ad victimam; Ireland Greater love; Mawby Ave verum; Moore Magnificat (Leonard Cheshire Evening Canticles); Scarlatti Exultate Deo; Lang Let all the world; Lotti Regina coeli; Vaughan Williams Easter (Five Mystical Songs); Plumstead A grateful heart; Howells Jubilate Deo; Peeters Gloria (Missa Laudis)

The Choir of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. Director: Mervyn Cousins. Organ: Richard Lea.

PRIORY PRCD 798 TT 79:33

I enjoyed this CD. The choice of music is wide-ranging and eclectic and sometimes this sort of ‘miscellany’ is difficult to fathom. Here it holds together –sort of – as a collection of music for Lent, Holy Week and Easter. There are some super surprises - for instance, I hadn’t myself come across Colin Mawby’s Ave Verum before. Inevitably, on a CD offering in some cases single movements from larger works one would like to have had the whole work – especially when this choir generally sings so well. Technically there are some anomalies. Some big fortes seem to catch the engineers by surprise and there is a sudden unfortunate reduction in recording level. The voices in some places sound very young – slightly shrill, in fact – but in other works the blend is excellent. In short, a worthwhile collection with some committed and enthusiastic singing. An agreeable CD.

Andrew Davis

WERE YOU THERE?

Leighton Fanfare; Magdalen Service; Parry Never weather beaten sail and I know my soul;Blest Pair of Sirens; Chorale Prelude on St Ann; Chilcott Making of the Drum; Sun Dance; arr Were you there?; Tippett Five Spirituals. Haileybury Chapel Choir. Director: Peter Davis.

Organ: Derek Longman.

REGENT REGCD 170 TT 60:15

It is a big choir sound to be heard on this disc. Haileybury is nowadays a co-educational school, so its chapel choir has girls singing both soprano and alto. The choral tone is strong, greatly enhanced by the superb acoustic of the large chapel, which boasts a spacious apse at the east end – the ideal musical sound reflector. It also now enjoys two great assets: a magnificent new Klais organ, standing on a gallery at the west end and a new director of music fresh from St John’s College, Cambridge, where he was organ student. As regular readers of this magazine will know there can be no better pedigree for fine chapel music making. Of the three organ solos, two are played by Peter Davis (Sun Dance) which is given a particularly rhythmically exuberant performance and Parry’s Chorale Prelude on St Ann which evolves powerfully and includes some impressive pedal fundamentals. Leighton’s Fanfare is played by Simon Lascelles and also generates exciting playing. As I have written before Leighton is a much underrated composer of church music so it is pleasing to have a very spirited performance of his Magdalen Service

Of the spirituals Chilcott’s arrangement of Were you there? is beautifully rendered and makes a good opening track. The well-known Five Negro Spirituals, which Tippett arranged for A Child of Our Time, are very well done and make a nice contrast to the finale to this ambitious and eclectic programme: Parry’s magnificent setting of Milton’s Ode, which is here given a really stirring performance.

Roger Tucker

A LAND OF PURE DELIGHT

De Séverac Tantum ergo; Bell Take this moment; A touching place; The last journey; Carter Southwell Service; Stanford Pater Noster; Leddington Wright

O Lord of every constellation; de Victoria Pueri Hebraeorum; Ives There’s a land of pure delight; Noble Come, labour on; Morales Peccantem me quotidie; Byrd Civitas sancti tui; Bevan There’s a wideness in Gods’ mercy. Arrangements by Chilcott Ev’ry time I feel the Spirit; Were you there? Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen; arr Ramskill Be still for the presence of the Lord.

RSCM Millennium Youth Choir. Director: Gordon Stewart.

Organist/Pianist: Timothy Byram-Wigfield.

LAMMAS LAMM 140 DTT 60:04

What a super choir! It was formed in 1999 at the suggestion of the Archbishop of Canterbury: there are 38 singers, aged 16 to 23 and they are selected on merit alone. This is their first recording. They sing confidently, accurately and (despite their youth!) entirely professionally. Watch out for them! Many of us involved in church music at the parish level owe such a lot to RSCM (their recently re-vamped magazine is, like our own, quite excellent!). I’m sorry, therefore, that I really hate this CD. The repertoire performed is (mostly) so very ‘middle of the road’. True – there are items by de Séverac, Stanford, Byrd and others. But the programme is (to my mind) incoherent, as there is also so much ‘arranged by’...; with flute/oboe obbligato by’... (the flute/oboe obbligati themselves are, by the way, played immaculately). You know the sort of arty arrangements which shift a key higher for each verse? They’re here too! And why is Andrew Carter’s Southwell Service ‘Mag’ track 6 when the ‘Nunc’ doesn’t appear till track 17? This CD does, I think, set some goals – across the repertoire – for parish choirs; the singing is very fine indeed. Musical snobs (like me?) will, I am afraid, find this an irritating disc – but perhaps musical snobs are one of the ‘dead weights’ in the Church of England?

Andrew Davis.

DVO ˘ RÁK & MENDELSSOHN

Dvo˘rák’Mass in D; Mendelssohn Die deutsche Liturgie; Ave Maria; Hör’ mein Bitten (Hear my prayer).

The Singers’ Collective. Director: David Swinson. Organ: Mark Blatchly. HERALD HAVPCD 272 TT 68:08

I feel unusually qualified to review this disc. I was present – Easter holidays, 1974 – at the Christ Church (Oxford) recording of Dvo˘rák’s Mass in D and so know it intimately. I turned the pages and changed stops for Nick Cleobury (the organist in that recording) and am pleased to report that I only stopped the recording once by leaving Nick – on one occasion – with a manual that was entirely silent! Furthermore, as a boy I also sang many times (once for the estimable George Thalben-Ball himself!) the Hear My Prayer solos. One of my abiding memories of the 1974 Dvo˘rák recording was the urgent ‘screaming’ of the stops in the (closed) swell box at Miserere. It was something which – a quarter of a century later – I can still hear in my mind’s ear; something only audible, I suppose, from the organ gallery. This never came across on the Argo recording. Nor does it here – but it’s a personal memory which draws me to the centre of this deeply-felt, underestimated work. I also remember the boy choristers wrestling on jump mats in the choir school back yard between takes - and visiting the Didcot Railway Museum: but this doesn’t sound on the Argo recording either! This new recording is superb. It makes another committed, urgent case for this beautiful work. Inevitably, there are some moments/passages I would swap from one recording to the other in order to make the perfect version. I love the Oxford version – of course! – but the Singers’ Collective recording could well become a desert island disc too. What of Hear my prayer? I was, in fact, a chorister at the Temple Church and sang in the late 60s, early 70s, with Ernest Lough (his voice had changed by then!). I have to say that, sung in German, it’s a new work! Katherine Page is brilliant. Choir and soloist give this so-familiar piece a new lease of life of life, singing it in this rather unfamiliar guise. I recommend this CD without hesitation: I love it and will come back to it frequently.

Andrew Davis

PALESTRINA

Dum complerentur; Missa Dum complerentur; Alleluia: Veni Sancte Spiritus; Sequence: Veni Sancte Spiritus; Magnificat sexti toni; Spiritus Sanctus replevit totam domum.

Westminster Cathedral Choir. Director: Martin Baker.

HYPERION CDA67353 TT 71:10

Martin Baker is keeping up the standards we all expect from Westminster Cathedral Choir. This new release on the Hyperion label features the Missa Dum complerentur. All five sections begin with a variant of the motet’s (Dum complerentur) opening, but the way in which the rest of the model’s material is treated thereafter varies considerably from section to section. The Choir is at home with this repertoire and it shows as they sing with ease and let the atmosphere of the music, sung accurately, transport the listener to Westminster Cathedral. Ivan Moody’s notes are well written and interesting. I’m glad that Hyperion continue to record this wonderful choir to such good effect.

Ian Morgan

ANTHONY CÆSAR MUSIC FOR EVENSONG

Preces and Responses, Let Saints on earth; Magnificat; Nunc Dimittis; Soul of my saviour; Two Hymn Tune Preludes on Whitehall and Coleshill.

The Choir of Beckenham Parish Church. Director: Nigel Groome.

Organ: Norman Harper.

CHRISTOPHER TOWN RECORDING SERVICE CTRS 1012 TT 40:05

Available from: 96 Ridgeway Drive, Bromley BR1 5DD. Tel: 020 88519116

Although Beckenham Parish Church is not a cathedal choir, it is important that the music of Canon Anthony Cæsar be celebrated. His pedigree is first class: chorister of Winchester Cathedral, Magdalene College, Cambridge, Precentor of Radley College then Winchester Cathedral and Sub-Dean of HM Chapels Royal. Here is not just a CD of his music but all his compositions in context of a full Evensong and sung well by the choir. Organ accompaniments are played well too. I enjoyed his wonderful chant to Psalm 84 as a modest wedding present for two friends. Cæsar’s professor of music at Cambridge was Patrick Hadley, who never composed a set of canticles because he said he could not cope with all that socialist stuff about filling the hungry and sending the rich empty away! Thank goodness this proved not to be a problem for Anthony Cæsar, his canticles would suit the repertoire of any place where cathedral music is sung. His programme notes are well-worth reading. We could all benefit from knowing an Anthony Cæsar; while he was at Radley College he used to try and compose something as a leaving present for some of his pupils.(I still treasure an organ prelude on the hymn tune Was lebet written for my 21st birthday by Steve Darkin from Brentwood.) Anyway a fitting tribute to Canon Cæsar.

Andrew Palmer

RESURREXIT

The complete Easter Sunday Mass from Westminster Cathedral

Dvo˘rák’Mass in D; Phillips Ecce vicit leo; Tournemire Victim paschali Organ Improvisations. Westminster Cathedral Choir.

Director: Martin Baker. Organ: Robert Quinney.

HERALD HAVPCD 284 TT 78:56

This is the first complete recording of the Easter Sunday Mass at Westminster. One has the impression of listening to a live broadcast, such is the quality of this CD. Every element is superbly judged: the balance between choir, organ, the voices of the celebrant and the readers, all clearly placed in the vast space of Westminster Cathedral and set off by its magnificent acoustics. The musical accomplishment of the performers in this celebration is impressive: the improvisations by Martin Baker and the Organ Scholar, Robert Houssart, the brilliant accompaniments of the liturgy by Robert Quinney at the Apse console, all

MUSIC at LEEDS PARISH CHURCH

PERGOLESI Magnificat

Girl Choristers,Choral Scholars,Lay Clerks & St Peter’s String Players

Palm Sunday Evensong,13 April,6.30

STAINER

The Crucifixion

The Choir of Leeds Parish Church

Paul Dutton – Quentin Brown at Leeds Town Hall,14 April,1.05

BACH

Mass in B minor

St Peter’s Singers,Chamber Orchestra & Soloists

Good Friday,18 April,7.00

TRADITIONAL EASTER CAROL SERVICE

Sunday,11 May,6.30

HAYDN The Creation

St Peter’s Singers,Chamber Orchestra & Soloists

Saturday,7 June,7.00

SUNDAY CHORAL SERVICES

are normally at 10.30 & 6.30

WEEKDAY CHORAL SERVICES

Monday 5.30 Boys’Voices

Wednesday 5.30 Full Choir

Thursday 5.30 Men’s Voices

Friday 7.00 Full Choir

Saturday 11.45 Girls’Voices

EVERY FRIDAY LUNCHTIME (AUGUST EXCEPTED)

Lunchtime Organ Music 12.30

May – James Eaton

June – Simon Lindley

July – Christopher Rathbone

AUGUST SUNDAY EVENINGS

Romantic Organ Masterworks Recitals 7.45

Simon Lindley organist

For further information,please telephone 0113 267 7571 or email lpcc@simonlindley.org.uk

superb. Remember the Willis III Grand Organ itself is over 300 feet away from the choir (although it can be played from either console) and you can appreciate the complexity of both performance and recording. Suffice it to say that the very fine result here could not have been achieved at an actual service open to a public congregation, Martin Baker would have needed the qualities of Houdini to have got from one end of the cathedral to the other. Since his arrival as Master of Music he has not only maintained the very high standard of the choir but has increased the number of choral masses. He is now able to claim that Westminster sings them more often than any other cathedral in the world. The music on this CD is a testimony to that achievement.

Roger Tucker

MUSIC FROM RENAISSANCE PORTUGAL II

The Cambridge Taverner Choir sing music set for the Mass for the 16th Sunday after Pentecostby Francisco Correa de Araújo; Duarte Lobo; Pedro de Cristo; Pedro de Araújo; Pero de Gamboa and Manuel Rodrigues Coelho.

Director: Owen Rees. Organ: Stephen Farr.

HERALD HAVPCD 277 TT 1:14:38

The recording does not attempt to reconstruct a particular occasion in a particular place. It does, however, try to give some sense of the manner in which polyphony was combined with organ music and with chant within liturgical performance. The CD booklet includes such scholarly details and descriptions of the liturgical practices, which this music illuminated and since I knew of none of the composers represented I cannot comment on the authenticity of the performances or the manner of the juxtaposition of the pieces on the CD. I must therefore respond intuitively to the music and performances. Firstly, the sequence of organ solos, chant and polyphony gives a real sense of dramatic progression through a liturgy. (The nominal occasion is a Mass for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost, in Lisbon Cathedral.) The organ solos were recorded in Queen’s College Chapel, Oxford; the sung elements in Charterhouse Chapel. This works well: the organ solos are given a crisp, bright, clear acoustic while the choir sits in a more spacious ambience with good ‘presence’ of the various polyphonic voices. The singing is accurate, beautiful and meticulous throughout; I have enjoyed the shaping of the phrases and the sense of an overall architecture both within individual pieces and of the whole CD as a liturgical entity. There is – naturally – stylistic unity (this CD, after all, does exactly what it says on the label!) but within this little corner of the repertory there are great contrasts – of texture and approach. An academic CD perhaps, but one which has given this layman great joy.

Andrew Davis

MUSIC FOR THE SUN KING

Michel-Richard De Lalande Te Deum; Panis Angelicus from Sacris solemniis; La grande pièce royale; Venite, exultemus. Ex Cathedra. Director: Jeffrey Skidmore.

HYPERION CDA67325 TT 72:09

This is a thoroughly delightful recording. The performances are full of life, tempi are brisk, as befits the predominantly cheerful nature of the texts and the singing and playing are of a high order throughout. Of the soloists Carolyn Sampson, Paul Agnew and Jonathan Gunthorpe take the lion’s share, but all are remarkably fine. Like Marc-Antoine Charpentier (16431704), whose familiar Messe de Minuit came to mind more than once as I listened to this disc, Lalande (1657-1726) served the court of Louis XIV of France from 1683 until his death. We learn almost at our mother’s knee that Charles II had dispatched Pelham Humfrey to France a generation earlier, and that Humfrey duly taught the French style to Henry Purcell and others at the English court: it is interesting to have an almost exact contemporary of Purcell represented here. We are told that Louis XIV disliked High Mass, preferring to attend Low Mass where the celebrant spoke the words of the liturgy while the royal musicians sang three motets, including a grand motet of up to fifteen minutes’ duration with move-

ments for orchestra, soloists, and chorus. On this disc we have this expansive style applied to a Te Deum and Psalm 95, plus an organ piece and Panis Angelicus, a soprano solo extracted from another grand motet. Not cathedral music, of course, but great fun and strongly recommended.

Timothy Storey

BUSNOIS AND DOMARTO

Busnois Missa L’homme armé; Anima mea liquefacta est; Gaude celestis domina; Domarto Missa spiritus almus; Pullois Flos de spina. The Binchois Consort. Director: Andrew Kirkman.

HYPERION CDA67319 TT 79:09

Antoine de Busne, or Busnois, (c.1430-92) was a Flemish musician in service to the Dukes of Burgundy. Petrus de Domarto seems to have worked in Naples between 1470 and 1485. Johannes or Jean Pullois (d. 1478) was a Netherlands composer whose career began in Antwerp, who sang in the papal chapel and who was briefly appointed to the Burgundian court chapel before returning to Antwerp. L’homme armé is a 15th century melody whose words may possibly refer to a crusade against the Turks, and which became the basis for a long series of polyphonic masses from about 1450 to the early 17th century. I was driven to The New Grove for this rather vital information, since the long and scholarly liner notes assume that the listener already has it to hand: I don’t think I am unusually illinformed, and I really don’t see why I had to take this trouble over composers who are hardly household names. Not a good start! This mass setting by Busnois is a virtuoso effort which seems to have been highly regarded by his contemporaries, being quoted by composers such as Dufay and Obrecht, and it makes considerable demands on the singers, for example in the wonderfully extravagant end to the Creed. The other items on this disc seemed rather less interesting. Despite the obvious care taken over such matters as the correct vernacular pronunciation of the Latin, I have some reservations about these performances: there is the same rather strident tone that one encounters in the complete Byrd recording by The Cardinall’s Musick (hardly a surprise, as many of the performers are the same), and there are moments of dubious intonation. It is a recording of great interest to real enthusiasts, but rather hard going for the rest of us.

Timothy Storey

THE COMPLETE SACRED MUSIC OF HENRY PURCELL

11 compact discs containing all the anthems, services and devotional songs of Henry Purcell. The Choir of New College, Oxford. The Choir of the King’s Consort. The King’s Consort. Director: Robert King.

HYPERION CD44141/51 TT 12hrs 18:26

This is truly a box of delights. With some of the finest names in cathedral music appearing together: James Bowman, Michael George, Mark Padmore, Lynne Dawson, Susan Gritton, Connor Burowes to name a few, it is a stu-

The Three Choirs Festival 16-22 AUGUST 2003

Festival Conductor – Geraint Bowen

CHORAL & ORCHESTRAL CONCERTS

With works by Berlioz, Elgar, Mathias, Mozart, Parry, Verdi.

ORCHESTRAS & ARTISTS

Festival Administrator, The Canon’s House Flat, 1A Cathedral Close, Hereford HR1 2NG Tel: 01432 274455 info.hereford@3choirs.org www.3choirs.org

Including the Three Cathedral Choirs of Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester • The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

• The Royal Philharmonic

• The English Symphony Orchestra • The European Union Chamber Orchestra

Orchestra

FOR FULL PROGRAMME & BOOKING FORM

Please contact the Festival Administrator

pendous account of Purcell’s music. These discs have been reviewed before individually but Hyperion has seen fit, as with the Psalms of David and I believe the complete organ music of JS Bach to put these discs all together. Thank you Hyperion. As anyone who frequently buys Hyperion discs will testify, the quality both in recording and in performers is terrific. In recording all Purcell’s sacred music the team attempted (as far as they could, three hundred years after the event) to recreate the textures, the performing pitch and the scale of performance that Purcell might have heard at his services. They also tried to build into their recorded sound picture the 17th century acoustics of the Chapel Royal. The engineers, musicians and everyone concerned have produced a fine collection of music.

Sarah Samuelson

HUMMEL

Mass in D; Mass in B flat. Alma Virgo

Collegium Musicum 90. Director: Richard Hickox.

Soprano: Susan Gritton.

CHACONNECHAN 0681 (Chandos) TT 76:19

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 - 1837) was one of the most highly regarded musicians of his day. He was a child prodigy and his father took him on a successful tour of Europe in his teens when his piano playing made an impression not unlike that of the infant Mozart in similar circumstances. For a time he lived with Mozart who was so impressed by his playing that he taught him free of charge. Haydn gave him organ lessons (warning him that too much organ playing would ruin his piano technique!), and recommended him for various prestigious musical appointments. His relations with Beethoven were rather stormy, partly because of musical rivalry but also on account of their mutual interest in the singer Elisabeth Rockel, who became Hummel’s wife. Today Hummel’s reputation rests on his piano music, not forgetting his trumpet concerto, but he was prolific in most of the major genres of his time, apart from the symphony. Most of his church music was written in the service of the Esterhazy court where he was de facto Kapellmeister from 1804 to 1811 in succession to Haydn (who retained the official title and a salary until his death in 1809). His five masses are Hummel’s distinctive contribution to the tradition of Haydn’s late orchestral masses written to honour the name-day of Princess Esterhazy in September each year. The masses on this CD mark the end of this family tradition. In one important aspect they depart from previous models in that there are no solo sections. They were performed in 1808 and 1810 respectively and the following year Hummel left the Esterhazys and the musical life of the court deteriorated. Richard Hickox and Collegium Musicum 90 give fine performances of this splendid music, so much so that one wonders why Hummel’s masses are not better known. A significant bonus on this CD is the sumptuous singing of Susan Gritton as soloist in the substantial offertory motet Alma virgo which is included here because of its Esterhazy connections. One looks forward with confidence and anticipation to Volume Two.

Alan Spedding

THEENGLISH HYMN 3 HILLS OF THE NORTH REJOICE

Hymns for the Church year. Wells Cathedral Choir. Director: Malcolm Archer. Organ: Rupert Gough.

HYPERION CDP12103 TT 75:54

THE COMPLETE NEW ENGLISH HYMNAL Vol 10

The Choir of Truro Cathedral. Director: Andrew Nethsingha.

Organ: Christopher Gray. PRIORY PRCD 710 TT 66:50

There seems no end to recordings of hymns. These two offer a fascinating comparison, the common factor being that both choirs are of very high quality and apply a great deal of imagination to their task. We have the usual quota of treble-only and men-only verses (including rather an overdose of do-it-yourself fauxbourdon where the trebles are silent and the tune is given to the baritones, with an effect reminiscent of a not-verygood barbershop quartet), and unison with or without descants and naughty harmonies in the accompaniment. Truro’s ten boys (presumably

just the seniors) and 14 men seem to have been assigned the sweepings of The New English Hymnal, with a list of worthy but rather dull hymns, the nadir being a strangely slow and wooden rendition of the Dies irae. Special effects are sparingly employed, with correspondingly greater effect: the two-part trebles in Come ye faithful, raise the strain are quite delightful. My song is love unknown and The strife is o’er provide a rare chance for the choir (and the wonderful Father Willis organ) to be unleashed, and the recital reaches a satisfying conclusion with Jesus shall reign where’er the sun to the tune Truro – of course! Wells offers a veritable choral society by comparison, with both boy and girls choristers employed in various combinations, and the singing is altogether richer, though vowel-sounds are not beyond reproach – ‘Holly, holly, holly, oil the saints adore thee,’ for example. The programme is a well-chosen anthology covering the whole of the Church’s year, including lots of favourites but also a delightful novelty in Grayston Ives’ tune Guildford Cathedral to Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost. Special effects are rather too numerous, and thus less special, but it’s all highly enjoyable nonetheless.

Timothy Storey

THE COMPLETE NEW ENGLISH HYMNAL Vol 11

The Choir of Wakefield Cathedral. Director: Jonathan Bielby. Organ: Louise Marsh. PRIORY PRCD 711 TT 69:05

I must admit I found this disc rather disappointing. There are some nice moments (for example, the simple and effective ContakionGive rest, O Christ), and the unison singing has conviction, but the trebles’ sound is not very well focused and, as a result, sometimes comes across flat. I can’t help feeling that the selection of hymns does not give the choir all that much scope to shine – is this series of the complete N.E.H. perhaps losing its way?

Julian Thomas

St Paul’s Cathedral CELEBRITY ORGAN RECITALS 2003

Thursday evenings May – October at 6.30pm

8 MayGordon Stewart – Huddersfield Town Hall

5 JuneJohn Scott – Organist & Director of Music

St Paul’s Cathedral

3 JulyGerre & Judith Hancock – St Thomas, Fifth Avenue, New York

7 AugHuw Williams – Sub-Organist, St Paul’s Cathedral

4 SeptJohannes Unger – Leipzig (winner of St Alban’s 2001)

2 OctLouis Robilliard - Lyon

Tickets £8 (concessions £5.50)

and a Demonstration of the Organs

Tuesday 29 April 2003 at 6.30pm

Admission £5

MY SPIRIT REJOICETH

Settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. Smart (B flat); Lloyd Hereford Service; Watson (E flat); Read (F); Brewer (D); Ashfield (Dmin); Tavener Collegium Regale; Howells Collegium Regale.

Blackburn Cathedral Choir. Blackburn Cathedral Girls’ Choir. The Renaissance Singers of Blackburn Cathedral. Director: Richard Tanner. Organ: Greg Morris.

LAMMAS LAMM131D TT 65:13

This CD contains eight pairs of ‘mags and nuncs’ opening with a lively setting by Smart (organist of Blackburn Cathedral 1831–36) and closing with the exalted and inspiring Collegium Regale service written by Howells for King’s College, Cambridge in 1944, for me the quintessential English cathedral music of the 20th century. Everything is superbly sung by the cathedral choirs, with either boys or girls singing the top line. The exception is the setting by Tavener, which are sung by The Renaissance Singers an excellent adult chamber choir attached to the Cathedral. Blackburn is one of my favourite places for broadcasts and recordings, because of its near perfect acoustic, in which glowing performances have been captured on this Lammas disc. Anyone who wants to sharpen their ears to the different treble timbre when the girls are singing the top line, can learn from this disc: try to spot the tracks in which they’re singing before you look at the notes in the excellent booklet written by sub-organist, Greg Morris, who adds perceptive comments about the music to complement his sensitive accompaniments and Richard Tanner’s brilliant direction throughout.

Roger Tucker

CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH

Die Auferstehung und Himmelfarhrt Jesu. The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. La Petite Bande. Ex Tempore. Director; Sigiswald Kuijken. Soprano: Uta Schwabe. Tenor: Chrisoph Genz. Bass Stephan Genz.

HYPERION CDA67364 TT 72:47

It seems that this work, which contains no chorales, was composed expressly for a responsive concert hall audience, and not for a place of prayer and its congregation. CP E Bach wrote to his publisher revealing how proud he was of the piece which he considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces from which younger composers could lean much. Hyperion has a superb knack of picking repertoire that is not mainstream and recording it to disc with excellent soloists, orchestras and conductors. This is no exception the trio of soloists give fine performances, as does the band with sympathetic accompaniments.

Ian Morgan

RE-RELEASE

Desprez Missa Pange Lingua; Allegri Missa Vidi Turbam Magnam; Titelouze Three versets on Pange Lingua.

The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge. Director: George Guest. Organ: Adrian Lucas.

MERIDIAN CDE 84218 TT 64:56

Vintage George Guest and St John’s. The men are, as one would expect, on top form, as are the boys. Adrian Lucas is the young and very able organist on this recording. The recording re-released after Dr Guest’s death shows off the quality and high standards that he achieved throughout his tenure at St John’s.

Patrick Mayhew

ORGAN ELGAR

Enigma Variations; Organ Sonata.

Keith John plays the organ of The Temple Church, London.

HYPERION CDA67363 TT 65:09

This is one of the most exciting organ CDs I have heard for a long time arriving for review after I had written Comment. Keith John gives us an Elgarian recital that displays his dazzling virtuosity and ability to capture the orchestral qualities of a well-known favourite. On this CD he tackles with aplomb the Organ Sonata 1 and the Enigma Variations. In Enigma his phrasing and colourful authentic registration, with memorable climaxes to match any orchestra, are quite frankly stunning. In the quiet variations he is warmly expressive and focused and the whole transcription is well structured and phrased. The architecture is a masterpiece. Whether the player is thundering, or needing a magisterial sound, or needing a quick flick of registration for the flutes and light piquant texture, then Keith John’s hands and feet react accurately. His rhythmical and brilliant technique stands out as a beacon for others to follow. Listen to Variations 4 and 9 and the final one, to hear how faithful this transcription is. The Organ Sonata displays equally excellent playing – this for me is one of the finest CDs I’ve heard. Excellent programme notes too with a section about transcribing for organ. Anyway, don’t take my word for it, buy it at once and judge for yourself.

Andrew Palmer

THE COMPLETE ORGAN MUSIC OF JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Christopher Herrick plays Metzler organs in Switzerland. HYPERION 16 compact discs. CDS44121/36

Hyperion has come up with another winner: packaging together a series of already released and well-received discs into a box set. What could be more exciting than to have Christopher Herrick playing Bach on Metzler organs in Switzerland. These discs have all been released before and received very good reviews in the process. Herrick has a feel for his subject and organs and Hyperion reflects this in good engineering. As one would expect the programme notes are first-rate, with lots of detailed information. A fantastic project to re-release them. What other gems can we look forward to from Hyperion one of the finest record labels around for my money? As to which organist you should opt for if choosing to buy a complete set of Bach: Rogg, Koopman, Hurford or Preston then this Herrick set will not disappoint. A good all-rounder; Hyperion and Herrick make for a brilliant team. Go on treat yourself to this new version for Easter. Strongly recommended.

Ian Morgan

THE SALISBURY SOUND

Elgar Imperial March; Howells Rhapsody Op 17 No 3; Delius On hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring; Dupré Le Monde dans L’attente du Sauveur; Gardner Jig; Bach Fantasia and Fugue in C minor BWV 537; Sousa Liberty Bell; Widor Finale (Symphonie No 6); Jackson Toccata, Chorale and Fugue; Whitlock Scherzetto;).

David Halls plays the Father Willis Organ of Salisbury Cathedral.

GRIFFIN GCCD 4038 TT 75:33

David Halls knows the Salisbury Organ very well indeed as he ably demonstrates on this superb CD. Therefore you can expect, and in fact get, the best sounds from this wonderful Willis (the title that was used for a previous Salisbury CD) with those wonderful reeds. Halls knows how to put together an entertaining programme from the serious to the light hearted. The opening of the recital captures the spirit of the disc and is followed by a composer who knew the Salisbury organ – Herbert Howells. I enjoyed John Gardner’s jaunty Jig and in The Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor David Halls catches the colour of this most sublime of Bach’s organ works. This piece was orchestrated by Elgar. After the death of his wife in 1920, Elgar felt unable to compose but found inspiration in the music of his beloved Bach. In his notes, David Halls says about the Willis organ that ‘it is admirably suited to music of many styles and a fair amount of experimentation goes on behind locked doors when the visitors have departed!’ What a shame this has to happen. We hear a wonderful transcription of Sousa’s

Liberty Bell – with all registration colour you would expect. If nothing else buy the disc for the Widor, the coda of which hurtles headlong to a resounding finish on full organ, with the Willis tubas (oh those tubas!) making a final and very ‘unauthentic’ appearance. Yet another first-class disc pairing Halls and Salisbury’s Willis. Recommended.

Graham Hermon

DIETRICH BUXTEHUDE

Organ Music Vol 2

Julia Brown plays the Brombaugh Organ, Central Lutheran Church Eugene, Oregon. Praeludium in C; Komm heiliger Geist; Von Gott will ich nicht lasssen; Vater unser im Himmelreich; Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist; Toccata in G; Nun lob mein Seel; In dulci jubilo; Fuga in C; Ciaccona in E min; Mit Fried und Freud ich far dahin; Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern; Praeludium in A minor.

NAXOS 8.555775 TT 64:11

One-composer sequences, as here, are easier to receive than a mixed programme, at least for my ears because they tune into the idiom. Julia Brown plays a nicely varied selection which leads us through a 64 minute programme of Buxtehude Chorale Preludes and Praeludia and other works, holding our attention through to the final flourish of the Praeludium in A minor. There is none of the exhibitionism which often mars performances of this repertoire nowadays. Julia Brown’s tempi are rock-steady and her playing devoid of mannerisms yet it is never dull and always serves the music. The organ is by local builder John Brombaugh, built in 1976 with tracker action and tuned to exactly the right unequal temperament for Buxtehude, which provides an authentic North German sound. For anyone wishing to study these pieces, this exceptionally clear, well-balanced recording is ideal. The Naxos low price makes it a bargain.

Roger Tucker

ORGAN MUSIC BY SAMUEL WESLEY

Voluntary in C minor Op 6 No 3; Voluntary in C Op 6 No 6; Voluntary in G minor Op 6 No9; Voluntary in A Op 6 No 11; Voluntary in F Op 6 No 12; Voluntary in B flat for Thomas Attwood; Twelve Short Pieces Nos 8 & 9.

David Herman plays the organ of Coventry Cathedral.

REDCLIFFERECORDINGS RR 019 TT 57:07

I am always keen to listen to a CD not of the usual organ repertoire. This is no exception, being produced as part of Redcliffe Recording British Musical Heritage label. David Herman who is one of this magazine’s reviewers is a professor and University Organist at the University of Delaware in the US. I read the CD notes with great interest not being particularly familiar with the organ music of Samuel Wesley. The pieces performed cover the years 1805 –1829, the centre of Wesley’s career and exploit the instrument as no English composer had done before. David Herman demonstrates the mood and sonority of Wesley’s music, playing the contrapuntal sections with great clari-

StDavids Cathedral Festival 2003

24 May-1 June

A feast of music in the unique setting of Wales’ National Shrine. Highlights include:

Wayne Marshall • Richard Hickox • Timothy Noon

BBC National Orchestra of Wales • ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ The Choirs of St Davids Cathedral • Anúna • The Hanover Band

Further details: Tel: (01437) 720271 • Fax: (01437) 721885 festival@stdavidscathedral.org.uk www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk

ty, style and tone colour on the organ at Coventry Cathedral. The colour and sound of the Coventry organ incidentally is very well demonstrated and a credit to the recording engineers. David Herman has great feeling for the English organ music recorded on this disc. I have in the past heard some US organists play perhaps too fast but accurately and with little feeling for English music. As far as I am aware, this is only the third organ CD produced on the Redcliffe label, but after hearing it I very much look forward to further issues. Highly recommended!

Graham Hermon

TSAR OF INSTRUMENTS

Organ music from Russia

Glazunov Prelude and Fugue in D; Prelude and Fugue in D minor; Fantasy; Glière Fugue on a Russian Christmas Song; Grechaninov Three Pieces; Rachmaninov Andante; Taneyev Choral Variè; Shostakovich Credo and The Cathedral Service from The Gadfly. Glinka Three Fugues.

Iain Quinn plays the organ of Winchester Cathedral.

CHANDOS CHAN 10043 TT 70:51

In Europe it has been mainly the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches which have provided the cradle for the organ and its repertoire. The absence of organs, or indeed any musical instruments in the Russian Orthodox Church denied composers the chance of writing for the ‘Tsar of instruments’ and as a result Russian organ music is extremely rare. In fact, it was not until the music conservatories in St Petersburg and Moscow were opened in the 1860s that the organ was even available for study or performance. It is therefore quite remarkable that Iain Quinn has been able to find over 70 minutes of original works for the instrument by seven leading Russian composers from Glinka to Shostakovitch. It is interesting to note that except for the final Fantasy by Glazunov, these Russians all chose strict forms for their rare essays for the organ. The other exception is the pair of Shostakovitch movements (Credo and The Cathedral Service), which form part of the ravishing incidental music written in 1955 for the film The Gadfly set in Roman Catholic Italy in 1840. This richly romantic sequence of works is ideally suited to the superb Willis/Harrison organ at Winchester and carries the listener through the unfamiliar repertoire with sympathetic and stylish playing from the brilliant and versatile Iain Quinn.

Roger Tucker

RHEINBERGER

Complete Organ Works Vol 7 Sonata No 13; 12 Charakterstücke für Orgel. Rudolf Innig plays the Kuhn Organ at St Johann Schaffhausen.

MDG (CHANDOS) MDG 317 0897-2 TT

Following on in Rudolf Innig’s well-received series of Rheinberger’s Complete Organ Works comes volume seven of his epic project, encompassing the ➤

Southern Cathedrals Festival SALISBURY2003

16th-20th July

The Cathedral Choirs of Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester at worship and in concert

Details from: 33 The Close, Salisbury, Wilts SP1 2EJ E-mail: litmus@salcath.co.uk

13th sonata and the 12 Character Pieces. The Kuhn organ in the church of St. Johann in Schaffhausen, built in 1879 and enlarged in 1990, makes a variety of wonderful late-romantic German sounds, thoroughly explored in this CD. Innig’s convincing performances are backed up by a pleasingly well-detailed set of booklet notes that also give the exact registration for each movement. A disc squarely aimed at the organ-buff market, therefore, but also a worthwhile purchase for the casual listener.

Michael Phillips

VENI CREATOR

Fugue Op.12; Prélude, Adagio et Choral Varié; Prélude sur l’Introït de I’Épiphanie; Prélude et fugue sur le nom d’Alain; Scherzo; Méditation; Suite. The Complete Organ Music of Maurice Duruflé.

Hans Fagius plays the 1928 Frobenius Organ of Aarhus Cathedral, Denmark.

BIS BIS-CD-1304 TT 70:41

It may at first seem odd to record the complete organ works of Duruflé on the 1928 Frobenius organ in Aarhus Cathedral, Denmark, but not so: the tonal palette of the instrument is rich, the reeds are voiced on Cavaillé-Coll principles, and the acoustic is resonant but clear. Hans Fagius gives meticulous performances of this fabulous repertoire, especially the Prélude et fugue sur le nom d’Alain and the Suite (Op.5) with its exuberant and technically demanding Toccata. Throughout the disc the softer sounds are mellow and inviting; my only reservation is the choice of registration for the opening chorale of the Prélude, Adagio et Choral Varié where a rogue mutation sounds notably out of tune. That aside, this is a disc I shall enjoy listening to regularly.

Julian Thomas

CANTICUS

(Viscount’s digital organ with a ‘trackertouch’)

THE ORGAN ENCYCLOPEDIA

Franz Liszt Works for Organ, Vol 2. Fantasie und Fuge über den Choral ‘Ad nos ad salutarem undam’; Trauerode; Symphonic Poem Orpheus; Concertstück in A Dur für die Orgel im freien Stil; Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen.

Andreas Rothkopf plays the Sauer Organ, Evangelische Stadtkirche, Bad Homburg, Germany.

NAXOS 8.555079 TT 63:12

Liszt’s Fantasy and Fugue on ‘Ad nos ad salutarem undam’ is rightly considered one of the great pieces of Romantic writing for the organ and Andreas Rothkopf certainly makes light work of all the notes! In places I found the recorded sound a little too distant so that, though the organ was clearly producing a full sound, it appeared not quite to live up to the drama of the music. The remaining four works on the disc are transcriptions of orchestral or piano pieces: Trauerode, Orpheus Symphonic Poem, Concertstück in A and Prelude on ‘Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen’. These are enjoyable to listen to and, given the budget price, do try exploring this less well-known repertoire.

Julian Thomas

VARIATION

Reger Introduction and Passacagliain D minor; Guilmant Morceau de Concert; Höller

Ciacona; Karg-Elert Pax Vobiscum; Peeters

Variations and Finale on an Old Flemish Song; Langlais Theme and Variations; Landmann Variations on a theme by Handel. Carleton

Etherington plays the Milton Organ of Tewkesbury Abbey.

REGENT REGCD176 TT 79:29

From the sonic explosion that is the opening of Reger’s Introduction and

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CANTORUM III

Passacaglia in D minor one is made instantly aware of two things – firstly, the rebuilt Milton organ at Tewkesbury, shrieking sharp mixtures aside, is a magnificent instrument. Secondly, Carleton Etherington is a brilliant player. This CD contains some works, like the Reger, that are very well-known. Etherington’s performances of them certainly deserve a place in anyone’s collection even if, like me, you already have other recordings of them. Some of the other pieces are not often played, however, and, on the basis of these performances, one wonders why on earth not. The Höller Ciacona is a fine piece that ought to be heard more often and equally fine is Arno Landmann’s demanding Variations on a theme by Handel. The theme is a Sarabande froma harpsichord suite and it is subjected to countless transformations during the work’s quarter-hour length. This really is a splendid piece and Etherington appears to cope with its considerable technical challenges with absolute ease. The same cannot be said of the organ which seems to be running low on wind towards the end! Sagging wind pressure aside, this is a very fine recording which is good value for money.

Tom Bell

THE ENGLISH CATHEDRAL SERIES VOL V

Saint-Saëns Improvisation No 7 in A min; Grace Resurgam; Whitlock Chanty and, Salix; Stanford Postlude in D minor; Hylton Stewart St Peter; Piet Post Partita on ‘ De lofzang van Maria’; Vaughan Williams Rhosymedre; Cocker Tuba Tune; Martinson Aria on a Chaconne; Purcell Trumpet Tune and Air; Cranmer Pavan and Galliard; Leeds Elegy; Reger Toccata in D minor; Fugue in D major. David Poulter plays the Chester Cathedral organ. REGENT REGCD173 TT 72:03.

This is the fifth release in Regent’s series and I was looking forward to hearing it. Initially I was a little disappointed as David Poulter’s programme is somewhat lacking in substance, the longest piece lasts a fraction over 11 minutes but almost all the other items are barely five minutes. That is not to say that this is somehow ‘wrong’ but personally I find myself yearning for something a bit bigger. This said, the disc does contain some really splendid playing – Poulter’s performances of Reger and Stanford in particular have bags of personality and flair. The very small pieces such as Hylton Stewart’s St.Peter are played with great care and musicality. Despite my initial comment about David Poulter’s choice of programme, it is nevertheless a colourful selection of often rarely heard works which is enjoyable to listen to. There are a number of pieces that were not familiar to me and I feel that I have made two discoveries in particular: one is Cranmer’s rather fine Pavan and Galliard and the other is Joel Martinson’s Aria on a Chaconne. I heard the latter piece played as an encore at a recital recently and loved it, but never knew what it was. Now I do and will certainly be wafting it around every resonant building I can for the foreseeable future!

Tom Bell

THE LAND OF THE MOUNTAIN AND THE FLOOD

Roger Fisher plays the organ at Reid Memorial Church Edinburgh.

Hollins Concert Overture in C minor; Concert Rondo in B flat; Elgar Chanson de Nuit; Bach Passacaglia in C minor; Black Sarabande; Whitlock Fantasie Choral No 2 in F sharp minor; Vierne Naïades; MacCunn Overture: The Land of the Mountain and the Flood; Binge Elizabethan Serenade.

AMPHION PHI CD 177 TT 69:17

This disc may have been recorded in a church but this is unashamedly the concert organ on display. The title piece is a transcription of Hamish MacCunn’s (thoroughly Scottish) orchestral piece and the instrument copes well with most of the demands placed on it. Two of

Hollins’s concert works sound fine on this organ (designed to his specification) and Whitlock’s Fantasie Choral no. 2 comes across well. Bach’s great Passacaglia is given the ‘orchestral’ treatment – this will not appeal to purists, but it is quite a convincing performance which sits surprisingly comfortably in this programme. Occasionally registration changes and the swell pedal could be controlled a little better, but Fisher successfully demonstrates that the concert organ and its repertoire is still definitely alive and well.

Julian Thomas

DUPRÉ: ORGAN WORKS VOL, 4

Ben van Oosten plays the Willis Organ in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.

Deuxième Symphonie Op 26; Seventy-Nine Chorales; Sept Pièces. MDG 316 0954-2 (Chandos) TT 65:31

How well this music sounds on the Willis organ (1902) of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin (which Dupré himself twice played!). This fourth disc in Ben van Oosten’s cycle maintains the high standard he has already set. The Second Symphony is dramatic, colourful and varied, and the recording really brings the work to life; the jaunty second movement, Intermezzo, is particularly successful. The Sept Pièces (Op.27) are interesting character-pieces, varied in style and well worth exploring, including a grand Marche, a dreamy Légende and an exuberant Final. Eight of his 79Chorales are also included, showing his mastery of harmony and counterpoint. Again, an informative booklet really aids listening, particularly for the symphony.

Julian Thomas

THE ENGLISH CATHEDRAL SERIES VOL VI

Paul Trepte plays organ music from Ely. Reger Second Sonata; Karg-Elert 5 Chorale Preludes from Op 65; Liszt Fantasy and Fugue on ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’

REGENT REGCD174 TT 73:40

For his contribution to the excellent English Cathedral Series, Paul Trepte chooses a thorough-going Romantic programme which suits the Ely organ well. Reger wrote most of his organ music comparatively early in his career and saw himself as carrying on the tradition of Bach and Mendelssohn almost as a duty. He also admired Beethoven and Brahms and, in company with many of his contemporaries, fell somewhat under the spell of Wagner. He came of Roman Catholic peasant stock and yet, paradoxically, was inspired to write much neo-Bachian organ music based on Lutheran chorales in spite of regarding the organ as primarily a concert instrument. Several of these elements rise to the surface in his Second Sonata (written when he was 28) and Paul Trepte gives an energetic and colourful performance which conveys Reger’s more grandiose (and occasionally bombastic) style admirably. Reger and Karg-Elert can claim to be the most significant organ composers of the early 20th century and the latter’s Chorale Preludes, Op 66 give opportunities to display some of the quieter subtleties of the Ely organ, including some luscious strings and reeds. It is hardly surprising that Bach’s music influenced Karg-Elert as much as it did Reger since his formative years were spent in Leipzig and much of his training, both as a concert pianist and subsequently as a composer, was at the Leipzig Conservatory. I remember the older London organists of my youth reminiscing fondly about the 1930 Karg-Elert Festival at St Lawrence, Jewry, which made such an impression on English organists and did much to establish the composer’s reputation in this country. The number of sets of his Chorale Improvisations, Op 66, which were sold at that time (one of which I inherited) must have delighted his publisher! The CD is rounded off with an assured and accomplished performance of Liszt’s Ad nos…With all due respect to Reger and Karg-Elert, Paul Trepte has left the best until last. Highly recommended – a worthy addition to the series.

Alan Spedding

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The ✣ ENGLISH CATHEDRAL ✣ Series

Latest Releases in this acclaimed series

VOLUME V

David Poulter plays organ music from CHESTER

David Poulter’s first solo organ recording on the magnificent and rarely-recorded instrument at Chester. An exciting programme including four first recordings. Featuring works by:

Saint-Saëns, Whitlock, Geoffrey Leeds, Piet Post, Harvey Grace, Joel Martinson, Stanford, Cranmer, Vaughan Williams, Purcell, C Hylton Stewart and Reger

CD: REGCD173

VOLUME VI

Paul Trepte plays organ music from ELY

The first recording of the new organ in a spectacular recital programme

Second Sonata, Op 60 - Max Reger, 5 Chorale Preludes from Op 65 - Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Fantasy and Fugue on Ad nos, ad salutarem undam – Franz Liszt

CD: REGCD 174

VOLUME VII

David Dunnett plays organ music from NORWICH

RCO

THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ORGANISTS

supporting organists and choral directors

New Qualifications

CertRCO – Certificate

The comprehensive qualification for intermediate organists

LTRCO – Licentiate Organ Teacher

The rigorous diploma for organ teachers

Membership

We welcome applications from anyone with an interest in organ and/or choral music. Special rates for those pursuing full time educational courses.

Further details about all aspects of the work of the College are available at www.rco.org.uk

or from The Royal College of Organists, 7 St Andrew Street, London, EC4A 3LQ Tel 020 7936 3606 Fax 020 7353 8244 email admin@rco.org.uk

The ‘Best of British’ Fanfare - John Cook, Evening Song - Edward Bairstow, An occasional trumpet voluntaryPatrick Gowers, Fantasia, Op 136 - York Bowen, Flourish for an occasion - William Harris, Rhapsody, Op 17, No 1 - Herbert Howells, Sonatina - Ronald Watson, Rhapsody, Op 4Harold Darke, A Trumpet Minuet - Alfred Hollins, Rhapsody on a ground - Heathcote Statham, Concert Overture in C minor - Alfred Hollins,

CD: REGCD175

Plus a stunning new recording of virtuoso Variations on the Milton/Kenneth Jones organ in Tewkesbury Abbey superbly played by Carleton Etherington

VARIATION

Reger - Introduction and Passacaglia in D minor Guilmant - Morceau de Concert

Höller - Ciacona

Peeters - Variations on an Old Flemish Song

Karg-Elert - Pax Vobiscum

Langlais - Theme et Variations

Landmann - Variations on a theme of Handel

CARLETONETHERINGTON - organ

CD: REGCD176

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