CE Manchester Cathedral 17th Dec 2014

[DracoM]

CE Manchester Cathedral



Order of Service:



Introit: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61(i) (J.S. Bach)
Responses: Christopher Stokes
Psalm 89 vv1-19, 50b (Barnby)
Office hymn: Creator of the stars of night (Mode iv)
Lesson: Isaiah 39
Antiphon: O Sapientia
Canticles: Sumsion in G
Matthew 17: 14-21
Anthem: Vox dicentis: Clama (Naylor)
Hymn: Hills of the North, rejoice (Little Cornard)
Amen, Amen, komm du schöne Freudenkrone BWV 61(vi) (J.S. Bach)


Organ voluntary: Prelude & Fugue in B minor BWV 544 (J.S. Bach)


Jeffrey Makinson, Sub-organist
Christopher Stokes, Organist and Master of the Choristers

[DracoM]

Reminder: today @ 3.30 p.m.

[ardcarp]

What an extraordinary choral sound! I only listened from the Sumsion Mag onwards; and I felt a round of applause coming on at he end of the Naylor, rather in the spirit of a high-wire act safely negotiated. The T&B sounded most accomplished, and the top line was a mixture of 'straight' voices and some with character (perhaps one in particular!) all singing with great spirit. Must wait for the Psalms on i-player.

[DracoM]

Yes, as good a mix of boy/girl sops and trebs as I think we have heard for some time. No fuss, good ATB as well - delicacy in the psalms, neat responses from the DOM, and O Sapientia, but bags of appropriate wellie in the Naylor. It's a very big sing at a busy time of the term, takes all parts very high and very low in their ranges.

Pretty accomplished stuff all round, I'd say. Like the gentle Bach to settle things. I also like the way that Advent was very much the liturgical flavour here, no chocolate-boxing and tinsel jingling.

[terratogen]

I feel I say this whenever Manchester broadcasts, but--at least from what we hear on the radio--I'm so consistently impressed with work being done there, particularly considering the size of the outfit (eight full choristers? nine? six men? I'm sure someone more familiar can confirm) and what sometimes strikes me as a lack of centrality of the choir to the deeply service-oriented self-concept and mission of the cathedral.

Christopher Stokes' choir seems to feel at home in baroque repertoire; didn't we hear Bach from Manchester last time, too? There's one of several awful puns in there somewhere, but hardly at the expense of the choir, which I thought delivered both the introit and the Amen with a boldness that flexibility that occasionally escapes cathedral choirs in such repertoire, but with no lack of warmth.

Perhaps the Naylor, also full of wellie, as Draco's mentioned, would have bloomed more fully in a more generous acoustic, but isn't that always the case? And hardly the fault of the musicians. The psalms did reveal a rather striking difference in sound between the dec and can trebles, with one or two individuals sounding as though they were looking to audition in front of Edward Higginbotham and a few sounding very young indeed. On that note, I've already seen the perennial griping in other forums about Manchester's long-established mix of boy and girl trebles--a mix that, I understand with some sadness, is no longer near even--but I have always found--and find today--the sound of Manchester's boys, girls, and men well within the 'proper-to-my-ear' expectation (or bias) that I have in listening to the work of 'traditional' cathedral choirs. They make a wonderful, gutsy sound, and I'm glad to have heard them in this service.

A delightful, somehow 'honest'-feeling service for Advent. I don't think that there was a moment of music I didn't enjoy. Many thanks to Manchester.

[ardcarp]

I have always found--and find today--the sound of Manchester's boys, girls, and men well within the 'proper-to-my-ear' expectation (or bias) that I have in listening to the work of 'traditional' cathedral choirs. They make a wonderful, gutsy sound, and I'm glad to have heard them in this service.

Agree absolutely.

[bach736]

... and what sometimes strikes me as a lack of centrality of the choir to the deeply service-oriented self-concept and mission of the cathedral.

You seem to be speaking a different language.
Please explain.

[terratogen]

You seem to be speaking a different language.
Please explain.

I thought I might have put this poorly! All I mean is that Manchester seems to radiate a very deep-down commitment to justice in the community and to urban outreach and volunteerism (its work with the Booth Centre comes immediately to mind) that, to me as a complete outsider looking in, constitutes its public face; it's generally what I think of when I think of the mission of this particular Cathedral. Other cathedrals--though not for lack of service, of course; it's not a zero-sum thing--make a point of establishing very visible public presences for their music departments: I think of Winchester and its annual media blitz of ice skating choristers and of Salisbury, St Paul's, Canterbury, and a few others whose choirs have prominently featured in media designed to reach beyond church-going and church music-consuming audiences. (This isn't even to mention places like King's, which is all but defined in the broader public imagination by the work of its choir.) When I think of the Salisburys and Winchesters and King's-es, then, the music looms large, and its excellence doesn't come as a terrible surprise; when I encounter similar excellence out of places like Manchester, as I've done when listening to its last several broadcasts, I wonder 'where has this been hiding?'

The answer, of course, is 'in the cathedral all along,' which I would spend all my time proving by experience if I could afford the travel. But, as I said: I'm very much an outside observer and layman. Hope very much that I didn't offend you or anyone at Manchester, Bach, and that if I did, I've properly explained myself. Truly, I so appreciate the work that the music department there does. Absolutely no slight intended.

[Bullock in D]

With such a dry acoustic to contend with I have to say that I thought the whole evensong was very fine indeed. But the highlight was the Naylor which was fabulous. The Tenors and Basses blended most sensitively and reminded me of the old days at Leeds PC. 'pp' really was 'pretty powerful'....delightfully so. Well done.

[bach736]

None taken, Terratogen - just couldn't get my head round the words!
Totally agree with all you say.

[Finzi4ever]

"I don't think that there was a moment of music I didn't enjoy. Many thanks to Manchester."
- Quite agree: this was a total pleasure from start to finish.