Nine Lessons and Carols Thurs, 24th Dec 2015

[Nick Armstrong]

Wonderful stuff, one of the best Nine Lessons and Carols I've heard in years

I agree.

I’m not as wedded to the communal pieces as others here, and while of course I agree that the Willcocks arrangements / descants are excellent, I have no problem with SC’s descant for ‘Midnight Clear’, for instance.

It was the way the classic carols came across this year which impressed me most. There seemed to me to be a ideal selection of tempi, far more so than some of the more earthbound plods I can recall over the years - coupled with

Lovely blended, warm, rich sound for the most part. Real biting, full throated, continental sound in the Scott and Causton which would surprise many who only listen to this choir only once a year.

In particular, I’ve listened several times to In dulci jubilo (wonderful lilting tempo), Dormi, Jesu and The Angel Gabriel… There’s a particular quality to the choral sound, especially the trebles, in those pieces this year, a really expressive sound (almost a texture) which is pure and blended without being precious, a sort of grainy ‘honest’ quality, that really made the words tell. (And yes, other sounds were found where necessary, for the more recent carols).

For me, it doesn’t get much better than this - I thought it was some of the best and most affecting Christmas Eve singing I’ve heard from KCC (and best engineered too, I agree Draco).

Fantastic achievement all round.

[makropulos]

I agree.

It was the way the classic carols came across this year which impressed me most. There seemed to me to be a ideal selection of tempi, far more so than some of the more earthbound plods I can recall over the years. In particular, I’ve listened several times to In dulci jubilo (wonderful lilting tempo), Dormi, Jesu and The Angel Gabriel… There’s a particular quality to the choral sound, especially the trebles, in those pieces this year, a really expressive sound (almost a texture) which is pure and blended without being precious, a sort of grainy ‘honest’ quality, that really made the words tell. (And yes, other sounds were found where necessary, for the more recent carols).

For me, it doesn’t get much better than this - I thought it was some of the best and most affecting Christmas Eve singing I’ve heard from KCC (and best engineered too, I agree Draco).

Fantastic achievement all round.

Very much agree with this - and the engineering allowed us to hear more of the organ and a slightly closer focus on the choir than is sometimes the case - so some lovely details came through. I have to admit that I hated the Causton piece (and hated it all over again listening to it a couple of hours later) but that's a tiny point and it's nice to see that several people here clearly enjoyed it. The whole thing was one of the best KCC 9 Lessons I've heard for a few years. The Willcocks tribute was wholehearted and very welcome and (I'll say this very quietly), I've a soft spot for Rutter's "What Sweeter Music" too. I must now watch the TV Carols from King's as well - I see it includes John Gardner's "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day". I write this having just got back from a very exhilarating Midnight Mass in Peterborough Cathedral including Vierne's Messe solenelle splendidly sung by the choir.

[Nick Armstrong]

(I'll say this very quietly), I've a soft spot for Rutter's "What Sweeter Music" too.

Oh I don't mind being noisy about it - I've always liked that carol. That, and Dormi, Jesu, are probably his best imvvho...

[Nachtigall]

Oh I don't mind being noisy about it - I've always liked that carol. That, and Dormi, Jesu, are probably his best imvvho...

I agree, Caliban: Dormi, Jesu is gorgeous and, of course, was written specially for King's. I also agree with all the praise of the live broadcast above and, as an undergraduate at King's during the golden years of the Willcocks era, I've always been particularly attached to his arrangements. Thanks to the sound engineering the auditory experience on this occasion was superb, with a real sense of presence, which is what one needs if one can't actually be there. Would that the same were true of the recorded televised version, broadcast in less than satisfactory sound, even when played through a pukka hi-fi system. Perhaps it needs to be taken out of the hands of the "Religion and Ethics" department of the BBC.

[Mr Stoat]

IMHO the best live broadcast for a while. SC's descants inhabit a different world to Willcocks (and Armstrong) but are none the worse for that. I liked the harmonic twists in "It came upon the midnight clear". Really liked the new commission.

[Peanut]

Would that the same were true of the recorded televised version, broadcast in less than satisfactory sound, even when played through a pukka hi-fi system. Perhaps it needs to be taken out of the hands of the "Religion and Ethics" department of the BBC.

For what it's worth, the radio broadcast is also produced by BBC Religion & Ethics.

[Petrushka]

I didn't find the TV sound all that bad but agree that the radio engineering was different class. I did wonder if the BBC used King's own set up for the live radio relay that they use for their webcasts. These are always very well engineered and the sound on King's own CDs is very good indeed. Does anyone have any inside info on this?

Andy Payne has been responsible for the TV sound for years and I suspect that he used the Beeb's own set up. As I say I found it perfectly acceptable but with the radio sound emerging as the clear winner. Both were heard through my hi-fi system.

[Anna]

OK, Anna, how did you cope with the Causton Carol?

The repeat will be on shortly and we shall listen again, I heard nothing objectionable. But you have to remember, I cannot judge descants, technicalities, etc., I am merely one of the congregation, one of the bums on seats so to say, and I have to say I enjoyed it greatly. That is why I will listen again

Readings: hmm: readers on a hiding to nothing. Do you not think that a very significant proportion of listeners knows every single word by heart? What I wonder is if the readers actually think about what they are reading e.g. that interrogation of Adam by God? Herod and the Kings? I mean, both are great dialogues, yet most readers just go into automatic pilot flattening out all drama, and not pointing up the crisis points

I struck me yesterday, yes of course we all know the words by heart even if we are not regular Church goers, it seems we absorb King James by a process of osmosis!! However I would like a slightly more measured reading as Pet says above, no need to rush, but that's just nit-picking perhaps?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

SC's descants inhabit a different world to Willcocks (and Armstrong) but are none the worse for that. I liked the harmonic twists in "It came upon the midnight clear". Really liked the new commission.

I've listened to this descant several times to give it a chance. It started most promisingly, but soon lapsed into the characteristic aimlessness of his descant writing - trying to be interesting, but ending up destroying the melody line rather than enhancing it. Yes, the harmonies are interesting, but Willcocks showed how this could be an asset in "Yea, Lord, we greet thee", where it worked superbly without a descant. Sir David was a master of judgement.

If you want a fine, well-decorated descant to It came upon the Midnight Clear, I recommend Thomas F. Dunhill's version. It's awesome.

[oddoneout]

For me, it doesn’t get much better than this - I thought it was some of the best and most affecting Christmas Eve singing I’ve heard from KCC (and best engineered too, I agree Draco).Fantastic achievement all round.

I agree. A wonderful way to spend the middle of the afternoon.(repeated version) Not sure I'd choose to listen to the Causton again, but I didn't dislike it. The alternating declamatory and reflective sections were an interesting device( I could have done with having the text to hand). For me the choice of the Howells to follow was a good one - different enough to make the transition clear, but no so much as to jolt at the change.
I've found it interesting to see the comments about the descants. I have sung many different versions over the years, but the Willcocks ones are those which I find most satisfying - not least for the obvious pleasure they give those listening. I like the way they seem to rise above the melody line to enhance rather than distract from or obliterate it. I don't have the theory to know how it's done but some of the harmonies that result still, after all these years, have the power to move, thrill or surprise.

[ardcarp]

I have just listened on I-player. The sound of the choir was very good....the best I've heard it for a long time. I did feel everything was pushed along a bit fast though....as if SC had a train to catch. Maybe doing a bit less stuff and allowing time to draw breath would make for a more dignified occasion.

Here in Norway I heard the Silver Boys Choir singing on TV with ex-members forming the ATB. It's a very big choir (90?) but they all looked worn out and miserable! Not much joy there, despite their jolly sailor suits. They sing much simpler verse-repeating stuff which IMO gets very monotonous. OTOH the jentekor and guttekor (girl and boy choirs) from Trondheim Cathedral are wonderful...so I look forward to seeing their TV broadcasts.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I did feel everything was pushed along a bit fast though....as if SC had a train to catch. Maybe doing a bit less stuff and allowing time to draw breath would make for a more dignified occasion.

In this highly reverberant chapel, I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to sing the congregational hymns too quickly. It can sound a bit scrappy. I recall a performance of Bach's B Minor Mass in York Minster in the mid-90s. It was conducted by Brian Kay at HIPPish speeds. It didn't work well in the Minster's you-hear-the-concert-twice acoustic.

[Gabriel Jackson]

Do treat yourself to the new DVD/CD which explains all and gives you both the 1880 and the 2014 service!

Indeed...very good it all is.

[Nevilevelis]

Please take my grudging tone with a pinch of salt - this really is one of my least favourite singing events of the year, because I feel desperately sorry for a highly competent, highly musical ensemble like KCC. Every year imprisoned by the constraints of global expectations, and no way out. They make it sound as if they are really up for it, but.............

I don't feel sorry for them at all, but I do feel sorry for the other choirs who are as good (if not better!), and are more than worthy of exposure for this particular form of worship. Truro, especially. It's a pity that the BBC (a public broadcaster) doesn't present a more rounded picture of festal musical worship for this service. Yes, I know we heard and saw St. George's, Southwark and Bath Abbey this year whose very fine musical efforts had to (IMO) tread water in some less than appealing liturgy (the Bath 'Eucharist' - more like Songs of Praise with a dash of Alpha Course after the Gloria). That said, with the BBC's apparent obsession for branding classical music, I can't imagine anything changing, but I can imagine the outcry if viewers didn't get their 'Carols from King's'! They could be made available online whatever the change of schedule, surely. Just a thought! And, please don't get upset, King's lovers! I am not criticizing their splendid efforts - it just seems rather unfair and unbalanced.

[mopsus]

Regarding the queuing I really don't see why King's can't institute a ballot system similar to that carried out for the Last Night of the Proms or Trooping the Colour.

Because it would involve the College admin in a lot of extra work that is unrelated to the college's main purpose of education. In my (considerable) experience of dealing with Oxford and Cambridge college admin staff, they minimise any contact with those who are not academics, even students. I could give some entertaining examples but it would go off topic.

Bath Abbey is more evangelical by tradition than most choral foundations, like most of the C of E churches in Bath, for historical reasons connected to the Simeon Trust.

Enjoyed the service though.