Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Sacred Choral Works
Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh
Matthew Owens
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis* Three Organ Voluntaries
O magnum mysterium
*World premiere recording
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (b.1934) Sacred Choral Works
Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh Matthew Owens
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis
‘The Edinburgh Service’ World premiere recording
1 Magnificat [14:14]
Rosha Fitzhowle treble
2 Nunc Dimittis [8:27]
Rosha Fitzhowle treble; Andrew Stones alto; Ashley Turnell tenor; Ben Carter bass
Three Organ Voluntaries
3 Psalm 124 (after David Peebles) [3:27]
4 O God Abufe (after John Fethy) [2:14]
5 All Sons of Adam (after an anon. sixteenth-century motet) [2:34]
O magnum mysterium
6 Carol: O magnum mysterium
Peter Innes treble [1:47]
7 Carol: Haylle, comly and clene [1:24]
8 Sonata I: Puer Natus [5:11]
9 Carol: O magnum mysterium [2:04]
10 Carol: Alleluia, pro Virgine Maria [2:31]
11 Sonata II: Lux fulgebit [7:34]
12 Carol: The fader of Heven [2:16]
13 Carol: O magnum mysterium [2:12]
14 Organ Fantasia on ‘O magnum mysterium’ [15:24]
Total Playing Time: [71:22]
Michael Bonaventure solo organ (tracks 3-5, 14)
Simon Nieminski organ accompaniment (tracks 1 & 2)
RSAMD Ensemble (tracks 10 & 12)
Producer: Paul Baxter
Engineer: Adam Binks
24-Bit digital editing: Adam Binks
24-Bit digital mastering: Paul Baxter
Design: Margareta Jönsson
Photography: Gary Baker (www.gbphotography.com)
Cover image: Madonna of the Veil, Noel White
Publishers: Schott
(Three Organ Voluntaries, Chester Music)
Organ Scholar: Ruaraidh Sutherland
Console Assistant: Thomas Spencer
With thanks to The University of Edinburgh and the Capital Commissions Scheme of St Mary’s Cathedral.
Perhaps great religion has this in common with great art: it is not there primarily to offer comfort, but, pace King Lear, to make manifest ‘the mystery of things’.
Peter Maxwell Davies, Royal Philharmonic Society Lecture, April 2005Could this insight come from the same mind as the operatic vision of a stuffed dummy which is transformed into the Antichrist? Only through a volte-face or renunciation, you might think. Yet the overtly religious music on this disc and the angry, anti-clerical, anti-establishment succes de scandale that is Resurrection1 sprang from the same creative mind, and it is entirely characteristic of the music and ideas of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies that such passionate convictions do not preclude thoughtful and complex attitudes.
Max – as he is known – is no conventional believer, but at the same time is too sensitive to the universal and unifying potential of Christian thought, architecture, iconography and (of course) music not to contribute to the riches that its tradition continues to offer; these three groups of works show how he has done that over the course of 40 years and more.
1 Resurrection, an opera in one act with a prologue was composed by Maxwell Davies between 1986 and 1987.
In 1959 Max returned to England following eighteen months of study with the Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi in Rome. His grant was up and he needed a job. Cirencester Grammar School was looking to recruit a music teacher and they engaged the 25-year-old composer, undoubtedly without realising what they had let themselves in for. Max felt that a rich musical education could not be had through the individual disciplines of listening, analysing, or even simply playing, but through a broader context of musicmaking. Ensembles and orchestras flourished within the school and the children were given a grounding in musical grammar and syntax to facilitate the formulation of their ideas just as they might in an English lesson.
It is difficult to appreciate what a radical policy this was, given that ‘outreach’ and ‘self-expression’ are words that are regularly heard in today’s educational environment. The three years that Max spent at Cirencester had far-reaching and positive consequences for the teaching of music, not just in the UK but across Europe; the acclaimed ‘Zukunft’ project spearheaded by Sir Simon Rattle and Richard McNicol in Berlin –where schoolchildren have been taught to enjoy, study and dance to The Rite of Spring –is one of the brightest flowers to bloom from the rootstock that Max set down in Cirencester.
O magnum mysterium evolved as a vehicle to challenge and enhance the growing musical expertise and confidence of his pupils and received its first performance during Max’s second Christmas in Cirencester, in 1960. Its theme is the awe and wonder mingled, with terror, that the Christmas story tells and inspires. Its musical germ is heard in the interval of a semitone followed by a tone that opens the ancient plainsong text of the title. This exposition precedes a medieval-style sequence of carols and instrumental interludes, each of which adds another layer of meaning to both the musical and the textual narrative. Haylle, comly and clene focuses on the humanity in the Christ child; the voices hocket back and forth conveying much merriment, with frequent changes of time signature imitating the rhythmic variety and irregular accents of a medieval carol.
What sounds like chromatic colouring in the carols is actually the dialectic between serialism and plainsong-influenced modal melody that has become the most distinctive and enduring feature of Max’s musical language. The instrumental sonatas, on the other hand, more evidently owe their economical counterpoint to the example of Webern. Far more influential in death than he had been in life, Webern was a musical father figure to the Italian serialists from whom Max had learned (not just Petrassi but also Luigi
Nono, in works such as Polifonica – monodia –ritmica of 1951, and others). Europe’s new generation of composers saw in Webern’s music a means of imparting the intensity of expression that they desired whilst leaving behind the Romantic musical language that had become unfashionable amongst them. The Puer Natus sonata parses the O magnum mysterium melody through refraction and fragmentation, suggesting a limitless reach to the power of the melody and, by extension, to that of the Nativity. Lux fulgebit reflects that power in a series of accumulating crescendos. The six percussion players are instructed to improvise within the time-frame of each crescendo, generating a fresh intensity with each performance.
There is a marked change in style in the move from the lively and approachable carols to the slower progress of the Fantasia which crowns the sequence. Max’s sleeve notes for the first recording of O magnum mysterium describe the carols and the sonatas as a ‘huge upbeat’ to the point where children (the choir) cede to an adult (the organist) in a more sophisticated exploration of the Christmas mystery. For all its Schoenbergian density of harmony, the Fantasia can be listened to with a Lisztian, nineteenth-century understanding of the genre: each section increases in speed and virtuosity and introduces ever more allusive digressions from its basic, plainsong subject matter.
The semitone and tone intervals of the opening have augmented to sevenths and ninths, but the leaps are key to the character of the recurrent theme; movement of energy from heaven to earth and back again.
As a teenager Max absorbed the plainsong material that was to influence his later ideas from volume after volume of then rarely-heard scores in Manchester’s Henry Watson Library. His music then concurred with the spirit of the age in bypassing the two hundred years of Western music commonly referred to as ‘classical music’ in turn seeking inspiration from the work of earlier composers. In 1974, newly preoccupied with things Scottish in the wake of his famous move to the Orkneys, he was inspired by Kenneth Elliott’s collection of Early Scottish Music, 1500-1750 to compose three organ voluntaries. None is virtuosic, and all retain the restrained counterpoint of their models while making full use of the potential weight of the instrument.
The first voluntary is based on a four-part setting of Psalm 124 (Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth) by David Peebles (c.1530-1579), a canon of the Augustinian Priory of St Andrews. Max translates this into a steady and tightly wrought two-part canon over which flutes dance around concordance, embroidering the plain plaid of the lower parts. No. 2 is named
O God Abufe after a partsong by another Scottish priest composer from the same era, Sir John Fethy. The partsong inspires a different kind of rhythmical game, with a ground bass and an ostinato middle part over which an unhurried melody of ‘regal’ character unfolds. The third voluntary may sound more complex, but it is derived from two ascending lines which intertwine like an early-Renaissance canon – and indeed it is entitled All Sons of Adam after an anonymous sixteenthcentury motet.
Max continued to write music on religious themes throughout the eighties and nineties, but it was not until the end of the nineties that, for various reasons, he started in earnest to compose religious music – that is, for use within liturgy. While it is hard to imagine Max writing a Mass for church performance in the 1960s, it is equally difficult to imagine anyone commissioning him to do so. Times have changed, however. As Max has become an unofficial elder statesman among British composers, and more recently Master of the Queen’s Music, his music has struck a productive truce with the established church against which it used to rail so vehemently. The Edinburgh Service demonstrates that Max, like Vaughan Williams before him, does not have to be a conventional Christian to make a lasting contribution to the riches of the Anglican musical heritage.
These are the first canticles Max has written for Anglican Evensong. They were commissioned by Matthew Owens and the Choir of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh – who are also the dedicatees – under the auspices of the Cathedral’s Capital Commissions Scheme.2 It is striking to note how Max satisfies the conventions of the genre while remaining true to his own lights; this is commonly observed throughout Max’s output. There are neither attention-grabbing subventions nor any impossible demands; rather – as in the finest canticle settings – Max has responded directly to their poetry. This is not to say that there are no striking inspirations. After the strong, rolling 3/4 opening of the Magnificat, the organ creates a breathtaking effect, like angels walking on tiptoes, with a series of chords marked staccato, luminoso, beneath ‘For he hath regarded’.
The preponderance of Andante tempo markings and the frequent opportunities taken to dwell on the more meditative aspects of the text reveal Max to be more interested in the peace of Mary’s divine vision than in its justice-dealing parts. The hushed awe of ‘For He that is mighty’ shows that even now there remains room for a fresh and engaging response to this most time-honoured of sacred texts, and there
is a characteristic lack of thunder to both settings of the ‘Gloria’, which after brief flares withdraw into extended, quiet contemplation, eventually settling on resolution.
The Nunc Dimittis opens in the major key that was found so tentatively at the end of the ‘Gloria’ of the Magnificat, and brings some of the most openly ravishing music for choir that Max has written hitherto. A long organ solo, in the rising and falling arch that shapes much of the work, dwells on the Scotch snap rhythm, and introduces another happy marriage of convention and innovation. A bass solo plays the part of Simeon longing for rest, and as he glimpses the salvation promised to him, the choral texture opens out into eight parts, with a solo on each line, to create a striking evocation of heavenly peace, before a brighter and louder vision of light and glory sweep it away. In the same lecture quoted at the head of this note, Max discussed ‘the increasing distance between composer, performer and audience’, but a salutary common denominator between the two choral works on this disc is the sureness of touch with which they narrow that gap.
©2006 Peter Quantrill
Peter Quantrill is a freelance music journalist with special interests in Bach, historic performers and new music. He is a frequent contributor to The Gramophone, Choir and Organ and www.maxopus.com.
Photographs taken during the composer’s visit to the Cathedral during the 2004 Edinburgh Festival, when the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis were first broadcast.
1
MagnificatMy soul doth magnify the Lord: and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded: the lowliness of his hand-maiden.
For behold, from henceforth: all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me: and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him: throughout all generations.
He hath shewed strength with his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel: as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end.
Amen
St Luke Ch 1 vv 46-55
2 Nunc DimittisLord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen: thy salvation. Which thou hast prepared: before the face of all people.
To be a light to lighten the gentiles: and to be the glory of thy people Israel. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen
St Luke Ch 2 vv 29-32
6,9 &13
O magnum mysterium
O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum,ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, jacentem in praesepio.
7 Haylle, comly and clene
Haylle, comly and clene: haylle, yong child!
Haylle maker, as I meyne of a madyn so mylde.
Thou was waryd, I weyne, the warlo so wylde, The fals gyler of teyn, now goys he begylde.
Lo! he merys!
Lo! he laghys, my swetyng. A welfare metyng, I have holden my hetyng, Have a bob of cherys.
Haylle, sufferan savyoure, for thou hast us soght: Haylle, freely foyde and floure, that alle thyng has wroght.
Haylle, fulle of favoure, that made alle of noght!
Haylle! I kneylle and I cowre. A byrd have I broght to my barne.
Haylle! lyttylle tyne mop. Of oure crede thou art crop: I wold drynk on thy cop, lyttylle daystarne.
Oh, great mystery, and marvellous sacrament, that the beasts should have seen our Lord lying in a manger!
Hail, comely and pure; hail, young child!
Hail, creator, as I believe, of a maiden so mild!
Thou hast, I believe, warded off the fiend so wild; The false worker of evil, now he is defeated.
Lo, he is merry!
Lo, he laughs, my sweetheart, A welcome meeting!
I have given my greeting. Have a bunch of cherries?
Hail, sovereign saviour, for thou hast sought us! All hail, leaf and flower, who has created all things!
Hail, full of grace, who createdst everything out of nothing!
Hail! I kneel and I cower. A bird have I brought To my bairn!
Hail, little tiny pate, Of our creed thou art the crop! I would drink of thy cup! Little day-star.
Haylle, derlyng dere, fulle of godhede, I pray the be nere when I have nede.
Haylle! swete is thy chere: my hart would blede
To se the sytt here in so poore wede With no pennys.
Haylle! put furthe thy dalle, I bryng the bot a balle: Have and play the with alle. And go to the tenys.
Hail, darling dear, full of divinity!
I pray thee, be near when I have need.
Hail! Sweet is thy air: my heart would bleed
To see thee sit here in such poor clothes, With no pennies.
Hail! put forth thy hand! I bring thee only a ball. Take it and play with it, And have a game of tennis.
12 The Fader of Heven Alleluia, alleluia, pro virgine Maria, Diva natalicia Nostra purgat vicia, Nedemur supplicia. Nato sacrificia Reges dant triplicia, Herodis post convicia
Mortis vincla trucia Solvit die tercia, Resurgentis potencia.
Alleluia, alleluia for the Virgin Mary.
The holy birth purges our sins Lest we be given to torment.
The kings give triple offerings to the babe After the reproaches of Herod.
On the third day the power of the risen Christ Loosed the grim bonds of death.
10 Alleluia, pro Virgine Maria
The fader of heven, God omnypotent, That sett alle on seven, his son has he sent: My name couthe he neven, and lyght or he went.
The Father of Heaven, God omnipotent, Who set all things in order, His son has He sent. My name he could tell, and he laughed as if he knew all about it.
I conceyvd hym full even thrugh myght as he ment.
And now he is borne.
He kepe you fro wo: I shalle pray him so; Telle furth as ye go, And myn on this morne.
I conceived him, through God’s power, just as He intended, And he is just new-born.
May he keep you from woe: I shall pray him so; Make his birth known, And remember this morning.
Translations by Leslie Sherwood
The Choir of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh
Treble
Keiran Baker
Sophie Boyd
Andrew Bull
Katherine Carr
Alexander Fitzhowle
Rosha Fitzhowle (Head Chorister, Cantoris)
James Hardie
Calum Heath
Peter Innes (Head Chorister, Decani)
Adam Lagha
Aonghas Maxwell
Alexander McCleery
Gordon Robertson
Ben Robinson
Caitlin Spencer
Jennifer Sterling (Deputy Head Chorister)
Alto
Robert Colquhoun
Simon Rendell
Daniel Saleeb
Andrew Stones
Wayne Weaver Tenor
Alex Cadden
Martin Hurst
Ashley Turnell
Bass
Ben Carter
Colin Heggie
Daniel Ross
Peter Smith
Jamieson Sutherland
The Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, is regarded as one of the UK’s finest cathedral choirs. It is unique in Scotland in maintaining a daily choral tradition and singing over 250 services every year. The choristers are educated at St Mary’s Music School, which acts as the choir school for the cathedral, again unique in Scotland. St Mary’s Cathedral became the first in the UK to offer girls scholarships to sing with the boys as trebles in 1978. The lay clerks of the choir consist of undergraduate choral scholars reading a diverse range of subjects at The University of Edinburgh, alongside more experienced singers.
The choir broadcasts frequently on BBC Radios 3 & 4, and on television, and has a made a number of highly acclaimed recordings on the Blackbox, Delphian, Herald and Lammas labels. It has a busy schedule of concerts and has worked recently with
the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the BT Scottish Ensemble, The Royal College of Music and the Dunedin Consort. The choir tours extensively; in recent years it has been to Hungary, Norway and Ireland. It also plays a major part in the Edinburgh Festival.
An innovation in 2005 has again placed Edinburghat the forefront of sacred choral music with the commencement of The Bach Cantata Project under the presidency of Sir John Eliot Gardiner: a Bach Cantata is performedon the first Sunday of every month – incorporated within and forming a devotional part of the liturgy. This often involves the Orchestra of St Mary’s Music School which frequently performs other major works within services such as Viennese masses and Fauré’s Requiem each Remembrance Sunday. Many leading composers have written for the choir. Under Matthew Owens it premiered works by Richard Allain, Gavin Bryars, Dave Heath, Francis Jackson, Gabriel Jackson, James MacMillan, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Arvo Pärt, Howard Skempton, Philip Wilby and Hungarian composer János Vajda, among others.
The Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral
