Reviews

December 2011

CHORAL MUSIC FOR CHRISTMAS

***
CHRISTMAS FROM WINCHESTER
Winchester Cathedral Choirs/Simon Bell (organ)/Andrew Lumsden · Regent REGCD350
This compilation includes two recent compositions of distinction: Bob Chilcott’s delightful The Shepherd’s Carol and Morten Lauridsen’s atmospheric O magnum mysterium, in addition to such traditional favourites as the Sussex Carol, The holly and the ivy, God rest ye merry, Gentlemen, The angel Gabriel, Ding dong! merrily on high, O come, all ye faithful and more. The disc features both the boys’ and the girls’ choirs, as well as the men. The boys and girls generally sing separately, but join together for two of the ‘congregational’ carols and for the central work in the programme: Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. Their excellent voices blend effectively in an expressive performance. Two organ pieces provide further variety: a gentle and melodious Christmas Cradle Song by Hollins and Garth Edmundson’s mighty Toccata-Prelude on ‘Vom Himmel Hoch’, played with panache by Simon Bell. This disc will appeal principally to listeners looking for a recording of some favourite carols, but the inclusion of other works will also make it attractive to a more specialist audience.

**
A SPOTLESS ROSE
Crypt Choir of the King’s School, Canterbury/John Robinson/Howard Ionascu
Herald HAVPCD 353
The programme, very well sung by the young mixed voices of the Crypt Choir of The King’s School, Canterbury, ranges from Willcocks’s arrangement of Angelus ad Virginem to Allwood’s version of Jingle Bells, via Victoria (O magnum mysterium), Stanford (Magnificat in A), Ord (Adam lay ybounden), Darke (In the bleak mid-winter), Richard Rodney Bennett (I saw three ships) and Judith Weir (Illuminare Jerusalem). Some lesser-known pieces, including Jonathan Willcocks’s A spotless rose, Simon Whalley’s There is no rose and Sandstrom’s arrangement of Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, add further interest to the nicely balanced choice of pieces.

*
CAROLS FROM CAMBRIDGE
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge/Timothy Brown · Regis RRC1347
This is a re-release which may have been issued to mark conductor Timothy Brown’s retirement. No information is given as to when the recordings were made, but the inclusion of a lyrical, highly polished ‘school of Rutter’ setting of How far is it to Bethlehem by Nicholas White (organ scholar 1986–9) may provide a clue. The programme is a mixture of traditional ‘congregational’ carols, familiar choral pieces by such as Howells, Holst, Darke, Leighton and Rutter, and some interesting, probably less well known items by Elizabeth Maconchy, Philip Radcliffe, Paul Drayton and Andrew Carter. The singing is of a very high standard and distinctive in style, though some may find it mannered.

*
TRADITIONAL & MODERN CAROLS
Choir of New College Oxford/Edward Higginbottom · Regis RRC1330
Like the Clare College disc from Regis, this is a re-release of recordings for which no date is given. Both programme and performances are very enjoyable. As the title suggests, the repertoire is varied, including ‘congregational’ carols; ‘traditional’ carols (e.g. Ding dong! merrily on high, Sussex Carol, The holly and the ivy, etc.), and choral items by composers who include Byrd (O magnum mysterium), Holst (several pieces), Howells (Long, long ago and A spotless rose – erroneously attributed to ‘Trad.’), Richard Rodney Bennett (Out of your sleep, What sweeter music), Leighton (Lully, lulla thou little tiny child), Joubert (Torches, There is no rose) and Darke (In the bleak midwinter). The choir makes a fine sound with good blend and diction, clear articulation and sensitive shading.
Christopher Maxim

CONTEMPORARY ORGAN MUSIC

*
HEAVY PEDAL – WORKS FOR ORGAN
Music by Tadd Russo, Curt Cacioppo, Ron Nagorcka, Wilhelm Middelschulte, Michael Summers · played by Michael Kraft, Robert Gallagher, David Scott Hamnes, Brink Bush, Karel Martinek with Yhasman Valenzuela (clarinet), Ole Jorgen Melhus (trombone) and Ron Nagoreka (didjeridu) · Navona Records NV5853
This new CD is overwhelming, fascinating and baffling in equal measure. It features works by four living composers and also by Wilhelm Middelschulte, whose music is enjoying something of a revival thanks to the ongoing publication by Bärenreiter of his complete works. His best-known work, the grand Passacaglia, receives a fine reading by Brink Bush, who also plays Middelschulte’s virtuosic pedal solo Perpetuum Mobile on a theme of Bach with great aplomb. The less familiar music of the other composers is varyingly successful – I particularly enjoyed the opening track, Tadd Russo’s Salzburg Prelude. Ron Nagorcka’s To Be A Pilgrim for trombone, organ and didjeridu is certainly ear-catching, but some of the other offerings are musically a little unfocused.
Unfocused is, ultimately, the right word for the project as a whole: five composers played by five different organists on at least five organs in Norway, Czech Republic and the USA leads to a programme with too much variation in style and recorded sound and no continuity for the listener to grasp. There is a fun, interactive booklet on the disc (you can follow scores as you listen for example) – however to use this and listen, you are confined to the playback limitations of your computer, something of a flaw as there is no printed booklet.
Huw Morgan

20TH-CENTURY MARY

**
MUSIC FOR OUR LADY
Choirs of St Mary’s Collegiate Church, Warwick/Fine Arts Brass,/Ruaraidh Sutherland (organ)/Thomas Corns · REGENT REGCD345
This is a very creditable CD from St Mary, Warwick, described as a ‘survey of music from the twentieth century [which] tells of an ongoing Marian devotion within the church’. Górecki’s Totus Tuus, with its arresting opening sung by the combined choirs of boys, girls and men, makes for an excellent first track. Not surprisingly perhaps this survey includes Marian hits such as Hadley’s I sing of a maiden and Duruflé’s Tota pulchra es, Maria (both exquisitely sung by the girls), Biebl’s Ave Maria which is a firm men’s voices favourite, and Britten’s Hymn to the Virgin. But this sweep of modern Marian offerings reaches parts that other surveys do not; Judith Bingham’s colourful Ancient Sunlight for solo organ will, I suspect, be challenging for some. With Missa Salve Regina by Jean Langlais, redolent of film score music depicting Henry V at Agincourt, and accompanied by Fine Arts Brass, this CD is most enjoyable. 
Stuart Robinson

WE RECOMMEND .  .  .
***
THE HEAVEN IN ORDINARIE
Choral and Organ Music by Philip Wilby · The Exon Singers/Jeffrey Makinson (organ)/Matthew Owens · Regent REGCD338
If you enjoy hearing the Exon Singers’ vespers service broadcast each summer from Buckfast Abbey, you will not be disappointed with this CD. Philip Wilby’s music is placed within the context of the Anglican evening service, with canticles written for St Paul’s Cathedral, responses, a psalm setting and anthems. That apart, four other anthems are included, two of them for weddings, and two organ voluntaries including a Recessional on the hymn tune Michael of Herbert Howells, who encouraged Wilby to take up composition. Thank God that he did, because Wilby knows how to fill large stone spaces with splashes of sonic colour from singers and organ alike. Both the tender and the exciting are here, expertly performed and well recorded in Wells Cathedral. This is a wonderful celebration from an excellent choir, recorded (unlike their annual summer fixture) in deepest winter! 
Stuart Robinson

September 2011

PURCELL AND BRITTEN
***
O SING UNTO THE LORD: SACRED MUSIC OF HENRY PURCELL
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys/Concert Royal/John Scott • St Thomas Recordings, www.SaintThomasChurch.org
Under John Scott’s expert direction, the choir of St Thomas, Fifth Avenue, NY sounds like a cathedral choir of the highest rank. The polish, discipline, diction and ensemble are superb – and so too is the music: sublime Purcell. The pieces include O sing unto the Lord; Remember not, Lord; Jehova quam multi sunt hostes; O God, thou art my God; I was glad; Hear my prayer, O Lord and the Te Deum in D. The other items are the Morning Hymn and Evening Hymn, and the Voluntary in G played by John Scott himself. These refined performances are a joy.

**
BENJAMIN BRITTEN: CHORAL AND ORGAN MUSIC
Truro Cathedral Choir/Luke Bond (organ)/Christopher Gray • Regent REGCD349
There is an excellent choice of pieces, including some of Britten’s ‘greatest hits’: Te Deum in C; Jubilate in E flat; Corpus Christi Carol; The sycamore tree; A hymn to the Virgin; Hymn to St Cecilia; Prelude and Fugue on a theme of Vittoria; Missa Brevis; Antiphon; Rejoice in the Lamb; and Advance democracy. The choir sings with warmth and brings an expressive sweetness to music that, if not performed well, can sound rather detached (especially true in the Te Deum in C). The second movement of the Hymn to St Cecilia (‘I cannot grow’) is executed with soufflé-light agility. The soloists are to be commended in Rejoice in the Lamb, likewise Luke Bond’s able accompaniment. It is good to hear him and the glorious organ of Truro Cathedral in a musically cogent performance of the Prelude and Fugue on a theme of Vittoria. This disc is a ‘must’ for fans of Britten’s music.
Christopher Maxim

LEIGHTON AND MACMILLAN

***
INVOCATION: CHORAL MUSIC BY KENNETH LEIGHTON AND JAMES MACMILLAN
Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir/David Saint (organ)/Paul Spicer • Regent REGCD348
In short, this is an excellent CD, with outstanding singing and direction. Leighton’s setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins’s God’s grandeur opens a sequence interspersing works from Scottish teacher and Scottish pupil. Leighton is also represented by his Missa Sancti Thomae which possesses all the hallmarks of his distinctive style. The main work from James MacMillan is Cantos Sagrados, a powerful and intense work reflecting his interest in liberation theology. There may be those who find some of this work tough to listen to, but there is no denying the skill and hard work that has gone into the recording of all the pieces with outstanding, sonorous singing, vocal control (the sopranos soaring to a top A for eleven bars in MacMillan’s Song of the Lamb) and a finely honed balance in the choir.
Stuart Robinson

MCDOWALL AND PANUFNIK

**
CECILIA MCDOWALL: LAUDATE, RADNOOR SONGS, CANTERBURY MASS, FIVE SEASONS
City of Canterbury Chamber Choir/Orchestra Nova/Rachel Allen (soprano)/Katherine Allen (mezzo-soprano)/George Vass • Dutton Epoch CDLX7230
**
SPIRIT OF THE SAINTS: THE MUSIC OF ROXANNA PANUFNIK
London Oratory School Schola/David Terry (organ)/Lee Ward • Regent REGCD293
These CDs offer a generous overview of the recent scores of McDowall and of pieces written over a longer period by Panufnik. Although the largest pieces on the McDowall CD are secular, included are her Canterbury Mass, an anthem and a carol. The performers emphasize the lyricism in the music of this composer who is now receiving considerable critical and popular acclaim. Roxanna Panufnik’s music, better known among church musicians since her 1998 Westminster Mass, is presented here slightly oddly with each movement of the Westminster Mass interspersed with other pieces including four pieces from a set of carols – also separated from each other! The performances by singers from the London Oratory School are splendid.
Judith Markwith

NORTHAMPTON COMMISSIONS

**
OMNES SANCTI: NEW MUSIC FROM NORTHAMPTON
The choirs of All Saints, Northampton/Richard Pinel (organ)/Stephen Meakins (organ)/Lee Dunleavy • Regent ASNCD001
It was thanks to the Revd Walter Hussey, a former vicar of St Matthew, Northampton and later Dean of Chichester, that some truly great anthems were commissioned (such as Rejoice in the Lamb and Lo, the full final sacrifice) during the forties. Six decades later it is All Saints Church in that city that has the commissioning bug. Some of the results are on this excellent CD, including a delightful Latin Mass setting written for the boys’ choir by Adrian Self, a set of evening canticles from Barry Ferguson and a setting of the Ave Maria by James MacMillan. Malcolm Archer’s Missa Omnes Sancti, redolent of French double-organ settings, provides a splendid grand finale. Recorded in the more spacious and quieter St Mary, Wellingborough, and sung by a large choir of 23 boys, 23 girls, choral scholars and lay clerks expertly directed by Lee Dunleavy, here is a very enjoyable disc with a whiff of incense about it!
Stuart Robinson

ORGAN MUSIC

WE RECOMMEND...
GRAND ORGAN PROM
Thomas Trotter plays the organ of the Royal Albert Hall, London • Regent REGCD322
This is an extraordinarily fine disc of transcriptions and original organ music. The artistry of Thomas Trotter is characterized by fluency in even the most finger-knotting passages. The Albert Hall organ sounds stupendous, with a vast array of colours from the delicate to the powerful – and what power!
The music ranges from gently melodious to swaggeringly grand and includes three arrangements by W. T. Best, plus an original Introduction, Variations and Finale on ‘God save the Queen’ that ends with a rather fine fugue. Morandi’s Bell Rondo is a jolly bit of fluff that calls for drums and bells. Many readers will have played War March of the Priests, but few of us will have had such dazzling reed stops at our disposal. Ireland’s The Holy Boy and his Capriccio are delightful, but the crowning glories are the William Tell and 1812 overtures. These might not be ‘organ music’ but they are astounding examples of what phenomenal music can be made on the organ by a great organist.

**
ORGAN DUETS
Charles Harrison and David Leigh play the organ of Lincoln Cathedral • Guild GMCD7368
This is an entertaining disc, played with panache on one of the best organs in Great Britain. It opens with Mozart’s great Fantasia K608 in a performance that achieves more by way of colour than can be managed by two hands and two feet. Two fugues by Mendelssohn are well worth hearing; and three Fantasies by Langlais are full of colour; while pieces by Thomas Tomkins and Nicholas Carleton remind us that keyboard duets date back several centuries. Shack-up and Feud by Andrew Johnstone (b. 1967) is a whacky prelude (chaconne) and fugue. If you play organ duets, I strongly recommend you try to obtain a copy of this piece: it deserves a place in the repertoire. The programme ends with a thrilling rendition of Leighton’s mighty Martyrs.
Christopher Maxim

CORRECTION
Carl Rütti’s St Peter and St Paul, described as ‘a new anthem’ in our June review of Sheffield Cathedral’s ‘Tu es Petrus’ CD, was written in 1997 for a Norwich Festival of Contemporary Church Music and first performed by the cathedral choir and David Dunnett with Neil Taylor, organ. It was subsequently recorded on Guild GMCD7238 (‘Sermon on the Mount: choral and organ works by Carl Rütti’) by Christopher Duarte and Escorial Choir with the composer playing the organ.

June 2011

WE RECOMMEND . . .

***
LISTEN
St Mary’s Cathedral Choir, Glasgow/Peter Yardley-Jones & Geoffrey Wollatt (organ)/Frikki Walker • OxRecs Digital OSCD-109
Gentle melodies abound on this recording: if you love a good tune, this is a disc for you! Composers include Malcolm Archer (two arrangements), John Bell, June Collin, Richard Lloyd, Howard Goodall and Frikki Walker himself. Bob Chilcott’s Be thou my vision is so beguiling sung by Mary Walker and accompanied on the piano with such sensitivity by Frikki Walker that you might forget that you have sung the words a million times to Slane! Wood’s O thou the central orb, Tallis’s If ye love me and Batten’s O sing joyfully are likely to be among the more familiar pieces on the disc. James MacMillan’s hauntingly beautiful A new song is well worth discovering. St Mary’s Cathedral Choir is voluntary and mixed. They sing to an impressively high standard and interpret convincingly music composed in a range of styles.
Christopher Maxim

ORGAN IMPROVISATIONS

***
FREEDOM OF SPIRIT
The passion of improvisation • David Briggs improvises on world-class organs in France, the United States and Italy • Chestnut Music CD 006
David Briggs’s imagination runs riot on this disc and, supported by his phenomenal technique, his improvisations are stunning. The first track, lasting nearly a quarter of an hour, is a set of variations on ‘Alouette, gentille Alouette’ made to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Briggs’s musical hero, Pierre Cochereau. Briggs revels in the timbres of the organ of the Église St Vincent, Roquevaire, Provence, which is partly made from Cochereau’s own house organ. Four concert improvisations follow, made in Iowa and in the style of Bach, Mendelssohn, Ravel and Briggs himself! The location of the baroque-style organ of Danville Presbyterian Church inspired an improvisation on ‘My Old Kentucky Home’, but Hommage à Jean Langlais was made in Bergamo, Italy. Three Liturgical Improvisations from the great Parisian church of St Sulpice are given additional atmosphere by the background noises. There is no doubt that these pieces were recorded live! The Offertoire, which Briggs describes as ‘overtly Ravelian’, wafts like incense. The disc ends with a mighty improvisation on the Lourdes Hymn (‘Ave Maria’) from St Sernin, Toulouse.

**
ORGEL-IMPROVISATIONEN ÜBER TOCCATA UND FUGE D-MOLL BWV 565 VON J.S. BACH – VOL. 2
Lionel Rogg/Barbara Dennerlein/Theo Fury & Brass Power Schweiz/Frédéric Blanc/Holm Vogel/Johannes Mayr/Vincent Thévenaz/David Franke • ORGANpromotion OP 8007
I reviewed the first volume of this series in 2009 and noted that the improvisations were remarkably wide-ranging in style and mood. The same is true of the pieces of Volume 2, which was recorded on organs in Switzerland, Germany and France. Lionel Rogg kicks off with what is essentially a re-working of the material. You can tell what the piece is: he just doesn’t play the ‘right’ notes. Barbara Dennerlein’s New York Impressions are a jazz extravaganza. Theo Flury and Brass Power Schweiz mix sections of the original piece with improvised material that is sometimes harshly dissonant. Frédéric Blanc’s Souvenir-Toccata, performed on the Cavaillé-Coll organ of Notre-Dame d’Auteuil, Paris, is appropriately impressionistic in style. The shortest and most exquisite improvisation is that of blind organist Holm Vogel. His Sonatina à la Joseph Haydn is an ingenious transformation of the original material. The master of musical jokes would surely have approved. This is perhaps the only item in the programme that would stand transcription into notation and repeated performances. Johannes Mayr’s Toccata is a high-energy creation, while Vincent Thévenaz’s Toccata démolie, played on the largest organ in Switzerland and the second longest track on the disc, combines the nightmarish and the sublime. Finally, David Franke’s Nächtliches Intermezzo imagines ghostly goings-on at midnight in St Wenzel, Naumburg. All in all, another extraordinary disc.
Christopher Maxim

CHORAL MUSIC

***
THE WINCHESTER TRADITION
Winchester College Chapel Choir/Paul Provost (organ)/Malcolm Archer • Regent REGCD331
This disc is brimming with attractive music by composers associated with Winchester College. S.S. Wesley’s Ascribe unto the Lord opens the programme in stirring style and is followed by Weelkes’s glorious Hosanna to the Son of David. Wesley’s lovely Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace is also included. George Dyson is represented by several settings; and there are pieces by Raymond Humphrey (a former organist and director of chapel music), Malcolm Archer, Paul Provost (including an arrangement of a tune by Jeremiah Clarke) and William Cole (b.1990: a former scholar). The longest work on the disc is Archer’s Missa Omnes Sancti, which is very much in the French tradition, recalling the Masses of Widor and Vierne. There is much to enjoy here. The choir makes a very fine sound and the young tenors and basses are particularly to be commended for their smooth, well-blended tone.

***
SONGS OF SUNSHINE
Wells Cathedral Choir/Wells Cathedral School Chamber Orchestra/Jonathan Vaughn (organ)/Matthew Owens • Regent REGCD343
Joy radiates from the performances on this CD, which is full of the kind of music that is sure to attract a wide audience. Some pieces are accompanied by the excellent Wells Cathedral School Chamber Orchestra: the first movement of Vivaldi’s Gloria, which makes a splendid opening track, and two movements from Handel’s Messiah: the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ and ‘Worthy is the Lamb’. Two facets of Rutter’s musical personality are exhibited: the ‘popular’ in All things bright and beautiful and A Gaelic Blessing, and the ‘English cathedral tradition’ in his Wells Jubilate, which is reviewed in the current edition of Sunday by Sunday. The theme tune to the The Vicar of Dibley (Howard Goodall’s setting of the 23rd Psalm) is presented in its complete version. Matthew Owens’s arrangement of Lord of the Dance presents the tune in unison until near the end, the spicy organ accompaniment enhancing the text. Traditional repertoire comes in the form of Dyson’s Magnificat in D and Stanford’s Te Deum in B flat. The singing is of a very high order and so, too, the organ playing. Hollins’s joyous A Song of Sunshine skips nimbly, while the mighty Wells tuba sounds glorious in Cocker’s unforgettable Tuba Tune. Sold in aid of St Margaret’s Hospice, this disc is performed with great skill and supports a very worthy cause.

***
SING ALLELUIA
Rochester Cathedral Choir/Roger Sayer (organ)/Scott Farrell & Dan Soper • Regent, REGCD329
Sub-titled ‘Favourite anthems from Rochester’, this disc includes such classics as Parry’s I was glad, Purcell’s O God, thou art my God (the anthem that ends with what is now the hymn tune Westminster Abbey), Brahms’s How lovely are thy dwellings fair, Goss’s O Saviour of the world, Handel’s Zadok the priest, Mendelssohn’s Hear my prayer, Byrd’s Sing joyfully, and Stainer’s God so loved the world. On this recording, Bob Chilcott’s Be thou my vision is heard in a different version from that on the Glasgow disc: here it is performed by boys and men, accompanied on the organ. There are also some ‘home-grown’ pieces: It was in that train by Barry Ferguson and The fair chivalry by Robert Ashfield, both former organists and Masters of the Choristers at Rochester. Another piece with a Rochester connection is Gibbons’s brilliant See, see the Word is incarnate, the text of which was written by Godfrey Goodman, Dean from 1620 to 1624. The pieces are variously sung by boys’ and men’s voices, girls’ and men’s voices, and the whole choir together. The choir has a distinctively fulsome tone that exploits the lovely acoustic of the cathedral.
Christopher Maxim

***
TU ES PETRUS
The Choir of Sheffield Cathedral/Anthony Gowing (organ)/Neil Taylor • Regent REGCD360
Although the theme is ‘Petrine’ with a smattering of appropriate works (Tu es Petrus settings from Widor and Duruflé, Britten’s Hymn to St Peter, and a new anthem from Carl Rütti), three mass settings really provide the backbone of this very engaging CD. Two of them ‘originate’ from St-Étienne-du-Mont on the south bank of the Seine: Duruflé’s Messe cum jubilo is sung here by the well-blended mens’ voices, along with a contemporary and arresting setting (sung in French) from Thierry Escaich, the present-day organist. The performance of Jonathan Dove’s Missa Brevis is particularly outstanding; this was commissioned by the Cathedral Organists Association for their conference in Wells two years ago. The girls’ voices provide strong soaring treble lines, including a wonderful short solo from Ella Taylor (one of this year’s BBC Young Choristers of the Year) in the Britten. This is a well-recorded CD with fine musicianship bursting from the loudspeakers.

***
ONE THING HAVE I DESIRED
Choral Music from Exeter College, Oxford/Alistair Read • Regent RECCD332
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the fine college chapel (take a look on their website!), this CD was recorded in 2009 by a choir comprising choral scholars and resident students who are the recipients of bursaries. The title comes from a little-known setting of Psalm 27 by Herbert Howells. What follows is an interesting modern and contemporary mix with works ranging from Harris (Behold the Tabernacle and, as a finale, Bring us O Lord God) and Stanford (canticles for double choir) to Gardner and three works from Jonathan Dove. The singers capture well the spirit of Dove’s writings in Ecce beatam lucem but really take full ownership of his I will lift up mine eyes commissioned as part of the anniversary celebrations. Directed by Alistair Reid, then senior organ scholar, this CD is an outstanding audio portrait of a fine student team in action. Such investment by the college is well worth it: some other institutions should take note!
Stuart Robinson

March 2011

MASS SETTINGS

*** GLORIA
The choir of Canterbury Cathedral/John Robinson (organ)/David Flood · York Ambisonic, York CD 214
This is a really excellent disc. Vierne’s Messe Solennelle and Kodály’s Missa Brevis are followed by Bruckner’s motets Locus iste, Os justi and Christus factus est. These wonderful pieces are beautifully sung and the organ accompaniment in the Vierne is thrilling. A strongly recommended release.

** MISSA BREVIS
La Maîtrise de Toulouse/William Whitehead (organ)/Mark Opstead · Regent REGCD340
La Maîtrise de Toulouse is a choir school belonging to the Toulouse Conservatoire. The singers are boys and girls aged eleven to fifteen and directed by Mark Opsted, who began his musical career as a chorister at Bristol Cathedral. The singing is assured, clear and well blended. Indeed, the choir might be mistaken for an English cathedral choir – except when singing in English! The programme is an appropriately Anglo-French affair, consisting of André Caplet’s Messe à trois voix, Leighton’s Missa Cornelia, Delibes’ Messe brève, Britten’s Missa Brevis and Fauré’s Messe basse. Some of these will be familiar, but this is the first recording of the Missa Cornelia: the music is classic Leighton and a real discovery. It is a joy to hear a French children’s choir of this quality.
Christopher Maxim

CHORAL COMPILATIONS

** LEAD ME, LORD
Wesley, Mendelssohn and their contemporaries · The choir of York Minster/John Scott Whiteley (organ)/Robert Sharpe · Regent REGCD344
This disc presents some of the grandest of nineteenth-century anthems, with more modest pieces providing variety. The twin peaks are Wesley’s gargantuan The Wilderness (rarely recorded – probably on account of the difficulty of the organ part) and Mendelssohn’s Hear my prayer. The other Wesley items are Praise the Lord, O my soul (which ends with the justifiably famous ‘Lead me, Lord’); O give thanks unto the Lord and the expressive Wash me throughly. The remaining pieces are Charles Steggall’s Remember now thy creator; Walmisley’s Remember, O Lord (a fine work of its type with some satisfying counterpoint); and Crotch’s How dear are thy counsels: an effective and rather charming piece, somewhat like a partsong in character and actually dating from the late eighteenth-century. Though the works are uneven in musical quality, the performances by choir, soloists and accompanist alike are very persuasive. When performed so sympathetically and skilfully, this music is both moving and entertaining.

*** GOD BE IN MY HEAD
Choral works by Paul Edwards · The Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge/Sarah MacDonald · Regent REGCD339
Paul Edwards is the composer of the Christmas piece No small wonder (not included on this disc). Readers familiar with that melodious and expressive setting will have an idea of what delights await them here. The pieces are mostly short (even a setting of the Requiem Mass lasts under eighteen minutes), but are graceful, tuneful and elegant. Some, but by no means all, are influenced by the musical language of Howells – and are none the worse for that. The singing of the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College matches the music perfectly. The young voices have a gentleness that complements Edwards’s tonal but subtly dissonant language. Warmly recommended, both as a delightful recording and also as a shop window for choir directors looking for new repertoire.

* PRAYER IS THE KEY
The choir of St Barnabas, Dulwich/Riccardo Bonci (organ)/William McVicker · St Barnabas, Dulwich STB 7
A number of tracks on this musically varied disc were recorded live in the generous acoustic of Orvieto Cathedral in August 2009; the remainder were recorded a couple of months later back in Dulwich. Soprano Eleanor Wolfe, described in the sleeve notes as the choir’s ‘secret weapon’, gives a splendid account of the solo in Mendelssohn’s Hear my prayer. Mass of St Barnabas was composed by a member of the choir, Tigran Grigoryan, whose Armenian heritage is discernable in this interesting setting. The other pieces include arrangements of traditional spirituals, Tavener’s Song for Athene, Parry’s My soul, there is a country, Ian Hubbard’s How lovely is your dwelling place, Wood’s O thou sweetest source of gladness and a lively performance by Riccardo Bonci of the first movement of the Bach/Vivaldi A minor concerto. There are some coughs and sneezes in the background in the live performances, but these are few and do not really detract. For a parish choir, the singing is of a high order and, under the direction of Dr McVicker, the performances are characterful and expressive.
Christopher Maxim

STANFORD

**STANFORD CHORAL MUSIC
Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum/Carleton Etherington (organ)/Benjamin Nicholas · Delphian DCD34087
The credentials of the Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum under Benjamin Nicholas are well established and the performances on this disc do not disappoint. The choir sings with confidence and fulsomeness of tone. The programme comprises the Evening Service in G, The Lord is my Shepherd, Bible Songs and Six Hymns, Crossing the Bar and For lo, I raise up. There is some very good solo singing in the Bible Songs. Salim Jaffar’s treble solo in the Magnificat in G is assured and expressive with vibrato and even a little portamento. Christopher Monk’s solo in the Nunc Dimittis is, fittingly, more introspective and nicely judged. If in the Bible Songs and Six Hymns (the latter being based on familiar tunes) the consistency of Stanford’s inspiration is debatable, the high quality of his craftsmanship is never in doubt. On the other hand, the freshness of the Evening Service in G and the drama of For lo, I raise up are surely examples of the composer at his best.
Christopher Maxim

ORGAN

*** L'ORGUE MYSTIQUE: TOURNEMIRE
Adrian Gunning plays the Cavaillé-Col organ at Notre Dame d’Auteuil, Paris · Herald HAVPCD 361
This is an excellent CD: Adrian Gunning’s third recording of major works from L’Orgue Mystique, Tournemire’s vast outpouring of quasi-improvisatory pieces for 51 Sundays of the year, inspired by Gregorian chant. He composed five pieces for each Sunday to be played before, during and after the mass. Adrian Gunning gives us various moods: if you like Tournemire for his contemplative, sustained adagio chord progressions, there is plenty to revel in here in the Offertoires and Communions, with as contrast the sheer élan of his Sortie outpourings. The full force of this fine instrument is heard here, along with the occasional distant sounds of the Métro beyond. Tournemire apparently knew this organ, and presumably the intrusion of humdrum everyday life too!

**BENJAMIN SAUNDERS at the organ of Leeds Cathedral · HERALD PCD358
After 30 years’ silence, this is the first recording of the reconstructed and enlarged Norman and Beard organ, completed by Klais in 2010. According to the CD notes, the original Edwardian character of the instrument has been preserved but in two locations, namely the nave, and also the choir in a new position at the east end. This recording by Benjamin Saunders is wide-ranging: Vierne, Dvořák and Guilmant rub shoulders with Britten, Howells and the mimimalists Arvo Pärt and Philip Glass. The main work is a Passacaglia and Fugue by a Russian composer Christophore Kushnariov. While the dynamic range is wide ranging, this is a fine programme of mostly contemplative music showing off a cathedral instrument.

** THE GENTLE ART OF PERCY WHITLOCK: SORTIE AND OTHER MUSIC
Roderick Elms at the organs of Rugby School Chapel and Brentwood Cathedral · Herald HAVPCD 359
Of this clutch of organ CDs, this is the most intriguing: a fully digitized re-release of a cassette which first appeared in 1985, recorded by Roderick Elms on the Bryceson organ in Rugby School Chapel. With that organ no longer in existence, there are two additional pieces (Sortie and Fantasie Choral No. 2) recorded 24 years later on the organ of Brentwood Cathedral. For his fans, this is a true Whitlock-fest. His Six Hymn-Preludes received their premier recording on the original cassette, and these form the centrepiece of an attractive programme which also includes the Five Short Pieces. Fans of Percy Whitlock’s organ music will not be disappointed.

** DAVID HAMILTON plays JS BACH at the organ of Canongate Kirk · Divine Art dda 25088
David Hamilton has chosen a programme of chorale preludes (alongside larger works) to show off the two-manual and pedal Frobenius organ in Canongate Kirk on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. The instrument, which dates from 1988, has 20 stops. This CD begins with the chorale prelude on Wachet auf!,arguably a quiet opening for a CD programme, but we are soon treated to a clean and ingeniously registered interpretation and build up in dynamics in the Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor. Erbarm dich mein is beautifully contemplative and sensitively played. The Pièce d’orgue is given a conservative registration for the showy final section. Hamilton leaves the best until last – the Prelude and Fugue in E flat (‘St Anne’) is given a masterful interpretation. 
Stuart Robinson

CARILLON DE WESTMINSTER
Ursina Caflisch at the organ of Neumünster, Zürich • Guild GMCD 7340
Review to come.

CORRECTION
In our December 2010 review recommending the two CDs of Contemporary British Organ Music from SFZMUSIC we misattributed the maker and place of the organ, which is the Lewis organ in St John the Evangelist in Norwood in South London.

December 2011

THE PSALMS OF DAVID

PSALM-SHAPED PRAYERFULNESS
A Guide to the Christian Reception of the Psalms · Margaret M. Daly-Denton · The Columba Press 224pp. P/B · 9781856077156
There are great riches here for anyone seriously interested in understanding how the Book of Psalms took the form in which we know it, and how different worshipping communities have interpreted the psalter’s major themes. Recent scholarship has led to new insights into the significance of the order in which the 150 psalms are presented – this is just one example of an area covered in depth, and those who teach others about the psalms and wish to update their knowledge will find much to help them.
It is a pity there is no index since it would be useful, after reading the whole book, to be able to refer back to what the author (an academic and church musician) says about specific psalms. Readers are encouraged to engage in detail with different translations, and some of the connections made between psalms and other parts of the Bible are particularly interesting. Further reading is suggested, and some of the questions which punctuate the text could inspire those leading quiet days for worship leaders as well as biblical study groups.
Anne Harrison

HYMN ANTHOLOGIES

NEVER LET THE SONGS END
Martin Leckebusch · Kevin Mayhew 168pp. P/B · 9781848673267
BEYOND ALL WORDS
Hymn texts 2003–2011 · Alan Gaunt · Stainer & Bell 128pp. P/B · 9780852499238
Neither of the authors of these two hymn collections will need much introduction to most CMQreaders. Alan Gaunt (b.1935) began writing hymns in 1960 and his texts are in many standard hymn books and Martin Leckebusch (b. 1962) has written around 400 hymns since 1987.
Never let the songs end offers 124 texts, some new and some reworking of earlier texts. Some are hard hitting and powerful and no-one will feel comfortable singing ‘O West Bank town of Bethlehem’, with its violent imagery, to the tune Forest Green. But for this author, hymn singing is not just a comfortable offering to God and difficult areas of life are to be vocalized by the whole congregation. All moods and emotions are covered in this collection and most do fulfil the book’s subtitle ‘to inspire and uplift’. Recommendations of (mostly familiar) tunes from standard hymn books are given and an excellent set of scriptural and thematic indexes will assist those choosing texts.
Beyond All Words is Alan Gaunt’s fourth collection of hymns. For most of the 89 texts the author gives a note on the genesis of the text and specific tunes are recommended. Nineteen new tunes by contemporary composers are also printed for the first time, mostly in a traditional style, but one is in ‘worship song’ style. Gaunt is also a poet as well as a hymn writer and, whilst some of the texts deal with contemporary issues, there is a more traditional poetic feel to Gaunt’s texts compared with Leckebusch. Several would serve as prayers, as stand-alone poetry or as texts for anthems. There is a subject index but no scriptural index.
These are both useful anthologies. How lucky we are to have such resources for our worship! In the 1960s we talked of the ‘hymn explosion’, but this really continues unabated today, thank God.

CHRISTMAS STOCKING FILLER

YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD TUNE DOWN
Reginald Frary · Canterbury Press 144pp. P/B · 9781848250840
Reg Frary died earlier this year and so this will be the final collection of his stories about visiting friends and singing in their church choirs around the country. The stories are full of eccentric, politically incorrect musicians and clergy, often with gross prejudices against anything non-traditional. Mr Frary never lost his knack of making us smile and many will miss his gentle humour. As usual, the publication of his book is timed just right for it to be snapped up as a stocking filler.

CHRISTIAN MUSIC

CHRISTIAN MUSIC: A GLOBAL HISTORY
Tim Dowley · Lion Publishing 256pp. H/B · 9780745953243
For some years one of the most informative and recommendable books charting the history of Christian music was The Story of Christian Music by Andrew Wilson-Dickson published by the same publisher as this new book, which has replaced the older one in their catalogue. Whilst the earlier book was the work of just one author, this recent volume draws upon the expertise of several scholars in addition to the main author, Tim Dowley. With its glossy demeanour and lavish illustrations it is clearly intended for the popular market, and is none the poorer for that: the author has a pleasantly readable style. The remit is slightly broader than the earlier book, being, as the title suggests, more global in outlook and also it extends the history back to biblical times.
The earlier chapters, those on the development of hymnody and those relating to worldwide music, seemed the most satisfactory. The chapters on repertoire seemed to skate in a superficial way over too many composers and pieces to do anyone justice. Also, whilst accepting that this is a book about ‘Christian music’ as opposed to ‘church music’, Verdi has three quarters of a page and a portrait, but, in contrast, the English cathedral tradition receives rather short shrift and the RSCM no mention at all.
I will recommend this book for those wanting to get an overview of Christian music but, on balance, I will stick with my old book written by a musicologist, rather than this new one written by a historian.
John Henderson

September 2011

USING HYMNS IN PREACHING

WONDER REBORN
Thomas H. Troeger • OUP H/B • 9780195398885 £15.99
In this short book, Thomas Troeger takes the reader on a journey which reinstates beauty as a way of seeing the wonder of God. His writing comes with a depth of understanding of the Christian Fathers from Augustine to Aquinas and to writers of the present day. With academic rigour he argues the place of beauty in preaching, beauty as a way of discerning God’s creative spirit, and beauty as a way of seeing things anew. Though the does not cite Rudolph Otto’s ‘numinous’ category as way of understanding God, he leads his reader in a direction which allows beauty to be a category which reveals God rather than being a substitute for religion.
This is above all a book about preaching. Troeger uses the idea of the Hebrew ‘midrash’ to inform his methodology of preaching: interpreting Scriptural text so that it is meaningful for the present day. He argues that sermons must relate to the feelings that people have and use hymns as well as scripture to reveal the nature of God.
I doubt that there is a preacher who has not sat with a blank piece of paper or computer screen and with an equally blank mind. By bringing hymns, music and poetry into the realm of preaching, he opens whole areas of possibility which many may not have explored. He also opens the possibility of engaging all the senses of the congregation. Troeger puts himself on the line by including sermons and ideas that he has used in the course of his ministry. I was particularly taken by his exploration of the Passion through the last verse of ‘When I survey the wondrous cross’ and the slave song ‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord’. The examples of hymns he uses are well known on both sides of the Atlantic, including ‘Love divine, all loves excelling’, ‘All glory, laud and honour’ and ‘Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle’.
The use of music in preaching is another idea which he illustrates in his book: his exploration of Fauré’s Requiem and Romans 8.31–39 is a particular tour de force, while his section on poetry and prayer uses, amongst others, George Herbert’s ‘Let all the world in every corner sing’ which he links with John 14.6.
It is all about bringing the beauty of our heritage of hymnody, music and poetry into the present moment and pointing beyond itself to God: ‘The beauty of the gospel lies in the beauty of the God it reveals’, he writes in the final chapter. If you believe that is worth thinking about, this book will give you plenty of food for thought – and if you are a preacher, a sermon or two as well.
The Revd Canon Michael Johnson

MUSIC AND THEOLOGY

RESONANT WITNESS
Conversations between Music and Theology • ed. Jeremy Begbie and Steven Guthrie • Eerdmans P/B • 9780802862778 £22.99
The area of overlap between a love of God and a love of music has been explored by theologians ever since Augustine and Aquinas, and in our present time by such figures as Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and Rowan Williams, now Archbishop of Canterbury. This fascinating volume, with 18 different authors, surveys a range of current issues. Of particular interest to CMQ are those collected under the sub-heading ‘Music and Worship’, starting with Jeremy Begbie discussing how musical sounds become emotionally significant and what we can learn from this about music in worship. Other contributors in this section include Michael Hawn and Michael O’Connor, both familiar names in CMQ. Hildegard of Bingen, J. S. Bach, Luther, Barth, Messiaen, jazz and improvisation, African freedom songs – all make their contribution. In an ‘Afterword’, John Witvliet ties together the various strands.
Julian Elloway

June 2011

A LIFE IN CHORAL SINGING
Robert C. Morris • BM Publishing: 77 pp. P/B • 9780956200822
To order, send a cheque for £5, payable to R.C. Morris, to R.C. Morris, The Duchy Barn, Churchfoot Lane, Hazelbury Bryan, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, DT10 2DS, providing details of where the copy should be sent.
Because of his career in the telecommunications industry (about which he has also written a book), the author has spent an itinerant life and has sung with around a dozen church choirs and choral societies, some of which he also served in an administrative capacity. This is an autobiographical tale of people met and concerts sung. There are some nice anecdotes and descriptive scenarios of rehearsal and concert chaos which many of us will recognize. The book includes a fair number of photographs of both people and places, but sadly the quality of reproduction of these is poor in what is otherwise a professionally produced and readable book at a modest price.

DEATH IN THE VESTRY
and other stories • Humphrey Clucas • Lewin Press: 96 pp. P/B • 9780955047039
Here we have another anthology of varied short writings from Humphrey Clucas. There are three slightly sombre ‘Elegies’, three short ‘Fables’ each with a nice twist at the end and two further Westminster Abbey stories to supplement those in his previous anthology Royal and Peculiar. One of these is humorous about an owl in the Abbey, and another wistful, about hidden treasure and love. Finally there are five short Christmas poems. Nothing is very long, so this is an easy book to dip into, ideal for the coffee table.

MENDELSSOHN AND THE ORGAN
Wm. A. Little • Oxford University Press: 504 pp. H/B • 9780195394382
Occasionally one picks up a book and knows that that this is going to be ‘book of the year’ in some area of musicology. This is one such gem. William Little, Professor of German and Music at the University of Virginia, is well known to organists for his ground-breaking five-volume 1988 Urtext edition of Mendelssohn’s organ works, not only the Op. 37 Preludes and Fugues and Op. 65 Sonatas but also selected juvenilia and lesser known pieces which he brought back to the attention of performers. Now, after a lifetime of research, he has assembled a comprehensive account of Mendelssohn’s lifelong love affair with the instrument. Although Mendelssohn never held an organist’s post and never gave organ lessons, he travelled worldwide and invariably tried out organs in wherever he was staying (he was a skilled improviser). Even on his honeymoon he went to a local church for a demonstration of the organ there. Roughly one third of the book considers his interest in and his performance style on the organ, another third looks at all his organ compositions in detail and the final third consists of appendices, including a list of organs on which he played, major editions of his music and a listing of his own organ music library, which contained a great deal of Bach. Unless there is a major new discovery of Mendelssohn manuscripts, I cannot see how this book will ever be supplanted as the treatise on Mendelssohn and the organ. I often complain in these pages about the cost of musicological books, but this volume is worth every penny. My only slight gripe is that, for a book which is going to be so very well thumbed, a white cover is impractical!

JUAN ESQUIVEL
A Master of Sacred Music during the Spanish Golden Age • Clive Walkley • Boydell Press: 504 pp. H/B • 9781843835875
Ever since the ancient Greek poets coined the phrase ‘golden age’, we have become used to looking back through rose-tinted spectacles at an area of endeavour which seems to be significant and have named it thus. The golden age of Spanish Church Music is one of hundreds of such snapshots. Coined in the early 1960’s, it refers to the period 1530–1611, the latter date being the death of Tomás Luis de Victoria whose 400th anniversary falls this year. Some 39 composers are now included in this era and one of the most intriguing is Juan Esquivel. He was a chorister and later choirmaster in the small town of Ciudad Rodrigo near Salamanca but relatively little is known of his life, including his exact dates (c.1560 to c.1623). His three published collections of choral music (Masses and Motets in 1608 and Music for the Office in 1613) were however highly regarded throughout Spain. He is not exactly a household name now and there are only a few pieces by him currently in print (from Mapa Mundi, Chester and a few free on CPDL). This study by Clive Walkley, former Lecturer at Lancaster University, examines his work in scholarly detail and begins with an excellent chapter about the state of cathedral music and the changing religious life in Spanish cathedrals at the time, starting from the Council of Trent. There are many musical examples comparing Esquivel’s compositional techniques with those of his contemporaries; those who love the music of this era will find much to enjoy here. Exploration of his music is hampered however, not only from a lack of available scores, but by a lack of recordings of his work.
John Henderson

March 2011

SING PRAISE
Hymns & Songs for Refreshing Worship · Hymns A&M and RSCM
Full music edition H/B · 9781848250345 £24.99
Melody edition P/B · 9781848250383 £14.99
Words edition P/B · 97818482 0338 £8.99
See www.singpraise.info/prices-and-the-ham-grant-scheme.aspx for details of 25% grant scheme.
This attractive collection was originally conceived as a supplement to Common Praise (2000), and is in the same style and format. Since Common Praise was compiled along distinctly conservative lines, Sing Praise has quite a lot of catching up to do. But with a total of 330 items, it is able to achieve this in an admirably comprehensive manner.
For a start, it includes a wide selection of texts in traditional metrical form, including substantial contributions from many established contemporary authors. There are some excellent new tunes, but also much careful pairing of ‘new’ texts with existing tunes – nearly always effective and sometimes inspired. It also contains many of the worship songs which have proved particularly popular and useful in recent years. I was relieved to find that the book generally avoids the type of heavily syncopated song which poses difficulties for the average congregation, and glad to note several good examples of liturgical song. Again, the Iona tradition is particularly well represented and there is a useful selection of Taizé chants.
Here, then, is an excellent anthology of contemporary congregational music for worship. In the case of those churches currently using Common Praise only, the book can be recommended unreservedly for purchase, as an outstanding resource for ‘refreshing worship’. However, the compilers express the hope that it may also be used to supplement other existing hymnals and, with this in view, nearly 30 hymns from Common Praise re-appear in Sing Praise. Had they not eschewed back-references to Common Praise, the compilers might have been able to include more suggestions of alternative tunes in order fully to promote the uptake of ‘new’ texts. But I do hope that their aspiration is fully realized: this rich, well-balanced collection deserves to be widely used and should prove valuable wherever worship is planned with care and imagination. 
Donald Davison

DRAW NEAR TO GOD
Thirty Contemporary Hymns for Pastoral Services · Timothy Dudley-Smith · Canterbury Press: P/B · 9781848250222 £12.99
This series of themed collections of 30 of Timothy Dudley-Smith’s hymns started in 2001 with Beneath a Travelling Star, a Christmas collection with music selected by Lionel Dakers. Few hymn writers would have the range to sustain publication of five more volumes within ten years, but, with William Llewellyn as music editor, here is the sixth: it is another rich selection from Bishop Timothy’s considerable oeuvre presented in a new context. The majority are for baptism, confirmation, weddings and funerals, but also included are ordination and healing. A few of the texts are widely known: ‘We come as guests invited’, ‘Christ be my leader by night as by day’, ‘When to our world the Saviour came’ and above all ‘Lord of the church, we pray for our renewing’ which, although included here under the heading ‘Ministry, Commissioning, Licensing or Ordination’, is also a glorious call to a unity that is ‘one cross proclaiming and one creed reciting, one in the truth of Jesus and his word’. The majority of these hymns however are only to be found in the author’s own collected volumes (without music) or in specialist supplements. This new volume is hugely useful: used thoughtfully and prayerfully it should inspire anyone who selects what is sung at a wide range of pastoral services.
Julian Elloway

December 2011

CHORAL RESOURCE

SONGS, PSALMS & SPIRITUALS
Compiled and edited by John Barnard and David Iliff
RSCM B0346
Many will be familiar with the RSCM’s The Carol Book and Season by Season: this is the next in this series of resources that can be photocopied legally (CCL licence required). Although the initial cost seems high, it is a cost-effective way to buy music for your choir. Unlike the earlier publications, this one is of use all year round. Most of the contents are relatively easy for an average choir and could probably be sight read by an experienced one; a number are also suitable for choir and congregation.
The accompaniments are generally good, though some work better on piano and some on organ. There are four-part arrangements of many of the songs which may tempt more traditional choirs into trying something new. I particularly liked the range of spirituals which can bring more variety into a service. Some items are well known, others less so. I was particularly taken with John Dankworth’s Light of the World and the four-part arrangement of Graham Kendrick’s Such Love.
The accompanying CD-ROM is extremely useful, with alternative versions of the scores – unison and SA Men arrangements, accompaniment only, voices only, etc. It also contains the text of all the items and recordings of ten of them. Few choirs will use everything in this volume but it will be a useful and valuable resource for a wide variety – and at a very reasonable cost.
Steve Goodwin

FEATURED REVIEW

CAROLS FOR CHOIRS 5
Mostly SATB, unacc. and with keyboard
ed. and arr. Bob Chilcott and David Blackwell
Oxford 978 0 19 337356 3
or wire bound 978 0 19 337712 7
The number of choral directors who can remember Christmas before Carols for Choirs is dwindling fast. The series was born in 1961, and fifty years on the fifth volume has appeared. Its pedigree is impeccable, and it fully maintains the high standards of its predecessors.
The preface speaks of 10 existing favourites and 40 new carols, but in fact 17 of the familiar congregational tunes can be found. Some have received more of a ‘makeover’ than others. It is very welcome to have a simple and dignified setting of O come, O come, Emmanuel, and fresh descants for other favourites. God rest you merry is enlivened with a charming medieval dance for the shepherds, and Good King Wenceslas sounds particularly crusty at first with Bob Chilcott’s rhythmic accompaniment. In We three kings the magi arrive at a canter in an energetic 6/8 metre: a small sacrifice of dignity perhaps, but the tempo which I always hoped, and never dared, to use as a teenage organist. Away in a manger and It came upon the midnight clear have two settings each, one traditional on each side of the Atlantic. The splendidly hearty accompaniment to Joy to the world could move seamlessly into Rule Britannia.
The new carols – some entirely fresh and some recently published – provide for sacred and secular tastes and for choirs of all abilities. There is a graceful tribute to previous editors in the inclusion of settings by David Willcocks (Lullay, my liking) and John Rutter (Candlelight Carol and New Year). Other names speak for themselves – Gabriel Jackson, Alan Bullard, Cecilia McDowall, Howard Skempton. Pilgrim Jesus (Chilcott), A little child (Malcolm Archer) and A Patre Unigenitus (Carl Rütti) remind us to celebrate with a dance. In My Lord has come (Will Todd), I sing of a maiden (Matthew Martin) and There is no rose (Alan Smith) we are drawn into the contemplation of a thoughtful text, in each case set by a composer who was not born when this series began.
This treasure chest of new and old carols should be in every choir library. If you need any further persuasion, turn to the end and play Thomas Hewitt Jones’s haunting setting of What child is this? The carol is alive and well.
Rosemary Broadbent

NEW CHRISTMAS CAROLS

JESUS, SPRINGING [E]
Bob Chilcott
SSATB and organ or piano          
Oxford BC135
AS JOSEPH WAS A-WALKING [M/D]
Francis Pott
SATB Oxford NH77

IN THE BEGINNING [E]
Alan Smith
SATB and organ or piano 
Oxford X525
Commissioned for Harrow School Chapel Choir, Jesus Springing is typical of Chilcott’s lyrical and accessible style, suited to parish and school choirs that can sing in four parts and manage divided sopranos. The accompaniment is pianistic in some respects, but actually better suited to the organ and none too difficult. The setting of Kevin Crossley-Holland’s poem is strophic, though each verse is scored differently. The music remains in E major: there is not a single accidental, giving a sense of gentle intensity.
Francis Pott’s finely crafted setting of the traditional words ‘As Joseph was a-walking’ has a neo-medieval flavour. Each vocal line has independent melodic shape; dissonance and chromaticism are deftly employed to exquisitely expressive ends. This is a splendid piece, within the capabilities of many parish choirs and strongly recommended to cathedral choirs.
In the Beginning by Alan Smith was first published in the Oxford Book of Flexible Carols and may be accompanied by orchestra. The music is akin to the style of Rutter’s What sweeter music. What sets Alan Smith apart from many composers who attempt this idiom is that he writes with genuine finesse and security of technique. His command of harmony and modulation means that music that is eminently singable is also expressive and colourful. Parish and school choirs, and their congregations/audiences, will love this carol.

BORN IN A STABLE [E]

Dominic Chivers & John Bertalot
SATB
Encore Publications
THERE IS NO ROSE OF SUCH VIRTUE [M/D]
Bryan Kelly
SATB (with divisions)
Encore Publications
A LITTLE CHILD THERE IS YBORN [E]
Philip Ledger          
SATB and organ
Encore Publications
BETHLEHEM [E]
Philip Ledger          
SATB and organ
Encore Publications
JOYS SEVEN [M]
John Morehen
SATB (with divisions) and organ
Encore Publications
Dominic Chivers was just eight years old in 2007 when Born in a stable was premiered by the choir of Blackburn Cathedral. His pentatonic melody (setting his own words) has been arranged by John Bertalot. The older composer’s contribution is sympathetic to the simplicity of the melody, but imaginative too. There are subtle contrapuntal touches and the first two verses end unexpectedly on subdominant and submediant respectively. The final verse, though coming to rest on the tonic, avoids a conventional perfect cadence. A gentle piece, suited to parish choirs.
There is no rose of such virtue comes from Bryan Kelly’s A cradle of carols. The music makes a feature of triads falling in thirds, simple but effective. Anyone who knows Kelly’s Latin American canticles will not be surprised that this music frequently switches time signature. The result is a rhythmical, supple piece with a lightness of touch, and well worth performing if your sopranos and tenors can sing high A flats.
Sir Philip Ledger’s A little child there is yborn, composed for Brian Kay and the Burford Singers, is in some respects akin to his well-known arrangement of the Sussex Carol, with its perky organ interludes and mostly unaccompanied choral writing; but there is also something of R.R. Terry’s Myn lyking (‘I saw a fair maiden’) about it. The music is solidly tonal, with flattened leading notes suggesting music of the Tudor age. It is a pretty setting, polished and straightforward.
Bethlehem, from the same composer, was first published in 2005. This new arrangement could be sung by congregation as well as choir. In the first verse, the voices sing in unison, accompanied by organ; in the second, the choir sings in harmony, and in the last the sopranos have a descant while the other voices sing the melody and the organ provides a varied accompaniment. This is essentially a Christmas hymn and as such would work well.
John Morehen composed Joys seven when he was 21 and a student at Addington Palace. His jolly melody bounces along in 6/8 time and, since it avoids the leading note and touches the fourth degree of the scale but once, is almost pentatonic and could be mistaken for an old English folksong. The organ provides the most delicate of accompaniments. Perhaps taking his cue from Haydn, the youthful composer telescoped the text so that, rather than trudging through all seven of Our Lady’s joys one by one, the third and fourth come together: the first sopranos sing of the third joy and the second sopranos sing of the fourth in canon. The fifth, sixth and seventh joys are dispatched even more efficiently in a three-in-one canon. Clever stuff from a composer of any age and great fun to perform.

WHAT SWEETER MUSIC CAN WE BRING
Tim Knight  
SATB and organ or piano 
www.spartanpress.co.uk TKM317
Tim Knight’s setting of Herrick’s famous poem was composed for the Southwold Singers in 2010 in a style fairly close to that of Rutter’s version. The cover states that the accompaniment may be played on organ or piano, but the score itself states piano, and it is to that instrument that the keyboard writing is better suited. The vocal lines are none too difficult and there is much that is attractive in this piece. It has the unusual feature of beginning in G major and ending in F.
Christopher Maxim

CAROL ARRANGEMENTS

O COME, DIVINE MESSIAH! [E]
arr. Howard Helvey
SATB and organ
OUP X521
GABRIEL’S MESSAGE [E]
arr. Craig Phillips
SATB and organ
Paraclete Press PPMO1143
THE ANNUNCIATION [E]
arr. John Bertalot
SATB and organ
Encore Publications
TOMORROW SHALL BE MY DANCING DAY [E]
arr. June Nixon
SATB and organ
Encore Publications
ROCKING [E]
arr. William Whitehead
SATB and piano or organ
Encore Publications
All these carols are arrangements of traditional tunes, in accessible arrangements for four-part SATB choirs with straightforward organ accompaniments. The first four are lively settings, arranged with sparkling and crisp organ accompaniments; the fifth is more introspective.
The French traditional carol translated as O Come Divine Messiah appears to be well known in America. The words are suitable for an Advent service, or at a carol service linked to a prophecy of the coming of Christ. With straightforward vocal lines and a sparkling organ accompaniment, choirs will enjoy this lively setting.
Another American, Craig Phillips, has arranged Gabriel’s Message, the well-known Basque carol ‘The angel Gabriel from heaven came’. There are rhythmic differences from the melody in Pettman’s usual version, and each verse is set in a different key. This effective and enjoyable arrangement requires a competent organist.
John Bertalot has set his own words about the Annunciation to a traditional, lively Suffolk melody. Again, four-part choirs will enjoy singing this and organists relish the sparkling accompaniment and extrovert ending. Amongst requests for ‘bright registration’ there is a specific instruction to draw a 32 foot pedal stop – a rarity on most parish church organs. This carol would provide a good alternative to Gabriel’s Message. It is also available from Encore Publications with the Easter text ‘On Easter Day our Lord Arose’.
A sense of fun pervades June Nixon’s arrangement of Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day, in waltz time with a chirpy organ accompaniment, and straightforward vocal parts. Two verses relate to the Christmas story, but the third (and final verse set here) is for Ascensiontide, so this carol has life after Christmas.
William Whitehead’s arrangement of the traditional Czech carol Rocking, marked ‘Lento, dreamily’ is set simply against a two-bar ostinato accompaniment with only slight variations. Vocal and keyboard parts are easy, despite occasional dissonance. In the only 15 bars of SATB harmony, tenors hold an E flat while altos and basses have just four different notes. The bass line here is so high that this section could be sung effectively by four-part treble voices. This arrangement would be useful in encouraging independent part-singing in a children’s choir. Gordon Appleton

UPPER VOICE CAROLS

THE COLOURS OF CHRISTMAS [E]
John Rutter
SA and piano
OUP W170
The composer’s own text starts with the secular imagery of ‘Green for the ivy’ and ‘White for the mistletoe’ followed by what in early carols would have been a reference to Christ’s passion with ‘Red for the berries that shine in the snow’. Verse 2 moves to the nativity with ‘Blue for the robe of his mother so mild, Gold for the precious gifts they brought to the child’. It all finishes with an all-purpose ‘And a rainbow for all the sweet dreams you will keep’ – to which you will either say ‘Ah!’ or ‘Ugh!’. The music has a matching feel-good quality, exploring the borders between sentiment and sentimentality. An SATB version is also available (X529) and an orchestration on hire.
James L Montgomery

THE VIRGIN’S NAME WAS MARY [M/D]
Howard Skempton
Four-part equal voices
OUP X502
Three canons set three verses from Luke’s account of the Annunciation, starting with the words of the title and ending ‘Be it unto me according to thy word’. The canons are strict, so all four parts can be learnt by voices in unison, with a range from A flat below middle C up to the F an octave and a sixth above. Or an octave lower for men, since singers can be upper or lower voices, or mixed, or different combinations of voices on different parts. So far, so flexible. What isn’t flexible are the notes and rhythms themselves, where there is a delightful rhythmic fluidity. With a 15/8 time signature, each canon starts as if in lilting compound time, alternating quavers and crotchets, but after a bar or so, passages of quavers beamed in pairs gently cut across the dotted crotchet beat. As the four parts overlap, what seems comparatively straightforward to learn sounds fascinatingly complex in performance.
James L Montgomery

O HEILIGE NACHT [E]
Franz Liszt ed. David Heyes
T or S solo, SA and organ
Recital Music RM107
Liszt’s ‘Christmas Carol after an old melody’ is based on the second of his organ or piano Weihnachtsbaum ‘Christmas Tree’ pieces. A tenor solo describes the ‘holy night’ with angels singing Alleluia, joined by an angelic upper voice choir – with music that is easy and attractive. Despite the repeated ‘Halleluja’ being understandable in German and English, it is a pity that the opportunity was not taken to provide an optional singing English translation of the rest of the words, which would have encouraged wider use of this atmospheric carol.
James L Montgomery

WILLIAM BLAKE

BLAKE’S CRADLE SONG [M]
Christopher Maxim
SATB
Recital Music RM233
From Sting to Benjamin Britten, Blake’s elusive words have inspired many composers in different genres, and this new setting is certainly worthy of a place among them. The idiom is a sort of Tavener-meets-Howells; an apparent simplicity covers a subtle responsiveness to the words and a beguiling fluidity of musical effect. There are a few tricky harmonic corners but the piece is written with an evident delight in musically shaped phrases that are rewarding to sing.
James L. Montgomery

FOR EPIPHANY

THE LIGHT OF GOD’S GLORY
An Epiphany Carol Service and Resources
Compiled by Peter Moger
RSCM SO136.
‘Three wonders mark this holy day . . . a star leads the wise men . . . water is made wine at the wedding feast . . . Jesus is revealed as the Christ in the waters of baptism.’ These words, spoken at the start, outline the themes for this Epiphany service. But there are not just words and music. Like the Advent Sequence and The Word Revealed, the liturgical element is strong, with processions to the crib, the holy table and font (or usual place of baptism). Musically, there are hymns and songs, singable anthems from Shephard, Archer, Ives, How and Hewitt Jones and also plenty of plainsong if you wish. Peter Moger can devise powerful and moving services and this latest one is no exception. The flexibility of this service will appeal to most denominations; after Christmas the music can be quickly learnt, and it is appropriate any time up to Candlemas (The Presentation of Christ in the Temple). 
Stuart Robinson

THE MAGI [E/M]
Andrew Carter
SATB
Banks Music Publications ECS 543
This is a superb Epiphany anthem, written for York Minster last year, but easily learnable and singable by any SATB choir, with brief treble, tenor and bass solos which take words given to each of the Magi. The words, by the composer, form a meditation on the significance of the visit of these mysterious personages. The four G minor verses start the same, but the first three end differently leading into related D major solos. The fourth builds to a climax as it turns from the Magi to ourselves: ‘May we with the Magi kneeling . . . find in faith your love and healing, Christ the Morning Star.’
James L. Montgomery

September 2011

UPPER VOICES

SPIRITUALS FOR UPPER VOICES [E–M/D]
ed. Rosephanye and William C. Powell
Upper voices unacc. and with piano
Oxford 9780193805194
Popular with school choirs and church choirs, concert audiences and congregations, spirituals have been arranged in many ways since they first appeared on the concert hall platform (in 1871 according to the preface to this volume). Most published arrangements reflect as much the style of the arranger as of the original material, but here the editors have commissioned settings from distinguished spiritual arrangers in the United States that feel authentically part of the tradition. Deep River and Lit’l David play on yo’ harp are perhaps the best known of the 12 titles. Arrangements are in two, three and four parts and many include a ‘lead voice’ part. The wide range of difficulty partly reflects the arrangements themselves but also how the editors have offered alternatives that can lessen the demands of the more difficult ones. The preface and performance note, covering the history, meaning of the texts and performance practice, deserve to be read widely.
Stephen Patterson

CHRISTMAS CAROLS

THE HOLLY AND THE IVY [E/M]
WHENCE IS THAT GOODLY FRAGRANCE FLOWING? [E]
arr. June Nixon
SATB and organ
Encore Publications
DORMI, JESU! or THE VIRGIN’S CRADLE HYMN [E]
June Nixon
SATB
Encore Publications
June Nixon’s surprising arrangement of The Holly and the Ivy, performed in last year’s King’s College Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and broadcast around the world on radio and television, will have been heard by many readers. If you are not among them, do check out one of the YouTube uploads of the King’s televised broadcast – an excellent way of deciding whether to adopt a new piece for your choir. The surprise is the tune, which is not the traditional English one but that of a French carol.
Whence is that goodly fragrance flowing? has English and French (‘Quelle est cette odeur agréable’) texts and the expected tune – and a similar feel to the Willcocks setting but achieved with different harmonies and textures, including a partially contrapuntal setting of verse 3. Dormi, Jesu! is a single-page miniature delight, which after 12 bars appears to be about to repeat itself but in every bar turns in new directions. On the reverse of the page is the same music with the English ‘Sleep, sweet babe!’ text.

ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY [E]
HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING [E]
arr. Kenneth Hesketh
SATB and organ or orchestra
Novello NOV050413, 050402
O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL [E]
arr. Kenneth Hesketh
SATB and organ or orchestra
Novello NOV050424
These three exuberant arrangements sound splendid with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus. Whether they are what you need in church with organ accompaniment depends on whether or not you have a Christmas service or concert where the arguably over-the-top treatments would sound appropriate. The arranger’s website www.kennethhesketh.co.uk gives you the opportunity to hear the complete orchestral versions and look at several pages of the choir and organ scores – so you can decide whether you need a more reverential approach or that a ‘vivo, leggiero’ dancing introduction to Once in royal is just what you have been waiting for.

REJOICE AND BE MERRY [M]
ANGELS, FROM THE REALMS OF GLORY [M]
Malcolm Archer
SATB and organ
Oxford X512, X510
WHEN RIGHTEOUS JOSEPH [E/M]
Malcolm Archer
SATB and organ
RSCM A2635
CHILD OF MARY, SOFTLY SLEEPING [E/M]
Malcolm Archer
SATB
Oxford X507
These four carols all have original music by Malcolm Archer. The first two are lively and rhythmic, rejoicingly and merrily bouncing along – Rejoice and be merry itself mostly in 6/8 and Angels, from the realms of glory mostly in 7/8. Both will make an audience happy, especially if with clean, crisp and well-articulated singing and playing.
When righteous Joseph is one of the ‘doubting Joseph’ carols, like the Cherry Tree Carol, but one that has never caught on with a popular tune. Let us hope that Archer’s new setting will change that: the melody is catchy, the harmonies appealing, the refrain has the character of a folk carol refrain, and the three verses build up to a splendid final climax that just feels right.
Child of Mary, softly sleeping sets a text that Timothy Dudley-Smith wrote for his 2008 Christmas card. Four verses are addressed to the infant Jesus as ‘Child of Mary’, ‘Child of wonder’, ‘Child of promise’ and ‘Child of sorrow’ in which the melody is gently passed from voice to voice, leading to a final verse for ourselves today: ‘Child of glory now proclaim him . . . risen Lord and Saviour name him’. It is a thoughtful and satisfying carol where words and music enhance each other.
James L Montgomery

ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT [E]
Bob Chilcott
Upper voices, SATB, organ or chamber ensemble
Oxford BC136
These eight carols, all with traditional texts, can be performed individually or as a liturgical or concert work with optional suggested Bible readings. The music is original, but in several of the carols the upper voices introduce a different carol with its well-known melody. So, in the middle of the opening and closing This is the truth, the upper voices sing Once in royal David’s city to the expected tune. Similarly SATB A spotless rose incorporates upper-voice Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming, and SATB Rejoice and be merry an upper-voice On Christmas night all Christians sing. This upper-voice part is ideal for children’s choirs although the composer also suggests it could be sung by congregation or audience. At one magical moment the tables are turned and under a soprano solo (or ad lib. upper voices) Sweet was the song the SATB choir sings Silent night. Any choir with upper voices and SATB would find many different ways of using this imaginative Christmas sequence.
Stephen Patterson

YOUNG VOICES FESTIVAL

WATER OF LIFE [E]
Upper, equal or mixed voices with keyboard
Score with CD and CD-ROM
RSCM S0137
The basic format of the RSCM’s festival services for young voices is well-established, and an inspiration for worship in school or church. The latest celebrates water as a physical and spiritual gift of God – cleansing, overpowering, life-giving. Hymns, readings and songs include John Bell’s arrangement of ‘Come all you people’ and John Barnard’s of ‘As water to the thirsty’. A suggested anthem is John Rutter’s Gaelic blessing, starting ‘Deep peace of the running wave to you’. The charity WaterAid is supported. The CD includes demonstration and backing tracks and the CD-ROM has also a music book for singers, order of service for congregation, alternative arrangements for upper and mixed voices, and training notes. Separate copies of the book will be needed for director and accompanist, but all singers’ material is included along with permission to copy.
Stephen Patterson

MASS SETTINGS

TRINITY MASS [E]
David Thorne
Unison voices, optional SATB, organ
Culver Music
A SETTING FOR STILLNESS [E]
Paul Fisher
Unison voices and/or SATB, optional organ
www.paulfishermusic.co.uk
These are both congregational settings of the Church of England Common Worship Order 1 text – although Fisher describes the text as ‘wordy and busy’ and shortens the Gloria to just 12 words as he avoids ‘any false jollity’. He asks each sung text to begin and end with a brief time of silence and ensures that Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei all start and end quietly. He certainly invokes his intended ‘stillness’ as the congregational line explores sections of a D major scale; in the context the excursion to G major in the Agnus Dei provides welcome contrast. The complete music is presented three times: unison voices and organ, then choir and optional organ, then a congregational part.
In contrast, Thorne’s Trinity Mass is presented with an SATB and organ score and separately a congregational part, and sets the complete texts. Those who already enjoy Thorne’s Mass of St Thomas will not be disappointed. The Gloria in particular is full of rejoicing, with a repeated refrain that will help introduce the work to congregations for the first time. The music of the Kyrie, imaginatively transformed in the Gloria, provides material for all the remaining sections (including all four communion acclamations). This is musically satisfying and liturgically effective.

MASS OF SAINT BENEDICT [E]
Margaret Rizza
Unison voices, optional SATB, keyboard, optional instruments
RSCM C0836
MASS OF BLESSED JOHN HENRY NEWMAN [E]
James MacMillan
Unison voices, optional SATB, organ
Boosey & Hawkes 19151
Two early settings of the new Roman Missal English text (MacMillan’s was written for the Pope’s visit to Glasgow last year) are an encouraging musical start to the life of the translation. Both have strong and easily learnt congregational lines with optional SATB choir. MacMillan specifies organ accompaniment, although some of the writing looks more like a keyboard reduction of the original brass and timpani parts (available on hire if required). Rizza gives a keyboard part, with optional and flexible instrumental lines, parts for which are printed at the end of the score with a congregational part for photocopying (MacMillan’s congregation part is for separate purchase in packs of 10).
Rizza Rizza has aimed for a Benedictine-inspired simplicity whilst MacMillan was writing for a grand occasion, but the contrasts are not as one might anticipate. Both have a call-and-response Kyrie but MacMillan’s is the simpler, with a single note on the words ‘Lord’ and ‘Christ’ instead of Rizza’s seven-note melisma. Rizza’s Gloria is 40 bars longer than MacMillan’s, partly because she interpolates tuneful instrumental phrases between the sung sentences. Throughout, there is much to recommend in the two approaches, and worship leaders could confidently offer a choice of both settings to introduce the new texts.
James L Montgomery

MISSA DUNELMI [D]
James MacMillan
SSAATTBB
Boosey & Hawkes 9790060123450
As its name suggests, Missa Dunelmi was written for Durham Cathedral, and it must have made a thrilling contribution to the Sung Eucharist there at its premiere earlier this year or more recently at the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. MacMillan is always concerned about the role of music in a God-centred liturgy, whether setting vernacular texts for congregation and cantor, or here Greek and Latin texts for eight-part unaccompanied choir.A lyrical Kyrie features pairs of voices alternating and overlapping, pleading gently but confidently for God’s mercy. The Gloria, starting on a basis of plainchant with Scottish inflexions, is full of invention and drama, with a thrilling Amen climax. The spacious Sanctus and Agnus Dei can be sampled on a rather rough recording at www.dailymotion.com/video/xjim4u_macmillan-missa-dunelmi_music – the music is sympathetically written for voices, and is careful to double pitches or pass them from one voice to another, so that it is not as difficult as it looks at first glance on the page.
James L Montgomery

MASS OF ST BARNABAS [M/D]
Antony le Fleming
SATB with divisi and solos
Roberton 85357
This is rhythmic music, even at the start marked ‘distant, remote’, and more obviously so in the excitingly athletic Gloria which ends in a blaze of E flat major. The Sanctus is tellingly marked ‘With (initially) suppressed rhythmic energy’. The Benedictus is a separate movement, either ending ‘in nomine Domini’ or with a ‘Hosanna in excelsis’ using the musical material of the Sanctus ‘Pleni sunt coeli’. The Agnus Dei is less driven, more reflectively intense, with a marking ‘De profundis’ and indeed an unexpected anguish. The whole score can be inspected online at www.goodmusicpublishing.co.uk/info/default.aspx?id=85357#
James L Montgomery

MISSA BREVIS EXONIENSIS [M/D]
Brian Chapple
SATB
Chester CH76120
Written for Exeter Cathedral and already in the repertoire of other cathedral choirs, this straightforwardly melodic, tonal setting does not divide the voices and could be learnt and sung enjoyably by any church choir with, for example, the Byrd Mass for Four Voices in its repertoire. Although there are no soloists, the composer frequently uses individual choir sections for brief quasi-solo passages, contrasting with full SATB. The Osannas at the end of Sanctus and Benedictus will sound breathtaking in a resonant acoustic.
James L Montgomery

June 2011

FEATURED REVIEW
TUDOR ANTHEMS: Fifty Motets and Anthems for Mixed-Voice Choir
ed. Lionel Pike
SATB with divisi
Novello NOV881000
For many choirs and choral societies the Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems has been a standard source for this wonderful repertoire since it was first published in 1978. This new edition from Novello is now a serious competitor (why have we had to wait so long!). At almost the same price as the OUP volume and with 50 anthems (OUP had 34), this anthology is remarkable value for money. Before considering the contents, it is worth mentioning its weight. My choir complains at holding the New Church Anthem Book and this is the same weight as the NCAB paperback (i.e. over a kilogram) and almost A4 in size. Lionel Pike, former Professor of Music at the Royal Holloway in London, provides an eclectic mix of the well known and the more obscure, but all the music here, from 29 composers in total, merits inclusion. Even if you have some of the better-known works in your choir library there is sufficient unfamiliar repertoire to recommend investing in a copy. There are 13 pieces in four parts (10 of these SATB), 21 in five parts, 14 in six parts and one each in seven and eight parts. All have a keyboard reduction except John Dowland’s An heart that’s broken and contrite which has a lute part. At two pages, this is the shortest piece in the book (O clap your hands by Gibbons is the longest at 32 pages). A small point, but it would have been useful to have an indication of the voicing of each piece in the index or at the head of each work. This is an edition made by a fine scholar. The editorial notes describe in detail each source used, but do not provide a commentary of differences between these and other sources. Notes indicate for which season or occasion in the church year each anthem might be suitable, and from Issue 55 we have listed some of them in Sunday by Sunday (using the abbreviation TAN). The editor has modernized the spelling of English texts. Generations have sung Rejoice in the Lord alway and so I wonder if his version ‘always’ is an editorial change or is in his original source? This is one of the most exciting anthologies to have come my way for some time.
John Henderson

YOUNG VOICES

HOSANNA! FOR HANDS & FEET & VOICES [D]
Brendan Ashe
SATB
Faber 9780571521449
This rhythmic piece provides an enjoyable challenge for skilled singers, who are required to coordinate claps, stamps, singing and vocal percussion. Based on the Latin text of the Sanctus, catchy syncopated phrases are dotted between the voice parts, forming interesting textures and patterns. This piece is certainly not for the faint-hearted: to perform it as written you would have to learn it by heart. And if the body percussion wasn’t enough to contend with, there are vocal slides in each part, taking the sopranos up to a high C at several points! That said, it would certainly be worth the effort to learn it and would offer a memorable and exciting contribution to any concert or act of worship. It is particularly recommended for able youth choirs and the young at heart!

ON EAGLES’ WINGS [M]
Alexander L’Estrange
SS & organ (or piano & electric bass)
Faber CMD 82
L’Estrange’s music is always tuneful and accessible, and although this anthem is more challenging than some of his others, On Eagles’ Wings has much to recommend it. Commissioned by St Davids Cathedral Festival it was written with cathedral choristers in mind, and long, sustained phrases, plus a vocal range which is fairly high throughout for the first sopranos, would prove demanding for inexperienced singers. The organ part, on three staves, can be given to a pianist (playing the manual part) with an electric bass playing the pedal line – a reminder of the composer’s jazz roots which permeate his musical style. Overall this would make an uplifting anthem for confident trebles or upper voices.
Esther Jones

THE SPACIOUS FIRMAMENT

THE SPACIOUS FIRMAMENT [M/D]
Dan Locklair
SSAATTBB
Subito Music 91480580
THE SPACIOUS FIRMAMENT [D]
Alan Bullard
SSAATTBB
Oxford NH73
THE SPACIOUS FIRMAMENT [D]
Philip Moore
SATB (with divisi) & organ
Banks Music Publications ECS 509
The wonderful poetry of the hymn ‘The spacious firmament on high’ has inspired very different and effective settings by three prolific church music composers. Dan Locklair and Alan Bullard have written unaccompanied settings for double choir requiring experienced singers and secure intonation. The easier is by the American, Dan Locklair who uses conservative tonality with each verse treated effectively in a different key. With a wide range of dynamics and an fff ending for ‘the hand that made us is divine’, this would be an exciting piece for a competent choir.
By contrast, these words end Bullard’s arrangement ppp al niente. Commissioned in 1989 for the BBC Northern Singers in Manchester, this highly effective setting is more difficult than Locklair’s. Although rooted in traditional harmonic language, the music divides words (and sometimes parts of words) between voice parts and uses note clusters. It is a very worthwhile piece, exploiting musically the contrasts between exuberant and gentle within the text.
Commissioned by the Friends of Cathedral Music to mark the retirement of the composer after 25 years at York Minster, Philip Moore’s setting is for SATB accompanied by organ, although each voice part includes divisi. The text is sensitively treated – a hallmark of the composer – and the music well-crafted. Cathedral choirs (or equivalent) with good organists will welcome this splendid new addition to the repertoire.
All these anthems are worth exploring individually, but could also form an interesting section within a concert programme.
Gordon Appleton

CHILCOTT ANTHEMS

BOB CHILCOTT ANTHEMS 2 [E–M/D]
Mixed voices with and without accompaniment
Oxford 9780193364936
The eight anthems by Bob Chilcott in this new collection were written over the past four years. Two that had previously been published (This Day and The Lord’s my Shepherd) have been arranged for SATB for this volume. Choirs which find it difficult to muster the double choir (with divisi within each) for the setting of the prayer of St Richard of Chichester, called A Thanksgiving and written for the King’s Singers, will be pleased by the composer’s note that it may be performed effectively with one choir only, accompanied by organ. Chilcott has a gift for melodic invention and often uses interesting textures in accompaniments for organ, piano, or, in Queen of the May, ‘any appropriate percussion instrument’. This rhythmic anthem for the Blessed Virgin Mary was written, like many of the pieces in the book, for a wedding. Love Divine and The Lord’s my Shepherd naturally belong in this context, but like most of the texts are suitable for ‘general’ use in worship. Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, written for Repton School, has a particularly attractive new tune. However, in verse four the congregation joins in, singing Parry’s tune Repton cleverly superimposed over Chilcott’s tune. Repton also provides inspiration for a descant at the end. Charles Wesley’s text for Love Divine receives a delicate and expressive treatment – the cantabile melody is set against a gently moving semiquaver accompaniment. Let the earth acclaim him has a text by Timothy Dudley-Smith set unaccompanied for SSAATB: short, rhythmically lively and with the instruction ‘like a fanfare’.
The Lord’s Prayer uses traditional words set to a melody marked ‘with a gentle fervour’. Chilcott also includes his own adaptation of a Jewish text for an anthem This day will you strength us (with the noun irritatingly used as a verb).
As these anthems are currently unavailable separately, church choir directors with a limited budget will need to consider whether to pay £8.75 for one book of eight anthems – attractive as they are – by the same composer.
Gordon Appleton

SETTINGS OF THE JUBILATE

JUBILATE DEO [M/D]
Gordon Lawson
SATB (with divisi) & organ
fagus-music.com
JUBILATE DEO [D]
Tarik O’Regan
SATB (with divisions) & organ
Novello NOV958463
WELLS JUBILATE [M/D]
John Rutter
SATB (with divisi) & organ
Oxford 9780193366466
JUBILATE DEO [D]
Nigel Hess
SATB & organ
Faber 9780571521432
The first three Jubilates reviewed here are settings of Psalm 100 and end with the ‘Gloria Patri’, suitable for use at morning prayer or as psalm settings/anthems in other liturgical contexts. They require choirs of a very good standard who can cope with divisions of the lines, syncopation and some high writing, particularly for the sopranos. They also demand very competent organists.
Gordon Lawson sets the BCP words, though he omits the phrase ‘For the Lord is gracious’. It opens with an organ ostinato, over which sopranos sing a shapely melody. The choral writing is a satisfying mix of homophonic and contrapuntal textures. The tonic key is E major, but a considerable portion of the piece is in F sharp major. The music of the Gloria is a recycling of the material found at the opening. A tuneful piece, well crafted, with a good sense of onward movement.
Tarik O’Regan’s setting in Latin was composed for the Cathedral of St John, Albuquerque, New Mexico. After a hushed, unaccompanied opening that builds to a climax, much of the choral writing is unison or homophonic, supported by energetic, syncopated organ accompaniment. This setting is the most contemporary sounding of those reviewed here, but still very singable.
John Rutter’s Wells Jubilate was composed as a companion piece to his Winchester Te Deum. It may be accompanied by organ alone, or by organ and brass, with or without timpani and cymbals. It may be heard in the organ-only version on the Wells CD Songs of Sunshine, reviewed in the June 2011 edition of CMQ. It is a superbly executed setting, capturing the mood of the text and expressing it economically. It is unmistakably the work of its creator: a masterpiece of its kind and a welcome addition to the repertoire.
Nigel Hess’s Jubilate Deo was originally composed for a production of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII and may be performed with optional brass. The text (in Latin) is a hotchpotch of material, including bits of the hymn ‘Ave maris stella’. It sets only a small part of Psalm 100. It is an exciting work requiring a good choir and a very competent organist, but its text leads one to question its appropriate liturgical use.
Christopher Maxim

FESTIVAL SERVICE

THE WORD REVEALED
Compiled by Peter Moger and Charles Taylor
RSCM RS40
This festival service, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, will provide a useful repertoire of music long after this year’s festival use. Philip Wilby’s Vox Christi setting of the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel is magnificent. It is good to have any anthem using these words, and here is one so powerfully expressive as to be well worth the purchase of the book in itself. Thomas Hewitt Jones has written a useful SA Men setting of Lead me, O Lord, and David Ogden a four-part Teach us, good Lord, the only one of the seven anthems with a non-biblical text. There are imaginative pairings of hymn texts and tunes, descants, chants and arrangements, with readings and prayers for a Service of the Word.
James L Montgomery

ERIC WHITACRE COLLECTION
SATB with divisi
Chester CH73975
Whitacre’s music came to the attention of many choral enthusiasts after Polyphony released their ‘Cloudburst’ CD in 2008, and his YouTube ‘Virtual Choir’ has brought his music to a new generation for whom much conventional choral music is a foreign world. So many choral directors will be tempted by this compilation of seven works for unaccompanied mixed choir, especially as it includes the most popular Lux Aurumque and Sleep. But be aware that these are all settings of secular texts, if with a ‘spiritual feel’. That said, This Marriage could certainly be effectively sung at a church wedding (and asks that ‘these vows and this marriage be blessed’), and all would be effective in concert; each piece ends quietly and gently. James L Montgomery

ETERNAL LIGHT: A Requiem
Howard Goodall
Soloists, chorus, keyboards, strings
Faber 9780571532308
LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT
Howard Goodall
SATB and piano
Faber 9780571533237
After Mozart, Verdi, Brahms, Fauré, Duruflé and Britten, how does a sensitive and thoughtful composer approach the text of the Requiem? John Rutter notably took Fauré as a model, and kept his music spare and unadorned, showing how profoundly moving such simplicity can be. Howard Goodall looks to Brahms (in intention rather than musical idiom), in Goodall’s words ‘a Requiem for the living, addressing their suffering and endurance, a Requiem focusing on the consequences of interrupted lives’. If his music feels like Lloyd Webber meets Vicar of Dibley, one can hardly object to the latter given that Goodall wrote the Psalm 23 ‘Vicar of Dibley’ theme. The music is certainly tuneful and catchy when it is trying to be peaceful and comforting. Less convincing are the more dramatic moments, and especially movement 6, ‘Dies irae: In Flanders fields’, juxtaposing the Latin liturgical text with John McCrae’s 1915 poem ‘In Flanders fields’ – a combination which cannot help reminding one of the genius of Britten’s War Requiem. But a juxtaposition of texts provides a striking feature of this Requiem setting. Instead of interpolating other texts between the movements of the Requiem, almost all of Goodall’s Requiem movements have a combination within the same movement, culminating in an ‘In Paradisum: Lux aeterna’ which incorporates a range of quotations from earlier movements.
Eternal light: A Requiem is not church music in its setting of the Requiem text, but church choirs may find useful the separate publication of Newman’s poem ‘Lead, kindly light’, long popular as a hymn, and in Goodall’s Requiem forming a stand-alone movement as well as returning at the climax of the ‘In Paradisum’. If you already enjoy singing the composer’s Love Divine, or indeed The Lord is my Shepherd, you will certainly enjoy this affirmation that God’s power ‘still will lead me on’.
James L Montgomery

March 2011

EASY EASTER ANTHEMS

JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN [E/M]
arr. Paul Trepte
Unison and SATB choir
Encore Publications
LOVE IS COME AGAIN [E]
arr. Barry Ferguson
SATB
Encore Publications
SING FOR JOY (Easter version) [E]
Philip Ledger
Unison or SATB and organ
Encore Publications
NOW GLAD OF HEART BE EVERYONE [E/M]
Richard Lloyd
SATB
Encore Publications
Jesus Christ is Risen is an arrangement by Paul Trepte of a popular German carol, written for his choir at Ely Cathedral. It is an interesting, unaccompanied arrangement with particularly effective verses for divisichoir (SATB and unison) contrasting with sections for sopranos and altos or tenors and basses. This short but exuberant arrangement would enliven any Easter worship and should be heard in many places besides Ely Cathedral.
In Barry Ferguson’s arrangement of the traditional French carol Love is come again, each of the four verses is given the same harmony, in a similar fashion to the well-known Martin Shaw arrangement. It will be most effective sung unaccompanied.
Philip Ledger has produced a simple and joyful Sing for Joy that could be performed in unison throughout, although a straightforward, optional SATB adds interest to the chorus. The organ part is easy and the anthem would be effective sung by small church choirs perhaps to herald the Gospel or as an introit at Easter. The composer has supplied Christmas words with the same music, published separately as Sing for Joy (Christmas Version), although it seems a pity that the Christmas words could not be printed as an alternative under the Easter text in a single publication.
Richard Lloyd’s setting of Now glad of heart be everyone, a traditional text from the Oxford Book of Carols, is appropriate for Easter, Ascension or Trinity Sunday. In triple time and with a sprinkling of dotted notes, the music romps along in jolly carol fashion. Unaccompanied throughout, it is not difficult but does require singers who keep in tune and enjoy some interesting harmonic twists, and sopranos who are comfortable around top F and G. This is a rewarding and enjoyable piece.
Gordon Appleton

TWO CONTEMPORARY EASTER ANTHEMS

SURREXIT PASTOR BONUS [E]
Michael Pietranczyk
SATB
Paraclete Press / Cathedral Music PPM01041
ALLELUIA JUBILATE [M]
James Whitbourn
SATB and organ
Chester CH77330
Michael Pietranczyk is an American church musician who has set these words of a traditional Easter responsory. What a pity that the anthem is published with no translation of the Latin text, so vital to any interpretation of the music – especially for those unfamiliar with Latin! The text begins ‘The Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep, has arisen.’ Marked molto adagio – espressivo, this short SATB piece uses a slow moving harmonic structure, somewhat in the style of Eric Whitacre, to create a meditative mood that would sound particularly effective in a resonant acoustic.
With Latin words from Psalm 66 (the translation is at the top of the score!) the lively and rhythmic setting of Jubilate Deo by James Whitbourn for SATB would thrill any choir – especially a school choir, and indeed this is an adaptation of the setting the composer made in 2008 for upper voices, written for the Choir Schools’ Association. Rhythmic, yet with straightforward harmonies and a lively organ accompaniment, there is enough challenge to keep the interest of singers and a nimble fingered organist under a competent conductor. This exciting piece will thrill the singers and audience!
Gordon Appleton

21ST-CENTURY STANFORD

COMMUNION SERVICE IN C [M]
C.V. Stanford
SATB and organ
ed. Jeremy Dibble
RSCM C0802
‘Why a new edition of Stanford’s Communion Service in C? Surely there is nothing wrong with the Stainer & Bell edition?’ Quite so, if your church uses the Book of Common Prayer; but this new edition from the RSCM is an important addition to the catalogue because it is not merely a scholarly Urtext for use in a BCP Service. In fact it is unsuitable for such use because it re-orders Stanford’s movements to bring them into line with contemporary liturgies such as Order 1 of the Church of England’s Common Worship. The Responses to the Commandments, Gospel Responses, Sursum Corda and Final Amen are all omitted; the Gloria is moved forward from the end of the service; and Stanford’s own settings of the Benedictus and Agnus Dei (in F) are included. Most significant of all, however, is the provision of a Kyrie, because Stanford himself never composed one for this service. That which is found here is Dibble’s handiwork and based on musical material found in ‘Stanford in C’. It is a convincing piece of pastiche and is a welcome ‘completion’ of the service for modern use. An altogether useful and commendable publication.
Christopher Maxim

CHORAL MUSIC BY ALAN BULLARD

ALAN BULLARD ANTHEMS [E–M/D]
mixed voices and organ
OUP 9780193369313
DOVER TE DEUM [M]
Alan Bullard
mixed voices and organ (opt. youth choir and semi-chorus)
Encore Publications
Alan Bullard is editor of the popular Oxford Book of Flexible Anthems, but a practical liturgical composer in his own right, as his anthem collection demonstrates. There are ten anthems of easy to moderate difficulty, suitable for different times and seasons. The composer clearly realizes that in church we need to learn music fairly quickly but that the music still needs to be of good quality. His well-crafted anthems have practical use. All are tuneful and accessible, yet reflect the mood of the words and shape of the poetry. From the break of the day is a gentle and lyrical setting of the hymn ‘Lord of all hopefulness’. Other meditative pieces include two beautiful Hebridean texts: Prayer for Peace and God in Mine Eternity, both of which are set simply yet creatively and will delight choirs. We thank you, Lord is an attractive new anthem for Harvest, Rogationtide or any service reflecting on creation.
Not everything in this collection is slow and gentle. Let the people praise thee, O God is a lively setting of Psalm 67 which will be immensely rewarding to perform. Hail the day that sees him rise (listed on page xx, and in Sunday by Sunday issue 55 on page 41), is a lively setting ‘with a joyful lilt’. The unaccompanied Cantate Gloria was written for an Association of British Choral Directors convention and first performed by the delegates. They would have enjoyed mastering the rhythmic patterns (actually very straightforward, once learned). This exciting setting would be a great encore at a Christmas concert. The whole anthology is highly recommended, for large or small choirs.
Bullard’s attention to the text, melodic invention and accessible harmonic language are displayed in his setting of the Dover Te Deum in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer text. With the widespread demise of matins, opportunities for singing a Te Deum are reduced, yet it is the great and ancient hymn of praise of the church and should be used more. This setting includes an optional part for youth choir, and could be useful at the meeting of many choirs in a festival, as well as for churches wanting a fresh setting of the Te Deum that, although long by its nature, will not take an age to learn.
Gordon Appleton

JOUBERT’S JUBILATE [D]
PSALM 100
John Joubert
double SATB and piano or organ
Novello NOV060060
This energetic and rhythmic setting of the Jubilate was commissioned for the 2010 Gloucester Three Choirs Festival. While the musical language is tonal, the harmony is often coloured by 4ths, recalling the harmonic language of the same composer’s well-known Torches and O Lord, the Maker of al thing. The setting is perfectly suited to big choral events, but is not the kind of piece that most choirs will be able to manage on their own, since it includes divisions within the two four-part choirs and there is a demanding treble solo in the middle of the piece. The accompaniment requires a highly accomplished player and is better suited to the piano than to the organ. Worth performing if you have the requisite skills and resources.
Christopher Maxim

MUSIC FOR UPPER VOICES
DEEP RIVER: SPIRITUAL FAVOURITES [E/M]
arr. Ben Parry
SA and piano 9780571526260
SA Men and piano 9780571526253
Faber Music
CALON LAN (A Pure Heart) [M]
SA, S solo and piano
John Hughes arr. Neil Matthews
Banks ECS536
THROUGH THE DAY THY LOVE HAS SPARED US [M/D]
Philip Moore
SS and organ
Banks ECS532
MAGNIFICAT & NUNC DIMITTIS: Service on Plainsong Tones [M]
Simon Johnson
SSA and organ
Encore
Ben Parry’s well-crafted spiritual arrangements make a good addition to the Faber Choral Basics range. This volume includes an appealing and accessible arrangement of Deep River as well as a spiritual medley combining All my trials, O by and by and I want Jesus to walk with me. Although not as bluesy or funky as Alexander L’Estrange’s gospel arrangements in the same series, these pieces will prove popular with choirs of all ages. There are two versions: for upper voices, and for SA and Men.
            Neil Matthews’ arrangement of the Welsh hymn Calon Lan (A Pure Heart) is an attractive setting for upper voices of the English translation. It is mainly in two parts, with a little divisi in the second verse, which also includes a soprano solo. Overall, it’s a pretty little piece that would suit any treble section or women’s choir.
           Philip Moore’s Through the day thy love has spared us offers a greater musical challenge with its irregular rhythms and shifting time signatures. Originally for SATB and written for the 1978 Guildford Diocesan Choirs’ Festival, it works well in this setting for two sopranos. Although this short piece would require a little effort to learn, it would certainly be worthwhile: a highly rewarding sing.
            In comparison, Simon Johnson’s Service on plainsong tones has little rhythmic complexity. Plainsong phrases are sung senza misura by soloist and full choir antiphonally over sustained organ chords. These passages are interspersed with sections in glorious three-part harmony. One can imagine this music wafting ethereally through a large cathedral and transporting listeners to another place. It is a welcome addition to the usual settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for upper voices.
Esther Jones

PRECES & RESPONSES
MELBOURNE RESPONSES [M]
Louis Halsey
SATB
Encore Publications
PRECES, RESPONSES & THE LORD’S PRAYER [M]
Raymond Lewis
SATB (with divisions)
Encore Publications5
PRECES AND RESPONSES [M/D]
John Joubert
SATB
Novello NOV060082
THE BOOK OF NEW RESPONSES [E/M–D]
ed. Tom Shorter
SATB (several sets with divisions)
Shorter House 9790900220110
These settings vary from the conventional to the more experimental, though none is so completely ‘way out’ as to cause a flurry at a cathedral evensong. Louis Halsey’s in D flat is among the more conventional. Well written and with no division of the parts, it is suitable for cathedral and parish choirs alike. Raymond Lewis’s is largely in four parts, but there are divisions in the alto, tenor and bass lines. It is an attractive setting and none too difficult, though the composer asks the basses for a bottom D at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. In Joubert’s settingthe priest’s part is sung in speech rhythm in some places, but in others it is measured and occasionally interlocks with the choral parts. The harmonic style vacillates between a language that is recognizably Joubert’s and one that seems to recall Elgar’s partsongs.
The Book of New Responses contains twelve sets and provides short biographies of each composer. The finest sets are by Antony Baldwin, Philip Moore, Ben Parry, Francis Pott and Paul Spicer. They combine fertile musical imagination with good craftsmanship, making them singable (though not always easy) and interesting. Ben Parry’s unpretentious set is an example of how successful relatively simple but well written responses can be. Composed in four parts throughout, it is easy enough to be performed by a good parish choir, but worthy of performance by choirs of cathedral standard.
Alexander Campkin’s set is among the more adventurous with drone-like effects in the lower voices, and more varied textures. Choirs of a high standard will find this creative setting worth exploring. In Andrew Gant’s Pentatonic Responses each singer sings in free tempo, independently of the others, creating pentatonic chord-clusters. The effect is unusual and thought-provoking, since each individual responds to the priest, rather than the choir singing with ‘one voice’. Marcus Sealy’s set was composed for Kingswood School, which probably results in its being the most conventional and simple of those reviewed here. The polished craftsmanship makes Sealy’s Responses perfect for parish or school choirs. The other sets by Simon Biazeck, Daniel Burgess, Hilary Campbell and Matthew Wood all have much to recommend them in their different ways.
As indicated, some of these settings are manageable by parish choirs; others require cathedral standard. Some bass lines, particularly those by Baldwin, Burges and Wood, require basses who can descend at least to E flat. Cathedral choirs will particularly welcome this volume and to them it is heartily recommended.
Christopher Maxim

December 2011

FOR RECITAL OR VOLUNTARY

CAPRICCIO Op. 103 [M/D]
Francis Jackson
Banks Music Publications 14014
The evergreen Francis Jackson, Organist Emeritus of York Minster, is now in his 94th year and continues to perform and compose to our delight. This five minute work dates from 1994 but is given a handsome new print by Banks Music. As ever with Dr Jackson’s compositions, the music is literate, structurally sound, inventive and written with sympathy for the performer. Despite being in 6/8 throughout, there is much rhythmic wit and drive, with a levity that never approaches frivolity: the work concludes strongly and with dignity. Recommended for recitals and for voluntaries.
Huw Morgan

SUITE DU DEUXIEME TON [E–E/M]
Denis Bédard
RSCM CH53
Fans of Denis Bédard’s tuneful and accessible style will welcome this new suite based on 17th-century French classical models of Clérambault and his contemporaries. It is technically much easier than some of Bédard’s other music, and with several movements using minimal or no pedal. Composed for the tenth International Organ Festival in Arbois (France) in 2010, it is a delight, either when played as a whole or using the individual movements as voluntaries (Plein Jeu, Gavotte, Récit, Écho, and Fugue sur les Grands Jeux). Although many of us do not have a Tierce, Crumhorn or Vox Humana, this music will work on almost any organ. My congregation’s feedback was A+; do try it.
John Henderson

FOUR PIECES [M]
Alphonse Mailly
ed. David Patrick  Fitzjohn Music Publications
Mailly (1833–1918) was a pupil of Lemmens, and among other appointments was First Organist to the King of the Belgians. A noted virtuoso, he appeared at the Royal Albert Hall during the 1871 opening season of the International Exhibition. Pâques fleuries, for Palm Sunday, is a pleasant andantino; Musette-Christmas is rather mundane, but March Solennelle more interesting. Be warned that it calls for some octave pedalling. Toccata in D minor is built on a simple right-hand semiquaver figure, with the obligatory big tune in the left hand rather than in the pedals (which makes it a lot easier). The right hand figure tends to pall after a while, with only the briefest relief afforded by two 6-bar chorale-like passages. However, there is plenty of noise and show without demanding too much effort in preparation.

VARIATIONS ON ST COLUMBA [M]
Bruce Campbell  
Paraclete Press PPMO 1131
The composer is Associate Professor in the School of Music at Michigan University. There are four very playable variations. After a presentation of the well-known tune comes a simple two-part version, with a left-hand tune accompanied by quavers. The tune then migrates to the left hand, an octave lower, with a two-part accompaniment, then falls to the pedals, and finally becomes a robust four-part finale, with a quiet ending. This is definitely worth a try.

A TRIBUTE TO JEREMIAH CLARKE [M]
Robert Lind 
Paraclete Press PPMO 1117
This ‘tribute’ begins with a suitably elegant, two-part manuals-only ‘Voluntary in G’, followed by ‘Voluntary on a Morning Hymn’ and ‘Variations on King’s Norton’, one of Clarke’s best tunes. The variations gradually increase in complexity, culminating in a grand fugue in which the tune is given to the pedals. The last item is ‘Trumpet Voluntary in D’, a lively pastiche complete with dotted rhythms but only a few trills; the enterprising player will doubtless want to add more. This is a publication which will be very useful for services.
Trevor Webb

COMPOSER ANTHOLOGIES

A BLISS ORGAN ALBUM [M/D]
compiled and edited by Robert Gower
Banks Music Publications ORG36
This welcome composer anthology collects eight previously published arrangements of orchestral extracts from Arthur Bliss’s extensive output, including opera and music for film. This brings instant comparison with organ arrangements of music by William Walton which could fruitfully be paired in concert with items from this volume: Walton’s Spitfire Prelude alongside the uncompromising dissonance of Bliss’s ‘March’ from Seven Waves Away would be a particularly good coupling.
The works offer a good portrait of the range of Bliss’s expressive language, from the ceremonial (Fanfare for the Lord Mayor of London and ‘Bridal Ceremony’from Adam Zero), through the tender (‘Intermezzo’ from Miracle in the Gorbals) to the youthful irreverence of The Rout Trot. Robert Gower’s practical and effective arrangements make this album a must for organists interested in twentieth-century British music.

THE ORGAN WORKS OF GRAYSTON IVES [M/D]
RSCM N0871
Grayston Ives remains a popular figure amongst church musicians, and this welcome publication collects all of his organ music in one, handsomely produced volume. The earliest piece, Intrada,written in 1977 for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations at St Paul’s Cathedral, is well known through a previous Banks Music anthology, and well worth revisiting. Trademark rhythmic resilience and glittering scales make a strong and characterful work. Processional was written twenty years later but maintains and develops those techniques – this taut and exciting work is an excellent voluntary.
The gentle Lullaby from 2006, published for the first time, this is a lovely, simple piece that would go well before a service. The final work is the most recent: Partita is an eight-movement collection of baroque dance movements (Prelude, Allemande, etc.) of great character: the Sarabande and Toccata are particularly fine.
Huw Morgan

ANTONIO DE CABEZÓN

SELECTED KEYBOARD WORKS
Antonio de Cabezón
ed. Gerhard Doderer and Miguel Bernal Ripoll
Vol. 1 Hymns, Tientos and Versets BA9261
Vol. 2 Hymns, Tientos and Versets BA9262
Vol. 3 Glosas BA9263
Vol. 4 Glosas and Diferencias BA9264
Bärenreiter
The leading Spanish composer for keyboard of the 16th century, Antonio de Cabezón (1510–66) travelled widely around Europe in his capacity as court organist, visiting England in 1554. The editors present a broad selection, with 67 pieces drawn from the two surviving printed sources.
Volume 1 contains 20 pieces including four simple Hymn settings, a short Sequence Dic nobis Maria and five multi-thematic Tientos (or ricercars). Nos. 11–20 include six pieces in just two parts intended ‘for beginners’, excellent for learning to incorporate ornaments and divisions, followed by four-part Versos and Fabordones in each of which the chant appears in a different voice. Volume 2 offers 14 pieces including two Hymn settings and four sets of Versos that show considerable compositional and technical advance on the settings in Volume 1. Eight Tientos follow: outstanding in their varied treatment of the subjects are those on the first and the sixth tone. Volumes 3 and 4 contain 24 settings of sacred and secular vocal pieces and nine sets of variations.
Each volume includes a brief biography, description of the printed and manuscript tradition, information on the Spanish number tablature, and full critical reports. There are comprehensive notes on the complexities of metre and proportional notation, and on fingering as given in the two printed sources. The notes on how to play the ornaments, taken from contemporary sources, could have been expanded, as well, perhaps, as hints on adding glosses between long value notes which, along with rhythmic inequality, is essential to bring the score to life.
These volumes are highly recommended as a starting point for exploring the Iberian Renaissance repertoire. The Tientos still offer freshness almost 500 years down the line and will perhaps be the most useful for today’s organist.
John Collins

CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR

BACH’S MEMENTO [M–M/D]
Charles-Marie Widor
ed. Otto Depenheuer 
Butz Musikverlag BM2160
The important foreword explains Widor’s admiration, almost veneration, of J.S. Bach. Widor said, ‘For me, Bach is the greatest preacher. His cantatas and passions move the soul.’ In these pieces which Widor called orchestrations, in Dr Depenheuer’s words ‘he reshapes the original concept into a work of art of his own by creating an extended paraphrase of the original.’
There are six pieces, beginning with the third movement of the Pastorale, BWV 590. The right hand is unaltered except for bars 57 and 58, with extra bars added at the end. The left hand is a free adaptation, with an equally free pedal part. The key has been changed to E flat.
           Miserere mei Domine and Aria are versions of the sixth and tenth Preludes from the ‘48’, also in different keys. In the first, the two-part texture is amplified to four or five parts and the original 27 bars grow into 40. In Aria, the right hand is developed after bar 10 and the texture amplified, especially by the re-interpretation of the bass.
           Marche du Veilleur de Nuit is a paraphrase of ‘Wachet auf’. The texture is made denser by doubling the number of parts; the first entry of the chorale melody becomes a four-part harmonization and there is a new bass. After a change of key to G flat major it is almost a new composition – a striking re-working of the original.
It is almost a relief to move from this richness to the simplicity of Sicilienne, the well-known second movement of the Flute Sonata, BWV 1031, and then the last movement of the St Matthew Passion. This is an unusual and interesting volume containing music which is important in its own right. In fact these ‘orchestrations’ are remarkable.

SIX PIECES [M–M/D]
Charles-Marie Widor 
transcribed Otto Depenheuer 
Butz Musikverlag  2102
These pieces were published in 1867 as duos for piano and harmonium and subsequently arranged for other instruments, including Westbrook’s 1890s version of four of them for organ. After a suitably light-hearted Humoresque comes a long Allegro cantabile with a passage at the end which calls for either a third hand or the quick insertion of a small weight to hold down a sustained note, a vital instruction which, despite a foreword in German, French and English, only appears in German.
Marche Nuptiale is a splendid piece, and a fine alternative to the ubiquitous Toccata, if only the bride could be persuaded. Perhaps one could it play it by mistake if just asked for ‘the Widor’. Nocturne is attractive, but the winner is Sérénade, a pleasantly melodious piece, simple in style. The Duos end with Variations on an original theme. This book has plenty of interesting music and enough technical challenges to keep the player busy.

ADAGIO FOR ORGAN [E]
David Barton
Lighthouse Music Publications LMP P1001
www.lighthousemusicpublications.com 
Best described as ‘quite innocuous’, the Adagio is given in two versions, one extended by 13 bars. It is nicely constructed and would happily fill a gap of a couple of minutes, or less if the shortened version is used. Curiously both end on a second inversion of F major, which somewhat offended my academic susceptibilities, as well as leaving me wondering if the piece was really over.

FANFARE AND RECESSIONAL FOR ST LUKE’S [E]
David Barton
Adoro Music Publishing AMP-63
www.adoromusicpub.com
This has rather more to it than the Adagio reviewed above; it is quite conventional and gives the player no particular technical problems. At a mere $3.00 it is good value. The composer is very much an English musician, with a wide performing experience in the USA, Ireland, and the UK. Neither of these pieces needs a large instrument.

INVOCATION [E/M]
Raymond Weidner 
Paraclete Press PPMO 1146
Don’t be put off by the use of four staves after the first four bars: they merely make it easier to read. This is a rewarding piece, and not at all difficult. It will work well on a small instrument, though two manuals and pedal are needed. The pedal part is very simple, and the ‘slow and serene’ marking allows plenty of time to get to grips with the four staves.
Trevor Webb

September 2011

MANUALS ONLY

SIX SONATAS Op. 2 [E]
John Garth
ed. Simon Fleming
Fitzjohn Music Publications
John Garth was one of a group of composers active in the north-east England and a close friend of Charles Avison. He published five sets of keyboard sonatas accompanied by two violins and a cello; the pieces in the first set from 1768 are offered here as keyboard solos.
Each two-movement sonata comprises an Allegro or Moderato followed by a Rondeau, Tempo de Minuetto or Presto. The neatly varied texture includes melodic writing over repeated chords, broken chord figures and much two-part writing. Lively, bright and thoughtful, with typically galant rhythmic changes and nice chromatic touches, they pose few technical challenges apart from some extended arpeggios in semiquaver triplets which need careful fingering. They are clearly printed with a brief introduction to the composer and amendments to the original text made by the editor.

PASTORELLAS [E]
Gottlieb Muffat
ed. Erich Benedikt
Doblinger DM1438
The younger Muffat (1690–1770), organist to the Vienna court, left many keyboard works. This volume includes ten stylized pastoral pieces, popular in Italy and southern Germany, taken from various sources. The first six, from his published collection of toccatas and versets, have compound time signatures; the next is the final Canzona from a MS collection of 19, followed by two multi-movement works that conclude with tuneful arias, the one in D being in a vigorous dotted rhythm. The edition includes Muffat’s printed ornament table, essential for accurate performance of his complex graphics. These are delightful pieces, not over difficult, and could serve as an introduction to the composer’s larger-scale works.

SELECTED FUGUES [E–M]
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger
ed. Erich Benedikt
Doblinger DM1413
Albrechtsberger (1736–1809), Kapellmeister of Vienna cathedral, published many sets of fugues for keyboard, from which Erich Benedikt has selected 16, also including two from a manuscript collection. There are examples of the more academic (e.g. the chromatically dark B minor Op. 17/3) and in some cases archaic, as well as his lighter style and the volume gives an excellent introduction for those unacquainted with this fine composer. Several passages marked for pedals could not have been played on the pedalboard of his day. Some pieces are less demanding, but most are not easy to bring off well and will repay time spent ensuring that parts pass cleanly between the hands. There is much material in this clearly printed edition that would serve as voluntaries and recital use; it is a pity that there are also several misprints.
John Collins

SIXTEEN VOLUNTARIES BOOK 1 (Nos. 1–8) [M–M/D]
George Guest
ed. David Patrick & John Collins
Fitzjohn Music Publications
Guest (1771–1831) was a chorister at the Chapel Royal under Nares and then became organist at Eye and Wisbech. His compositions were highly thought of: both Crotch and Beckwith were subscribers to these two-movement voluntaries. In fact it is hard to find a dull piece in them; I particularly enjoyed the Andante movements.
The pieces present challenges covered in the illuminating introduction by John Collins. Among these are questions of registration, particularly if only a two-manual instrument is available. For example, the second movement of Voluntary IV has Swell Diapason over a Flute Bass which alternates over a few bars with Great Diapason Bass. Later the right hand Flute alternates with the Trumpet, often every two or four bars. There are also problems with the elaborate ornamentation. Although there are no indications for beats or mordents there are plenty of others, some of which are peculiar to George Guest. All in all this is a fascinating collection; I hope that the second set appears soon.
Trevor Webb

THE OPENING OF AN ORGAN – A Choice Set of Voluntaries [M]
Matthias Hawdon
ed. David Patrick
Fitzjohn Music Publications

A DUETTE FOR TWO PERFOMERS ON ONE ORGAN [M]
William Howgill
ed. Simon Fleming
Fitzjohn Music Publications

WITH PEDALS

TOCCATA IN G MINOR Op.10 [E/M]
Christiaan Frederik Hendriks
ed. David Patrick
Fitzjohn Music Publications
Hendriks was organist of the Oude Kerke in Amsterdam. The Toccata was published by Leduc in 1898, and this edition has transferred the original from two to three staves and has added registration. The activity is confined to a relatively easy, right hand semiquaver figure over a quite straightforward pedal part. There are two breaks in the pattern made by a chorale-like passage, which also concludes the work.
This is a good concluding voluntary or recital piece, which will not require a great deal of preparation but sounds much harder than it is. What more could an organist wish for?

THREE PIECES FOR ORGAN [M–M/D]
Joseph Callaerts
ed. David Patrick
Fitzjohn Music Publications
Joseph Callaerts (1830–1901) was city carilloneur of Antwerp and a teacher at the Royal Flemish Conservatory. As David Patrick says, the influence of Guilmant and Henry Smart is apparent, the latter particularly in the Marche Triomphale. This is literally quite a handful, with some full chords in both hands. The trio section is reminiscent of Smart in similar pieces, an attractive tune over a simple harmonic foundation. The piece is fairly long, but should send a congregation on its way rejoicing.
Intermezzo is a pleasant, quiet allegretto in B flat minor, almost a moto perpetuo in style with continuous right hand semiquavers. Don’t be fooled by the maestoso marking of the Toccata in E minor. The tempo and a relatively easy-looking pedal part are deceptive. The obligatory right hand semiquavers are there, with the ‘big tune’ down below, all adding up to an exciting finale, but definitely not as easy as one might anticipate.

SIX PIECES FOR ORGAN [Book 1]
John Stainer ed David Patrick Fitzjohn Music Publications [M-M/D]
It is a shame that Stainer is known best for a handful of hymn tunes, the Organ Primer and the unrepresentative Crucifixion; as a composer of church music few of his contemporaries could equal him. The organ music likewise has suffered much neglect. The Six Pieces for Organ, Book 1 were published in 1897, and David Patrick has given them minimal editing, dealing with phrasing and errors in notation, whilst retaining Stainer’s suggestions for registration, tempi, and metronome markings.
There is plenty of variety, from the opening gentle Andante, via a splendid Prelude and Fughetta and an attractive Impromptu, to the peaceful Reverie which concludes the set. I hope that David Patrick will now publish the second set of Six Pieces, to my mind musically stronger and ending with a superb Finale alla Marcia.

THREE HYMN PRELUDES: Little Cornard, Dominus regit me; Sine Nomine [M]
Ian Hare
Banks Music Publications 14062
Hymn preludes are one of the staples of a church organist’s life, and these three are a useful addition to the genre. Little Cornard is a robust setting of the tune, probably a little short for a concluding voluntary – play it twice? Dominus regit me has appeared previously in an animus publication of 2002, and Sine Nomine is a strong allegro moderato setting of a strong tune.

CHRISTMAS ORGAN MUSIC

DANCE VARIATIONS ON RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER [M]
Clifton Hughes
Banks Music Publications
'You’re fired!' Long before those words became a catch phrase they were said to me for playing a piece by Jean Langlais after matins. Now I wonder if I will hear them again if I play this splendidly entertaining composition after a Carol Service.
These variations had me laughing out loud. After the theme has been announced we are plunged into a tango, then a ‘hurdy-gurdy’ waltz followed by a Viennese waltz. Then comes a surprise: a Hornpipe, which proves to combine brilliantly with the main theme. The piece ends with Rock ’n Roll, starting with ‘Rock around the Clock’. This is tremendous fun, and should be reasonably easy to learn. Risk your reputation and play it, at least in private!

SLEIGH BELLS ACROSS THE SNOW [E]
Malcolm Archer
Stainer & Bell H466
Not as career-threatening as ‘Rudolph’ but nonetheless a cheerful, light-hearted romp ideal for a Christmas wedding. Coming from Malcolm Archer we can be assured of a good tune and, in this case, a simple harmonization. The composer explains that ‘it was composed with the theatre organ in mind . . . but works well on any organ with at least two manuals and pedals, and the sleigh bells are purely optional . . . The piece should be performed with lots of verve, in the true theatre-organ spirit, so please feel free to add your own embellishments, glissandi or whatever else takes your fancy!’ That sums it up: let your hair down and have fun.

ORGAN PLUS ONE – Advent and Christmas [M]
Carsten Klomp
Barenreiter BA8501
This is part of a series of ‘free and chorale-oriented works for organ and solo instrument’ covering the church year. Of the chorale preludes, the arranger says that ‘the solo instrument represents an additional ad libitum voice. The setting can therefore also be used without the solo instrument for the accompaniment of the congregation.’ These preludes have been transposed where necessary to fit the keys of the German Evangelisches Gesangbuch, and cover works by composers such as Bach, Böhm, and Kauffmann. Other items are arrangements of Tallis, Lefébure-Wely and Guilmant, plus several pieces by the editor. Four sets of parts are included for solo instruments in C, B flat, E flat and F. It is a book which has a wide practical use.
Trevor Webb

COME, THOU REDEEMER – Music for the Christmas season [M]
Antony Baldwin, Hazel Hudson, Theo Saunders
animus
Five of the seven pieces are by Theo Saunders, somewhat severe but quite varied in style. Antony Baldwin's Prelude on 'L'o, a Rose e'er blooming' is pleasantly simple, unassuming and cleanly written with a right hand melody over crotchet chords and an easy pedal part. The best of the bunch is Hazel Hudson's A Christmas Quodlibet based on 'Silent Night' and 'The First Nowell', two tunes which combine remarkably well in the middle section. This will be a useful collection for Christmas services, with the added merit of not demanding too much preparation.
Trevor Webb

THE OPENING OF AN ORGAN – A Choice Set of Voluntaries [M]
Matthias Hawdon
ed. David Patrick
Fitzjohn Music Publications
Hawdon (1732–89) was organist at Beverley Minster and at what is now Newcastle Cathedral, where he is buried beneath the organ. Although called a set of voluntaries the collection is in fact ten separate movements of varying lengths; one Allegro runs to 155 bars whilst the shortest is only 16 bars. They seem very conventional and, whilst charming enough, lacking in substance, though they may make useful voluntaries. There is plenty of scope for registration to exploit the possibilities of the instrument being used, as the title implies.
Trevor Webb

A DUETTE FOR TWO PERFOMERS ON ONE ORGAN [M]
William Howgill
ed. Simon Fleming
Fitzjohn Music Publications
Whatever the merits of digital versus pipes, one thing the former can do is enable the organist to play duets without having to comb the streets for another player.
Howgill (1768/9–1824) was organist at Whitehaven, which was evidently something of a family concern. He published 32 works between 1791 and 1824, the earliest known being a duet from 1784 but now lost. The present duet was published in 1807 and was well received: the Monthly Magazine for February 1810 says ‘it offers proof of ingenuity, and a tolerably intimate acquaintance with the character and power of the instrument.’
There are two movements, a Largo introduction to an Allegro moderato, and then a Con Brio. This is a splendid piece but, apart from the problems of getting two organists together, is hindered from anything other than a recital performance by its length, 433 bars. However, if these obstacles can be overcome, pleasure is guaranteed.
Trevor Webb

June 2011

MANUALS ONLY

OXFORD SERVICE MUSIC FOR ORGAN – Manuals only, Books 1, 2 and 3
Compiled and ed. Anne Marsden Thomas
Oxford 9780193372634, 9780193372641, 9780193372658
See also the review below of the anthologies for manuals and pedals
This series is an invaluable addition to the repertoire of music for church organists and students. The 154 pieces follow approximately the ABRSM grades, Book 1 covering grades 1–4, Book 2 grades 5–6, and Book 3 grades 7–8. The stated intention, ‘to provide a wide range of pieces for the church organist’, is met most admirably. Each book is divided into preludes, interludes, processionals and postludes, thus providing something suitable for almost every likely occasion. The range is very wide, covering different countries, periods, and styles. Frescobaldi and Gibbons rub shoulders with Bach and Couperin, Karg-Elert and Mathias. In addition there are several items written specially by Alan Bullard, David Blackwell and Brian Solomons. The pieces also offer excellent opportunities for sight reading and transposition.
There are a few items which are widely known, such as the original manuals-only version of Wesley’s Choral Song (without the Fugue), and an interesting arrangement for manuals only of Mathias’s Processional, but these are far outnumbered by unfamiliar pieces. For something most curious try the Chromatic Toccata for the elevation by Frescobaldi (Book 3) and for sheer cheerfulness the Fantasia by Telemann in Book 2. The editing is meticulous. The composers’ registrations are given, with clarification if necessary. There is a useful introduction explaining the principles behind the editorial method. These books should not be confined only to service or teaching use. As with Anne Marsden Thomas’s earlier anthologies, there is a wealth of unfamiliar music for any organist of any level of ability to explore.

HYMN-TUNE MINIATURES – Ten short pieces for organ [E/M]
Philip Spratley
animus
The composer describes these pieces as ‘designed to fill gaps in services such as Gospel processions. They are set out for manuals only with an occasional pedal part ad libitum.’ All are therefore short, only two slightly exceeding a page in length; they normally take the tune and lightly embellish it, sometimes presenting it in a minor key rather than the original major. All are well written and will serve their intended purpose as well as providing useful models for one’s own attempts at improvising on a hymn tune.

COLDRIDGE CHORALES FOR ORGAN [E]
Humphrey Clucas
animus
Written for the same organ as the previous Coldridge books, these are ideal for the smallest instrument. There are four pieces based on familiar chorale melodies: Jesu, meine Freude, Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, Ein’ feste Burg and Komm, süsser Tod. Each consists of a straightforward elaboration of the chorale melody, the most substantial being the last one; all will be useful as voluntaries.

SUITE FOR ORGAN on the Gaelic Song ‘Mo Chùbhrachan’ [M]
Ian Major
animus
There are six movements in this Suite, based on the cradle song whose title, ‘My little fragrant one’, is a term of endearment for a small child. Of the many tunes to this song, Ian Major has taken three, all of which are used in Versets (Bicinium), whilst the fourth movement, Binneas (2), uses another tune altogether. The style is distinctive, interesting and attractive. Danns Beag , the fifth movement, is slightly harder than the others with right hand stretches of up to an eleventh at quaver = 152. The last movement, Fuga, has a disturbing feel to the tonality and also demands neat agility.

MINIATURE SUITE FOR SMALL ORGAN [E/M]
Charles Paterson
fagus-music.com
The movements in this tuneful Suite would be a good collection for a wedding. The Processional is just a page, but could be extended by judicious repeats if the aisle is a little too long. Plaint might provide a brief time for reflection (especially if one of the hymns is that old faithful, ‘Dear Lord and Father of mankind’). Rondo is the best of the bunch, a lively 6/8 dance; the right hand calls for good playing in thirds. Slow Dance leads into a Trumpet Tune which, marked ‘sprightly’, is a good recessional.
Trevor Webb

WITH EASY PEDALS

FOUR WHIMS FOR ORGAN [M–M/D]
Ian W Seeley
animus
Quality is associated with Ian Seeley’s work and this book does not disappoint. A gentle Romance is followed by an invigorating Tarantella. Barcarolle is another quiet piece, ideal as an incoming voluntary, and the concluding Cortège is a dignified funeral procession. In all the pieces the pedal part is easy, consisting mostly of long notes with no awkward leaps.

FIVE MINIATURES [E/M]
Douglas Bell
animus
These five movements make no great technical demands but are pleasant to play and useful as voluntaries. The opening Fantasia circa Holt Nevill (to be found in Leicestershire) sets the tone with a distinctly modal flavour continued throughout the ensuing movements. Rhapsody on a theme by Widor is based on the melody from the second movement of the Gothic Symphony and carries a footnote, doubtless for copyright reasons, that it is for ‘circulation and performance in the UK only’. Other movements fortunately have no such restriction. A soothing Cantilena and a solemn Phrygian Chorale continue the modal style, and the book ends with a set of nine variations, The Bower, written for a one manual and pedal organ of four stops by Richard Bower.
Trevor Webb

BLEWITT AND CHIPP

TEN VOLUNTARIES OR PIECES FOR THE ORGAN OP. 5 [E]
Jonas Blewitt
ed. David Patrick
Fitzjohn Music Publications
INTRODUCTION AND VARIATIONS on Handel’s ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’ and INTRODUCTION AND FUGUE IN C MAJOR [D]
Edmund Thomas Chipp
ed. David Patrick
Fitzjohn Music Publications
David Patrick has already published Blewitt’s important treatise on the organ with his Op. 4 voluntaries, and here he presents the composer’s set of ten voluntaries of Op. 5. While the musical content includes the usual voluntaries for Trumpet, Cornet, Flute, Vox humana and Horns, the original preface contains much valuable material on adapting these pieces for small instruments which are not furnished with the specified stops, and the recommended alternative registrations will be of great value today. The movements for solo stops are of greater interest than those for full organ, and since the pieces were written with young performers in mind, they pose no great technical challenges. An awareness of contemporary performance practice is essential for successful interpretation.
The two works by Chipp, whose enthusiasm for Mendelssohn is readily apparent, present a far sterner test for the player, especially in the pedal part. An introduction with carefully marked tempo changes leads to a statement of Handel’s well-known melody, followed by six variations which become progressively more virtuosic with plenty of semiquaver passages in thirds, some highly chromatic writing and, in the final 6/8 variation, thick chords over a moto perpetuo pedal. The prescribed registration implies performance on just two manuals if a Krummhorn is available on the Great. The Introduction and Fugue in C also includes some demanding writing for manuals and pedals, especially in the fugue built on scale runs, but will reward the perseverance required.
David Patrick has provided his usual concise introduction to each well-printed and prepared volume from original sources; very different in style and requirements, each adds to our knowledge of our native repertoire in its own way, for which he deserves our thanks.
John Collins

MANUALS AND PEDALS

SONATA NO. 1 IN G MAJOR [M/D–D]
Alan Gray
ed. David Patrick
Fitzjohn Music Publications
A pleasure of reviewing is that in most parcels there is at least one work that asks to have time spent learning it, and this is one such piece. Alan Gray (1855–1935) is a composer of whom unfortunately little is now heard. Trained as a lawyer he turned to music, becoming the first director of music at Wellington College and then organist of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was well known in his day for his church and organ music, including Four Superior Sonatas published by Novello in 1890, of which this is the first, and dedicated to his predecessor at Cambridge, Sir Charles Stanford.
The first movement, an impressive Fantasia, is probably the best, with opulent writing very much in the late Victorian style and certainly deserving the description ‘superior’. The second movement, ‘Intermezzo’, is a quiet elegiac piece of considerable beauty. The Sonata ends with a lively Finale which is perhaps not quite up to the standard set by the preceding movements. But overall this is a magnificent work which deserves to be brought back into the repertoire.

TOCCATA ON PSALM 117 [M]
Stephen Burtonwood
fagus-music.com
This is one of those pieces that looks and sounds harder than it really is. Whilst the style is quite traditional, with a busy quaver manual part over a more stately pedal tune, there is no lack of invention in the writing. The rhythm is continuous throughout the piece’s 149 bars: an exhilarating piece, making a good end to a recital or service.

OXFORD SERVICE MUSIC FOR ORGAN – Manuals and Pedals, Books 1, 2 and 3
Compiled and ed. Anne Marsden Thomas
Oxford 9780193372665, 9780193372672, 9780193372689
See also review above of the anthologies for manuals only
£27.85 buys 104 pieces, which is good value, especially when the vast range of music is taken into account. The format and the grading are the same as for the manuals-only books, with pieces ranging from a page or less to more substantial items. There is a good mixture of familiar and unfamiliar music, for example the third movement of Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 4 (Book 3), Bach’s Prelude on Liebster Jesu (BWV 731), or Whitlock’s ‘Andante Tranquillo’ from Five Short Pieces and ‘Dolcezza’ from Reflections, as well as a lot of much rarer music. Examples of the latter are the Allegro from Walther’s Concerto del Signor Meck (Book 3) and the charming Fantasia by Krebs (Book 2). Some pieces, for example Salomé’s Grand Choeur, have been shortened, though this is not always made clear.
The original pieces are all interesting. Brian Solomons’s October is a one-page interlude (Book 3), and a piece that really caught my fancy is Ian Hunt’s Toccata Giocosa in Book 2, a marvellous 10/8 romp that will surely set feet tapping.
As with the other books in the series, these are a must for the organist’s library. There is something for every conceivable occasion, and a great amount of music to please and to be well worth learning, whatever the player’s level.
Trevor Webb

TWO PIECES FOR ORGAN: Toccata Capricorn, Launch for Life [M]
J Michael Kidd
animus
If you enjoyed previous publications by Michael Kidd you will like these two pieces. The Toccata is quite conventional, with the usual semiquaver manual figure over a slow pedal. The chord structure is not very adventurousand becomes a touch tedious after a while – the piece is seven pages long – but would certainly fit in well at a wedding. As toccatas go this one is quite easy, a good one with which to impress your friends.
Launch for Life began as Away Lifeboat, written to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the RNLI, and performed in an organ arrangement at St Paul’s Cathedral, after which the Queen Mother expressed her interest in the composer. The piece, published by Boosey and Hawkes, was also arranged for brass and military band and used on Border Television.
With such impeccable credentials behind it the composer has produced an arrangement described as ‘an improved version for organ, slightly easier to play’, with the new title. Tuneful and undemanding, it presents no technical problems. Rather like the Toccata, the use of a repetitive rhythmic figure (semiquaver-quaver-semiquaver) for the great proportion of the piece becomes a touch annoying after a while, but don’t let that put you off.
Trevor Webb

March 2011

MANUALS ONLY

TEN VOLUNTARIES Op. 8 [M/D]
George Berg
ed.David Patrick 
Fitzjohn Music Publications
After the pleasures of Berg’s Op. 2 (see CMQ December 2010), I was happy to see Op. 8. The book has plenty to delight and, as before, there are many movements which are a pleasure to play and which will repay careful preparation, in particular the opening Andante of No. 15 and the concluding fugue in each of Nos. 19 and 20. These two have dramatic introductory movements which cry out for the heretical use of pedals, if you have the courage to do so!
Trevor Webb

THREE CONCERTOS for the organ or harpsichord [D]
Charles Avison, sen. (1709–70)
SEVEN VOLUNTARIES for organ [M]
Charles Avison, jun. (1751–95)
ed. Simon Fleming and David Patrick
Fitzjohn Music Publications
The Newcastle organist Charles Avison, senior, composed many sets of concerti grossi and accompanied keyboard sonatas and also left an Essay that gives much information about the musical life of his time. These arrangements by Simon Fleming for solo keyboard are quite in accordance with contemporary practice. Nos. 1 and 2 are in three movements (fast–slow–fast), the slow movement being omitted in No. 3; the slow movement of No. 1 consists of just eight bars. The outer movements are extensive, and the final movement of No. 2 is a driving gigue that complements the motoric quavers in the opening movement. These pieces pose considerable technical difficulties, particularly the lengthy section at the end of the first movement of No. 3 when the note tails indicate interlocking and crossed hands. There are wide leaps and extended arpeggios that require careful fingering, and in many places care is needed to effect the manual changes cleanly, but the time spent practising and mastering these pieces will be richly rewarded.
His son Charles, junior, left some variations for harpsichord, and now Simon Fleming has confirmed that organ pieces in a manuscript preserved in Washington, USA, are by him and not his father as had previously been thought. Seven short voluntaries are published here, three in one movement, the other four in two movements, with two actually headed ‘Cornet’. The last two voluntaries, both single-movement pieces in a more classical style, also contain extended arpeggios and there are wide leaps for the RH and passages that do not lie comfortably beneath the hand in the final voluntary, but generally the technical requirements are modest. Some movements are on the very short side, perhaps little more than sketches, and one has been tentatively completed by the editors. Both volumes contain an extended and informative preface by Simon Fleming.
John Collins

FULL ORGAN

PARSING VARIATIONS [M/D]
Tarik O’Regan
Novello NOV016357
Tarik O’Regan’s fourth work for the organ shows a pleasing maturity of style and technique. The work, commissioned for ‘Oundle for Organists’ and first performed by Robert Quinney at the 2010 Oundle Festival, is a set of continuously-linked variations on an original theme by Jenny Barry, the winner of a competition run by the Festival. Interestingly, nowhere in the publication is the theme explicitly stated, making this work a kind of latter-day Enigma Variations.
That said, this may be a deliberate ploy by the composer, given the work’s title: ‘parsing’ being the systematic analysis of text to determine its grammatical structure. Certainly, the structure is a sophisticated, complex arch shape spanning some thirteen minutes: the work opens with a thin, polyphonic fabric that returns periodically, punctuating passages of contrasting character – rhythmic, fugal, and rhapsodic. The music is technically idiomatic and lies nicely under the fingers: a substantial and satisfying recital work.
Huw Morgan

LITTLE ORGAN BOOK [M/D]
selected and ed. Martin Neary
Novello NOV016346
This excellent book is published by the Organists Charitable Trust and appears as part of the Trust’s centenary celebrations. Eleven pieces range from John Stainer and Frank Bridge to James MacMillan and Paul Spicer. Howells’s Cradle Song and Rutter’s Prelude: Te lucis ante terminum are published for the first time, along with three commissions. The stated aim is for a selection which ‘will appeal to a . . . wide cross-section of organists’ in compositions which are ‘relatively simple pieces of contrasting moods’.
The book begins with an exuberant Paean by Philip Moore, using constantly shifting rhythmic patterns. It is guaranteed to impress listeners because it sounds much harder than it is – great fun to play with scope for imaginative registration. Iain Farrington, who along with David Bednall and Thomas Hewitt Jones is one of the three specially commissioned composers, contributes Bluesday, which uses the organ somewhat untraditionally. A bold and richly chromatic middle section is framed by a languorous melody which will test the player’s ability to play expressively.
Thomas Hewitt Jones’s Carnival has its tricky moments and like Bluesday will need careful preparation. White Note Paraphrase by James MacMillan is a brief essay in which, naturally, not an accidental is to be seen. A quiet adagio movement, it is not as easy as it looks. The last of the commissioned trio is David Bednall’s Fanfare-Processional, a lengthy piece which would be a good end to a recital or big service.
John Rutter’s quiet Prelude from 1979 has the melody in the left hand accompanied by strings of consecutive fifths. Howells’s 1913 Cradle Song is a most beautiful composition, over all too soon, with all the hallmarks of Howells at his best. Paul Spicer’s Fanfare for a Bride (1970) is another short piece, strong and dramatic; and I hope an adventurous bride might be persuaded to consider it. Peter Hurford’s Dialogue No. 2 (1962) is lively and colourful, with plenty of harmonic and rhythmic interest.     
Items by Bridge and Stainer end the volume. Bridges’ Meditation was written for organ or harmonium, so pedals are not required. However, because of the not inconsiderable left hand stretches the editor suggests that pedals could be used, coupled without stops. Stainer’s extended Andante Pathetique encourages the thought that this composer is overdue for re-evaluation.
This is an important publication giving a good overview of a long period of British organ music, and should find a place in every organist’s library.
Trevor Webb

TWELVE SHORT PRELUDES ON OLD ENGLISH PSALM TUNES [M]
W.T. Best
ed. David Patrick
Fitzjohn Music Publications
W.T. Best was one of the organist giants of the nineteenth century, and a leading light in bringing Bach’s organ music back into the public eye. These Preludes first appeared in 1890 and the tunes are mostly still in use today, so we can find Old 100th, Melcombe, Wareham and St Anne as well as other familiar names. Most are only one or two pages in length; the longest (and one of the best) is on Hanover. A word of warning: beware of the titles, which are taken from the first line of a hymn and not necessarily that used today.
The collection has a good place in service use. Most are short enough to be used to cover places such as the Gospel procession or the departure of clergy and choir after the service, and are much better than an uninspired and uninspiring improvisation. Hanover and St Anne, being slightly longer, would make excellent prolongations of the hymn. There are no particular technical problems, and most could be sight-read if necessary; they would sound effective on even a small two-manual organ. The debt to Bach is well evident.

MY SPIRIT SINGS OUR SOVEREIGN LORD [M]
Robert J Powell 
Paraclete Press PPM01042
These six pieces, presumably based on American hymn tunes, are eminently playable and should be well received. The book begins with a rousing fanfare-like ‘Christ is risen! Alleluia!’, followed by a gentle short ‘I received the living God.’ Other unfamiliar but no less attractive items follow. ‘He who would valiant be’ is the most extensive, but don’t expect to find Monks Gate. With its mixture of long and short, rousing and quiet pieces, no great technical problems and no need for a large instrument, this is a useful publication.
Trevor Webb