Cathedral Music: Spring 2016

CATHEDRAL MUSIC FCM 60 YEARS

CATHEDRAL MUSIC

CATHEDRAL MUSIC is published twice a year, in May and November

ISSN 1363-6960 MAY 2016

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Mrs Sooty Asquith, 8 Colinette Road, London SW15 6QQ sooty.asquith@btinternet.com

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In the summer of 2016, the Selby Abbey Trust has arranged a series of Celebrity Organ Recitals to be performed on the Custom Built Regent Classic Organ by Viscount installed especially for this concert series, while the historic William Hill organ undergoes restoration by Principal Pipe Organs of York.

Win a £10,000

Home Practice Instrument

Take part in our Digital vs Pipe Organ online aural test to win the Envoy 35-F

www.viscountorgans.net/theorgan

2016 Recital Programme

June 7th Roger Tebbet, Selby Abbey

June 14th Paul Derrett, Hull

June 21st Joshua Stephens, Sheffield Cathedral

June 28th Graham Barber, St Bartholomew’s, Armley, Leeds

July 5th Colin Walsh, Lincoln Cathedral

July 12th John Scott Whiteley, Organist Emeritus, York Minster

July 19th Franz Hauk, Ingolstadt Minster

July 26th Charles Harrison, Chichester Cathedral

August 2nd D’Arcy Trinkwon, Worth Abbey

All recitals commence in the Abbey at 12.30

This prestigious series of concerts will feature cathedral and concert organists from the UK and from Europe who are among the most distinguished performers in the world.

For further information and a complete programme itinerary, please visit www.viscountorgans.net

This year FCM celebrates 60 years since its inception in the St Bride’s Institute, the building next to the church (which was being rebuilt after the war) off Fleet St. Ronald Sibthorp, precentor at Truro Cathedral and writer of the original letter to The Times and other papers, bemoaned the paucity of weekday services in UK cathedrals and suggested, to combat the severe drop in standards caused by two world wars, the formation of a new society to be known as The Friends of Cathedral Music.

From small acorns grow large oaks. FCM’s 60th year promises to be its most glorious, and with two magnificent concerts in London, at St Paul’s and St Martin-in-the-Fields (the St Paul’s concert was on 27th April; the St Martin’s one is 24th June – details can be had from the SMF website) and many National, Regional and Local Gatherings taking place, there is no chance that our aims will go uncelebrated. In addition, the St Paul’s concert is a fund-raising event for the Diamond Fund for Choristers, which has been set up in order to provide bursaries for choristers and to relieve hardship with targeted grants. The intention is to raise £10 million by 2020. Of course, the fund needs all the monetary support it can get, but one of the most valuable ways in which members can help is by recruiting more members. Try bringing a friend to Evensong, or invite people to a London or Liverpool concert, or pass on your copy of this magazine to an interested party (spare copies can always be obtained from me for this purpose. They are generally available at the Gatherings too.)

One of the conductors at the concert at St Martin-in-theFields is to be the FCM President, Christopher Robinson, who retires this year after 12 years in post. Well known, of course, for his fine music-making at Worcester Cathedral, St George’s Windsor and St John’s College Cambridge, Dr Robinson’s remarkable career has been encapsulated in these pages by Roger Judd, a reviewer for CM and a colleague of Dr Robinson’s at St George’s. We shall miss Dr Robinson sorely when he leaves us in June.

I have remarked in the past on the extraordinary sway that the cathedral music world holds over its denizens. For a demonstration of this you should read the article by Richard Shephard on his fifty years – so far – spent at Gloucester, Salisbury and York. Although a teacher, and latterly headmaster of the Minster School at York, his life has encompassed a happy mixture of singing, composing and music-making (and, of course, teaching...) Matthew Martin is a few years behind Richard, but has already made a considerable stir with his compositions. His colleague at Edington, Jeremy Summerly, has snatched a moment from his own busy schedule to talk to Matthew about getting published, compositional inspiration, about Matthew’s new life at Keble, and .... Michael Jackson!

Lastly, the wonderful organs of Cavaillé-Coll. Their development in the latter half of the 19th century is a fascinating story of the dominance of one man, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. Without him, the world of cathedral music would undoubtedly be a very different universe. For those to whom his organs are an unexplored landscape, this article is a revelation.

Sooty Asquith

JOINING FRIENDS OF CATHEDRAL MUSIC JOINING FRIENDS OF CATHEDRAL MUSIC

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FCM’s purpose is to safeguard our priceless heritage of cathedral music and support this living tradition. We strive to increase public awareness and appreciation of cathedral music, and encourage high standards in choral and organ music. Money is raised by subscriptions, donations and legacies for choirs in need.

Since 1956 we have given over £2 million to Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedral, church and collegiate chapel choirs in the UK and overseas; endowed many choristerships; ensured the continued existence of a choir school, and worked to maintain the cathedral tradition. Please join now and help us to keep up this excellent work.

Christopher Robinson

FCM’S PRESIDENT AT 80 Roger

Judd talks to Dr Christopher Robinson

Christopher Robinson was born in April 1936, in Peterborough, where his father was a minor canon in the cathedral. Henry Coleman, the cathedral organist, was his godfather. His father had a good voice to sing the services, and he also played the violin, while his mother played the piano and also sang. She was a gifted teacher, and a fine cook.

When Christopher was about 18 months old, his father moved the family to the parish of Quatt, a small village in Shropshire between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth, to be nearer to his wife’s family. Around the age of four Christopher started to have piano lessons with Mamie Carter in Kidderminster. “I didn’t care much for practising,” Christopher remembers, “so, to encourage me, from an early age my father used to take me to his church in Quatt. There I was allowed to play the organ, a 2-manual Bevington which was hand-blown by my father.” Christopher was able to play hymns which his father had simplified for small hands (but as yet no feet!).

The young Christopher went to school at St Michael’s, Tenbury, which had come to his parents’ attention through one of his mother’s relatives who lived in Tenbury. At the age of seven (1943) he was taken to Maurice Bevan, of the famous musical family, who lived at nearby Quatford Castle, where he was given a lesson or two by way of preparation. Then he was taken to sing to Sir Sydney Nicholson, who was running the music at the college for a time during the war, and joined the college in May that year. By then C E S Littlejohn, an avuncular figure, had taken over as director of music and composer of an anthem, Lord, I am not high-minded, which Christopher particularly remembers amongst his compositions that were sung.

St Michael’s was a happy place for Christopher: not only was he able to play a great deal of music, but cricket filled his summers! The Warden (headmaster) when he started was Dr Billen, a scholarly man who taught the top forms all the major subjects. At Tenbury Christopher took most of the Associated Board exams, passing Grade VIII before leaving.

The return from war service of the choirmaster, Maxwell Menzies, was an important moment, and Christopher absorbed a lot from him. Menzies was a strong disciplinarian and improved the choir no end. He introduced many of the boys to all sorts of music, which, armed with miniature scores, they listened to on gramophone records. Christopher learnt the piano and organ with him, though for some time

he still couldn’t reach the pedals. He worked his way through the bound copies of ARCO score-reading and transposition exercises that were on the shelves, and started playing the organ in the church for services. By singing in the choir he 5-part Mass (sung in English, as was the way then), Harris’s Faire is the heaven, VW’s Te Deum in G, and of course Dering’s Factum est silentium at Michaelmas. The BBC made several programmes with the choir, and Christopher remembers the Warden singing Love bade me welcome very beautifully. Tenbury was also where Christopher realised that he had perfect pitch, which was a bit of a trial there as the organ was significantly sharp!

After Tenbury, what next? “The examiner for my Grade VII piano was Kenneth Stubbs, who was Director of Music at Rugby School. It’s possible that he put the idea of Rugby as a next step into my parents’ heads,” Christopher goes on. “Winning a music scholarship there opened up new horizons. An early memory is of listening to rehearsals of the excellent school orchestra, whose programme in my first term was Elgar Cello Concerto, Sibelius’s 2nd Symphony, and Borodin’s Prince Igor Overture. This really blew me away.” Whatever the reason, the school’s very fine orchestral repertoire made a big impact on him. In order to immerse himself in this new soundworld

he took up the cello, and joined Richard Lloyd (later at Hereford and Durham Cathedrals), an excellent trombonist, in the orchestra. Cricket also featured strongly in the summer term and eventually he made it into his house first team.

The Director of Music deemed that Christopher couldn’t play the organ for two years as it would spoil his piano technique, which, in retrospect, Christopher thinks was probably a good thing. When he did resume playing he soon passed his ARCO (in 1952), and the playing part of the FRCO in 1953. Though success in the paperwork eluded him, there was an amusing spin-off. One of the tests was to write a part-song. “I thought mine was quite good, so I took away my rough workings after the exam, and not long afterwards Novello’s published it!” Christopher recalls. His father arranged lessons in the paperwork with Ambrose Porter (Lichfield Cathedral), which saw him through to the full FRCO before leaving Rugby.

Christopher played for many of the chapel services, including the ‘big’ occasions like the carol service, helped take sectional rehearsals, and memorably put on a performance of The Mikado with the late Rodney Milnes, a contemporary of his, and later to become a distinguished opera expert and critic; Christopher arranged the orchestral part for two pianos.

When Christopher went up to Oxford in 1954, the organist was Thomas Armstrong, a distinguished figure with a wideranging musical and scholarly mind. Latin Masses were sung every Sunday, and for these the choir used to sing near the altar where the acoustic was kinder. The senior scholar at Christ Church was Harrison (Fred) Oxley, and Christopher and he quickly became very good friends. In the faculty, harmony and counterpoint were no problem, but the history of music brought on despair. During his first year he sang in the Oxford Bach Choir (OBC), which Armstrong conducted. “Armstrong was very good on the educational aspect of this job,” Christopher says now. “He wanted to share his enthusiasm and love for the music being worked on, even getting the choir to sing the arias en masse so they immersed themselves in the whole work.”

After Christopher’s first year, Armstrong became Principal of the Royal Academy of Music and Sydney Watson, who also conducted the OBC, took his place. Watson too had a great enthusiasm for what he was doing, and was both a good tutor and a good conductor. He stammered, and that, coupled with a superb sense of humour and brilliant timing, led to some hilarious moments. As was the way at the time, Watson did much of the organ playing, only leaving the loft when unaccompanied music needed to be conducted. Christopher took every opportunity he could to make music, playing the piano, working with chamber choirs and playing cello in various instrumental groups.

A significant change in his musical life occurred with the arrival of Meredith Davies as organist of New College in 1956. For the first time, when he played in a performance of Bach’s Third Brandenburg Concerto, Christopher saw a professional conductor at work. Davies took over the City of Birmingham Choir (CBC) from David Willcocks. “I often attended his rehearsals,” says Christopher, “and this got me involved playing keyboards in the CBSO, which started a relationship with the orchestra and choir that lasted many years.” He saw at first hand Davies’s work with the New College Choir – he didn’t care for undergraduate organ scholars, preferring a slightly older, more experienced musician, so in his fourth (BMus) year Christopher played at New College and attended his rehearsals. Davies worked hard on the boys, getting them to breathe properly and form ‘correct’ vowel sounds, and shape musical lines.

Oxford was also where Christopher met his wife, Shirley. The professor, Sir Jack Westrup, conducted the university orchestra, and Christopher played cello and then double bass. Westrup put on a performance of Verdi’s Macbeth in which the young Heather Harper was the lead soprano. “Shirley was one of the witches!” Christopher laughs. “She was in the year above, also reading music, and because she sang (alto) in lots of choir groups, our paths often crossed. She did her Dip. Ed. and then got a job in the Midlands as Director of Music at Bilston Girls’ High School, which was very convenient!”

Christopher Robinson, Adrian Lucas, David Willcocks & Donald Hunt

After he graduated, Christopher also did a Dip. Ed., but in Birmingham – by then Shirley had joined the CBC. Meredith Davies got him involved with the choir, taking rehearsals and playing sundry keyboards in the CBSO. Then he took his first job, which was as an assistant music master at Oundle School with Robin Miller (DoM) – Graham Smallbone (later at Eton College) taught the cello – and he was there for three years.

Thereafter he left schoolwork, mainly because he had always wanted to work in the cathedral world. A letter arrived one day from Douglas Guest saying that Edgar Day was retiring, and would he like to go to Worcester Cathedral for an interview, which he did, becoming Assistant Organist in 1962. The boys at the cathedral were excellent, and the Festival Choral Society was huge – almost 300 singers – and Christopher really liked Douglas, who became a very good friend. “He was an adventurous programme planner,” Christopher remembers. “One of the earliest performances of Britten’s War Requiem was conducted by him as well as Stravinsky’s Canticum Sacrum and the Poulenc Gloria, which was then very new.” Christopher was very much involved with the preparation of all these. A new opportunity arose when he became Assistant Conductor of the CBC in 1963.

After that, things changed somewhat, as Guest was appointed to Westminster Abbey, and Christopher was promoted at Worcester (1963). The first thing he had to do was appoint his own assistant – Harry Bramma, who had been a contemporary of his at Oxford, and was at that time DoM at Retford Grammar School. They had a great rapport, as can be heard on some of the recordings they did together with the choir (Elgar and RVW especially), and Bramma had many wonderful musical enthusiasms which he enjoyed sharing with his students. Christopher’s choristers and pupils, many of whom are now familiar names in musical circles, were “a great lot”.

Part of the job, of course, at Worcester, was planning and directing the Three Choirs Festival (TCF), which he did in 1966, 1969 and 1972. When he started at Worcester, his colleagues were Melville Cook at Hereford, and Herbert (John) Sumsion at Gloucester, both of whom welcomed him warmly, and did not treat him as the novice he obviously was. After a few years, Cook and Sumsion stood down and were replaced by Richard Lloyd (Hereford) and John Sanders (Gloucester). Christopher’s programming policy was, as much as possible, to include pieces that hadn’t previously been performed at the TCF. For example, Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts, Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, Penderecki’s Stabat Mater and Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass. There were also commissions like Jonathan Harvey’s Ludus Amoris

One of the problems with the TCF at that time was that there was too much music and too little time to rehearse it properly. Pre-1950 there was so-called ‘Black Monday’ at the beginning of the festival week when everything for the whole week had to be rehearsed in a day, which was crazy! They would try and cover the ‘novelties’ in some detail, while pieces like Gerontius and Elijah would have had scant attention – a situation difficult to imagine today. Gradually things improved, but getting adequate rehearsal time on days when there were two concerts was never easy.

Work with the CBSO continued, and he had a good rapport with them. “Conducting was something I just picked it up ‘on the hoof’, although Meredith Davies at the CBC gave me a lot of help, as did Sir Adrian Boult, and I learnt a great deal just by watching them,” Christopher says. His early keyboard work with the CBSO meant that he knew the players personally, so standing up in front of them when he took over the CBC from Meredith Davies was less daunting than it might have been. “Also, I was aware that orchestral players are critical of choral conductors who give all their attention to the choir and ignore the players. I wanted to have the choir sufficiently well rehearsed so that I could attend to the orchestra, who may be seeing the music for the first time,” Christopher remembers. He gained greater artistic freedom with the CBC and the CBSO than he would ever have done with the TCF, and couldn’t, for example, have done Tippett’s A Mask of Time and Messiaen’s La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jesus-Christ in a TCF programme; there just wouldn’t have been enough rehearsal time. The CBC also did Delius’s Mass of Life several times, once jointly with the OBC.

Although not necessarily looking for a move, in 1975 Christopher went to Windsor Castle as Organist of St George’s Chapel following the death of Sidney Campbell. “The invitation to apply was too good to ignore!” he recalls. Initially he was worried that he might miss the TCF, but having taken over as conductor of the OBC some months earlier, he was not going to be short of outside work. “The St George’s choir was not in very good shape, and a great deal of work had to be done, especially as 1975 was the quincentenary year of the chapel. A number of special concerts had been arranged, masterminded by David Willcocks: a special service was to be broadcast live on radio and TV which included a commissioned Te Deum by Phillip Cannon, which wasn’t straightforward; shortly after that, Field Marshall Lord Montgomery died and his funeral was at Windsor, so these two high profile events were quite challenging. Luckily Stephen Verney, the Precentor, was particularly supportive of my endeavours.”

Douglas Guest & Christopher Robinson

Christopher Robinson 1966 Worcester

The lay clerks fell into two distinct categories: half were the ‘old stagers’, and the others were younger, ex-choral scholars who were making their futures outside the castle, and who were regarded with some suspicion by the older team. The choir suffered from a lack of rehearsal time, so the two sung Mattins had to be sacrificed for this. Christopher organised for the men to come in for a 20-minute rehearsal before Evensong, which immediately bore dividends, and gradually things turned around so that he can now look back on many events with great pleasure. Notable among these are the series of CDs made with Hyperion, especially the Parry disc with the Songs of Farewell, and a concert given in Great St Mary’s as part of the 1987 International Congress of Organists in Cambridge. The highlight there was William Mundy’s Vox patris cælestis

When George Guest retired from St John’s College in 1991, Christopher succeeded him. It was unexpected: a Sunday lunchtime phone call came from the Master of the College, and although Christopher was thrilled to be asked, he was slightly daunted by the prospect of stepping into George’s shoes. Indeed, it wasn’t easy to begin with – the back rows were short of two choral scholars and two volunteers, and there were no dates in the diary, and no recordings or tours planned. Also, the choir was regarded with suspicion by some of the Fellows, but nevertheless he received great support from the Master.

A new Master, Peter Goddard, brought about a great change in attitude when he said that the vital thing was for the choir to be well known, and that royalties and fees were of secondary importance (under Guest, the college had done very well out of recording royalties, but these were drying up, and huge recording fees were becoming a thing of the past.) “The series of CDs for Naxos helped hugely in that regard, as did a good word from John Rutter at a crucial moment. There wasn’t much money in the contract, but it brought in massive publicity,” Christopher says. The result was a series of splendid tours to Australia, Japan, the USA, Canada and, nearer to home, to Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Germany.

Retirement from St John’s came in 2003, but Christopher remains busy in the choral world. “And I feel lucky still to be wanted!” he says. Firstly, he ran the music at Clare College Cambridge for a year for Tim Brown, during which time he took the choir to St Michael’s Tenbury to record a CD of S S Wesley’s music. Again, he was grateful to John Rutter – this

time for engineering as well as producing this recording. Now he is mentoring the organ scholars at Downing College, and he occasionally directs services at Selwyn and Trinity Colleges for Sarah Macdonald and Stephen Layton respectively. He’s been over to Saint Thomas, Fifth Avenue to direct the Choirmasters’ Week several times, most recently for the late John Scott, and also the Yale University Schola Cantorum.

In addition to all the above he serves on the committees of the Leith Hill Festival, the Ouseley Trust, the Howells Trust, and of course he is FCM’s President. He is also Patron of the Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir and involved with the Archdiocese of Cologne, advising the publisher, Carus Verlag, on an anthology of English anthems. In addition, he goes over to Herning in Denmark several times a year to the Danish Singing School, which was set up some years ago by Mads Bille to foster singing in young people. The enterprise has the support of the Danish Ministry of Culture and, as there is no tradition in Denmark for this sort of thing, it’s a brave venture, but it’s working. There are around 100 youngsters attending after school, and they learn to sing, do theory, and play instruments. Christopher works with the singers and the choirs that have blossomed under Bille’s guidance, spending a week or so with them each visit.

To conclude, I ask Christopher about how he would characterise the identifiable ‘Robinson sound’ that the boys at Worcester, Windsor and Cambridge all had. He replies that he wanted a sound that is exciting, engaging and expressive. This boils down to having boys who are themselves lively and receptive, and who are prepared to take risks. “Telling them that something is difficult should be avoided,” he says. “Boys have to feel that singing is physically enjoyable, and they need to communicate that to the listener. The words are terrifically important too, in the formation of sounds and in the shape and length of phrases.” These are Christopher’s main

Christopher Robinson with the choir of St John’s College, Cambridge

CAVAILLÉ-COLL: A LEGACY Andrew Cantrill

his teacher Alexandre Böely was dismissed from his post for playing too many fugues!

With French organ art at its lowest point, revolution of a different kind was not slow in coming. Over the next 20 years, two distinct organ schools evolved, one headed by Saint-Saëns and César Franck, and the other by Guilmant and Widor, with Cavaillé-Coll’s organs providing inspiration and challenge in equal measure: ‘Our school owes its creation – I say it without reservation – to the special, magical sound of these instruments.’ Charles-Marie Widor (1932)

The legacy of the French organist-composers, as exemplified by the masterworks of Franck, the organ symphonies of Widor, and the deeply spiritual sound world of Messiaen, is one of the most significant achievements in organ culture of the last 150 years. The thread which connected all these was the great organ-builder, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. But go back 100 years from there, and the parlous state of French organ music at the start of the 19th century might come as a surprise to some.

The Revolution of 1789 touched all areas of French life. The Church was secularised, its buildings used as barracks, stabling, or storerooms, and organs were often vandalised or destroyed. As the glories of the classical organ waned, the Grand Siècle of Titelouze, Couperin, and Clérambault seemed lost for ever. In addition, the opening of the Paris Conservatoire in 1795 heralded a form of musical liberation in the city, with opera and ballet its main beneficiaries. The style of the opéra comique soon found its way into the Mass, but a simpler, pianistic style of organ performance then emerged, allied with the barcarolle, gallop or even the valse. The composer and organist Camille Saint-Saëns rebuked his contemporaries as ‘musicians without brains, performers without fingers’, and

Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was born in 1811 in Montpellier into a family of organ-builders. His paternal grandfather, Jean-Pierre Cavaillé, had built organs in France and Spain, and Aristide’s father, Dominique Cavaillé-Coll (whose mother’s name had been added to her husband’s in the Spanish tradition), was Jean-Pierre’s apprentice, partner and successor. Craftsmanship and integrity, hallmarks of Aristide’s life and work, were learned from father and grandfather at an early age. By the time Aristide was 14, he had begun his apprenticeship, helping in the Toulouse workshop, and at 18 he had completed his first organ unsupervised.

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS AND CÉSAR FRANCK

Such talent couldn’t remain in Toulouse for long, and it was the composer Rossini, making a visit to the town, who suggested it was time to move the family business to Paris. The Cavaillé-Colls disembarked in the capital on 21 September 1833, and within three days Aristide had submitted a proposal to build a new 84-stop organ for the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis.

Aristide, still in his twenties, became head of the firm in all but name. His genius for invention saw the introduction of a succession of innovations. Steady wind at varied pressures was now supplied to accommodate the needs of pipes of different timbres and pitches. The system of ventil pedals was extended to enable ingenious shifts of registration. The pneumatic Barker lever was introduced, and instruments grew in size and power. The Clicquot echo division was enlarged and enclosed, making possible an unprecedented dynamic range. And it was Aristide who perfected individual tone colours that blended into an ensemble characterised by luminosity and fire.

A succession of truly magnificent organs followed:

La Madeleine 1846

St Clotilde 1859

St Sulpice 1862

Notre Dame 1868

The Trocadéro 1878

St Etienne, Caen 1885

St Sernin, Toulouse 1889

St Ouen, Rouen 1890

What makes these organs so magical, so special? A key aspect is that certain stops spoke with the same voice in every instrument bearing the Cavaillé-Coll name, irrespective of size or date. The foundation stops at St Denis were close to those of Notre Dame, even though 25 years came between the two designs. Another great skill was Cavaillé-Coll’s ability to scale pipes to the building while staying true to his ideals of tone. Consoles became models of convenience, with most facing the nave, the draw-stops within easy reach, and with German pedal boards beginning at bottom C, and not F or A, as in the past. Crucially, this allowed for the performance of the music of J S Bach.

In northern Europe in the early 19th century a tradition still survived of organ playing centred around the music of Bach. The year 1844 saw the first French performances of the works of Bach by the German organist Adolph Friedrich Hesse. In a recital at St Eustache, Hesse brought to Paris a style he had learned from Rinck, who had been trained by Kittel, who had been taught by Bach himself. Those who were accustomed to organists conjuring up shipwrecks at sea found Hesse intolerably boring, but a few found it significant – including Cavaillé-Coll. When Hesse’s most famous pupil, the Belgian Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens, visited Paris in 1852 and 1854, he further impressed with truly virtuoso performances of Bach. His playing would inspire a new generation of organists, and his tutor, the 1862 Ecole d’Orgue, would contribute to an expanded playing style in France. ‘He is a giant,’ wrote Berlioz.

In the autumn of 1844, Cavaillé-Coll visited Alsace where he met Jean Widor, a long-time employee of the organ builder Callinet. A friendship evolved which would link the organbuilder and his art to three generations of the Widor family. But most significant of all was the birth on 21 February 1844 of a composer and teacher who, more than anyone, caused Bach to be venerated by a succession of young musicians: Charles-Marie Widor.

Cavaillé-Coll knew that his organs required organists who could fully exploit their tonal and mechanical innovations. Widor was to tell Dupré that, when staying with his parents in Lyon in 1858, Aristide had said: ‘After Charles-Marie finishes school, he must go and study in Brussels with the great organist Lemmens. I shall introduce him. I have already sent him young Guilmant.’ Widor studied privately with Lemmens for several months in 1863, and Lemmens’s ideas and personality were to have a profound effect on French organ teaching and composing for decades to come.

‘Not a person who heard Lemmens will forget the lucidity, the strength, the grandeur of his playing: the smallest details given weight, but always in proportion with the piece as a whole.’ His agility looked the more astonishing for his height and powerful build. ‘One thought of an animal tamer confronting the beast… classic posture, knees and ankles together, player motionless, hands and feet near as possible to the keys… the minimum of movement.’ (Widor)

By the end of the 1860s, thanks to the influence of CavailléColl, the young Widor had been transformed from student to serious artist. Widor had also begun to write music of his own, including chamber and piano works. His career as a virtuoso and composer was therefore well launched when, on New Year’s Eve 1869, while deputising at La Cavaillé-Coll at his side, the 25-year-old Widor learned of the sudden death of the inimitable Lefébure-Wély, organist of St Sulpice. In Dupré’s telling of the tale, Cavaillé-Coll nudged the younger man and said, “I’m thinking”. Within a few days, Widor was installed as temporary organist, with responsibility for Cavaillé-Coll’s largest masterpiece.

Presiding over this amphitheatre of a console had a profound effect on Widor. He later remarked ‘one will never write for the orchestra in the same way as the organ. But from now on, one will have to be as careful managing tone colour in an organ work as in an orchestral one.’ He wasted no time. Within two years of his appointment at St Sulpice, Widor had dispatched to his publisher no fewer than four of his eventual ten organ symphonies.

What of our second organ school, that headed by Franck & Saint-Saëns? The influence of Bach is still integral, but that of Lemmens less so.

ability during the arid years of the early 1850s. Cavaillé-Coll included Saint-Saëns amongst the organists recommended to clients for the inauguration of new organs, and his prize in 1857 (at the age of just 22) was the sought-after post of

La Madeleine was the richest and most fashionable church in Paris, with an inspirational 4-manual Cavaillé-Coll organ and a generous salary. Though neither a true classicist nor a great innovator, Saint-Saëns exerted a far-reaching influence from his organ bench. His opinion of liturgical music was certainly an oddity in Paris at the time, with him asserting that it should be ‘grand in style, serene in spirit, and aloof from all that was worldly’. He abhorred the singing of operatic airs in church, and denounced the mixing of styles which often led to the juxtaposition of one composer’s Gloria with another’s Credo. He even judged Bach ‘inapt for the meditative purpose of the church’. The Mass in B Minor was considered concert music, and the organ preludes, toccatas, and variations were ‘unfitted for Catholic liturgy by their essential virtuosity’. And we won’t mention the ‘egregious Protestantism’ of the chorale preludes!

Though their names are often mentioned in the same sentence, Saint-Saëns and Franck were anything but friends. In almost every respect – origins, experience, aesthetic ideas – the two composers differed greatly. Saint-Saëns was urbane, sophisticated, conservative, and fastidious in attire. Franck was gauche, liberal, absent-minded, and according to Vincent d’Indy, rather shabby – often seen in ‘a coat a size too big, and trousers a size too short’.

Camille Saint-Saëns’s passionate attachment to music of the 18th century, his dexterity as a pianist, and his organ studies with Alexandre Böely signalled him as a performer of rare

César Franck had shared the platform with Lemmens at his Paris concert in 1854. A pianist of prodigious ability, who achieved a premier prix at the age of just 11, Franck set about mastering Lemmens’s techniques himself. But his primary contribution to the evolving organ culture was as a composer. Franck’s output includes a mere dozen large-scale organ works; Six Pièces, Trois Pièces and Trois Chorals. Like Saint-Saens, he more often wrote for the voice, orchestra or piano, leaving a masterwork in almost every genre, from the string quartet to the symphony. Yet to the organ, week after week for 40 years, he confided some of his deepest thought, and the Six Pièces were epoch-making, setting precedents on which others would build.

St Sulpice Console

recordings

repertoire from roughly the time of Henry Purcell to the early 20th century – but I knew next to nothing of the music of the composers mentioned by the reviewers: Herbert Howells, Edward Bairstow, Charles Wood, Samuel Sebastian Wesley and so on. My family was then living in West Kensington, and Harrods, with its excellent record department, was just a short bus ride away. I decided to go there without delay to explore matters further.

and knew a fair number of the major works of the classical

The first few long-playing records had just been issued, but this was still mainly the world of the 78rpm disc. Most record

Bosses lining the organ wall at Magdalen College Chapel, Oxford

Donald Tyson

Photo: AshMills.com

completing my National Service. In 1956-57 Philip Taylor, the Informator, was in what was to be his final year. He was a fine organist and a capable teacher of the instrument, but his choir practices were rumoured to be very chaotic. His musical tastes, too, seemed in many ways to belong to a bygone age, and to many of us he seemed a rather sad, lonely, withdrawn figure. It was hard to escape the feeling that the choir was living on its past reputation.

The changes in the choir’s fortunes after his successor, Bernard Rose, arrived at the college were immediately apparent. Almost overnight the choir became far more disciplined. Within three weeks the rather ‘dead’ sound of the treble line under his predecessor began to be replaced by an altogether crisper, more sparkling sound which echoed round

Though I was not in the choir and not even a music student, I soon came to know Bernard Rose rather well. One day I

rooms equipped with record players where one could listen ad lib to those records which were of interest, and reject any where either the recording or the performance was of poor quality.

summoned up the courage to ask him if I might perhaps make some recordings of the choir. To my relief he was happy for me to go ahead, and I thus became the first person to make a whole series of Magdalen recordings. Tape recorders for domestic use had appeared on the market only a year or two earlier, though the BBC and similar organisations had presumably had them before that. At this date, very few people other than celebrities had much idea of what their voices sounded like to others, and the first few playback sessions in any student or family circle usually led to expressions of surprise or horror, and much hilarity. These early tape recorders were large, unwieldy, rather expensive machines, full of valves, and as heavy as small refrigerators, and on one train journey a railway official even insisted that mine should travel in the guard’s van “since it clearly was not part of my personal luggage”.

Tape recorders were, however, indispensable for anyone seriously interested in exploring the 15th, 16th and 17thcentury English choral repertoire. By the mid-1950s a few of the major works by William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons were, it is true, available on LP records, but there was very little Thomas Tallis on disc, or music by figures such as Thomas Tomkins and Thomas Weelkes. It is doubtful if a single piece by Magdalen composers such as Richard Davy, John Sheppard, John Mason, Richard Nicholson or Daniel Purcell would then have been available. English pre-Reformation church music hardly figured at all in the record catalogues, although the occasional BBC Third Programme broadcasts of early music did provide some compensation, and it was now at last possible to record these.

Making off-air recordings of BBC broadcasts was one thing; making recordings of the choir during a chapel service was a very different matter, and I have to admit that my first attempt was not at all successful. I well remember sitting in the organ loft during one Evensong with the tape recorder beside me. I had simply dangled the microphone loosely over the organ loft balustrade and hoped for the best. This microphone, which had come with the tape recorder as part of the package, was clearly a budget model, as the lead from the microphone to the recorder was very short, and I wasn’t sure if the microphone would pick up anything at all. It did, in fact, work surprisingly well, but only in the quieter passages. Whenever the organ was playing loudly the sound was wildly distorted.

It was clear to me that I needed to make any future recordings at a far greater distance from the organ, and preferably with the help of a better microphone. At this point the Oxford recording engineer Harry Mudd came to my rescue. He found me an excellent microphone, with yards and yards of cable attached. Mr Talboys, the verger, produced a ladder from somewhere, though I was never sure if he fully approved of my activities. I ran the cable along the chapel wall and above the wooden panelling, from the organ loft to a point roughly in line with the cantoris choir stalls and high above them, and attached the microphone to the panelling. There it stayed for at least a year, secure and almost invisible.

The recordings I made with the microphone in its new position were mostly reasonably good by the standards of the 1950s, when even professionally made recordings were still mainly in mono. The chapel services at this time were

mildly ‘low church’, and choral services other than Evensong were rare. I sometimes recorded the whole service, but more often just the introit (if there was one), the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis, and the anthem. Almost anything from the 16th and 17th centuries interested me, but I also recall recording pieces by Haldane Campbell Stewart, Charles Wood, and Samuel Wesley. It is a matter of pure luck that a few of the recordings which I made in 1958-59 have survived to this day despite numerous removals and 55 years of storage in attics, garages and garden sheds. Much of the material I recorded has sadly been lost over the years, or may even have been deleted by me in my undergraduate days to make room for fresh recordings.

Although I was the first person to make a large number of recordings of the choir, Harry Mudd had a year earlier already made one very short private (non-commercial) recording. This took place in July 1957, a few days before Philip Taylor’s retirement after 14 years as Informator, and it is the earliest known recording of the choir singing in the chapel. The idea of making a record almost certainly came from the chorister parents. One of the choristers chose his favourite Mag-andNunc setting (Sumsion in G) for the disc, and for the reverse side Philip Taylor selected Handel’s Let the bright seraphim – an unwise choice as it was never part of the choir’s normal repertoire and the piece was clearly badly under-rehearsed. The music was issued on a 10-inch LP record, and an alternative pressing on two 78rpm discs was made for parents who had as yet no equipment for playing LP records. The trebles and the six lay clerks sang for the recording, but the two academical clerks (choral scholars) were not invited to take part. There were at this date just two academicals in the choir – not two per year, but a total of two in the choir -- at any one time. This had been the pattern for roughly a century, but was soon changed under Bernard Rose, so that at the Evensong which was broadcast almost exactly two years later there were, rather ironically, no fewer than seven academicals in the choir, with just one surviving lay clerk.

Two very short pre-war recordings of the choir singing from the top of the Great Tower have come down to us – recordings whose main aim was evidently to capture the atmosphere of the May Day celebrations rather than to ‘showcase’ the choir. The earlier of these comes from a 1931 Pathé newsreel entitled: ‘Oxford: Ye Merrie Monthe of Maye. Centuries-old custom of ushering in May Day at dawn with old English songs & dances, filmed for first time.’ The filming crew did rather well to carry their heavy equipment to the top of the tower, but their film was then cruelly truncated in the cutting room. On the film the choir is hardly shown at all, and Benjamin Rogers’s Hymnus Eucharisticus is reduced to just one-and-ahalf verses. The editors were seemingly more interested in the Morris Dancing and the crowds below. The tiny soundtrack fragment, with the singers accompanied by the dawn chorus

on top form, is the earliest recording we have of the full choir. Four years later the BBC made a rather similar recording (now in the National Sound Archive) of the start of the May Day ceremony.

The college also has a few even earlier recordings, from 1906-07, when the battle of the formats, flat discs versus cylinders, was at its height. (Flat discs eventually won, though cylindrical records continued to be manufactured till 1929, and a few are still made today for what must surely be a minuscule number of cylinder enthusiasts.) Recording techniques in the pre-electric period (before 1925) were extremely primitive, and only studio recordings were possible, but these are nevertheless recordings of very great historical interest and, despite their limitations, they give

Magdalen College chapel organ

Photo: Rex Harris

us some indication of the excellence of the men’s voices at this time. They were all made by singers from the choir, not by the full choir, which is probably just as well. Early recordings made with solo singers or by very small groups were usually much more successful than those made by larger groups of singers. On these recordings John Lomas, a celebrated Oxford bass who sang in the choir from 18901930, performed two arias by Gounod, with an orchestral accompaniment, and four current or former academical clerks, ‘the Magdalen Glee Singers of Oxford University’, sang two carols. Spoken introductions on records were quite common at this period, and their spoken announcements included what may well be the earliest recordings in sound of the name ‘Magdalen’.

The recordings from 1906-07, 1931 and 1957 mentioned in this article are now available on a recently released Archive CD (reviewed by Timothy Storey CM 1/13). The CD also includes the best of my own recordings from undergraduate days, and off-air recordings of parts of the first two Evensong broadcasts from Magdalen, in 1959 and 1960. Many of these recordings were until recently in danger of being lost, and none of this material has previously been available on either LP records or CDs. The CD also includes a brief introductory talk about the college and its chapel by John Betjeman, and it comes with a 40-page booklet which has nine photographs, and much historical information about the choir and its organists. Copies can be bought from the Magdalen College Bursary (celia.brown@magd.ox.ac.uk) or from www.oxrecs.com They are being sold in aid of the Choir Fund and the Student Support Fund.

Donald Tyson just before he went up to Oxford

Magdalen College chapel interior

Photo: Gina Shearer

PROFILE OLIVER BRETT

1998, we were taken to King’s chapel for a recital by David Goode. Afterwards I told Sarah Baldock that my goal was to go to King’s, to which she replied, ‘You will have to work very hard!’

What did you enjoy most about being an organ scholar at King’s, and at Westminster Cathedral?

These were two very different places (one being a Church of England foundation and the other being Roman Catholic), and I learned different but very complementary things at both. When I first went to King’s my experience of choral music was extremely limited and I had to learn a great deal of repertoire. During my first year, I was fortunate to work with world-class professional musicians on a daily basis at both King’s and Westminster Cathedral, and with many soloists, instrumentalists and orchestras, and I performed in many amazing places, taking part in big services and concerts as well as experiencing the discipline of the daily round of chapel and cathedral worship. All of this was scary and nerve-racking but also very fulfilling.

Education Details: Tonbridge School, Kent; King’s College, Cambridge

Career details to date:

2003 – 2004 Organ Scholar, Tonbridge School (the first ever)

2004 – 2007 Organ Scholar, King’s College, Cambridge

2007 – 2008 Organ Scholar, Westminster Cathedral (and Acting Director of the Choir School)

2008 – 2009 Assistant Director of Music and Organist, Felsted School, Essex and Director of Music, St Philip’s Church, Earl’s Court Road, London

2009 – 2011 Assistant Organist and Assistant Director of Music of the Chorister School, Durham Cathedral

2011 – 2015 Assistant Director of Music, St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, Australia

Were you a chorister, and if so, where?

No, I went to a preparatory school at an early age, and my parents were not musical.

Then what or who made you take up playing the organ? Having started piano lessons I went to the school chapel at Tonbridge with my teacher, heard the organ, and loved the sounds it made. This led to me having organ lessons with Sarah Baldock from the age of 11 to 18.

When at school, did you ever dream of achieving all that you have?

I did not really think about my future until, during my first visit to Oundle for the ‘Pulling Out the Stops’ course in

What do you think you have gained from your experience as a cathedral musician in Australia, and what has Australian cathedral music gained from you?

Understandably, music in Australian cathedrals and churches does not have the long and rich choral tradition of England, and it has been very rewarding to bring some of that to Australia and particularly to St Mary’s Cathedral. Since Director of Music Thomas Wilson and I arrived, the number of weekly choral services has grown from a handful to up to 13 per week during term-time (including Sung Vespers and Mass every day apart from Fridays). It has been very rewarding to introduce the choristers to life as a busy singer and to make them aware that being involved on a daily basis is very special and is something which they will remember for the rest of their lives. A bonus has been training the ex-chorister teenagers as the ‘Cathedral Scholars’ (who sing ATB services at least once per week) and to teach them to perform Gregorian chant and polyphony, something which they are very privileged to achieve. To see a small group of 13 teenagers performing 5part Palestrina offertory motets to a high standard has been very special.

You have had an enormously varied role during your time in Sydney. What has that role included?

Playing the organ at all regular choral services plus special services such as concerts, recitals, state and other funerals, memorial services and weddings. Assisting in training the choristers, probationer choristers and professional lay clerks and running the special ‘Cathedral Scholars’ programme. Directing the St Mary’s Singers (the cathedral’s amateur adult choir). Teaching organ and piano at St Mary’s Cathedral College (from which the choristers are drawn). Overseeing

and coaching the cathedral’s two assistant organists/organ scholars. Giving Sunday afternoon and Grand Organ Recital Series performances on the cathedral’s Letourneau main organ.

Do you have time to do anything else in your spare time apart from eat and sleep?!

Not always!

What organ pieces have you learned recently and why?

The complete Vierne Symphony No. 6 which I performed during my last Grand Organ Recital in St Mary’s Cathedral. I had played the Finale after the Easter Vigil Sung Mass in 2014 and wanted to learn what is one of the most wonderfully rich and challenging pieces in the Romantic repertoire.

Do you listen to recordings of new pieces as you learn them?

If so, whose interpretations have helped you?

Not really. I may have heard them in the past but I like to steer clear of the influence of others’ interpretations until I have formed my own, after which I may go to recordings by others and perhaps ‘steal’ some ideas which are an improvement on mine!

Has any particular recording inspired you?

Not so much the recordings as the instruments on which I have played, which include many Cavaillé-Coll organs in Paris. I try to emulate their sounds for French Romantic music. Likewise, when playing Bach, with the organs I have played in Germany and Holland.

Which was the last CD you bought?

A Wagner recording by Jonas Kaufman!

Which fellow organists and choir directors do you admire most?

Top of my list has to be Stephen Cleobury for his attention to detail, professionalism and sheer musicianship. Others I have worked with include James Lancelot at Durham (his playing is electric), and Martin Baker at Westminster Cathedral for his training methods and the sound he achieves from his choir. I learned a great deal about performing plainchant from Matthew Martin, and organ lessons from David Briggs (one of my favourite organists) have been extremely inspiring. Receiving lessons most recently from Dame Gillian Weir has been enlightening. She really is a musician first and foremost and an organist second.

What are some of the places where you have given recitals?

With King’s choir on tour at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Seoul Arts Centre, South Korea; Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore; Istanbul International Music Festival; Festival of Sacred Music in Ecuador.

Venues across the USA including: St Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue and St Mary the Virgin, Times Square, New York; Washington National Cathedral; Kansas City Cathedral;

In England: King’s College Chapel, Cambridge; Westminster Abbey; cathedrals of Westminster, St Albans, Truro, Worcester, Lichfield, Durham.

In Australia: St Mary’s and St Andrew’s Cathedrals, Sydney; St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane; Sydney Town Hall (on the

gigantic 5-manual William Hill instrument – the largest organ in Australia); St Mary’s Cathedral, Hobart.

Have you made any organ recordings?

My first CD has just been released (recorded in St Mary’s Cathedral) on the Organism label (ORG019) and is entitled ‘From Bach to Bingham’. It contains some of my favourite pieces which span the last 300 years. Its production has been enabled by the support of the St Mary’s Cathedral music foundation, known as the ‘Palestrina Foundation’.

Does any event at which you have played particularly stand out in your memory?

Many do, but I have really enjoyed my recent collaboration with the terrific principal trumpeter of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Elton, with whom I have played music for trumpet and organ at such venues as Sydney Town Hall.

How do you cope with nerves?

I find that I can control nerves more easily when I have to rely on myself alone (as in organ playing) than when I have to perform with a choir which I have rehearsed. My nerves centre more on worrying about how I have prepared the choir – particularly when they have had to learn a large amount of music in a short space of time – when you think about it, it is actually quite extraordinary what we are asking our young choristers to do.

What are your hobbies?

Running. I started at school and ‘got the bug’. After school, the running fell by the wayside, but Sydney is such a beautiful city and seems made for running, so I took it up again when I arrived in Australia and in 2013 I ran my first half marathon and later that year the full Sydney marathon, which was one of the best experiences of my life. I have now completed my third marathon and am planning my fourth. I have also grown to love Australian sport and particularly AFL (known to we English as Australian Rules Football!). Well-known Sydney organist David Drury (Sydney University and Sydney Symphony Orchestra organist) took me on a few occasions to Sydney Swans AFL matches at the famous Sydney Cricket Ground and I have been hooked ever since!

Would you recommend life as an organist and church musician and what are the drawbacks to this life?

I would definitely recommend such a life to serious young musicians. It is very much a way of life and not a ‘9 to 5’ job – if you want to be a cathedral musician it has to be something you really love as you cannot leave your work behind you at the end of the day or even on a rare day off.

What should be the role of FCM in these times and in the future?

To support professional church and cathedral musicians and their choirs both financially and through publicity for our wonderful heritage of church music. Many music lovers are unaware of the great quality and quantity of music performed to a consistently high standard in our cathedrals. In my experience here at St Mary’s, many people express both surprise and delight when they chance upon the music when visiting the cathedral.

This profile was researched and compiled by David Seward, FCM’s representative in Australia, just before Oliver left Sydney to return to England in November 2015.

SONGS BY MICHAEL JACKSON IN THE DORIAN MODE?

Jeremy Summerly talks to Matthew Martin

Jeremy Summerly

Keble College chapel

Photo: r12a

JS: What was the first musical experience you can remember?

MM: I have a very clear memory of attempting to play our piano at home when I was about four years old. I used the black notes to invent tunes, finding their sounds more interesting than those of the white notes. And it wasn’t just Chopsticks. I think there’s a case for allowing children to experiment musically and improvise before teaching them how to read printed music.

JS: So when did you stop playing only the black notes?

MM: I began to have violin and piano lessons when I was about six, but I wasn’t especially interested in the substance of the lessons because I preferred to make up my own tunes. Practising scales was a total bore – although I now wish I had. When I was eight I joined the choir at Dean Close School. The choirmaster, Ian Little (who had been a cathedral organist at Coventry), fostered my interest (despite describing me as a sack of potatoes), and when I sang a piece that I liked, I’d scoot over to the piano after rehearsal to see if I could replicate the music under my fingers. My piano teacher was not impressed with this casual approach.

JS: And when you began to listen to music, was that just classical?

MM: Not by any means. I enjoyed much 1980s pop music – I think that was my first experience of modality in music. It’s interesting how much some Michael Jackson songs fit the Dorian mode! And I was deeply affected by some of the incidental music for television composed by Patrick Gowers – Sherlock Holmes, Smiley’s People etc. I have since written a trumpet sonata in his memory, which was put on at the Cheltenham Festival last year.

JS: What was the first piece that you committed to manuscript paper?

MM: When I was eleven I wrote a couple of organ pieces, which are now thankfully ‘lost’. I wasn’t having organ lessons but I’d taught myself how to find some basic sounds and how to operate the pedals enough to play a simple hymn tune. I could barely reach them, however. The encouragement of a local parishioner led to a visit to Gloucester Cathedral (which has a very cool and edgy organ designed in the 1970s by Ralph Downes) and I was able to spend some time in the organ loft with the legendary Dr John Sanders. In a later incarnation (2011) I was asked to write a piece for Gloucester Cathedral choir in his memory (A Song of the New Jerusalem). I remember clearly the great man’s tweed suit, and I waited nervously as he thumbed through my organ pieces, which he described as ‘reminiscent of the Widor Toccata’. I’m not sure he was all that impressed, although he was gracious, nevertheless. But I still wasn’t allowed organ lessons because I wasn’t deemed good enough at the piano. My mother remonstrated with the school, and organ lessons were grudgingly granted.

JS: So this was a turning point?

MM: The real turning point came when Paul Derrett, then organist of Christ Church, Cheltenham, heard me play and offered to give me weekly lessons on the 4-manual instrument there. It had a Tuba. Paul was the first person who took a serious interest in my development and was (is) a fantastic player and musician. He was impressed with my sight-reading ability and I guess he was able to spot a reasonably natural musician hiding behind a timid little boy. Unbeknown to my school, for £6 every Sunday evening I’d learn with Paul, which I did up until the point where I was offered an organ scholarship at Oxford. In my sixth-form year I had some sessions with Stephen Farr (when he was Assistant at Christ Church Oxford) and we are still talking. In those early days (apart from in my lessons with Paul Derrett, and later perhaps with Stevie Farr), I don’t think I was ever told I was ‘good’ or even could be. But in a way I’m thankful for that as it gave me focus and determination.

JS: You applied to Magdalen College.

MM: I wasn’t going to apply there. I was worried it might be unrealistic to apply to a choral foundation, so I settled on Hertford College, where my headmaster had been an undergraduate. But when I was in the Lower Sixth I went on a course in France, and one of the teachers was Magnus Williamson, who had himself been an organ scholar at Magdalen. Magnus said that if I applied to Magdalen I might well be in with a chance. I remember Magnus as the most erudite, charismatic, funny person

I’d met up to that point. So I did what Magnus advised, and I’ve been for ever grateful for his encouragement.

JS: When you arrived at Magdalen as an undergraduate, what sort of musician did you consider yourself to be?

MM: A player with some natural facility and, I suppose, a bit of a conductor (I had formed my own band of singers at school). Not really a composer. The Informator Choristarum, Bill (Grayston) Ives, was very demanding of me as an organ scholar and I wasn’t allowed to get away with anything. Good for him. And Bill encouraged me to write for the choir. He’d ask the choir to sing some of my music and we’d talk about the various ways of writing singable lines and how to space the voices – all good practical stuff. And I developed a sound that I think of as a ‘frosty – even angular – English style’, which was based on gestures that I liked in the music of Kenneth Leighton, Lennox Berkeley, Arthur Wills, and John Joubert, rather than in the music of Howells and Vaughan Williams. I was also heavily influenced by earlier composers: Byrd, Sheppard, Tallis etc, and I enjoyed writing in those ‘old’ styles, too. So I began to write to order. A psalm chant here, an Alleluia there, then some men’s voice pieces – liturgical fodder. I was writing for the moment: functional, serviceable (literally) music. I’m not sure I regarded any of it particularly highly.

JS: Do any of those early compositions survive?

MM: A few, but nobody’s going to see them. Although they may still be in the Magdalen Choir library…

JS: So what’s the earliest piece we can hear?

MM: In 1997, with Bill Ives’s help, I had an Ave Maria for choir and organ published by Novello. I will always remain grateful for the opportunity to have a work published when I was a young man, but if I’m honest I don’t like the piece much. I wonder about the wisdom of having too much published too early – once in print it never goes away.

JS: And then in 1998 you arrived as a postgraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music. At that point your focus was definitely the organ.

MM: Yes, it was organ for a couple of years, partly because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, so becoming an ‘expert’ in something seemed like a good plan. Lots of technical exercises and detailed work followed, and then some private study in France with Marie-Claire Alain. Then in 2000, New College Oxford held a composition competition. The prize was £1,000 and a BBC Radio 3 broadcast. I sent in my anthem Veni, Sancte Spiritus for choir and organ, and jointly won it with Tarik O’Regan. This led to a delightfully informal offer from Edward Higginbottom to become Assistant Organist at New College. I took him up on it. We didn’t often speak of the winning piece, however, which had thankfully been dropped from the repertoire.

JS: In 2000 you also wrote an 8-voice choral piece Ecce concipies for Andrew Smith and the Choir of St Peter’s, Eaton Square.

MM: And that Advent anthem is probably the earliest piece of mine that I still regard with affection. It’s fast, spikey, and contrapuntal – quite unlike a lot of slow

Grayston Ives

Edward Higginbottom

music that’s much in vogue at the opening of the 21st century. I like music with edge; music that’s acidic and goes on a journey. I’m a great fan of Stravinsky. I remember as a child loving the soundworld of the Dumbarton Oaks Concerto, the Symphony of Psalms, and particularly the bleakly affecting Symphonies of Wind Instruments. Learning one’s counterpoint really is one of the keys to becoming a good composer (and indeed musician).

JS: And from then on you’ve established yourself as a voice in the British choral scene.

MM: I’ve certainly been asked to write music for an increasing number of prestigious performers and events, and I’ve been published by OUP as well as Novello, and more recently by Faber Music, which is my now main publisher. I’ve written for the CBSO and Chorus, The Cardinall’s Musick, Westminster Cathedral, Gloucester Cathedral, The Gabrieli Consort, Westminster Abbey, York Minster, the Exon Singers, the St Endellion Easter Festival, and for the 2015 St Cecilia Service in St Paul’s Cathedral. In 2014, Daniel Hyde and the Magdalen College choir made a disc of my music for Opus Arte, the Royal Opera House label.

JS: You’re now Director of Music at Keble College Oxford – a post that allows you to continue composing.

MM: Yes, although the regular commitments at the college and university mean I need to be especially focused about working to a deadline – which can make composition easier. In a sense, I’m now a fully signed-up portfolio musician with varied interests. I conduct, teach (academic and composition), play, and compose – not to mention the administration! Alongside running the choir at Keble and teaching my students, I’m writing a Magnificat for Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort, a set of Lamentations for Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars, a choral piece for Edward Higginbottom for performance in the USA this summer, some Petrarch Sonnets for my friend Marcus Farnsworth for the Three Choirs’ Festival, and an Advent piece for Uppsala Cathedral choir in Sweden. A congregational Mass setting has also been requested! Westminster Abbey choir featured a Jubilate of mine in the Commonwealth Service in March, which was broadcast live on TV in the presence of HM The Queen herself, I gather. I’ve spent my life working towards a time when I can get paid to write music to order, and now it’s properly happening...

Jeremy Summerly is Director of Music at St Peter’s College Oxford, a position which involves conducting the chapel choir and teaching the keyboard skills module of the Music degree. He founded Oxford Camerata in 1984 and conducted Schola Cantorum of Oxford from 1990-96. He founded the Royal Academy Consort, was Head of Academic Studies at the RAM, and is one of the conductors of the Choir of London. He is also Director of Music at St Luke’s, Chelsea, and co-artistic Director of Oxford Baroque. He has made over 50 commercial recordings, and has given concert tours throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the USA. His wife gave birth to their first child hours after the St Peter’s Advent Carol Service in 2015: Jeremy managed to attend both events.

Matthew has for many years also been involved at the annual Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy where he directs the Nave Choir. He won the Liturgical category in the 2013 British Composer Awards and a CD of his choral music was released by the choir of Magdalen College Oxford to critical acclaim (there is an excellent short film of the making of this CD on the Magdalen website on the ‘Choir’ page). Matthew was Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral from 2004-2010.

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“WE SHALL ALL 9.

Truro Cathedral

Photo: Brian Snelson

MEET TO CATCH THE 05 TO PADDINGTON”

Wartime memories of a St Paul’s chorister at Truro

Derek Perry

Derek Perry (ed. Timothy Storey)

The first week of June 1942 incorporated a milestone. The letter my mother had written to Westminster Abbey had failed to prompt any sort of reply, but she had received a letter from St Paul’s Cathedral explaining that the Westminster Abbey choir had been disbanded on account of the war and her letter had been handed over to them. Would she please bring her son to a voice trial and academic test at the choir school, Carter Lane, London EC4 on the first Saturday in June at, I think, 9 am.

Duly scrubbed and alongside about 30 other boys and their parents (mostly just the mothers), I reported. The written examination was in several parts and presided over by the headmaster, the Revd A. Jessop Price. The vocal audition was undertaken by one boy at a time, alphabetically, and he was put through his paces by the cathedral organist, Dr John Dykes Bower, and the sub-organist, Dr Douglas Hopkins. Apart from the candidates and these three men, the school was deserted; the other staff and pupils had been evacuated to Truro when the war began.

After this, the parents and candidates crowded into the headmaster’s study (a room of generous proportions), and I can remember the exact words of his first sentence. It went, “Will the parents of the following boys please stay behind –Beale1, Howlett2, Pearcey, Perry, Pitkin and Wilkinson.” Jessop Price then explained some of the administrative arrangements which would enable us to join the school. Despite being located 300 miles from London, we were to remain the boys of St Paul’s Cathedral choir school, though we were integrated with Truro Cathedral School. We kept our own distinctive uniform and,

except on Sundays, sang different services to Truro Cathedral Choir.

From my mother’s standpoint, there were both advantages and disadvantages in what was happening. Without me in daily attendance she felt able to rent out our home and take lodgings in Mill Hill where she now worked. That eased her financial problems, but she did not know what provision she could make for my care during school holidays. There were neither school nor boarding fees to be paid, and the train journey between Paddington and Truro was free in both directions, but music lessons and haircuts were compulsory and had to be paid for. Some formal provision of pocket money was also deemed necessary. Buying the uniform presented more than a financial problem: clothing coupons were nobly given by most of the family so that I could be properly kitted out. The school outfitters was a firm with an evocative name, Isaac Walton. They should have sold fishing tackle. The shop was near the top of Ludgate Hill and, armed with a uniform list, we went there when dismissed by Jessop Price. The shopping was uneventful except that, even aged nine, I had an unenviably large head, and there was not a cap in the shop to fit me. One was specially made and available before term started in September.

While we were still evacuated, every term started at Paddington Station at 11 am when the School Special left for the West Country. A number of public schools – for girls as well as boys – in the south-east had found temporary homes with other schools west of Reading, and we were all carried to our various destinations by the one train. Each school was allocated its required number of compartments; we needed only three.

The headmaster travelled with us, and the newest boys, the probationers, were required to travel in his compartment. In those days the trip to Truro took eight hours so we arrived at Truro Station at 7 pm with a mile uphill walk ahead of us, no fun for a nine-year-old with a small but heavy case to carry.

Most of my belongings were sent on ahead in a trunk, PLA (Passenger Luggage in Advance) to our exact location, Trewinnard Court. This was the boys’ boarding house for Truro Cathedral School and also the prep department. That prep department had two classes and therefore two teachers – Miss Quiney and Miss Bennett. The former took the senior class. She was a sour woman and, along with a number of other staff, had a dislike and resentment of St Paul’s boys who, throughout the school, up to and including the fifth form, were significantly more successful than the Truro boys. I learned all the swear words in my first year in Truro; and I learned also that you did not use the words in grown-up company. It was something of a surprise, then, to overhear by chance Miss Q tell Miss B that “all the Paulines (meaning the St Paul’s boys) are b*gg*rs”. She was the first woman I had heard swear.

There is a real excitement for a nine-year-old going away to boarding school which sustained one in those first few days when everything was new and there was much to learn. But routine soon is established, and then came homesickness. We all suffered from it, and it hurt, especially at bedtime. The routines of school are pretty much the same all over the world, but being a member of a cathedral choir is not quite so common. I started as a probationer; during this time I did not wear a cassock or surplice, and neither did I sit in the choir stalls for services. It was indeed a period of probation, and the powers that be were entitled to dispense with you if you did not come up to scratch.

My own probation lasted only until late May 1943 when, along with two others, I was made a chorister. This involved

a ceremony during a weekday Evensong conducted by the headmaster. (If it had been at St Paul’s it would have been the dean.) A particular psalm was sung (Ps. 16 verses 5-6); and also an appropriate hymn (‘Fair waved the golden corn’, verses 4-6). At the conclusion I received a copy of the Book of Common Prayer suitably inscribed. The choristers, of whom there should have been 32, had a hierarchy. On entry into the ranks I became a member of the back desk (about a third of the total of choristers). There were no specific desks at which one sat, but the desk you were in had real significance. The only electors were the choristers and the only criterion for promotion was vocal contribution, which is more than singing ability. It is also to do with musicality, with co-operation and with confidence.

You never knew beforehand when elections would be held. They were announced and conducted immediately, generally by Douglas Hopkins, at the start of choir practice. There were no ballot forms. DH would say: “There are three vacancies

Despite being located 300 miles from London, we were to remain the boys of St Paul’s Cathedral choir school, though we were integrated with Truro Cathedral School. We kept our own distinctive uniform and, except on Sundays, sang different services to Truro Cathedral Choir.

in the front desk. Nominations, please,” whereupon a short discussion took place between front desk members who would then call out names. Unless there were objections, the first three names called out were promoted. A similar procedure moved boys from the back to the middle desk. Apart from status, the big bonus was in reaching the front desk, where the eight members were allowed to take any hardback book into choir practice and read it after the choirmaster announced, “Back desk and middle desk only”, which he did frequently when a well-known piece was to be rehearsed. I moved to the middle desk in the summer of 1944 and to the front a year later.

One way in which we maintained the repertoire of cathedral music was for boys to sing the three men’s parts, tenor and bass transposed an octave up, the altos remaining at pitch. Even so it was impossible to perform much of the music sung in normal times3. The day-to-day work with the choir was the responsibility of Sydney Lovatt, who had been brought out of retirement. He was a journeyman musician who had the deplorable habit of clearing his throat, spitting the result on the floor and rubbing it into the ground with the sole of his shoe. The musical highlight of each term in Truro was the week-long visit from Douglas Hopkins. I have, subsequently, sung under many conductors but none as inspirational as DH, who was himself a former head boy of the school. This gave him a dramatic advantage over anyone else who had anything at all to do with the choir school. He could sing well (which Dykes Bower could not); he was amusing and indiscreet. But, most of all, he knew what it was like.

My first year’s schooling in Truro was in the prep department under the foul-mouthed Miss Q. After a year we moved down to the main school beside the cathedral in the centre of the town about a mile from Trewinnard Court, to which we had daily to return for lunch – four miles walking to school and back every day. In September ’44 there were two significant changes. First, with Tony Pitkin and Peter Beale, I moved from form 1 to form 3. We had occupied three of the first four places in form 1 and were clearly misplaced, and I left Trewinnard Court with no regrets, moving to a house in Carvosa Road. Already billeted there was Alistair Cairns, a senior boy in the choir. By now I no longer suffered homesickness -- in fact I was generally happier when at school. Why then was I so pleased to leave Trewinnard Court? It was an attractive building in an attractive setting – but its adult inhabitants were an unpleasant gang with little or nothing to commend them. We had not fed well at Trewinnard Court and it is the only time in my life that I can remember feeling really hungry with no prospect of relieving that craving. The situation in Carvosa Road was very different. We had a substantial roast dinner on Sundays at lunchtime, and on Tuesdays a true Cornish pasty. The first one I received overlapped both sides of a dinner plate!

It would be a mistake to fail to record something of the power and influence of our headmaster, Jessop Price. Before his appointment as head of the choir school he had been on the staff of Chester Cathedral as Precentor, and he had a pleasant, full-bodied and accurate baritone voice. His relationship with the Truro head was one of mutual dislike. Price was unbending, and determined that the integration of the choir school into the Truro scene should never betray the integrity of St Paul’s and its independence. Thus, for example, we took no part in organised games, (although, for instance, Alistair

Again, please,” was the reply, and so it would continue for half an hour until I could say, to his satisfaction, “How now, brown cow”! I have never been sure whether I should be angry or amused or pleased or ashamed about these episodes. I do know that my speech had improved significantly by the time I left the choir school.

St Paul’s choir school at that time and for some years had no non-singing boys. The 40 boys of the choir constituted the whole school, which was free for all pupils. The official establishment of the choir was 32 choristers and eight probationers, but we never reached those numbers while I was at the school. There were two key roles in the choir: head boy, and solo boy. Those two offices were, in my five years, never held simultaneously by one boy. The headmaster appointed the head boy and the organist chose the solo boy. In my first year Peter Gathercole was head boy and the solo boy was Perry, first names John Percy and no relation. To distinguish us, he –the senior – was known as Perry major, and I was Perry minor.

In Truro the festival of the Conversion of St Paul (25 January) was a holiday for the choir school culminating in a cream tea which included saffron cake and cream splits at the most traditional café in the centre of the town. A talk from Jessop Price to raise morale concluded the day. On these and other occasions Price spoke of our return to London. He would say, “One day, without warning, I will interrupt choir practice and

Cairns was a fine cricketer at fourteen, well worth a place in a

bring it to an end. You will go back to your various homes, pack your belongings and make your farewells. We shall meet at Truro Station on the following morning in time to catch the 9.05 to Paddington.” This was the ending for which we all dreamed.

Postscript by Timothy Storey

The day predicted by Jessop Price and longed for by the choristers duly arrived, and they boarded the 9.05 to Paddington to return to a choir school that was quite undamaged, if somewhat dirty. On 8 May 1945, the day of Germany’s surrender, the full cathedral choir sang at no fewer than ten identical services of thanksgiving, attended by some 35,000 people in all. That night the boys had the thrilling experience of being taken up to the ‘stone gallery’ (at the base of the dome) to view the vast crowd which completely filled the streets: sleep was out of the question on such an occasion.

At the end of their first year back at St Paul’s, Dykes Bower congratulated the choristers, still only seventeen strong after wartime reductions, on a strenuous year’s work in which some 200 anthems and services had been learnt afresh. Derek Perry moved first to Cranbrook School and then to the choir of St John’s College Cambridge, where he was the first tenor choral scholar appointed by George Guest. He sang most beautifully until his death on 26 June 2013.

(Footnotes)

1 Peter Beale, father of the actor Simon Russell Beale

2 Neil Howlett, for many years leading baritone with ENO

St Paul’s in the Blitz, December 1940

Sir John Dykes Bower © National Portrait Gallery, London

FCM DIAMOND JUBILEE EVENTS

FCM DIAMOND JUBILEE EVENTS

Chairman Peter Toyne writes . . .

As well as the many Gatherings being organised in cathedrals throughout the country, there are three national Gatherings still to come: Gloucester (21 May), London (24-26 June) and Liverpool (7-9 October). The excellent DR in Australia, David Seward, is also organising three Gatherings there in November – Sydney (12 November), Melbourne (13 November) and Brisbane (20 November).

This year FCM is making a record number of grants, in the region of £600,000.

There will also be new music given to all cathedrals, college foundations and corporate member choirs. James MacMillan is composing an anthem (SATB + organ, and another version for SATB with strings); Christopher Gower, former OMC at Peterborough, and June Nixon, long-time St Paul’s Melbourne OMC, have both composed an anthem for us, and of course there might be a ‘Festal Introit’ and an organ ‘Sortie’ from our Composition Competition.

In the autumn there is to be another Cathedrals Tour with the City of London Sinfonia. The strings version of James MacMillan’s anthem will be premiered on that tour, which takes in Truro (30 September), Hereford (1 October), Lichfield (7 October), Southwell (14 October), York (15 October), Chester (21 October) and Blackburn (22 October).

By the time CM is published there will have been a very special concert on Wednesday 27 April at St Paul’s Cathedral to mark the launch of our Diamond Fund for Choristers. It promises to be a unique occasion in that the St Paul’s Choir will be joined by a chorister from almost every cathedral choir in the land – the first time this has ever happened – in a programme featuring works by Handel, Britten, Stanford, Parry and Tippett.

There is also to be a ‘Choral Extravaganza’ concert, to be given by the choirs of Portsmouth Cathedral, All Saints’ Church Fulham and the Tiffin Boys’ Choir, on Friday 24 June in the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields at the start of the National Gathering in London that weekend. It will be open to the general public and we hope to attract a large audience from tourists and other passers-by at that wonderful location. Come and join as many events as you can!

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Gerald Place

All photographs supplied by Gerald Place

Group photographs are a minefield for the unwary. Many of the problems are not photographic, but are centred round the practicalities of choosing suitable locations, deciding how to pose people, completing the job in often a very short window of time, and even assembling all the subjects in the same place and at the right time. Sheer numbers are a factor: it’s twice as hard to take a decent shot of two people rather than one, but statistically it’s six times

as hard to do three (3x2x1), and theoretically a nightmare to do 30! Mercifully, digital files are very helpful: whereas on film one may have had time to take 20 shots of a given set-up, the chances were that someone (not always the same person!) would not have been smiling/have eyes closed/be looking in the right direction. With post-production software a person can pick and choose between shots and solve the problem.

Choir of Trinity College Cambridge with the late Dr Richard Marlow

PHOTO A

In order to make any proper editing possible a sturdy tripod is essential, otherwise it’s almost impossible to mix and match between frames. A tripod also means that you can leave the camera in the same position and you are free to move people around, straighten surplices or whatever. In addition, your camera is steady enough to use relatively long exposures if you are working with low-quality light, and when the shot is in focus, this should not change.

How should you light a group photograph? If the light level is good and the natural or available light fairly even, then it may be possible to work without any extra lighting or flash, and

indeed a more atmospheric shot may result. The huge clearglass windows in the ante-chapel of Trinity College Cambridge (Photo A) made this shot relatively straightforward because of the good quality light levels. Care was nevertheless necessary, because the distance between the front and back of the group was considerable, and only a small aperture could be used in order to ensure that everything was acceptably in focus. This is less crucial in a more conventional set-up, in two rows, say, but even then care must be taken to check that everyone’s eyes are sharp. Luckily with digital cameras there is now no need to worry about colour balance, as cameras will cope with a variety of qualities of artificial light.

In the lower light levels of many interiors, flash or auxiliary lighting may be essential. Avoid using the flash on the camera. For one thing, it will remove any of the artful folds into which the surplices may have settled, for another, the dreaded red eye may be in evidence, and, worst of all, because of the low position of the flash, very nasty shadows will be cast by the front row onto the row behind. A professional will use a number of powerful flashes on high stands bounced into brollies; this results in virtually shadowless results, guaranteed depth of focus and no worries about the subjects moving. (Often in low

light the required longer shutter speeds mean movement is a danger.) This kind of lighting was used for the King’s College Cambridge shot (Photo B), and the King’s College School, Wimbledon boys’ photograph (Photo C). (If time is very short you may have to compromise and the small photographs D and E show respectively the very ‘flat’ look resulting from on-camera flash, and the slightly better version with available light where at least some detail is retained. Neither is ideal, but on this occasion only a couple of minutes were available to grab a shot.)

PHOTO B

Choir of King’s College Cambridge

If these options are not available, then a photograph outside may be a possibility; Gloucester Cathedral Choir (Photo F) has of course the luxury of a spectacular cloister, but often a good exterior around ecclesiastical buildings is to be found. Both Photo F and the King’s Wimbledon shot also demonstrate the appeal of a much looser composition in groups rather than lines, with at least the illusion that something less formal is going on. Here, an overcast day is easier to manage than bright sunlight, but if the sun is shining it’s best to try and avoid people facing it directly. Shadows will be hard, and squinting into the bright light almost inevitable. Best to rearrange the group so the sun comes from the side, even if you lose the most picturesque background.

Have a good look around the building you are going to use, inside and out. The most obvious shot may not be the best. It was tempting in King’s Cambridge to line up the choir in front of the magnificent organ, with the fan vault behind, but on this occasion I wanted something less symmetrical, and I also wanted the warmth of the lit candles behind so that they could give some of the atmosphere of Evensong. It is also worth having another pair of eyes to check out the picture with you – there are usually plenty of parents about; you will have your hands full with technical and compositional matters, so it is essential to have someone to check that ruffs are upright, surplices hanging evenly and of equal lengths, the one slightly paler cassock tucked away in the back row, messy hair sorted out... the list goes on and it’s easy to miss any of these until you finally look at the image and it’s too late. (Don’t imagine you can check every shot as you take it: there simply won’t be time!)

PHOTO C

Choristers of King’s College School, Wimbledon

PHOTO D

PHOTO E

Former choral scholars of Trinity College Cambridge

Former choral scholars of Trinity College Cambridge

publication. A file size of around 5MB is going to be a minimum, and it should be borne in mind that for JPEGs, if these are what is being taken, the file size may reduce every time you correct and save it. A small file size that looks all right on a computer screen does not have the resolution for reproduction in a magazine, but this should not be a problem because most new cameras boast a staggering number of megapixels and resultant huge files. Of course, you need to have your camera on the ‘best’ or ‘fine’ setting to take photographs of a high resolution, but much more important is having good-quality lenses. A full-frame sensor is also an advantage, but by no means essential. It’s also worth bearing in mind that even if you are merely aiming for a conventional

yearly shot of the choir, try for something more eye-catching which will attract a picture editor and get you magazine coverage (if that’s what you’re looking for).

If all this seems daunting, then bear in mind that the cost of hiring a professional may not be prohibitive. Personally I always cost things for clients so that by their selling on prints to choir members, marked up slightly in price, much of my session fee is covered. Then everyone is happy.

Gerald Place’s website is www.fotoplace.co.uk and he can be contacted on sgeraldplace@hotmail.co.uk

PHOTO F

Gloucester Cathedral Choir

50 YEARS ON – A LIFE

by Dr Richard Shephard

Richard Shephard clad in robes as Governor of the Company of York Merchant Adventurers

Photo: Mark Woodward

Gloucester Cathedral

Photo: historicalengland.com

LIFE IN CATHEDRALS

Received wisdom is that nowadays nobody can expect to stay in the same job or career for the whole of a working life. Young people are constantly being told to embrace change, to be entrepreneurial and to be prepared to move from one career to another. As I look back to 1957 when I began as a chorister at Gloucester, I realise that despite changing from teaching to administration to fundraising and development, I have been immensely fortunate in that there has been one constant throughout what may be looked on as a career – and that is cathedrals and their music.

The cathedral world of the 1950s was very different to today: choristers at Gloucester sang throughout the year with only the two middle Sundays of August and the surrounding three weeks for holiday. We were allowed a week off after Christmas and Easter, but still had to sing on the Sundays after the great Feasts. Although this could seem to modern eyes to have been forced child labour, we did not object or think that we were being exploited and, more important, our parents would not have dreamed of complaining or questioning the system. We all knew what we were getting into and we accepted the conditions. Daily Evensong was very sparsely attended; if the congregation was in double figures we were doing well: if by any chance there was a large congregation, the dean would send a message to the organist, a hymn would be added to the liturgy and – much more important – a collection would be taken. So what was the musical life like?

The repertoire was very large. There was little repetition and surprisingly little rehearsal. Byrd, Tallis, Purcell, Boyce, Greene, Croft and S S Wesley were all well represented. Then there were lesser 18th and 19th century composers such as King, Armes, Hayes and a host of others whose works have sunk into complete oblivion. We also sang movements from oratorios: the Brahms Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Messiah, and the Bach Christmas Oratorio, all were plundered for selected highlights to be sung as anthems. Educationally this was a great boon, as we became aware of these great works at an early age. The selections were also very popular as Sunday afternoon anthems. A large congregation would gather to hear Herbert Sumsion playing ‘The Representation of Chaos’ from Creation as a prelude to the choir singing ‘The heavens are telling’. As for contemporary music, Jackson in G and Howells Gloucester Service were the most modern and, during my time as a chorister and later as a lay clerk, very little was added to the lists.

The whole concept of choristerships has changed significantly over the last fifty years. Nowadays being a chorister is an educational experience and there is a definite feeling that those in charge of cathedral choirs have a responsibility as teachers. In the 1950s, choristers were perceived much more as lowly members of the artisan workforce and any educational benefit came about by an unquantifiable system of musical osmosis. For me, this was absolutely fine. I have been fortunate in being blessed with a good musical memory and pieces which I sang over 50 years ago are still lodged in the recesses

of my brain. I think there is some psychological research to be done into the reasons why someone like me can remember Rend your hearts and not your garments by Langdon Colborne or Give ear, O ye heavens by Armes, although this latter piece had a somewhat syrupy but memorable middle section: towards the end of the words, ‘My doctrine shall drop as the rain’, the solo tenor had to ascend to a high A flat......or nearest offer!

My experience as a lay clerk at Gloucester came about entirely by chance. I happened to meet Herbert Sumsion (or John, as I was later to call him) in the town. He said something like, “I understand you can sing a bit of alto: we’re down to one lay clerk, can you help?” So I was thrown into lay clerkship at a very early age – around 16 – and had to learn quickly what was required. We never rehearsed before Evensong; we would dash in with a few minutes to spare and sightread what was put in front of us. I distinctly remember having to read from an alto-clef band-part All Kings shall fall down before him by Boyce – a piece which I have never heard since. The standard of performance in general was far from polished. We sang without a conductor except on Fridays, when the music was unaccompanied. I suppose we were in effect the descendants of those monastic beings to whom the regularity in performance of the Divine Office was more important than the style or content thereof. And while this way of perceiving daily services is now out of favour, there is some sense in the realisation that the Offices have a rhythm of their own and that to add to them does not necessarily widen their appeal.

The worship of the cathedral at Gloucester was traditional. There were the usual said services, daily sung Evensong, and sung Matins and Evensong on Sundays. On the first Sunday of the month, Matins was replaced by a Sung Eucharist. The dean of Gloucester was The Very Revd Seiriol Evans, a gaitered autocrat who did much to enhance the beauty of Gloucester Cathedral. It was during his tenure of office that a significant social change came about. When I was a chorister, the lay clerks were definitely below the salt: the dean would call them by their surnames and they were on a par with the verger who was employed to clean the dean’s car. In the early 1960s, however, the first ex-Cambridge choral scholar arrived and was instantly addressed by his Christian name. Whereas the dean would say to one lay clerk, “Smith, get me a copy of the music,” to the choral scholar it was, “Barrie, dear boy!”. I think I can date my very first experience of fundraising to this time – the early 1960s. I was walking through College Green with the dean and must have asked him what his day held. “Well, dear boy,” he said, “I’m off to see two wealthy old ladies in Cheltenham who might well be of use to us.”

The Three Choirs Festival played a large part in our lives. In the 1950s it remained an almost Edwardian social event. Stewards dressed up in morning coats and the whole of the cathedral precinct was given over to the Festival. There was certainly an Elgarian air to the whole thing; many members of the choral societies would have remembered Sir Edward well and Sumsion, of course, had conducted The Dream of Gerontius in front of the composer. The Festival was attended by many music lovers who had a chance to rub shoulders with some of the greatest composers of the day. I can remember Benjamin

certainly sung in my time along with a host of new works which have rightly been consigned to the eternal dustbin. During my time as a lay clerk we were contracted to attend a certain number of rehearsals as we all had to sing as members of the Festival Chorus. I’m afraid that we used to pay scant attention as the conductors struggled with such pieces as Norman Kay’s King Herod or Jonathan Harvey’s Ludus amoris, re-titled by some wag as Ludicrous amoris. To no one’s great surprise, neither of these oeuvres has won its way into the hearts of the music-loving public.

There was a degree of camaraderie amongst the lay clerks. Certainly behaviour was less than admirable. Lord Berners in his autobiography refers to the ‘perilous laughter’ to which he was subject when his evangelical grandmother took family prayers. (In the collect which uses the phrase ‘where true joys are to be found’ she managed to say ‘where Jews’ toys are to be found’ with the result that perilous laughter ensued.) Similar things happened during services in Gloucester. The slightest thing could set off a chain reaction of laughter, and it is extremely difficult to sing when laughing. Hymns with double entendres or with references to non-religious elements were particularly hysteria-prone, for reasons which now seem incomprehensible. Knowing looks were always exchanged during the hymn ‘Jesu, lover of my soul’: the words ‘foul I to the fountain fly’ had, in our minds, a distinct reference to the hostelry called The Fountain which was in Westgate Street opposite the main entrance to the cathedral. Other things caused laughter, especially failures and mistakes among

Gloucester Choristers in the North Transept 1962 John Sanders is on the far right with Herbert Sumsion to the left of him

our fellow singers. We had one bass who needs to remain anonymous just in case he is still alive: he used to consume copious amounts of beer and his voice became somewhat hazy round the edges. On one occasion we were singing Purcell’s Thy word is a lantern. The afore-mentioned bass started the solo with the words, ‘Thoii waaaaard is a lantern...’ Sumsion, who somewhat unusually was rehearsing the piece, looked over his glasses and said, “Could we have a little more light in the lantern?”

The lay clerks when I joined the choir as a chorister were a strange lot. Bill Lomas, the Decani tenor, was a somewhat irascible man who sang flat all the time. strange liturgical practice connected with the saying of the creed at Evensong. The minor canon would say, God,” then Bill would reply, “And so do I; have a barley sugar, and from the depths of his cassock pocket he would out a couple of fluff-covered sweets which he would hand to the two choristers in front of him. Next to Bill sat George Betts, Decani alto, who allegedly had a marvellous voice in the years between the world wars. By the 1950s, however, the voice had deteriorated somewhat and was divided into two totally different ranges: middle C and below came forth as a rustic baritone; the fifth above middle C was a rather fruity and wobbly falsetto and anything above that just didn Jones, the Cantoris alto, was one of the cathedral carpenters; he had an almost inaudible voice and I cannot remember either him or George Betts singing solos. John, the anthem by Gibbons with a classic alto solo role, was, in those days, sung in a version transposed down a third for tenor, which made the choruses sound very muddy. Solos by Lomas were not things of great beauty: as mentioned earlier, we sang excerpts from Haydn’s Creation, and the congregation was subjected to Bill Lomas’s reading of the tenor aria ‘In splendour bright’, the sound of which remains with me to this day.

university was the opportunity to perform. Our college choir at Corpus Christi was directed by an undergraduate, Edward Higginbottom, and my fellow choral scholars included Jeremy Davies (recently retired as Precentor of Salisbury), John Pritchard, the force behind Opus Anglicanum and Mark Elder, the immensely distinguished international conductor. There were literally hundreds of concerts in the university each term; some were of a very high standard and some were not. The Gilbert and Sullivan Society put on regular productions and the Opera Society performed some very interesting works: I can remember taking a cameo role in the English premiere of The Trial of Lucullus, the last libretto by Bertolt Brecht with music by Paul Dessau. From my vague memories of the piece I can understand why it does not figure regularly in the standard repertoire, indeed, I wonder if it has ever been performed since.

The whole concept of choristerships has changed significantly over the last fifty years. Nowadays being a chorister is an educational experience and there is a definite feeling that those in charge of cathedral choirs have a responsibility as teachers. In the 1950s, choristers were perceived much more as lowly members of the artisan workforce and any educational benefit came about by an unquantifiable system of musical osmosis.

After three highly enjoyable years it dawned on me that at some stage I should have to engage in gainful employment. I can remember seeing two lay clerks’ jobs being advertised: one at Hereford and one at Salisbury. Through the Three Choirs Festival I had already sung occasionally in Hereford Cathedral so I thought I would try for a place which I hardly knew – Salisbury. The audition was taken by Richard Seal, the organist, and Cyril Taylor, the Precentor and composer of the famous hymn tune ‘Abbots Leigh’. The whole thing was pretty informal and during the day I spent there I was asked if I would like to direct the music at the cathedral school. Looking back, it seems extraordinary that I, aged 21, was entrusted with this job. I had no experience and no teaching qualification – but things have changed significantly over the last 40 years.

My working life in Salisbury consisted of three elements: teaching, singing and composition. To deal with the teaching first: I spent four years at the cathedral school and then moved to Godolphin School as Director of Music, teaching A and O level music. Godolphin was a traditional establishment presided over by a dedicated headmistress, Miss Fraser. She had high academic standards and I remain immensely grateful to her for her courage in appointing a very inexperienced 24-year-old to run a department. I had written a school musical (All for Alice) at the cathedral school, and at Veronica Fraser’s suggestion, I collaborated once again with librettist Jennifer Curry to produce a musical stage-show (Where there’s a will) to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the writing of the will of the school’s founder, Elizabeth Godolphin.

Writing musicals then became a fairly regular occurrence: collaborating with Robert Willis (who became dean of Canterbury) we wrote various shows for the cathedral school (A Christmas Carol and A Pilgrim’s Progress). With Jennifer Curry we wrote two shows for the Salisbury Festival (Don’t Blame the Bard and Rose Ransome). These last two shows starred the six singing men (lay vicars) of the cathedral choir and took place in the Salisbury Playhouse. As a result of the enjoyment of these theatrical experiences we performed fringe shows at the Southern Cathedrals Festival, which came to Salisbury every three years. At these late-night shows all six singing men and the organist, Richard Seal, appeared on stage and the dean (Fenton Morley and then Sydney Evans) narrated. Most memorable for me was the adaptation, again by Robert Willis, of Pride and Prejudice. How we had the audacity to tamper with Jane Austen’s masterpiece I cannot now imagine, but the show was great fun and the Festival audience always enjoyed seeing the cathedral musicians letting down their hair.

Looking back, I realise that it was encouragement from Richard Seal and Cyril Taylor which really started me out on a composing career. My first published piece came about because of liturgical reform. I was very fortunate in that my

It is one of the facts of musical life that once you have published one piece, you have a toe in the door.

Elizabethan lute tablature

setting of the new Series 3 communion texts was accepted by Gerald Knight for publication by the Royal School of Church Music. John Rutter’s setting was published by OUP and both settings were recorded on an EP; so we were the first in the field and my piece The Addington Service since 1973. It is one of the facts of musical life that once you have published one piece, you have a toe in the door. Gerald Knight’s successor, Lionel Dakers, was immensely supportive and would often ask for new pieces to be placed in an RSCM service book, or to fill a gap in their catalogue. So I became reasonably adept at writing to order and, to this day, I always prefer to write to a brief and to a limited timescale.

After eight years at Godolphin I returned to work at the cathedral school, and became deputy to the headmaster, a marvellous man called Michael Blee. Michael was an inspirational head; he seemed chaotic but the school was immensely successful and with Sheila, his wife, he ran a very happy institution. Sadly he died soon after retirement and I was asked to give the address at his memorial service. I was able to say that my mistakes in running the school were all my own, but the successes were down to Michael Blee. Generations of children in Salisbury have cause to be thankful to this remarkable man.

During this time a new director of the Salisbury Playhouse was appointed, David Horlock. David had run the theatre in Farnham and was a very distinguished man in thespian circles. Early in his time we had met at some gathering, and in conversation we talked about school plays; I was then in charge of teaching English, so drama apparently was under my direction. I had no plans whatsoever, so David suggested that we might collaborate and write a musical. The first effort was Emil and the Detectives. We were immensely fortunate in that we were assisted by the professional team from the Playhouse. David’s script was superb, as was his next libretto, this time an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows. The show was first performed as a school play and then revived for the Southern Cathedrals Festival with a cast which included dean Sydney Evans as the judge, Richard Seal as Badger and myself (unsurprisingly) as Rat. David came to stay with me in York in my first year here and we were planning to write another show, but tragically he was killed in a car crash so that creative partnership came to an end.

Richard Seal was an inspirational choir director. He was painstaking but amusing, and rehearsals were always entertaining and informative. He was an understated conductor, not given to flailing around in the middle of the quire: in fact we never had a conductor for the psalms and more often than not the two lay vicars who were in the middle of the back rows kept the music together by looking across and by the occasional nod of the head. This system is somewhat frowned upon nowadays, but it certainly keeps the singers on their mettle and ensures that everyone has to keep his head out of the copy and understand what is going on in the totality of the piece. Fifteen years in the choir passed quickly and enjoyably. We made hardly any records, and we only went on tour twice – once to France as part of a commemoration of John of Salisbury, and once for a weekend to Dublin.

Richard Seal’s attention was concentrated upon maintaining the highest possible standards in the daily worship. One interesting little tradition was that every day we all shook

his reading the gospel story about the young man running up to Jesus. The sentence ‘The young man ran up’ had its meaning subtly altered when Fenton declaimed ‘The young man rang up’. He took this facet of his character with him to Bath in retirement and achieved national prominence when, at a service of vigil where people prayed for the release from captivity of Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy, Fenton prayed throughout for Terry Wogan.

During my later years at Salisbury, one piece of advice from John Sumsion started to resonate in my brain. He once said to me, “Don’t ever stay in one place as long as I have.” I had worked for 15 years in Salisbury and could easily have spent the rest of my working life there. It was comfortable and enjoyable: I had the opportunity to write, to sing and to conduct alongside a very pleasant teaching post. But I realised that I ought to think of moving ... at which stage the post of headmaster of the Minster School in York was advertised. I applied and was shortlisted. The interview process was a model of how not to conduct these affairs. Candidates were seated in the middle of the room while the panel sat behind a ‘When did you last see your father?’ table. The details of the process have faded with time, but I remember that the impression I was given was that the chapter were keen that the school should be expanded and developed. I was offered the job and, with hindsight, I wish I had been more assiduous in finding out exactly what the situation was.

I arrived in York in 1985, without any idea that there might not be every kind of support for developing the school. This did not prove to be the case. I found an institution consisting of 53 boys, housed in the old school building and with two other rather dismal rooms in 8 Minster Yard. I discovered also, through the highly active York rumour mill, that approaches had been made to St Peter’s School to take over the school.

Clearly little practical consideration had been given to the problems of escorting choristers backwards and forwards along the very busy road in between (Bootham). In addition, it was rumoured that one of the canons was anxious that the school should be amalgamated with York College for Girls. Again, there was evidently little research and almost no common sense, as that college was already failing and in fact closed within a few years of my arrival. But with a very supportive, almost entirely new, staff and a new board of governors, we set about developing the school.

The first annexation was of the whole of 8, 9 & 10 Minster Yard. This involved a huge amount of refurbishment and the establishment of connecting corridors between each building. Then, on the closure of York College for Girls, we took over the Old Residence as the headquarters of a newly formed preprep department. Throughout the whole process the staff and I were determined that the Minster School should succeed as a school, academically, musically and (if possible) in sport. The school had been perceived as a place where choristers were educated, along with a few non-choristers whose fees helped to offset the costs; this could not continue and it was important, if we were ever to have a full and successful school, to make it clear that, while the choristers were special, they were not that special. Happily all went well – with the inevitable occasional problem – and the Minster School thrives under the direction of Alex Donaldson, my successor.

When Ray Furnell was appointed as dean of York Minster he became chairman of the governors. The school was immensely important to him and although Ray was, to many, a

I had to find someone to take confirmation classes, and I’ve never forgotten Ray’s words: “I’ll take them,” he said. “I was ordained as a parish priest so it will be very good for me to get back to this work.” So week by week Ray would come to the school, have lunch with the pupils and take the classes which both he and they enjoyed. And this was a side of the man which possibly few people saw or appreciated.

Inevitably, composition took something of a back seat, but I kept my hand in when I could. With Mary Holtby I wrote a musical for the school – The Phantom Tollbooth – and a large children’s opera, Caedmon, for York schools. I managed to keep working for a variety of publishers and accepted what commissions came my way, which is roughly how things have remained to this day. Perhaps the most enjoyable commission came in 1999 when I was asked to write the score for the millennium production of The Mystery Plays. The possibility of performing the plays in the Minster had been discussed while John Southgate was dean, but it was Ray Furnell who put together a lively board of management and drove the whole project. Thanks to advice from David Rymer, the board appointed Greg Doran (now director of the Royal Shakespeare Company) to direct the plays. Watching such a consummate professional at work was an education, and the rehearsals were fascinating and often extremely amusing. I assembled a band of ten players – mainly York University students – and night after night for a month we sat in our orchestra pit and played our cues on time.

Immediately after the millennium Mystery Plays I was permitted to have sabbatical leave as I had been invited to be a visiting

The University of the South in Sewanee from the air

the Cumberland Ridge, between Nashville and Chattanooga. My duties were negligible: I was contracted to give one lecture during my term of office. I did, however, agree to teach several classes and was fortunate in being around when the new seminary chapel was dedicated. I wrote music for this occasion and for the installation of the new vice chancellor. In addition, I was able to compose other things including a couple of short church operas in which I collaborated with Mark Schweizer, an extraordinary American whose liturgical detective novels – starting with The Alto Wore Tweed – are highly amusing.

When I arrived in York there were several full-time priest vicars choral. I cannot now remember what exactly they did when they were not singing the Offices, but as they left the institution I took one of their positions. In my early days as headmaster it was immensely useful to see the members of the chapter informally in the vestry on a daily basis: rather like the Salisbury hand-shaking tradition, it was more difficult for things to go on behind my back! So for decades I have sung the daily service, which has been a great joy.

Cathedral finances are always a problem. Lack of monetary support from the Church of England and very little from central government means that all of the UK’s 42 cathedrals have to rely on a system of self-help. The York Minster Fund was founded in 1967 to cope with shoring up the central tower. The fund continued to support the chapter in the whole business of restoration and conservation, but it became increasingly clear in the new millennium that much more money was required than was coming into the coffers at that time. It was felt that, as I had been in Yorkshire for a couple of decades, I might be able to help in the raising of muchneeded funds. So in 2004 I left the school and started to work for the chapter in parallel with the York Minster Fund. This was something of a compromise position and quite soon, with the help of Michael Benson, the York Minster Fund’s director, the two offices were merged and since then we have worked together in the business of parting people from their money in support of the Minster.

Many cathedral employees have written memoirs in which they criticise former colleagues or try to explain to the public what is wrong with the system and what could or should be improved. English cathedrals are eccentric organisations. I was lucky enough to serve on the Archbishops’ Commission in Cathedrals, under the splendid chairmanship of Lady Howe. We made some recommendations which have been implemented but there is no organisation which is incapable of improvement. Perhaps another Cathedrals Commission will eventually come up with even more radical advice, but it would be my hope that a degree of eccentricity might be retained.

I have been immensely fortunate to serve in three of our greatest cathedrals, and although I have not become a multimillionaire and do not possess a private jet or own a Caribbean island, I have never regretted what passes for my career and look forward to being able to help these institutions in whatever ways might prove possible in the future.

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(This article first appeared in the York FCM newsletter: ‘Notes from York’)

Organ Recitals 2016

Wednesday evenings at 19:30

20 April: Geoffrey Morgan

The Alcock Recital

25 May: Andrew Nethsingha

22 June: Henry Websdale

The Jenkinson Recital

27 July: John Challenger

17 August: Tom Winpenny

14 September: Mark Williams

12 October: Peter King

The Emery Recital

Tickets £9 available on the door. For details about each recital visit

PROFILE JAMES LUXTON

Sept 2007 – June 2009

St Chad’s Metropolitan Cathedral, Birmingham, Organ Scholar

Nov 2006 – Jan 2011 Bushbury Crematorium, Wolverhampton, Organist

April 2004 – Aug 2012 Ss. Mary & John’s RC Church, Wolverhampton, Organist

April 1999 – Sept 2007 St Teresa’s RC Church, Wolverhampton, Organist

Were you a chorister, and if so, where?

N/A, regrettably.

What or who made you take up the organ?

I suppose I got into it all by accident: we attended Mass as a family, and one day there was an advert in the weekly bulletin for a new organist. My parents put me forward as I had been learning to play the piano for about two years and was getting good at it. And then I caught the ‘organ bug’ and never looked back! Soon after, I was booked for my first weddings and funerals and my parents decided that I needed to start having organ lessons in order to do the job properly, so when I was 14 I took lessons at the Junior Conservatoire on Saturdays.

Have you played any interesting organs abroad?

Education details:

St Chad’s RC Primary School, Sedgley Bishop Milner Catholic School, Dudley Birmingham Conservatoire Junior School Birmingham Conservatoire

Career details to date (and dates):

Sept 2014 – present Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, Assistant Director of Music

Sept 2012 – Aug 2014

Sept 2011 – July 2012

Sept 2011 – Sept 2012

Sept 2010 – July 2011

Sept 2010 – July 2011

Worcester Cathedral, Sub-Assistant Organist

Old Swinford Hospital, Stourbridge, Musician in Residence and Residential Boarding Tutor

St Peter’s Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, Assistant Director of Music

Birmingham Conservatoire (Junior Department), Tutor of Organ and Music Theory

Walsall Choral Society, Rehearsal pianist; official accompanist & St Thomas’ Church, Stourbridge, Organ Scholar

I have played many organs in Europe: in Poland, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Holland. If I had to narrow it down to just one favourite, it would have to be the CavailléColl organ of St Sulpice in Paris.

What did being organ scholar at Birmingham Town Hall [THSH] involve?

Aside from turning pages for the Monday lunchtime organ concerts (and the occasional evening recitals) for Thomas Trotter and his guests, I worked closely with THSH’s education department, which put on workshops for local schools and other communities, such as ‘Science of Sound’ (essentially a day of science!) and ‘Sound Bounce’ (music workshops for parents and toddlers). I also showed off the halls’ organs to the public during guided tours from time to time. I was asked to play for the odd graduation ceremony and other functions: the most memorable one, perhaps, was an organ introduction to a very suave fashion show, where they wanted the first 60 seconds of Bach’s famous Toccata in D minor, which led into their PA system of dance music, accompanied by funky lighting and smoke machines! The fee was £60, so I got great delight in telling people I got paid £1 a second for that ‘gig’.

Sept 2009 – July 2011

Aug 2009 – Aug 2010

Town Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Percy Whitlock Organ Scholar

St Margaret’s Church, Great Barr, Director of Music

Did you have a particular role at the Three Choirs Festival when at Worcester?

I played the organ for one of the Evensongs, and played the organ part in Britten’s War Requiem and Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony (the 2nd). Also, a lot of running around and lastminute photocopying!

Do you think the ARCO and FRCO exams are relevant to today’s organists?

Yes, because they are a recognised ‘gold’ standard. I don’t want to discriminate against organists and choral directors who do not hold any of the RCO’s diplomas, and I don’t think that anyone is better than another for holding such a diploma, but the reality is that it all adds up in brownie points when going for jobs, and, in some cases, a lack of a diploma in organ playing and/or choral directing can lead to not quite making a shortlist. It’s tough competition! I’m not saying that every skill learnt is relevant to your typical day in the job, but gaining the diploma does say a lot about one’s commitment to hard work, as some of the skills you have to demonstrate are fiendishly difficult. I’ve only relatively recently stopped waking up in a cold sweat, having had nightmares about the exam!

What did you learn whilst organ scholar at St Chad’s Cathedral?

There wasn’t much to do as organ scholar since there is only one choral service per week, but I did get a good grounding in Gregorian chant and was introduced to many of the choral works that I now pick off the shelf to rehearse with the choir I work with today. I sang bass (I’m an alto now) so I was very fortunate to learn about the music in a practical context. I also had the opportunity of conducting St Chad’s Singers from time to time, which was a new experience for me. I took a lot from St Chad’s and draw on these skills in my job today.

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

I don’t have much time to play the organ these days as I’m more of a choir director, but I have been learning Ad Wammes’ Miroir and Fredrik Sixten’s Prelude and Fugue (in memory of Maurice Duruflé, 1986), on-and-off.

How much conducting do you do?

This forms the main part of my job. I direct three choirs: the girl choristers (who, with the boy choristers and lay clerks, form the cathedral choir), the Junior Choir (local children aged 7-11) and the Youth Choir, made up of former boy and girl choristers. I also do ‘Come and Sing’ workshops from time to time. I typically conduct three services per week.

What was the last CD you bought?

Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony (Rattle; CBSO) and a CD of some Shostakovich symphony (Petrenko???; Liverpool Philharmonic). I’m having a bit of a Mahler phase at the moment!

What was the last recording you were working on?

The cathedral choir has been recently recording a CD of some of Colin Mawby’s music. This will be released this year to commemorate his 80th birthday. Christopher McElroy and I conducted the choir; Richard Lea, the cathedral organist, played, and was joined by a brass band for a couple of the more up-beat tracks. Watch this space!

What is your

a) favourite organ to play?

St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham (Walker 3-manual, 40 stops): this is where I used to have my lessons with Professor David Saint and Henry Fairs.

b) favourite building?

Malcolm’s Wigwam! (i.e. Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral).

c) favourite anthem

Greater Love by John Ireland, probably: it’s among the few pieces I had to rehearse with the cathedral choir when I auditioned for my current job.

d) favourite set of canticles

Kenneth Leighton’s Second Service: very reflective yet intense at times.

e) favourite psalm and accompanying chants?

Look up Mawby’s setting of Psalm 150 (due to be released on our new CD!); my favourite Anglican chant is the Howells B flat minor one.

f) favourite organ piece

Prélude et Fugue sur la nom d’ALAIN: beautifully crafted; you get the feeling as the fugue unfolds that Duruflé was very pleased with this piece!

g) favourite composer

It would have to be Duruflé, who, according to his wife, had a ‘Gregorian soul’. He was very critical of his own work and, as a result, his output is relatively small but of great refinement. I feel we would have been very similar in terms of personality. Hail to the last French impressionist!

Which pieces are you including in your next organ recital?

I’m not sure – as I say, I’m more of a choral director at present.

Have you played for an event or recital that stands out as a great moment?

When I played for the Pope Benedict XVI in Birmingham. It was on live TV.

How do you cope with nerves?

I have plenty of thoughts on this. A lot of nerves can be combatted by being as prepared as you can possibly be, imagining the situation and getting the butterflies going sooner rather than at the last minute when it can affect you more. ‘Feel’ the space if you have plenty of time – walk around the building and ‘make friends’ with your surroundings as churches can quite often be intimidating, gothic-looking things. I also swear by bananas, which don’t stop you from feeling nervous but help you to get through a long programme as they provide you with slow-release energy: two bananas half an hour before a concert should do the trick.

What are your hobbies?

Driving and having days out exploring my surroundings. I try to keep up with my family in Dudley and often get on the motorway to see them every week on my day off.

Do you play any other instruments?

Piano, violin and guitar.

Would you recommend life as an organist?

Definitely. For me, there’s something special about inspiring a congregation to sing through my accompaniment, and as a choral director, it’s so rewarding being able to produce music of a high standard and having a choir in the palm of my hand.

What are the drawbacks?

When you get more involved and begin to take on senior roles in cathedral music, you become involved in the politics too –and you are often in the firing line! It’s stressful knowing that you are responsible for a particular thing to come off without a glitch, but it’s that responsibility that we sign up for!

THE MUSICA DEO SACRA FESTIVAL

For the past 47 years a music festival has taken place in the gloriously soaring architecture of Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire. Around the first week of August, the 22 voices of Musica Deo Sacra (MDS) present a week of music within the liturgy; this annual celebration may be younger than its illustrious neighbours, the Three Choirs and the Edington festivals, but it engenders the greatest of loyalty from the singers, who come from all over the country, and the congregations, which can be drawn from an even wider geography of America, Australia and Europe.

The present music director, David Ireson, took over from Brian Coleman who, at the invitation of Tewkesbury Abbey, began the week in 1969. David sang as a bass in the first festival and became director in 1978. It is now the high point of the year for him and his singers, one of whom says, “After decades of a professional singing career, I still get a thrill out of performing great sacred music in an amazing sacred space.”

The Musica Deo Sacra singers come from a wide range of concert, cathedral and collegiate choirs including The Sixteen, the former Hilliard Ensemble and St George’s Chapel, Windsor. One remarks, “I come back every year for the sheer pleasure of singing an astonishing range of music to a high standard with a choir of like-minded and amazingly gifted people in my favourite building in England.” About half

singers are often students or those beginning their careers, so they are generally short of money. Over the years, too, many friendships have been formed between hosts and singers.

Visitors make good use of the local hotels, and self-catering accommodation, and some ex-singers still stay with hosts from years past. Often, members of the audience will move between MDS, The Three Choirs and Edington, which makes a good progression, especially for the overseas visitors.

Tewkesbury Abbey exterior

Photo: Martyn Cook

Needless to say, there is a huge amount of administration and forward planning that goes into an event of this nature, and much of this falls to David’s wife, Hazel, whose background is in sales and marketing (very useful!). During the week she is the ultimate factotum, her jobs encompassing looking after the singers, sorting out accommodation, solving problems (particularly with mobile phones), finding lost property, booking coaches, organising meals and making endless cups of tea.

David retires after this year’s festival, and has been looking back at his 38 years of directing the group. “Over time we’ve widened the programme of Masses by adding Compline, which has turned out to be a very well attended service; then there’s Choral Mattins, which is rarely offered elsewhere these days; and sometimes we have an orchestral Mass from the west end of the Abbey – a very different experience from the concert platform! Slightly to our surprise, we found that our Russian Orthodox liturgies attracted large audiences, and so have reconstructions of Masses from 1549 and 1661. Every year we try to include something liturgically unusual, like Rachmaninov’s Vespers, complete with icons and much

incense, Tenebrae (a service normally conducted during Holy Week), and Benediction. And then one day during the week is spent away from Tewkesbury: we’ve sung in beautiful places like Abbey Dore, Great Witley Church, the abbeys at Prinknash and Pershore, and Bristol and the Three Choirs cathedrals.

“One of our aims is to offer the very best of choral music from across the ages. We have commissioned new pieces from such composers as Michael Tavinor, Malcolm Archer, Tom Wiggall, Matthew Martin and Andrew Parnell. With this idea of performing the best of the old with the challenge of the new, I am handing over an excellent group of voices which blends experience with youth. The gifted Carleton Etherington, organist at Tewkesbury Abbey and organist to MDS since 2004, will take over as director in 2017 and I wish him, the singers, our congregations and everyone at the Abbey who make this week so very special, Godspeed into Musica Deo Sacra’s half century.”

This year’s festival is from Monday 1 August to Sunday 7 August. Full details of the programme and the social events can be found on www.tewkesburyabbey.org.uk

MUSIC IN MALMESBURY ABBEY

The abbey, which is both a significant ancient monument and a living church serving all generations, has an enthusiastic mixed choir of around 25 adults who sing sacred music from across the centuries. Contemporary church music is frequently sung and, indeed, commissioned.

The Organist and Director of Music is John Hughes, who has held the post at the abbey for nearly 40 years. Taught by Dr Durrant of Pinner Parish Church and Dr Douglas Fox of Great St Mary’s, Cambridge, John held the position of Head of Music at Malmesbury School until he retired 20 years ago. The present vicar of Malmesbury is the Revd Neill Archer, himself an accomplished musician; he and John enjoy exploring beautiful church music, continuing the great tradition of fine choral music in the Anglican Church

The choir sings Communion weekly on Sundays, and every second Sunday a 6.30pm Choral Evensong takes place, both of which attract a good congregation. In recent years the abbey has celebrated the excellence of European choral and organ music, such as the Phoenix Agnus Dei by Ola Gjeilo, Allegri’s Miserere and Tantum Ergo by Vierne. The choir has also sung Choral Evensong in Gloucester Cathedral, which service included the Installation of Honorary Canons in the presence of the Bishop of Gloucester.

The worship and liturgy of Advent, Christmas and Easter attract full capacity congregations. The candlelit Advent carol service, re-instituted in 2006, has encouraged the

choir to try new repertoire, and for the last three years the Easter Day service has been recorded for BBC Radio Wiltshire.

Faure’s Requiem was sung at Easter in 2014, and in previous years other major works have been performed, including Mozart’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G minor, Lauridsen’s Lux aeterna, and Bach’s motet for double choir Komm, Jesu, komm

The organ at Malmesbury Abbey was built in 1985 by E J Johnson of Cambridge and has 2012 pipes, two manuals and mechanical tracker action for the pedals. Often known as the ‘Little Giant’, the organ has a considerable reputation and many fine organists have given recitals on it over the years.

and not far away...

1956 2016 Diamond Jubilee

Diamond Jubilee

Diamond Jubilee

1956 2016 Diamond Jubilee

Diamond

Commemorative Tea Towel

Commemorative Tea Towel

Commemorative Tea Towel

Commemorative Tea Towel (order form

White Cotton (order form overleaf)

White Cotton (order form overleaf)

Commemorative White

White Cotton (order form overleaf)

BOOK REVIEW

O SING UNTO THE LORD – A History of English Church Music

Andrew Gant

Profile books

ISBN 978 1 78125 247 5

£20

There has long been a need for such a book as this, which succeeds in giving a balanced overview of all kinds of church music, from cathedral and royal or collegiate chapel to parish church via all points in between.

The Singing Church by C H Phillips was a classic and successful attempt to cover much the same ground as Dr Gant; but it was published in the 1930s and despite a revision in the 1960s by Professor Arthur Hutchings it is inevitably well over half a century out of date in its scholarship and opinions. Edmund H. Fellowes’s history, English Cathedral Music, was published in 1941 but was merely and exactly what its title implied, and Fellowes made no serious attempt to evaluate developments since 1910. Then there is Kenneth Long’s monumental, and monumentally dull, The Music of the English Church (1961) which attempts to cover the whole gamut of church music but is seriously tainted by various manifestations of an unthinking prejudice against anything Victorian or popular or indeed anything anyone might actually enjoy. Quite recently Trevor Beeson’s In Tuneful Accord (SCM 2006) presented a characteristically amusing but somewhat inaccurate account of the last hundred-and-a-bit years, but made no claim to be a formal history.

Dr Gant’s book is in a different class altogether. Written in a bright, breezy and chatty style (think Bill Bryson rather than Edmund H. Fellowes), it is the product of a mind well stocked with his academic and practical knowledge of his subject, for it is immediately obvious that he has sung or directed most of the music he discusses, whether as a choral scholar of St John’s College Cambridge or as Organist of H M Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, and that he has taken the trouble to study both widely and perceptively the impressive body of specialist literature which has appeared in recent years. This deep knowledge has resulted in clarity rather than confusion, for he manages to provide an intelligible account of music in the earliest years of English Christendom and of the origins and development of the Sarum Use together with the music written to adorn it. Moving into a more familiar era, he is

notably successful in steering a path through the political and ecclesiastical complexities which dominated the reigns of Henry VIII and his children, the time of Byrd, Merbecke, Parsons, Sheppard, Tallis, Tye, Whyte and those others without whom The Sixteen and the Tallis Scholars would be out of business.

He reminds us that the likes of Batten, Gibbons, Dering, Philips and Tomkins should not be grouped with the aforementioned composers under the general but inaccurate heading of Tudor Church Music; they belong to a different generation in whose work can be detected the seeds of a later style which enjoyed a brief but glorious flowering when the monarchy was restored after the dour and puritanical interlude of Cromwell’s Commonwealth. Unsurprisingly in view of his experience of the Chapel Royal, another of Dr Gant’s greatest successes is his account of the organisation and personnel of the Chapel under Charles II and his successors, an account inevitably dominated by the mighty genius of Purcell and Handel, but allowing due credit to such lesser mortals as Blow, Croft, Greene and Boyce.

He is refreshingly kind to the 19th century and avoids the snootiness of a former generation of writers who seemed to have a bad smell under their noses when forced to discuss such works as Stainer’s Crucifixion, a work whose merits Dr Gant acknowledges. He makes a rare mistake in claiming that Mendelssohn wrote no English church music. Mendelssohn did; his Te Deum and Jubilate in A and Evening Service in B flat were sung regularly at St Paul’s Cathedral in the 1870s. One sees Dr Gant’s point, though, for the various motets and the extracts from Lobgesang and Paulus which so dominated the repertoire were sung in translations from the original German, frequently by the ubiquitous Mr Bartholomew, who also provided the text for the famous Hear my prayer which sounds like a translation but isn’t; nor is it church music, for it was first performed at a secular concert.

Dr Gant’s sureness of touch momentarily fails him when he reaches the late-Victorian and Edwardian era; he over-estimates Parry’s importance, much though we all love the Songs of Farewell and I was glad, and he devotes too much attention to Jerusalem, which is not, nor was ever intended to be, church music. He gives a much better account of Stanford, though he should have mentioned The Lord is my Shepherd, surely one of the loveliest English anthems; and his estimate of Charles Wood is pretty sound despite his failure to mention any of the Evening Services which are still such staples of the repertory in those places where they sing Evensong.

His treatment of the hundred or so years since the start of the Great War is both masterly and successful. Giving pride of place to Vaughan Williams and Howells, he avoids the temptation of exaggerating the importance of the great trio of Britten, Tippett and Walton but gives due mention to

pretty much every significant church composer of the 20th century, though I regret the omission of Alan Gray and Arthur Wills. He ends this narrative with a judicious appraisal of John Rutter and John Tavener, friends from childhood but strikingly different in their style and influence, though alike in the strong enthusiasm and antipathy their music arouses.

Dr Gant presents the history of parochial music as a parallel narrative to this tale of music in cathedrals, grand churches and chapels. He traces with characteristic skill the origins of hymnody in the metrical psalms of Sternhold and Hopkins and the later collection of Tate and Brady, and he leads us through the great 18th-century Nonconformist writers and composers to the great Victorian hymnodists, the heyday of Hymns Ancient and Modern. The appearance of The English Hymnal in 1906 ushered in a turbulent century with which Dr Gant deals skilfully; he gives due and sympathetic attention to the popular hymnody of recent years (‘music groups’ included) and it seems symbolic of his even-handed approach that he even has a kind word for the composer of Shine, Jesus, shine

I hope it is obvious that I have read this book with tremendous enjoyment. It is not perfect. A good sub-editor would have got rid of the split infinitives and corrected a few misattributions and errors of fact; but in all essentials Dr Gant seems to get things absolutely right. It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend this delightful book both to the educated amateur and to specialists in this field.

Timothy Storey

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CD REVIEWS

ORGAN CDs

BACH ORGAN WORKS Vol III

Robert Quinney

Organ of Trinity College, Cambridge

Fantasia & Fugue in G min BWV 542; Three preludes on ‘Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland’; Pastorella BWV 590, Prelude & Fugue in C BWV 547; Canonic variations on ‘Vom Himmel hoch’ BWV 769a; Prelude & Fugue in G BWV 541. CORO 16132 TT 61.31

Robert Quinney continues his journey through Bach’s organ music recorded on the Metzler organ of Trinity College Cambridge. This third volume has an Advent and Christmas feel, with the inclusion of preludes on Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, the Canonic Variations on ‘Vom Himmel Hoch’ and a Pastorella. In addition, it includes three of Bach’s better-known free works.

The Trinity College organ certainly suits the baroque style, as Robert Quinney demonstrates very well on this CD. The Fantasia & Fugue is given a superb performance with effective ornamentation. The Fugue is taken at an excitingly brisk pace, and there is enormous energy throughout, although some may prefer a less crisp approach.

The first Nun komm prelude BWV 659 is played with sensitivity, and the third prelude BWV 661 has pleasing vigour. It took a while to get accustomed to the reeds used in the second prelude BWV 660, but the registration of the Pastorella BWV 590 worked well in a delightful performance. There are also exquisite moments in the Canonic Variations BWV 769a, especially in the opening two variations. Robert Quinney writes illuminating notes on all the works in the accompanying booklet.

The Prelude in C BWV 547 is given a light and airy feel, with bright registration. This lightness continues for the first 47 bars of the Fugue before the dramatic first entry of the pedal (in augmentation), which is announced on a full organ. The CD concludes with a sparkling performance of one of Bach’s most joyous organ pieces, the Prelude and Fugue in G BWV 541. Do try to hear this fine recording.

Paul Morgan

GUILMANT

Complete Organ Sonatas

Adriano Falcioni

Organ of Sacro Cuore, Cuneo, Italy

Sonatas 1-8 (3 CDs) TT 50:39, 72:24, 62:16

BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94227

The eight sonatas of Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911) are greatly varied in scope and style; in the earlier examples he followed the traditional fast–slow–fast format of the classical sonata but latterly, from the fifth sonata

onwards, he developed the genre into something more extensive, symphony in all but name, paving the way for the organ symphonies of Vierne and Widor. Just as with these two composers, Guilmant’s music demands the authentic sounds of the French ‘symphonic’ organ, and a recording of the sonatas by Ben van Oosten at St Ouen, Rouen would seem to possess all the advantages (MDG 316 0340-2). It is, though, about three times the price of the recording under review which offers exceptional value for money and might therefore seem the obvious choice, had it not been made on an Italian instrument which is said to date from 1897, though its appearance and specification lead one to conclude that this is a misprint for 1987! The preponderance of high-pitched registers and the low wind-pressure of 70mm (2¾ inches) rather give the game away, and the result is a somewhat confused tutti inadequately coloured by the reeds, though the pedal 16’ comes through well enough.

Signor Falcioni, the organist of the Metropolitan St Lawrence Cathedral, Perugia, studied in Germany, London and Paris. He is a capable player who is more than equal to the technical demands of this music; sadly, he manages to make the faster passages sound both muddled and rushed, though I think the instrument must take some of the blame for this. The lack of rhythmic grip in the slower and quieter stretches is surely the fault of the player alone. The verdict? Modified rapture!

Timothy Storey

GREAT EUROPEAN ORGANS No. 97

Simon Hogan

Organ of Southwell Minster

Philip Marshall Prelude & Chaconne; G T Francis Lament; Robert Ashfield Sonata for Organ; Neil Cox Four Ikons of the Archangels; Thiman Three Pieces for organ; Robert Busiakiewicz Epitaph: After Donald Crowhurst; Arthur Wills Introduction and Allegro.

PRIORY PRCD 1147 TT 77:17

In this recent release by Priory, Simon Hogan (Assistant Director of Music at Southwell Minster) demonstrates both his virtuosity as an organist and the versatility of the Minster organ. With one exception, the largely unknown repertoire he has chosen has been composed over the last 75 years by English organists, some of whom have connections with Southwell. Several compositions deserve to be better known.

The earliest work is a Lament (1942) by G T Francis, a former Rector Chori and Organist of Southwell. The ‘Eric Thiman Collection’, consisting of over 1000 of Thiman’s compositions, was set up in the Choral Library at Southwell in 2014, so his Three Organ Pieces (1955) are appropriate and calm things down between two contemporary pieces. The other composer who was a former Rector Chori of Southwell

is Robert Ashfield, whose fine Sonata for organ (1956) is a welcome inclusion, as is Philip Marshall’s splendid Prelude & Chaconne (1963).

Four Ikons of the Archangels (2013) by Neil Cox is very atmospheric in conjuring up mysterious or very powerful sounds to portray the archangels Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Uriel. It certainly holds one’s attention, as does the other contemporary work Epitaph: After Donald Crowhurst by Robert Busiakiewicz, which was commissioned for this recording. Donald Crowhurst took part in a failed attempt to be the first person to sail single-handed round the world in 1968. The music evokes the vastness of both the oceans and the whole venture, which eventually led Crowhurst to insanity. Busiakiewicz asks for sounds from the organ which are highly original and very demanding on the player. The CD concludes with a spirited account of the Messiaen-inspired Introduction and Allegro (1961) by Arthur Wills.

Paul Morgan

COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS OF GEORGE DYSON

Daniel Cook

Organ of St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol Fantasia; Ground Bass; Variations on Old Psalm Tunes Bks 1, 2 & 3; Prelude; Voluntary; Postlude.

PRIORY PRCD 1136

Once again we are greatly in Daniel Cook’s debt, aided and abetted by Neil Collier, in exploring a little known byway of English organ music; this time spotlighting Sir George Dyson. Most of the pieces on this CD come from the three volumes of Variations on Old Psalm Tunes, and are in attractive and varied styles. They are also splendid vehicles for exploring the wonders of the Redcliffe Harrison, and Cook makes the most of the opportunity. The disc opens with Dyson’s most substantial work, the Fantasia and Ground. The Fantasia positively encourages grand gestures, and Cook is well up for it, as is the Redcliffe organ; the Ground Bass similarly allows the player to work on a larger and more extended canvas. The shorter pieces, all based on old tunes, though not quite so interesting musically, are nevertheless clearly the work of a craftsman. They are certainly a valuable resource for a ‘service’ organist, and well worth exploring for their fine variety of mood and style. Every opportunity to hear the H&H organ at Redcliffe is to be welcomed, and when it is presented here with such flair and imagination, we must rejoice. Well done and thank you, Daniel Cook and Neil Collier.

Roger Judd

GLOUCESTER EXPERIENCE

Jonathan Hope plays the organ of Gloucester Cathedral

Elgar Imperial March; Sanders Soliloquy; Toccata; Hosking Hommage à Paris; Reubke Sonata on 94th Psalm

WILLOWHAYNE RECORDS WHR035

TT 70:59

Jonathan Hope gives an excellent demonstration of the Gloucester organ as it is today. His playing is of a very high standard and he pays particular attention to expressive detail, shaping the music most carefully. I enjoyed his

dignified performance of Elgar’s Imperial March and found his approach to Reubke’s Sonata on 94th Psalm both vigorous and thoughtful. Although the virtuoso element is accomplished with great skill, the drama and excitement of the music itself remains the focal point of the performance.

It is appropriate that two pieces by John Sanders are included, as he was responsible for the rebuild of the Gloucester organ in 1970. I particularly enjoyed hearing his well-written Toccata. The Soliloquy is a more unusual work, being generally quiet and slow moving, but with sudden bursts of energy. It is dedicated to a friend, Cecil Adams, whose initials form the basis of the composition.

Like so many English cathedral organs, Gloucester before 1970 was firmly in the Willis tradition. The 1970 rebuild by Hill, Norman & Beard took away two of the Open Diapasons including the only one on the Swell. The 32ft flue and 16ft Open Wood also went, along with the Clarinet and Tuba. The power of the organ now comes from the French-style reeds. Indeed, at times it sounds akin to the Cavaillé-Coll of NotreDame, Paris. Therefore Hommage à Paris, a five-movement suite by John Hosking (currently Assistant at St Asaph Cathedral) entirely suits the organ. The traditions of Vierne, Dupré and Pierre Cochereau lie at the heart of this suite. The work was commissioned by Martin Baker, who gave its first performance in Westminster Cathedral in 2014. This is certainly a CD well worth hearing.

Paul Morgan

ALFRED HOLLINS AND FRIENDS

Simon Nieminski

Organ of Third Baptist Church, St Louis, Missouri Hollins Concert Overture No. 3 in F min; Morceau de concert; Theme with Variations and Fugue; A Song of Sunshine; Concert Toccata in B flat; Heddon Bond Chorus in E flat; Johnson Elfentanz; Wolstenholme The Seraph’s Strain; Le Carillon; Ernest MacMillan Cortège académique; Lemare From the West.

REGENT REGCD 473 TT 77:58

Last year saw the 150th anniversary of the birth of Alfred Hollins, who throughout his life was blind. For over 40 years he was organist of Free St George’s Church, Edinburgh. He composed much organ music and it has been estimated he travelled over 600,000 miles on his world-wide concert tours. As well as pieces by Hollins, the programme includes music by dedicatees of his organ pieces, two of whom (Lemare and Wolstenholme) were also born in 1865. Simon Nieminski has taken a keen interest in this repertoire and his playing and choice of registration is superb throughout. He plays on the newly rebuilt 4-manual organ of Third Baptist Church, St Louis, Missouri which has a plentiful supply of colourful stops (Tibia included) for this predominantly lighter style of romantic music.

A few of the charming pieces by Hollins, as well as some of the numerous transcriptions of Lemare, have remained in the general repertoire. With a growing interest in this type of music, this CD presents us with a well-chosen selection of pieces, many of which have not been heard for decades.

The tuneful and colourful style of Hollins is well displayed, as well as the more vigorous and exuberant, as heard in the Concert Overture and Concert Toccata. The dramatic From the West by Lemare, who lived in the USA for 30 years, contains almost everything: a railroad whistle and a ballroom dance amidst dramatic climaxes and references to Yankee Doodle and other

popular American songs (there is also an unusual expression mark ‘strasciando’ which, disappointingly, simply means smoothly).

Other delights include real chimes in Wolstenholme’s Le Carillon; theatre-organ (Blackpool style) in Johnson’s Elfentanz, and what sounds like a Coronation March in Sir Ernest MacMillan’s Cortège académique. I hope I have tempted you to listen to Simon Nieminski’s wonderful organ playing.

Paul Morgan

BACH ORGAN WORKS Vol IX

Margaret Phillips

Organ of Sint-Nicolaaskerk, Belgium

Eight Short Preludes & Fugues; Fantasia duobus subjectis in G min; An Wasserflüssen Babylon; Fantasia in C min; Trio in G min; Prelude, Trio & Fugue in B flat; Ricercar a 3 BWV 1079i; Fantasia sopra ‘Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält’; Ricercar a 6 BWV 1079.

REGENT REGCD 454 TT 64:28

How many novice organists have laboured over Bach’s ‘Short Eight’ as a blessed relief from whichever organ primer was currently in fashion? We neither knew nor cared that they were probably not by Bach but by someone else altogether; we were happy to regard them as attractive works of only moderate difficulty, and it is somehow heart-warming to find them here so beautifully presented on such a fine-sounding instrument. The rest of the programme consists of what can only be regarded as curiosities, notably that peculiar version of the Prelude and Fugue in C BWV 545 which turned up amongst the belongings of an early 19th-century organist of Westminster Abbey, transposed into B flat and with an additional Trio movement. This is hardly the disc for anyone requiring Bach masterworks, but it contains attractive music wonderfully well played, the leftovers from Margaret Phillips’s acclaimed Bach Organ Works series but not on that account to be despised; leftovers proverbially make remarkably tasty meals.

Timothy Storey

ANDRIESSEN

4 chorals & other organ music

Organ: Benjamin Saunders, playing the organ of Leeds Cathedral Premier Choral; Sonata da Chiesa; Deuxième Choral; A Quiet Introduction; Troisième Choral; Offertorium; Quatrième Choral; Theme and Variations. BRILLIANT 94958 TT 74:03

Henrik Andriessen’s birthplace was Haarlem in Holland where, in the Bavokerk, arguably one of Europe’s most wonderful organs, visually and aurally, is located. Andriessen’s father was an organist too, so there is an inevitability about young Henrik’s future. Andriessen junior studied at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, and later worked in Utrecht at the Institute for Catholic Church Music and at the catholic cathedral. He had a long life (1892-1981), and was famed in Holland as an improviser and composer of organ music and much choral music for the church. As well as this, he wrote four operas, four symphonies, concerti and chamber music.

The earliest piece on this disc is the Premier Choral which dates from 1913, and most of the music heard here was

written in the following 36 years. I would imagine that, like me, most readers will only know the Theme with Variations (1949), so Ben Saunders has done us and Andriessen a great service by recording this repertoire. Like the Franck Chorals, the Dutchman’s Chorals are written in a grand style, and suit the Klais organ in Leeds Cathedral very well. Saunders is a committed advocate of this music, and if the music of Andriessen enjoys a reappraisal as a result, he can be well satisfied.

Roger Judd

ELGAR Complete Original Organ Music

Organ: Daniel Justin

Imperial March; Cantique; Sonata in G; Vesper Voluntaries; arr Harris ‘Nimrod’ from Enigma Variations; arr Lemare Pomp & Circumstance

March No. 1

BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94959 TT 65:57

Elgar enthusiasts will be pleased to hear of a CD containing his complete original organ music. Daniel Justin plays the three original pieces together with three popular arrangements on the organ of the Roman Catholic cathedral in Leeds, where he was organist before moving to his current post at the Roman Catholic cathedral in Norwich. Simon Lindley writes interesting notes about the music in the booklet but unfortunately no detail is given about this 4-manual organ. You may therefore like to know that it was originally built by Norman & Beard for Leeds Cathedral in 1904, and restored with additional stops by Johannes Klais of Bonn in 2010. The romantic character of the organ has been retained and it is certainly a suitable instrument for this recording.

Justin plays with plenty of dexterity but occasionally there are small lapses in detail such as unobserved rests and phrasing. This is a pity, as the music overall comes across with real conviction.

The programme begins with George Martin’s arrangement of the Imperial March. Personally, I feel the opening is a little hurried and would benefit from a more stately approach, but the registration comes across effectively. It is followed by Cantique, a tuneful piece which Elgar apparently arranged from a wind quintet he composed in 1879. Although taken rather fast for my taste, it is full of colourful registration. The magnificent Sonata in G is given an enjoyable performance in which the music flows along with ease. This is followed by effective accounts of the ever-popular Nimrod and the littleknown Vesper Voluntaries, which were originally composed for harmonium. Lemare’s fine arrangement of the Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 brings the CD to a rousing conclusion.

Paul Morgan

CHORAL CDs

ILLUMINE ME

Choral Works by Richard Lloyd

The Bede Singers

Dir: David Hill

Organ: Ian Shaw/Daniel Hyde

The Lichfield Service; Open my heart, illumine me; The fairest flower; The Windows; A song of the Passion; Adoro te devote; Chichester Mass; Thankful of heart for days gone by; Adam our father; All so still; I wonder as I wonder; Now glad of heart; Keep me, O Christ; What songs are these? Rejoice and sing.

REGENT REGCD455 TT 74:40

This recording is a most fitting tribute to a fine musician and a lovely man, made by people who have a connection with him and Durham. Richard Lloyd was organist and master of the choristers at Hereford (1966–74) and Durham Cathedrals (1974–85). In retirement he moved back to Herefordshire, and celebrated his eightieth birthday in 2013.

His compositions are steeped in the Anglican traditions of the early to mid-20th century, especially the influence of Howells. The music is beautifully crafted, and he has an unerring knack of finding fine texts to set. I cannot do better than quote from the affectionate liner notes, when the writer says, ‘Richard Lloyd’s music is a joy to perform and a delight to hear’ – it is absolutely that.

The Bede Singers are a group expressly founded to perform Richard’s music, and many of them are former members of the Durham Cathedral Choir. Their director, David Hill, was for a few years Richard’s assistant at the cathedral, as was Ian Shaw, one of the two organists on the disc. Daniel Hyde was a chorister and organ scholar at Durham. The performers make this CD an especially fine listening experience – sung and played with love. As Ian Shaw says, ‘Music from the heart, to the heart’. No more need be said.

Roger Judd

JUBILATE DEO

Sacred Choral Works by Matthew Martin

Magdalen College Choir

Dir: Daniel Hyde Organ: Stephen Farr Jubilate Deo; Festival anthem: In the Year that King Uzziah died; Christe redemptor omnium; Chester Missa Brevis; Te lucis ante terminum; St John’s College Service; Justorum animae; Dormi, Jesu!; A Hymn of St Ambrose; A Short Mass of St Dominic; A Song of the New Jerusalem; Laudate Dominum.

OPUS ARTE OA CD9030 D TT 71:16

Matthew Martin’s academic career started as organ scholar at Magdalen, where he returned as a tutor after several years as Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral. It is, therefore, very fitting that the choir of Magdalen College under their Informator Choristarum Daniel Hyde has recorded a CD devoted to his recent choral works. Martin’s musical style is in the tradition of Britten and Leighton, and he frequently uses plainsong and counterpoint.

Most of the pieces are the results of commissions such as the opening spirited Jubilate Deo, which was composed for the American Guild of Organists. Two Mass settings are included, one for Chester Cathedral in Latin with a challenging organ

part, the other being an unaccompanied Short Mass of St Dominic, using a recent English translation of the Roman Missal. The extensive anthem In the year that King Uzziah died, composed for the St Davids Cathedral Festival, won a British Composer Award in 2013. Despite some harmonic complexity, the St John’s College Service of 2011 holds one’s interest with its variety of contrasting textures and nicely shaped melodic lines. Amongst the other works, I particularly enjoyed a simple setting of Christe redemptor omnium, based on the traditional plainsong.

Throughout this recording the singing of Magdalen College Choir is truly excellent under the guidance of Daniel Hyde, who shapes the music with considerable care. Stephen Farr’s masterly organ playing provides the colourful and exciting accompaniment. He is aided by the 2011 Tickell organ in the chapel of Keble College Oxford, where the CD was recorded. This chapel, with its fine acoustics, was completed by Butterworth in 1876 and the new organ recognises the spirit of the late 19th century. Since the recording, Matthew Martin has been appointed Director of Music at Keble, and Daniel Hyde will move to St Thomas, Fifth Avenue in the summer.

Paul Morgan

THE CALL

More choral classics from St John’s

The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge

Dir: Andrew Nethsingha

Organ: Edward Picton-Turbervill

Ireland Greater Love; Guest For the Fallen; Parry My soul, there is a country; I was glad; Jerusalem; Panufnik The Call; Mendelssohn Hear my prayer; Ave Maria; Stanford Beati quorum via; Te Deum; Harris Holy is the true light; Dove Gloria; Rossini O salutaris hostia; Tavener Song for Athene; Howells A spotless rose; Bullock Give us the wings of faith.

CHANDOS

CHAN 10872 TT 73:25

The always excellent St John’s College Choir tread largely familiar ground in this CD. One can forgive them when performances of this quality are produced. The repertoire is at the head of this review, and it is unnecessary for me to go through it piece by piece, even if space allowed. The two items which are perhaps outside the familiar are welcome. Roxanna Panufnik’s The Call was composed as the result of a commission by the college in 2010 for their Advent carol service. She sets George Herbert’s well-known poem with an accompanying harp, which makes for some lovely effects. Jonathan Dove’s Gloria is taken from his Missa Brevis (2009) – it is good to have one piece that is rhythmically exciting in an otherwise fairly staid diet. It is delivered with considerable panache.

The soloist in Mendelssohn’s Hear my prayer, Oliver Brown, is an absolute star with fine breath-control, which allows him to imbue the piece with lovely phrasing. The same composer’s Ave Maria brings another soloist to the fore – Xavier Hetherington takes the lead quite beautifully. The CD is an excellent production by Chandos, with naturalsounding balances with the choir and with the organ. At the risk of sounding a little daft, the choir really sing this music. Phrases are generously filled out and ‘go somewhere’. You get the distinct impression that the singers are thoroughly enjoying themselves, all sensitively kept together by Andrew Nethsingha. Edward Picton-Turbervill does a splendid job as the colourful accompanist throughout this disc.

Roger Judd

THE SPY’S CHOIRBOOK

Alamire (2CDs)

Dir: David Skinner

Jean Mouton Celeste beneficium; Ecce Maria genuit nobis; Dulces exuviae; Anon Nesciens mater; O Domine Iesu Christe/Et sanctissima mater tua; Maxsimilla Christo amabilis; Sancta et immaculata virginitas; Dulcissima virgo Maria; Tota pulchra es/O pulcerrima; O sancta Maria virgo virginum; Recordamini quomodo praedixit filium; O beatissime Domine Iesu Christe/Fac me de tua gratia; Ave sanctissima Maria; Congratulamini mihi omnes; Alma redemptoris mater; Dulces exuviae; Iesus autem transiens; Antoine de Févin Adiutorium nostrum; Sancta trinitas unus Deus; Egregie Christi martir Christophore/Ecce enim; Pierre de la Rue Ave regina caelorum; Vexilla Regis/Passio domini nostri; Doleo super te frater mi Ionatha; Absalon fili mi; Josquin Desprez Descendi in hortum meum; Fama malum; Missus est Gabriel archangelus; Dulces exuviae; Tribulatio et angustia invenerunt me; Franciscus Strus Sancta Maria succurre miseris/O werder mondt; Pierrequin de Therache Verbum bonum et suave; Alexander Agricola Dulces exuviae; Johannes Ghiselin Dulces exuviae dum fata deusque; Heinrich Isaac Anima mea/Invenerunt/Filiae Ierusalem.

OBSIDIAN CD712 TT 64:21 and 50:50

We find ourselves in the strange world of Peter Imhoff, or Peter van den Hove, who travelled the continent to spy for Henry VIII on the Duke of Suffolk who was rather too friendly with Louis XII of France. Our spy was a music scribe, illuminator, singer and composer who worked under the pseudonym of Petrus A-la-mi-re, a name derived from musical terminology; he ‘went native’ and compiled for Louis and Anne of Brittany a sumptuously illuminated manuscript containing a rich selection of the best-regarded contemporary music, which he had garnered as a diversion from espionage. When Louis and Anne died he changed his allegiance again and skilfully re-directed the manuscript to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon; it now reposes in the British Library, BL MS 8.g.vii. Has that whetted your appetite? David Skinner’s excellent singers and instrumentalists give a compelling account of these musical riches, which include settings of a wide range of devotional texts including a notable group of David’s laments for the deaths of Absalom and Jonathan alongside the famous passages from the fourth book of Virgil’s Aeneid in which Dido’s sad fate is recounted and mourned. Strongly recommended.

Timothy Storey

ARVO PÄRT

Leeds Cathedral Choir

Dir: Benjamin Saunders

Organ: Daniel Justin, Thomas Leech

The Beatitudes; Berliner Messe; Cantate Domino; Annum per annum; Mein Weg hat Gipfel und Wellentäler; Pari intervallo; Trivium; Spiegel im Spiegel.

BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94960

The music of Leeds Roman Catholic Cathedral and its diocese has come to attract considerable attention and acclaim, and this CD offers ample proof of the high standard of the cathedral choir’s boy and girl trebles and professional adults. One either loves or hates Pärt’s music, which is certainly challenging to listener and performer alike, but no one could fail to enjoy the sheer delight and gusto which these young singers bring to their performances. Tuning and ensemble are generally of a high standard, though the tenors and basses are

guilty of some flat singing in the plainsong-derived Alleluia movements which Pärt inserts into the attractive Berliner Messe, which forms the centrepiece of this programme. His handful of organ works, given here as a kind of coda to the choral music, display his fascination with the instrument’s unique capacity for sustained sound. One might rather unkindly say that the effect is somewhat like spending an afternoon with the organ tuner, but Leeds Cathedral’s new organ is certainly a fine one, admirably played here.

Timothy Storey

TARNEY MAGNIFICAT

Sérafine Chamber Choir & Sinfonia

Dir: Manvinder Rattan Magnificat (Magnificat, Et exultavit; Quia respexit; Ecce enim; Quia fecit; Et misericordia; Fecit potentiam; Deposuit; Esurientes; Suscepit Israel; Sicut locutus est; Gloria patri.)

CONVIVIUM RECORDS CR030 TT 54:00

Oliver Tarney studied at Manchester University. He is Head of Composition and Singing at Winchester College, and the work here recorded shows him a master of currently fashionable styles of composition; we encounter slowly-moving dense chordal writing (Gabriel Jackson etc.) and tintinnabulation à la Jonathan Dove, with perhaps too little thematic development or rhythmic variety, and some indifference to the sense of the words, with the mighty put down from their seat in a surprisingly relaxed fashion. Magnificat is far from being a conventional liturgical setting, but is a work of substance and originality in which verses from the Koran and the non-canonical Gospel of James provide a kind of running commentary on the familiar Latin of St Luke’s Gospel. The music is admirably sung and played, and is directed by Manvinder Rattan who is Head of Conductor Training for ‘Sing for Pleasure’ and was a judge for Gareth Malone’s series The Choir

Timothy Storey

VOICE AND VERSE

Wakefield Cathedral Choir Dir: Thomas Moore; Organ: Simon Earl Parry I was glad; Blest pair of Sirens; Goodall The Lord is my Shepherd; Rutter All things bright and beautiful; The Lord bless you and keep you; Dale Adelmann Steal away to Jesus; Elgar Give unto the Lord; Whitlock After an old French air; Bevan There’s a wideness in God’s mercy; Lloyd Webber Pie Jesu; Dove Seek him that maketh the seven stars; Wilby God be in my head; Sumsion They that go down to the sea in ships; Vaughan Williams Let all the world; Mozart Ave verum; Todd At evening; Reger Variations and fugue on God save the King.

PRIORY PRCD 1143

To quote the liner notes, “There has regularly been a request for popular choral classics recorded by the cathedral choir,” a request which this recording handsomely and ingeniously fulfils by leavening a goodly selection of old favourites with lesser-known works for the listener to discover. Boys, girls and men are heard separately and together, all of them singing most beautifully. There is the added bonus of organ works by Whitlock and Reger played on the cathedral’s mighty 5manual Compton instrument. Jonathan Dove’s Seek him that maketh the seven stars is fast becoming an established classic; it is exceptionally well sung and accompanied, with an impressive choral fortissimo thrillingly underpinned but not swamped by

rather a lot of organ. I might also single out the appropriately spacious and expressive account of Give unto the Lord and commend the inclusion of Sumsion’s seafaring anthem and the attractive new miniatures by Will Todd and Philip Wilby. The programme’s title is of course lifted from Parry’s At a Solemn Music which concludes this anthology in fine, if somewhat brisk, style: ‘Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of heaven’s joy, Sphere-born harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse. Wed your divine sounds.’ O lucky choristers, to have such music to sing! Congratulations are owed to all concerned, and, to quote Milton’s ode once more, ‘O may we soon again renew that song’ and have the pleasure of another such CD from these fine musicians.

Timothy Storey

THOMAS TALLIS

The Cardinall’s Musick

Dir: Andrew Carwood

Honor, virtus et potestas; Candidi facti sunt Nazarei; Homo quidam fecit coenam; Ave, Dei Patris filia; Christ rising again; Out from the deep; E’en like the hunted hind; Expend, O Lord; Preces & Responses I; Venite, Te Deum, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis (Short Service ‘Dorian’); Litany HYPERION CDA68095 TT 71:58

This is the fifth in a highly acclaimed series of recordings and is of very great interest, though one should search elsewhere in the series for Tallis’s Greatest Hits. We have here one of his earliest works, from the reign of Henry VIII; Ave, Dei Patris filia is a lengthy devotion to the Blessed Virgin, very much preReformation in style. Then with the Service in the Dorian Mode, the English anthems and the tunes for Archbishop Parker’s psalter, E’en like the hunted hind and Expend, O Lord, we move to vernacular liturgy of the Protestant Edward VI when simplicity and intelligibility were the order of the day. With the first three works on the disc we find ourselves at the court of the catholic Queen Mary; Tallis has again found a new style whose tautness and economy owe something to Edward’s reign, but the layout is that of the classic late-medieval Respond, plainsong-based and with plainsong interpolations in the reprise. Andrew Carwood’s singers are among the very best in this particular field, and they sing as beautifully as ever, apart from a sense of strain in the English settings, where the top line has been assigned to the counter-tenors. This apart, I commend this CD wholeheartedly.

Timothy Storey

LOQUEBANTUR

Music from the Baldwin Partbooks

The Marian Consort

Dir: Rory McCleery

Parsons The song called trumpets; Tallis Loquebantur variis linguis; Suscipe quaeso Domine; Mundy Adolescentulus sum ego; Adhaesit pavimento; Byrd Canon Six in One; O salutaris hostia; Aston Hugh Aston’s maske; Gerarde Sive vigilem; Bevin Browning; Ferrabosco Da pacem Domine; Lassus Ubi est Abel; Hollander Dum transisset Sabbatum; Taverner Quemadmodum; Baldwin Coockow as I me walked; Sheppard Ave maris stella.

DELPHIAN DCD34160 TT 66:12

This is a really enjoyable CD. John Baldwin (c1560-1615) was a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal and a copyist of music. The

music included in this disc comes from two sets of partbooks (now in the library of Christ Church Oxford) which contain a selection of his favourite pieces – and he was clearly a man of good taste. Wonderful seven-part motets by Tallis, Sheppard and Mundy and a gloriously dissonant six-part motet by Byrd are among the delights. Unfamiliar continental composers such as Gerarde, Ferrabosco and Hollander are also included, which adds extra interest. With just one voice to a part, the splendid Marion Consort sings the music beautifully. Their enjoyment of the music comes across throughout and it is always convincingly performed. Tribute needs to be paid to their accomplished director, Rory McCleery, who provides excellent notes on the music in the very useful accompanying booklet which also includes texts and translations. He sings countertenor in the recording and edited most of the choral items.

Alternating with the unaccompanied choral items are instrumental pieces from the partbooks played by the highly acclaimed Rose Consort of Viols. This includes music by Parsons, Byrd, Lassus, Taverner and Baldwin himself. The mellow sound of viols and the playful way in which musical ideas are bounced between the instruments is most appealing. Many of the instrumental items are dance-like, providing real contrast to the choral motets. The Tudor period gave us some of our finest music and, to quote Baldwin himself, this thoroughly recommended disc provides ‘such sweete musicke: as dothe much delite yeelde’.

Paul Morgan

O MY PEOPLE

Antiphon

Dir: Matthew Cann

Grier The Lord goes up; Whitacre A Boy and a Girl; Cann In manus tuas; Fauxbourdon

M & N; Elgar arr Cameron Lux aeterna; Sanders The Reproaches; Keitch O nata lux; O sacrum convivium; Paul Carey Fishing in the Keep of Silence; arr Meyer I want Jesus to walk with me; Barnum Flowers for the Altar; Day When I survey the wondrous Cross.

WILLOWHAYNE RECORDS WHR038 TT 64:56

Antiphon is a chamber choir based in Exeter, and we can admire its considerable abilities in this interesting programme. Many of these works receive their first recorded performance; they are of varied style and, dare I say, variable merit, the currently fashionable slow and plodding style being all too prevalent. In a welcome contrast, Francis Grier’s Ascensiontide anthem overflows with rhythmic vitality. I would also single out Flowers for the Altar, slow and gentle but beautifully constructed and a real ‘find’; its composer Eric William Barnum is Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. Then we have the seemingly inevitable contribution of Eric Whitacre, a typically slow and impressionistic secular part-song that seems an odd inclusion in a programme of sacred music; and of course there is the statutory Great Composer, regrettably represented by that gruesome derangement of Nimrod whose cruelly high tessitura is too much for the sopranos’ tuning. But the best wine is left till last, a marvellously rich and wellwrought sacred part-song by Edgar Day who served for fifty years as Assistant Organist of Worcester Cathedral (1912-62); David Willcocks (Organist at Worcester 1950-57) thought it worthy to bear comparison with Parry’s Songs of Farewell The serious collector might buy the CD for this alone.

Timothy Storey

HERBERT HOWELLS ANTHEMS

Lincoln Cathedral Choir

Dir: Aric Prentice Organ: Colin Walsh

We have heard with our ears; Nunc dimittis; Haec dies; Like as the hart; Salve Regina; When first thine eies unveil; A spotless rose; Sing lullaby; Here is the little door; Let God arise; O salutaris hostia; Lord, who createdst man; My master hath a garden; Regina caeli; O pray for the peace of Jerusalem; Even such is time; My eyes for beauty pine; Blessed are the dead.

PRIORY PRCD 1119

How many pieces on this CD are unfamiliar to you? … 50%? This is certainly true for me – a fairly terrible admission, it has to be said. Compositions often lie neglected for a good reason – they aren’t very good. But is that true here?

On hearing the repertoire on this disc I think the answer is a resounding ‘No’. I am delighted, and grateful, to have had my Howells experience expanded by Aric Prentice and his Lincoln colleagues so persuasively. They give us some of the early music Howells wrote for Richard Terry at Westminster Cathedral, including a Latin Nunc dimittis and four Latin motets, written between 1914 and 1918. The former especially is given a terrific performance. It is so good to hear the ‘other’ two anthems of the set of four that includes Like as the hart … and O pray for the peace Let God arise is a splendidly muscular piece, and We have heard with our ears launches this CD with one of those typically long-spun phrases that are a signature feature of Howells’ music. Astonishingly, we learn from the booklet that the four anthems were written at the rate of one a day between 5 and 9 January 1941 in Gloucester. When first thine eies unveil is a beautiful setting of Henry Vaughan. Regrettably, none of the several and excellent soloists receive credit anywhere; an unfortunate outbreak of bad manners. The choir are on positively cracking form, giving performances of great intensity and commitment, and they are wonderfully partnered by Colin Walsh on the organ he knows so well. Most warmly recommended.

Roger Judd

ONE EQUAL MUSIC from the Victoria Quarter, Leeds St Peter’s Singers

Dir: Simon Lindley

Harris Bring us, O Lord God; Bairstow Let all mortal flesh keep silence; Whitacre Alleluia; Harris Faire is the heaven; Pärt Magnificat; Rachmaninov Bogoroditse dyevo; Beamish In the stillness; Lauridsen O magnum mysterium; MacMillan O radiant dawn; Moore Three prayers of Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Jackson Evening hymn; Parry My soul, there is a country; Harris Holy is the true light. www.stpeters-singers.org.uk

Is this the first CD to have been recorded in a shopping mall? The Victoria Quarter has been splendidly restored and enhanced in recent years, and this CD is memento of the significant contribution which the St Peter’s Singers made to the general rejoicings. According to the preface to the liner notes this is a programme of ‘spiritual’ music, a term which seems to mean ‘slow and not very cheerful’. In a passage worthy of Private Eye’s ‘Pseud’s Corner’ we are also told that in that fine prayer Bring us, O Lord God at our last awakening (the first track of this disc, in the classic setting by Sir William Harris) John Donne’s ‘One equal music’ means ‘equal opportunity’, ‘equal access’ or presumably equality in general! Such

nonsense apart, it is certainly good to have three of Harris’s anthems in this anthology, and I was especially pleased by the inclusion of Philip Moore’s powerful Three Prayers of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, complemented by Francis Jackson’s Evening Hymn, a characteristically effective sacred part-song by Moore’s distinguished forerunner at York Minster. I was less pleased to find the tedious trio of Lauridsen, Pärt and Whitacre. That aside, I am happy to commend the high standard of the singing, and to congratulate all concerned on their mastery of the considerable difficulties of some of the music.

Timothy Storey

STANFORD

Chapel Choir of Winchester College

Dir: Malcolm Archer Organ: Jamal Sutton Benedictus in C; Beati quorum via; Watts’ Cradle Song; Te Deum in C; Justorum animae; A Song of Wisdom; O for a closer walk with God; When, in our music, God is glorified; For lo, I raise up; Coelos ascendit hodie; Come, ye thankful people, come; If ye then be risen with Christ; The Lord is my Shepherd; Psalm 150. CONVIVIUM (No serial number) TT 71:00

Most readers are surely aware that this is no ordinary school choir. The treble line is supplied by the quiristers, boys who share The Pilgrims’ School with Winchester Cathedral’s choristers, and the alto, tenor and bass parts are provided by senior pupils of Winchester College (and a few members of staff); the result is highly professional and a credit to all concerned. This programme is a judicious mixture of old favourites and some less familiar works whose acquaintance the listener will enjoy making. I was especially glad to find the Mattins canticles from the C major service, and that very fine anthem If ye then be risen with Christ, praised by Fellowes but sadly neglected. A highlight is A Song of Wisdom, sung in unison by the trebles who rise with the utmost aplomb to a perfectly controlled high B flat; the Song is followed as Stanford intended by O for a closer walk with God, the Hymn after A Song of Wisdom, a title which has baffled more than one chorister. My only regret is that we are given Stanford’s fine hymn-tune Engelberg with Fred Pratt Green’s somewhat contrived text When, in our music, God is glorified rather than For all the saints, the words for which it was intended. This scarcely detracts from a very fine CD which I have greatly enjoyed and which I warmly recommend.

Timothy Storey

WILLIAM CROFT

Burial service & anthems

Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge

Dir: David Skinner

Sing praises to the Lord; Voluntary No. 8 in C; Hear my prayer, O Lord; O Lord God of my salvation; Voluntary No. 1 in D min; I am the resurrection; Man that is born of a woman; Thou knowest, Lord; I heard a voice from heaven; Voluntary No. 5 in C; God is gone up with a merry noise; O Lord, rebuke me not; Voluntary No. 4 in G min; O Lord, grant the King a long life.

OBSIDIAN CD714 TT51:20

This is a fascinating anthology of a composer who has been largely neglected. The average attender at a cathedral

Evensong might have heard God is gone up at Ascensiontide, and at grander funerals might have come across the Burial Service, but probably not much else. This most welcome CD should go a long way to putting this neglect to rights.

David Skinner is renowned for his scholarly work on the music of William Byrd. He has now brought similar rigour to the music and performance of William Croft (1678–1727), and he is excellently supported by the choir of Sidney Sussex and its two organ scholars. The sombre tone of several pieces in this collection is particularly attractive. O Lord God of my salvation appealed to me in particular for its gloriously plangent dissonances. The chapel at Sidney Sussex recently acquired a most lovely-looking and -sounding organ from Taylor & Boody in the States. It is heard underpinning the choir in some of the repertoire, and also in a solo capacity in four of Croft’s characterful voluntaries.

To say that I was impressed by the programme and performance on this CD would be to understate the case considerably. It is a most beautiful disc of music of which I have long been fond. The neglect of this has largely been due, I guess, to the absence of decent editions. With a bit of luck, this will now change, and choir directors will seek this music out.

David Skinner, the choir, and the organists are greatly in our debt. Throughout, the singing is of a very high quality. There is fine solo singing and playing, and as an ensemble, the balances are all natural-sounding. Highly recommended.

Roger Judd

L’ALLEGRO, IL PENSEROSO ED IL MODERATO: Handel

Gabrieli Consort & Players

Paul McCreesh

2 CD set TT 141.38

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This recording is a delight from start to finish. L’Allegro, il Pensoroso ed il Moderato was composed in 1740 to a libretto created by James Harris and Charles Jennens out of two poems by John Milton, L’Allegro and Il Pensoroso. Jennens was responsible for adding a third poem, Il Moderato, and for dividing the poems into smaller sections for the ease of Handel’s composition.

When you see the names Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort and Players on the roster, quality performances are assured, and there is no disappointment here. There is much singing to enjoy, and the instrumentalists delight, and in this work Handel is particularly colourful in his orchestrations. One particular pleasure is the inclusion of Handel’s B flat organ concerto from the Op. 7 set. This was recorded in the lovely Queen Anne church of St Paul’s in Deptford on the splendid-sounding instrument there, which was built in 2004 by William Drake. The excellent organist in this, and throughout the CD, is William Whitehead.

The line-up of solo singers is impressive, with Gillian Webster, Jeremy Ovenden, Peter Harvey and Ashley Riches being responsible for most of the solo arias. Of especial interest (perhaps) to FCM readers will be the inclusion of Laurence Kilsby in the cast list. He was a member of the Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum, and won the BBC’s Young Chorister of the Year award in 2009, and sings several of the arias with great assurance and musicianship.

The CDs are very well presented in a book, which contains the libretto, and highly readable and scholarly notes by Ruth Smith and McCreesh himself. A must-have for lovers of Handel.

Roger Judd

TAKE THE PSALM

Southwell Minster Choir

Dir: Paul Hale; Organ: Simon Hogan Elgar Give unto the Lord; Great is the Lord; Ashfield Psalm 142; Thiman O that men would praise the Lord; Howells Psalm Prelude Set 2 No. 3; Campbell Sing we merrily; Liddle Psalm 129; Wesley Ascribe unto the Lord; Fletcher Psalm Prelude; Joubert O praise God in his holiness; Ashfield Psalm 66; Whitlock Sortie; Irons Show thy servant the light of thy countenance.

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This CD, inspired by words from the psalms, is a fitting tribute to Paul Hale, who is soon to retire after serving as Rector Chori and Organist of Southwell Minster for 27 years. It includes seven anthems, three psalms sung to chants and three organ pieces. Two splendid anthems by Elgar are sung with great commitment and enthusiasm with Simon Hogan (Assistant Director of Music) playing the colourful and demanding accompaniment with admirable skill. Give unto the Lord, which opens the CD, is perhaps better known than the slightly earlier Great is the Lord, which concludes the disc; both contain wonderful melodies and uplifting energy in Elgar’s very distinctive style. The other major anthem is S S Wesley’s ever popular Ascribe unto the Lord. The choir’s enthusiasm for the anthem certainly comes across in this performance; in particular I enjoyed the fine treble line and the careful attention paid to dynamics.

Anthems by Eric Thiman, Sidney Campbell, John Joubert and Herbert Irons (a former Rector Chori) provide a nicely balanced programme of shorter anthems and I especially liked the exuberance displayed in Joubert’s O Praise God in his holiness. Fine chants by Robert Ashfield and Robert Liddle (former Rector Chori) provide us with an opportunity of hearing the choir sing Anglican chant to good effect. Finally, three appropriate organ pieces complete the programme, two played by Simon Hogan and one by David Quinn (Organ Scholar). I enjoyed all three performances with Whitlock’s joyful Sortie allowing us to hear the Southwell organ in its full glory. Thanks go to Paul Hale for providing us with such an inventive programme; and I am sure you will join me in wishing him a happy ‘semi-retirement’.

Paul Morgan

MORE ARCHIVE RECORDINGS

Magdalen College Choir 1960-76

Dir: Bernard Rose

Choral Evensong 21 December 1960; 4 June 1969; 28 May 1969; Byrd M&N The Great Service (with the choir of New College Oxford); Dutch choir tour August 1976.

OXRECS DIGITAL OXCD-130 TT 78:36

What a fascinating document this is! Bernard Rose was a distinguished academic, but also a fine choir trainer, and this compilation of recordings from his time at Magdalen College (1957-81) bears eloquent testimony to that fact.

Technically, some of the recordings are not brilliant by present-day standards, but the quality of the singing is always evident. Especially noteworthy is the sound of his boys –open, expressive and musical. In 1976 the Magdalen College choir went on tour in Holland, and the final five tracks were recorded in Amsterdam. The combination of a much larger acoustic and the vibrant sound of the boys makes these tracks especially memorable – none more affecting than Stanford’s The Blue Bird

Other tracks on this CD are taken from BBC Evensong broadcasts, and include the canticles that Geoffrey Bush wrote for the college and dedicated to Rose, and, of course his own responses – so now we know how they should go! The final versicle, O Lord, make clean our hearts … has an intonation different (by one note!) from the one printed. Was that ‘Magdalen use’, or a slip on the part of the cantor? Of great interest is a performance of the evening canticles from Byrd’s ‘Great’ Service given jointly by Magdalen and New College choirs in 1963. The original broadcast by the BBC also included the morning canticles, sadly not on the CD.

As I said at the outset, this is a fascinating disc, and invaluable to anyone following the changing sounds of choirs.

Roger Judd

THE ARMOUR OF LIGHT

Choral Music by Gary Davison

Wells Cathedral Choir

Dir: Matthew Owens

Organ: Jonathan Vaughn

My song shall be alway; Zion, at thy shining gates; The armour of light; Easter; Banffshire Mass; The Wells Service; Trumpet rondo on ‘Laudes Domini’; Sing, my soul, his wondrous love; O Lord, support us; Never weather-beaten sail; The Santa Fe Canticles; The Lord is my light; Palace Garden Canticles; Glory to thee, my God, this night.

REGENT REGCD452 TT: 76:30

Gary Davison (b.1961) runs the music programme at St Francis Episcopal Church in Potomac, Maryland. He studied composition and the organ at Boston University. His relationship with Wells Cathedral began in 2006 when he visited the UK on sabbatical leave, and found a kindred spirit in Matthew Owens.

His music is immediately appealing, inventive and imaginative. On the showing of this CD there is evidence of considerable variety in his compositional style, which enhances the listening experience. It is always a risky business using a text that has already been set by an ‘established’ composer. Rise, heart; thy Lord is risen is one such, and Davison writes for treble voices and organ, with the added colour of a solo viola – really rather beautiful, and he dedicates it as a homage to RVW. Davison also shows himself to be a practical composer in his Banffshire Mass; a setting that is succinct almost to the point of being brief!

There isn’t space to comment on each item, but suffice it to say that a composer couldn’t wish for more committed performances of their music than Davison receives here from the girls and lay clerks of Wells Cathedral directed by Matthew Owens. Jonathan Vaughn is the excellent and sympathetic accompanist. All this and Gary Coles’ fine recording – a CD well worth investigation.

Roger Judd

ANGELIC VOICES

Roden Boys’ Choir

Martini Boys’ Choir

Sneek Kampen Boys’ Choir

Roden Handel Chorus

The Gentlemen of the Roden Boys’ Choir / The Gents

BOYSSOUNDS RECORDS 2 CDS TT 151:45

www.koorprojecten.nl

The North Netherlands Choir School is based in Roden, a small village in the north of the Netherlands. It is also the working heart of the Roden Boys Choir, founded by the choral conductor and organist Bouwe Dijkstra in 1985. Dijkstra also founded the Martini Boys Choir Sneek in 1995 and the Kampen Boys Choir in 2000. His main goal was to create a boys’ choir singing a wide range of English church music based on the English cathedral model. Each choir has at least 18 trebles, 4 countertenors, 4 tenors and 4 basses.

The year 2015 marked a particular anniversary for each choir, and to mark this a special double CD was launched. It features the wide range of English music for Angelic Voices from Psalm 84 in a setting by C H H Parry to O be joyful in the Lord by R. Vaughan Williams. For a British audience these pieces might be well known, but the CD gets more interesting for some less known music: The Lord’s prayer by Dutch organist and composer Euwe de Jong, and Lo! He comes with clouds descending in an arrangement by Hugo Berkhout. The English choral tradition is getting more and more popular in The Netherlands. In many places choral Evensongs are sung and a lot of Dutch choirs fill the gaps in cathedrals in the UK during the holiday season. For anyone keen to help support this priceless heritage, even in The Netherlands, this CD is highly recommended. Enjoy the “merry sound” of the Angelic Voices

Albert Buter

The 61st Festival of Church Music within the Liturgy at the Priory Church of St Mary Edington (near Westbury in Wiltshire)

Information from John d’Arcy, The Old Vicarage, Edington, Westbury Wiltshire BA13 4QF Tel: 01380 830512

www.edingtonfestival.org

SUPPORTING A LIVING HERITAGE

It’s a common myth that only the rich and famous leave money to charity when they die. The reality is that without gifts left in wills by people ‘like you and me’, many of the charities we know and support today wouldn’t be able to exist. Thankfully, 74% of the UK population support charities, and a good number say they’d happily leave a gift in their will once family and friends have been provided for.

The problem is that ‘the way to hell is paved with good intentions’, and most people do not leave any money to charity in their wills. Are you one of these? And if so, did you know that a reduced rate of inheritance tax (IHT), 36% instead of 40%, is applied to estates leaving 10% or more of their total to charity? This means, in essence, that on an estate worth, for example, £500,000, instead of paying IHT of £70,000, the tax would be £56,700. 10% of the estate – once the nil band of tax is removed – would be £17,500, which you could leave to the charity or charities of your choice, and the reduction in funds payable to family and friends would be only £4200.

If you consider that most charities would not survive without legacies, that a reduced rate of IHT will apply to your estate if you give 10% of it to charity, and that you are ensuring the vital work of your chosen charity can continue, it makes very good sense to donate 10% to charity in your will. The icing on the cake is that the taxman gets a lot less of your hard-earned cash than would be the case if you were to leave a smaller percentage.

If you have already made a will, as many if not most of us have, it’s still quite easy to change or add to it by writing a codicil. Sometimes it’s simpler to make a new will, and you’d do well to speak to a solicitor, but the benefits to whatever charity you choose to support (which clearly we hope will be FCM) will be worth the extra effort this requires.

Example:

including nil rate band

receive only £4200 less

SUGGESTED WORDING FOR YOUR WILL

A Pecuniary Gift

I give the sum of £ _____________ (in figures and words) to the Friends of Cathedral Music (FCM) (registered charity No. 285121). I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer of FCM shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors.

A Residuary Gift

I give the whole (or a _____% share) of the residue of my estate to the Friends of Cathedral Music (registered charity No. 285121). I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer of FCM shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors.

Please remember Friends of Cathedral Music in your will and help us to secure our priceless heritage for future generations

CHRIS T CHURCH CATHEDRAL CHOIR NEWCASTLE, NEW SOUTH WALES

Following tours by Australian choirs in the last few years, including St Peter’s Cathedral, Adelaide, All Saints’ Cathedral, Bathurst, Christchurch St Lawrence, Sydney and, only this April, St James’s Church, Sydney, the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle (NSW), led by Organist and Master of the Choristers (and FCM Member), Peter Guy, will be the latest Australian choir to undertake a tour in England during the last two weeks of July. The choir’s programme is as follows:

18-21 July Evensong at Southwark Cathedral

22 July lunchtime concert at Beaulieu Abbey

22 July evening concert at Holy Trinity, Bosham

23 July Evensong at Southwark Cathedral

24 July Eucharist and Evensong at Southwark Cathedral

25-26 July Evensong at Norwich Cathedral

27 July lunchtime concert Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge

28-30 July Evensong at Norwich Cathedral

31 July Eucharist and Evensong at Norwich Cathedral

Peter Guy was Director of Music at St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney and the first Director of Chapel Music at St Andrew’s College in the University of Sydney before taking up his current position. He recently acted as Organist for the RSCM Summer School in Canberra which was directed by Catherine Dienes Williams from Guildford Cathedral. Further details of the musicians and choirs at Newcastle Cathedral can be found on the website (www.newcastlecathedral.org. au/music). Peter and his choir members hope to meet many FCM members at the services and concerts during their tour. If you are nearby, please go and support them.

ERIC THIMAN

David Dewar, postgraduate researcher at Bristol University’s music dept, writes:

I am looking at Eric Thiman’s life in the period 1919 – 1939, a time when he was perhaps most susceptible to outside influences and when he was forging his place in the musical community in this country. Data required includes:

• his personal circumstances in the period

• his compositional intent

• his teaching

• any collaborations and connections with other composers of the period

• his performance activities (when, where, what, who with, etc)

• reactions to any of his work

• whether any major steps (campaigns, etc.) were taken by him or his publishers to popularise his work, and how effective they were

• any further information which readers might think useful.

I hope, too, to make a survey of extant works by Thiman remaining in repertoire in cathedrals and elsewhere.

Please email david.dewar@bristol.ac.uk

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‘

recordings of choral and organ music from some of the world’s finest musical institutions...’ Sydney Organ Journal

EASTER DAY AT HEREFORD

The Choir of Hereford Cathedral directed by Geraint Bowen, Peter Dyke (organ)

A fine representation of the music for the three main services of Easter Day For Matins there is music by Stanford (Te Deum and Jubilate in C and ‘Ye choirs of New Jerusalem’); Eucharist has music by Byrd and Tavener, together with Langlais’ massive ‘Messe solennelle’; Evensong features Herbert Howells’ St Paul’s Service, and concludes with SS Wesley’s ‘Blessed be the God and Father’, written while the composer was organist of Hereford Cathedral

A YEAR AT TEWKESBURY

Tewkesbur y Abbey Schola Cantorum directed by Simon Bell, Carleton Etherington and Edward Turner (organ)

This disc traces a musical year at the Abbey with music from Tallis and Weelkes, through Bruckner, Bairstow and Stanford to works by David Bednall, Matthew Martin and Grayston Ives which were commissioned by the choir

FOR THE IRON VOICE: 21st Centur y Organ Music

Paul Walton plays the organ of Bridlington Prior y A bravura performance of organ music all written since 2000, the majority being first recordings Music by Pickard, Gibbs, Winters, Kingman, Fisher, Wilby and Briggs

BRAHMS AND SCHOENBERG

Tom Bell (organ)

Tom Bell performs Brahms’s complete works for Organ and Variations on a Recitative by Schoenberg on the renowned 1869 Schulze organ in St Bartholomew’s Church Armley

ALL ANGELS CRY ALOUD: Liturgical choral works of John Hosking

The Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir, directed by Sarah MacDonald, Timothy Parsons and Alexander Berr y (organ)

John Hosking is Assistant Organist of St Asaph Cathedral and much in demand as a recitalist and accompanist with three Regent solo discs to his name He is increasingly active as a composer, with numerous commissions in recent years This is melodious and memorable music, with organ accompaniments bearing the hallmarks of his improvisatory style

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