CE Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London [L] 4.x.23

[DracoM]

CE Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London [L] 4.x.23
Trinity Laban Chapel Choir

Order of Service:

Introit: These hours (Adrian Cruft)
Responses: Lloyd
Office hymn: For the fruits of his creation (East Acklam)
Psalms 22, 23 (Brooksbank, Beethoven, Camidge)
First Lesson: 1 Chronicles 29: 10-19
Canticles: Stanford in E flat
Second Lesson: Colossians 3: 12-17
Anthem: Ego flos campi (Clemens non Papa)

Hymn: All Creatures of our God and King (Lasst uns erfreuen)

Voluntary: Postlude in D minor (Stanford)

Jonathan Eyre (Organist)
Ralph Allwood (Director of Music)

[ardcarp]

Look forward to this...and it's live. I didn't know Ralph A was there.
I remember the old Trinity College premises at Mandeville Place (and the wonderfully named Principal, Myers Foggin). And now of course they occupy those historic ex-admiralty buildings on the Thames.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Laban_Conservatoire_of_Music_and_Dance

[Keraulophone]

A rare outing for Stanford in E flat, written at Trinity College, Cambridge in November 1873, but unpublished in the his lifetime. Though lacking the mastery of Stanford's later Canticle settings, Jeremy Dibble, for one, finds some merit in it: '...one is conscious of the ‘verse’ conception, but the approach to structure and harmony is more sophisticated. In the Magnificat the contrast of verse and full choir is more fully integrated into a ternary design where two outer sections in E flat, distinctly secular in style, frame a central 6/8 paragraph in B (‘And his mercy is on them that fear him’) of a pastoral character. It is also interesting to note how the Gloria, which in so many Canticle settings delineates a new section, is here subsumed into the restatement (beginning ‘He remembering his mercy’). The same contrast of solo and choir inhabits the Nunc dimittis, though here it is used to emphasize the opening statement in E flat minor (sung principally by the soloists) and the counterstatement in the tonic major (sung by the choir). There are other nice touches such as the recapitulation of the first line of the text (‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant’), transformed both by its initial elongated progression and its appearance in the major mode rather than the minor. Moreover, Stanford brings an effective unifying touch to the Gloria by recalling the same material from the Magnificat.'

The hymn tune East Acklam is by Francis Jackson, whose 106th birthday would have fallen two days ago; though the great organist and composer did make it to 104.

[mopsus]

The hymn tune East Acklam is by Francis Jackson, whose 106th birthday would have fallen two days ago; though the great organist and composer did make it to 104.

It's quite widely used now - in fact when visiting a relative last Sunday I heard it on Songs of Praise. Although when it was used at my church during the choir's summer break, some of the congregation said they struggled to sing it without a choir, perhaps because of the wide intervals (a characteristic of FJ's compositions).

[Ein Heldenleben]

Oh my word a fire alarm has gone off….but the choir sings on.

and now they’ve faded it out.

…And now abandoned for a service in Salisbury.

[Keraulophone]

The rarity of Stanford in E flat endures...

...until Sunday afternoon at 3 pm, we've been told.

[Ein Heldenleben]

[QUOTE=Keraulophone;n1286355]The rarity of Stanford in E flat endures...

...until Sunday afternoon at 3 pm, we've been told.[/QUOTE

what with undue compression and fire alarms CE isn’t having much luck at the moment .

[ardcarp]

I was saddened at the fire-alarm situation, especially as the choir was sounding very good up to that point. Presumably they will have re-recorded the damaged bits for Sunday's broadcast.

How long does it take to turn off a fire-alarm???

[Kernow Malc]

I was listening and found it rather amusing - especially when the organ turned up the volume to try and drown the alarm out!

[ardcarp]

.....even more droll when the final prayers included The Bishop of Sherborne (long way from Greenwich) and President Obama's visit to the UK.

[ardcarp]

Having now heard the amended service (available on catch-up) I thought the singing and the direction were excellent. Lovely sound, with attention to word shapes and phrasing. I'd forgotten how good Lloyd's responses are...especially good Lord's Prayer with some lines of text overlapping. Good too that Stanford in E flat got an outing. Haven't heard it for ages.

I did feel that the final hymn seemed a bit of a race between organist and choir? Time running out? But that's a minor niggle.

Well done for an excellent CE, Trinity et al.

[Finzi4ever]

Having now heard the amended service (available on catch-up) I thought the singing and the direction were excellent. Lovely sound, with attention to word shapes and phrasing. I'd forgotten how good Lloyd's responses are...especially good Lord's Prayer with some lines of text overlapping. Good too that Stanford in E flat got an outing. Haven't heard it for ages.
Well done for an excellent CE, Trinity et al.

I echo the above - can probably number the occasions I've sung the E flat canticles on the fingers of one hand if that. Richard Lloyd wrote two full choir sets of Responses ( a long time apart), plus an ATB set and another for trebles, in the 90s. Hearing these today took me back to singing them under his direction.

[Navalorganist]

Having now heard the amended service (available on catch-up) I thought the singing and the direction were excellent. Lovely sound, with attention to word shapes and phrasing. I'd forgotten how good Lloyd's responses are...especially good Lord's Prayer with some lines of text overlapping. Good too that Stanford in E flat got an outing. Haven't heard it for ages.

I did feel that the final hymn seemed a bit of a race between organist and choir? Time running out? But that's a minor niggle.

Well done for an excellent CE, Trinity et al.

We were 5 mins over in the rehearsal so had to push the pace along a bit. Apologies.

[jonfan]

Having now heard the amended service (available on catch-up) I thought the singing and the direction were excellent. Lovely sound, with attention to word shapes and phrasing. I'd forgotten how good Lloyd's responses are...especially good Lord's Prayer with some lines of text overlapping. Good too that Stanford in E flat got an outing. Haven't heard it for ages.

I did feel that the final hymn seemed a bit of a race between organist and choir? Time running out? But that's a minor niggle.

Well done for an excellent CE, Trinity et al.

Agree. The Stanford is worth more frequent outings based on this performance.

[ardcarp]

I

'd forgotten how good Lloyd's responses are

A while ago I remember singing a fairly straightforward (verse repeating?) piece by Lloyd, which had a Lenten or 'Miserere' type message. Very effective. Can anyone remember what piece I'm referring to?