CE Wells Cathedral Wed, 19th March 2014

[DracoM]

CE Wells Cathedral



Order of Service:



Introit: O quam gloriosum (Victoria)
Responses: Tomkins
Psalms: 1 & 112 (Beale, Booth)
First Lesson: Genesis 50: 22-end
Office Hymn: Lord, hear the praises of thy faithful people (Coelites plaudant)
Organ prelude: Intonazione del settimo tono (A.Gabrieli)
Magnificat quinti toni (Praetorius)
Second Lesson: Matthew 2: 13-end
Nunc dimittis tertii toni (Victoria)
Anthem: Joseph fili David (Padilla)
Hymn: Who are these, like stars appearing (All Saints)



Organ Voluntary: Prelude and Fugue in C (BWV 547) (JS Bach)




Jonathan Vaughn (Assistant Organist)
Matthew Owens (Organist and Master of the Choristers)

[Despina dello Stagno]

Rather too mixed a bag for my taste: strong on the counter-reformation (well, Wells was the seat of Laudianism), with a bit of German tolerant Protestantism. That is a historical observation on the origins of the items, not a value judgement.

IM'UO Spain, Mexico, Italy, Germany and England comprise too generous a smorgasbord of entertainment. It is always more satisfying when the menu is restricted to closely complementary items; a matched pair of canticles, for example.

[DracoM]

Deleted.

[edashtav]

closely complementary

"closely" is redundant, surely, dds?

[Despina dello Stagno]

closely complementary

"closely" is redundant, surely, dds?

erm, erm, not when it refers to complementary in The Close, I would submit.
I frequently have arguments with the Signor, as to whether "close proximity" is tautological.

[Old Grumpy]

I frequently have arguments with the Signor, as to whether "close proximity" is tautological.

Interesting - never really thought about it!

OG

[decantor]

Rather too mixed a bag for my taste: strong on the counter-reformation (well, Wells was the seat of Laudianism), with a bit of German tolerant Protestantism. That is a historical observation on the origins of the items, not a value judgement.
IM'UO Spain, Mexico, Italy, Germany and England comprise too generous a smorgasbord of entertainment. It is always more satisfying when the menu is restricted to closely complementary items; a matched pair of canticles, for example.

Gosh, the stuff that passes me by! I had failed to worry my little head about Laudianism or complementarity, or the global scale of the music’s provenance. Least of all did I fret about a "smorgasbord of entertainment". Entertainment? Is Wells offering just another R3 ‘show’?

Personally, I was simply looking forward to an uplifting Lenten evensong, an Anglican (broad church) Act of Worship embellished by fine early music, probably sung with grace and skill. I still am, and do not regret my more modest expectations. De gustibus non, etc.

[Despina dello Stagno]

Is it possible for the hosts to transfer most of this thread to another place? Working title: ?Wells migration. I should like to develop an argument on the role of the BBC in the changing of tastes in CE, and as with the Byrd thread, it needs to be divorced from the normal critique of a specific service.
Thank you.

[Ed: Despina - as the discussion hasn't developed very far yet here, perhaps you could start a new thread with whatever argument you want to make? - ff]

[ardcarp]

Despina, are you going to find some arcane reason, every week, why a poor DoM has failed miserably in his choice of music for CE?

There's actually no rules about what music you stick in provided you've got the basic outline. It doesn't have to be 'themed', worry overmuch about the 39 Articles or be ethnically pure.

I think Decantor has (as always) put it rather well...and no we don't want to migrate to a new thread every time you go off on a flight of fancy. You are at liberty to start as many threads as you like..

[Magnificat]

Rather too mixed a bag for my taste: .

And it will, no doubt, require a mixed choir to sing it!!

VCC

[ardcarp]

Oh dear.

[ardcarp]

I think it would be really refreshing if we chucked all our preconceived ideas in the bin next week and actually listened to Wells on Weds (or on i-player).

It was interesting that on the Magdalen thread (along with its migrated version) there were as many as 100 viewers at one time, but the comments about the CE broadcast itself were very few indeed.

Now I appreciate many listen to CE each week who do not wish to rush into print about it. I also think many feel reluctant to comment because they feel slightly intimidated by certain 'high octane' posts.

So how about some nice, simple comments on the Wells service, e.g. what you liked or didn't like and how you found the experience, musically, spiritually, or whatever?

(Oh dear, I sound like CB-H asking for tweets!)

[DracoM]

On the Wells website it makes it crystal clear that the choir is sung by Senior Choristers and of course the Men. Senior Choristers will be a mix of the leasding boys and girls - a tradition that Matthew Owens has developed for a number of years. I have absolutely no quarrel with that at all.

[terratogen]

I think it would be really refreshing if we chucked all our preconceived ideas in the bin next week and actually listened to Wells on Weds (or on i-player).

Turning to the 'Great Choir' at Wells is certainly nothing new; though Matthew Owens has made it routine for out-of-the-ordinary services, I understand that it has its precedents under Malcolm Archer, whose choristers were just superb and services sublime in any composition of the choir. Meanwhile, those concerned about the weekly work done by Wells' boys need only look at the music list and be (hopefully) assuaged.

At any rate. I've heard the Praetorius Magnificat before and found it gorgeous, but I'm not familiar with the anthem and can't seem to find a recording readily available. I'll look forward to hearing something new-to-me during a season of such music as Lent's.

[DracoM]

Seems like a long time ago that this all started, but................
Today @ 3.30 p.m.
Sunday repeat @ 3 p.m.