Favourite Howells' Canticles

[ardcarp]

This was from my post when Winchester broadcast a few weeks ago:

This was a great CE, and I do very much like Howells in G...a most memorable 'tune' in the Mag Gloria.

So we all like a good tune.

[about the West Riding Te Deum] No! Good heavens! "On Ilkley Moor baht 'canticle" ...!

Would love to hear it sung.

He was a big figure in that part of the world, various aunts and other relations from Bradford, Leeds etc doted on him for his adjudication of their various choral endeavours.

Such a pity Howells didn't leave us a Walsall, Gorbals or Isle of Dogs set of canticles. Rubbra might have done........but I'm getting into deep water here.

[Pulcinella]

Such a pity Howells didn't leave us a Walsall, Gorbals or Isle of Dogs set of canticles. Rubbra might have done........but I'm getting into deep water here.

Why? Was Rubbra living in a flat there ever?
(Quote slightly edited....hve to have!)

[ardcarp]

Re-visiting The Westminster Mag from this year's St John's Advent broadvast, I am struck that its chief glory for treble voices is the repeated use of a rising 4th motif, alloweing them to 'soar'. It must be a favourite of Andrew Nethsingha, as there is a Youtube clip dating from his time at Truro. (Presumably Truro made a CD including it.) Surprisingly...or maybe not... there are several appearances of The Westminster Service on Youtube.

[Vox Humana]

I imagine that many forumites were introduced to the music of Howells by the 1966 Willcocks Argo recording of the Coll Reg and St Paul's canticles (amongst other pieces), now part of the Willcocks Argo collection.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Decca/4788918

But for those who can live without the image on the cover, this recording also exists as a single CD (where it is coupled with some RVW) that Australian Decca Eloquence issued (after some badgering of which I was part):

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Australian%2BEloquence/ELQ4807409

(There is a small reproduction of the original cover inside!)
Perhaps because they were the first versions I heard, I preferred them to the later Cleobury recording, also for Argo:
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Argo/4302052

There is something about that old Willcocks/King's recording that makes it quite special - apart from the fact that Howells wrote the sleeve notes. I can't quite put my finger on it, but suspect it has a lot to do with the balance and blend of the choir.

Which recordings do others have/listen to/recommend?

These are fabulous performances, as are these. This is a highly enjoyable selection of his less well-known music ("The summer is coming" is a gorgeous evocation of the lazy countryside of yore). I have also enjoyed this, although it mostly covers well-trodden ground.

[ardcarp]

There is something about that old Willcocks/King's recording that makes it quite special - apart from the fact that Howells wrote the sleeve notes. I can't quite put my finger on it, but suspect it has a lot to do with the balance and blend of the choir.

Yes there is. There is a certain gentleness about them (probably not the right word. Genteel, maybe? No, that sounds prissy) but somehow the music is caressed. More modern performances with more wellie are great too. It isn't a question of one or t'other.......

[Philip]

Presumably Truro made a CD including it.

Yes, its from Priory's Mag & Nunc series. Its got a great selection of them - Coll Reg as well as Westminster, Stanford in B flat and Wood in E flat No 2 for something a bit more robust, and Batten Fourth and Gibbons Second representing earlier music.

[BBMmk2]

I don't know all of these, but the ones I've heard so far, I rather like but being a Howells's fan, I would like them all, I suspect!

[Roger Judd]

The Windsor Te Deum is, unsurprisingly, a favourite of mine - the companion Benedictus is not quite in the same league, as mentioned elsewhere, but still well worth singing. They were written in 1952. With the wholesale demise of choral Matins, a sizeable chunk of really fine repertoire has been largely lost - sad.
RJ

[mopsus]

Te Deums do get trotted out at major festivals so they continue to be performed, albeit without accompanying Jubilates (which also sometimes reappear as anthems). As a singer in Cathedral visiting choirs, the problem we have with Matins repertoire is that there are very few good 'bread and butter' settings of the canticles which don't take a large proportion of rehearsal time. You either do Stanford in B flat, Ireland in F, or you go for something on a larger scale such as the Howells or Britten settings, which reduces time for rehearsing other things.

[ardcarp]

Roger, as the term 'anthem' has no very specific meaning in the Anglican church (apart from being a piece of religious music sung at some point in a service) there is absolutely no reason why a Morning Canticle should not be used in the anthem slot at Evensong. So there is no need for them to fall into total oblivion.

Mopsus. VW in G?

[Nick Armstrong]

The Windsor Te Deum is, unsurprisingly, a favourite of mine - the companion Benedictus is not quite in the same league

I have only just realised that in the Priory series, Volume 4 is devoted to morning services, and comprises the "West Riding Cathedrals Festival" Te Deum (to give it its full title) as well as Te Deums (and some ancillary canticles) for Windsor, Canterbury, Bristol, Washington plus one for "Unison Voices". I had no idea!

I am currently listening to all these Te Deums (of whose existence I was ignorant until 15 minutes ago) through the big speakers via iTunes Music !! (I love the 21st Century!)

I agree Roger, the Windsor TD is the best non-Coll Reg TD so far!

[Pulcinella]

Volume 5 of the series is a 2CD set: CD1 has various Morning Canticle settings, and CD2 The Coventry Mass and Coll Reg Holy Communion.
Some of these are premiere (world or European) recordings.
Not clever enough to provide the link the way Caliban does (PM me to tell me how!) but here it is:

http://prioryrecords.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1954&search=Howells

[Roger Judd]

Thanks, Ardcarp - I know that it is perfectly permissible to sing the morning canticles as anthems at Evensong, but the reality is that there is so much wonderful repertoire vying for the anthem slot that they get eased out, and indeed forgotten. As the Te Deum, Benedictus and Benedicite are usually longer and more involved compositions, unless they are sung regularly they require more rehearsal time to get them back into good order. DoMs, being pushed for time, will inevitably, but probably not intentionally, let them slide into oblivion - sad and practical, but true.
RJ

[Keraulophone]

Presumably Truro made a CD including it [the Westminster Service]

Philip has already supplied the answer: Vol.10 in the Priory M&N series: http://prioryrecords.co.uk/index.php...roduct_id=1810
I share Andrew's liking for this setting, but unfortunately neither of his successors have seen fit to put it on the menu!

Paul Spicer, HH biographer and erstwhile pupil, used to say that not all of Howells's 'named' settings of the M&N were specifically composed for the named place in question. If he had been asked by admirers from Dallas for a setting, for example, he might rummage in the drawers of his desk and pull out one he'd been working on and inscribe Dallas on the title page!

[mopsus]

Mopsus. VW in G?

It may just be the choirs that I've sung in, but although I've sung Matins quite regularly at those Cathedrals which still have it, I've only done the Vaughan Williams a couple of times, with one choir. I recall it was much less familiar to people than the Ireland or Stanford would have been. Perhaps because there isn't a Jubilate to go with it?