Sumsion, Herbert

[ardcarp]

OK, not a ground-breaking composer, and known to most for his church music, notably settings of the Canticles, and a few anthems such as They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships. However he wrote quite a lot of other stuff too, including chamber music...none of which I've heard! The reason I'm posting this is because of 'historic' interest. He knew Elgar and included Howells, Finzi and Vaughan Williams among his personal friends. He conducted many of their larger works in the Three Choirs Festival. He was Organist of Gloucester Cathedral for many years, having been an articled pupil to Herbert (yes another Herbert) Brewer.

Wiki biog here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Sumsion

He was one of the many who fought in the 1st War and saw action between 1917 - 18. I'm sure Pabmusic knows all about him, and I'd be interested to know if any of his non-church music is performed/recorded/known about.

[Serial_Apologist]

He was about the same age as Herbert Howells and, like him, lived a long life. And yet, this is the very first time I've heard of him! Thanks for bringing a "new" composer to my attention, ardy!

[Pulcinella]

He recorded the Elgar Organ sonata on the Gloucester organ for EMI:

https://www.discogs.com/Sir-Edward-Elgar-Herbert-Sumsion-Choir-Of-Worcester-Cathedral-Christopher-Robinson-Sacred-Music-Orga/release/12494783

[ardcarp]

He recorded the Elgar Organ sonata on the Gloucester organ for EMI:

https://www.discogs.com/Sir-Edward-E...lease/12494783

I'm a bit confused about who played/sang what and where.

[ardcarp]

Ah, I see! The choir & organ items were presumably from the 1990s at Worcester and a 1960s recording of the Elagar Sonata, played by Sumsion at Gloucester, was tacked on. Hope I've got that right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhK_XEdSaNQ

[Keraulophone]

‘What at the beginning of the week was assumption has now become a certainty.’ - Elgar on Sumsion’s success in his first Three Choirs Festival (1928), having only just been appointed as Herbert Brewer’s successor at Gloucester Cathedral; Sir Edward here displaying a Beechamesque level of punmanship.

Coincidentally, we sang the delightfully pastoral Sumsion in G Mag & Nunc at Evensong this evening before the brilliance of Walton’s The Twelve... what a privilege.

[Petrushka]

The Elgar Sonata recording is included on disc 3 (along with Sumsion playing items by S S Wesley, Howells, Parry and Whitlock) of the EMI/Warner box 'Great Cathedral Organs'.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Cathedral-Organs/dp/B005HWDERW/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1543445099&sr=1-1&keywords=great+cathedral+organs

You need a deep pocket for the set nowadays - I bought mine in 2013 for £23!

[ardcarp]

we sang the delightfully pastoral Sumsion in G Mag & Nunc at Evensong this evening before the brilliance of Walton’s The Twelve

The Twelve...what a fantastic piece, especially that sop/treble duet which needs such careful tuning. But I digress. Sumsion, confusingly, wrote three sets of Canticles in G, one SATB (which I guess is the better-known) one ATB and one for trebles only.

[Keraulophone]

Sumsion, confusingly, wrote three sets of Canticles in G, one SATB (which I guess is the better-known)

Yes, that SATB one. It may sound liltingly simple, but it does contain one or two traps, especially for the trebles, and certain phrases can easily sound flat even though you think you’re singing in tune. We’ve occasionally used it as a test piece for short-listed organists to conduct, and it’s interesting how it can find out candidates who underestimate its charms and don’t exploit all the requisite detail in the score, while being straightforward enough to allow the more talented choir trainers to demonstrate their musicianship in a relatively relaxed way. The Stanford in C Canticles are another such example: one candidate, now the DoM at a well-known cathedral, was so spellbound by our first run-through of the Mag (which we had recently recorded for Priory) that he had nothing at all to say to us at the end other than praise, and was thus consigned to the bottom of the pile.

[ardcarp]

...ah, but you were supposed to make a few deliberate mistakes to catch him out.

[Keraulophone]

...ah, but you were supposed to make a few deliberate mistakes to catch him out.

We've occasionally tried that approach, but distinguished visiting advisors don't always approve!