CE Lichfield Cathedral Wed, 20th May

[DracoM]

CE Lichfield Cathedral




Order of Service:



Introit: Antiphon for Ascension (Richard Lloyd) first broadcast
Responses: Rose
Office Hymn: Christ is the King (Gelobt sei Gott)
Psalm 104 (Parratt, Ben Lamb)
First Lesson: 1 Kings 19: 1-18
Canticles: The Lichfield Service (Grayston Ives) first broadcast
Second Lesson: Matthew 3: 13-end
Anthem: See, see, the word is incarnate (Gibbons)
Final Hymn: The Lord ascendeth up on high (Palace Green)



Organ Voluntary: Psalm Prelude Set 2 No 3 'Sing unto the Lord a new song' (Howells)




Organist: Martyn Rawles
Directors of Music: Ben and Cathy Lamb

[ardcarp]

A fresh young sound...possibly more reminiscent of a good youth choir than a trad cathedral sound. Very unusually we were informed right at the start that it was the boy and girl choristers singing together with the lay clerks How welcome in the sense that no quibbles are going to arise here! The Ives canticles did not, I hope, upset those who don't like 'modern' music in the liturgy. Very inoffensive, surely? Verse anthems are difficult to bring off, relying so heavily on the soloists...but I thought the sop/treble did very well. Good to hear Lichfield organ in fine fettle...it is a wonderful instrument. Was there an extraneous boop at the end or was it my radio? Also, did anyone suffer a background hum rather like someone vacuuming out a distant vestry? That might have been my radio too.

[DracoM]

Ref verse anthems, my feelings exactly. Can be either a brave choice offering opportunity and training, or.......well, bit over-exposing.
And yes, very odd hum....................is Lichfield an apiary on alternate days?

[Vile Consort]

There was a ciperhing G sharp at the end of the voluntary, presumably hanging on from the antepenultimate chord. Is that the "extraneous noise you are referring to?

[ardcarp]

yes

[edashtav]

<A fresh young sound...possibly more reminiscent of a good youth choir than a trad cathedral sound. > Spot on, ardcarp.

And with that territory came a series of linked issues:performance standards, while often good, suffered from dips in concentration when blend, balance and, occasionally, intonation, all fell from grace.

A brave show but I fear that Grayston Ives' Lichfield Service will not become essential repertoire as I found it bland and with little memorable material.

[DracoM]

Woa.......bit teeny bit harsh, maybe?
I'd say that a number of church choirs fishing for something 'modern' might well give the Ives a go, wouldn't they? Just a thought.

[edashtav]

I hope I wasn't harsh and I hope that my judgement was premature but this wasn't the best of Grayston Ives, IMHO. I can't think that choirs would select it on account of its "modernism" as it displayed a modest, conservative face.

[DracoM]

Indeed, but choirs scared of 'modern' might be pleasantly surprised that something written that recently was reasonably accessible - hence the inverted commas!!

[decantor]

I thought quite highly of the Ives canticles because they - and especially the Nunc, IMV - reflected their texts well in musical language. But, in any case, surely new settings for the liturgy do not have to be at the cutting edge musically to be welcomed by choirs or congregations.

[subcontrabass]

I thought quite highly of the Ives canticles because they - and especially the Nunc, IMV - reflected their texts well in musical language. But, in any case, surely new settings for the liturgy do not have to be at the cutting edge musically to be welcomed by choirs or congregations.

I agree. The primary purpose of liturgical music must be to transmit and enhance the texts. The new works that we heard from Lichfield did this. The new works (other than, perhaps, the Responses) that we heard the previous week did not.

[edashtav]

Indeed, but choirs scared of 'modern' might be pleasantly surprised that something written that recently was reasonably accessible - hence the inverted commas!!

Yes, I did miss your inverted commas - my apologies, you deserved a better reading, DracoM, although my experience with several choirs suggests that the fear of the new and worries about accessibility are lessening. Partly that's because because "modern" music has retrenched, IMHO, in the 21st century as a greater percentage of living composers dress their works in the Emperor's New Clothes but abjure his intellectual rigour.

[edashtav]

I agree. The primary purpose of liturgical music must be to transmit and enhance the texts. The new works that we heard from Lichfield did this. The new works (other than, perhaps, the Responses) that we heard the previous week did not.

I cannot fault your first three sentences,scb, and I'm unable to comment on your final one.