CE Holy Trinity Church, Stratford upon Avon April 20th, 2016

[DracoM]

CE Holy Trinity Church, Stratford upon Avon
Chamber Choir and Orchestra of the Swan


Order of Service:


Introit: Sing joyfully (Byrd)
Responses: Tomkins
Psalms 66, 67 (plainsong)
First Lesson: Deuteronomy 10: 12-22
Office Hymn: The Lamb's high banquet we await (Ad cenam Agni)
Canticles: Fifth Service (Tomkins)
Second Lesson: Ephesians 5: 1-14
Anthem: O clap your hands (Gibbons)
Motet: O nata lux (Tallis)
Hymn: Love of the Father (Song 22)


Voluntary: Pavane and Allemande (Dowland)


Benedict Wilson (Organist)
Susannah Vango (Director of Music)

[DracoM]

Gentle reminder: today @ 3.30 p.m.

[mercia]

did Shakespeare cross paths with any notable composers ?

[Don Basilio]

And there would certainlly be no popish office hymn in his day. And it is unlikely a parish church, such as Stratford, would manage a choral service, I'd imagine.

Didn't Thomas Morley set "It was a lover and his lass" from "As You Like It"

[ardcarp]

Interesting article here:

http://www.britannica.com/topic/Music-in-Shakespeares-Plays-1369568

I understand it was not unusual for choristers to moonlight on the London stage in Shakespeare's time and later.

[ardcarp]

And there would certainly be no Popish office hymn in his day.

...and there wasn't today, unless I blinked. Maybe they read your post, Don. Sing Joyfully and O Nata Lux were OK, but I felt much of the service, especially the lovely Tomkins canticles, had lead boots on. Gibbons' O Clap your Hands seemed a bit unsubtle and needed more life, perhaps. (And it went sharp.) By contrast, Love of the father shot off like a young filly out of a horse-box. How odd.

I did enjoy Jacques soliloquy though. Last time I heard it, I'm sure I was in Scene 6. I feel 7 approaching fast.

The Bard of Avon is timeless...and I pictured him "With eyes severe and beard of formal cut" gazing down at the choir and players, thinking his thoughts about music, religion, the world and everything.

[DracoM]

Do we know if a service of like content and musical resources would actually have been undertaken in Shakespeare's time in this church?

[ardcarp]

No. I mean, we don't know! It must have been a difficult time for church musicians, not just because of the flip-flopping between Protestantism and Catholicism, but because of the wide spectrum of Protestant practices ranging from no music at all to Popish ditties (which we know Elizabeth liked in her Chapels Royal). I don't know if The Singing Church by C. Henry Philips is still in print; and if it is, whether its scholarship is up to date. I have my copy in front of me, and Chapter 8 is headed "Musical Problems of the Prayer Book", and Chapter 16 is, more to the point, headed "Congregational Music from 1540 - 1662"

I'm sure plainchant Psalms , albeit in English, would definitely have smacked of Popery, and I don't think they were introduced into the Anglican Church until the Oxford Reformers came along in the 19th C.

Can anyone else shed light on Parish Music in Stratford-on-Avon c.1616 ?

[light_calibre_baritone]

... Tomkins had lead boots on. Gibbons' O Clap your Hands...(And it went sharp.)

I've sung that Tomkins a lot, and mainly for a very, very well known DoM whose speed is basically the same. I don't think it was leaden.

Clever comments on pitch are waspish and pointless... Going up a tiny (and it really was tiny) amount is not a problem and not worth pointing out.

[ardcarp]

I suppose some are more pitch-sensitive than others.

[DracoM]

I've sung that Tomkins a lot, and mainly for a very, very well known DoM whose speed is basically the same. I don't think it was leaden.

Clever comments on pitch are waspish and pointless... Going up a tiny (and it really was tiny) amount is not a problem and not worth pointing out.

BUT you're top treble singing the Allegri and the music keeps creeping up and up as it unfolds? Maybe a lot of us have been in such ensembles and known it was rising 'tiny amount' as the singing went on. Hmm. It's scary, even a 'tiny bit'. Music that is either sharp or flat takes on a different character, a kind of unease sometimes difficult to detect intellectually, but can still be 'felt'.

So I think the more performance-led of our contributors would see 'going sharp' as just as much of a prob as 'going flat'. Even a 'tiny amount'. I am grateful for the expert helping us to hear. I wonder if singers / ensembles don't get a bit over-edgy about their reputation when they know that people are listening who can detect when they are flat / sharp?

[jean]

You're talking about two different things here - a discussion of the reasons for going sharrp or flat and the problems arising for the performers from it is one thing, the effect on listeners to a particular performance is another.

How sharp did the Gibbons go, as a matter of fact?

[DracoM]

Erm.......? Not sure I understand what you're#re talking about, jean? Syntax fooled me. Can you check your message and clarify?

[Miles Coverdale]

Interesting article here:

http://www.britannica.com/topic/Music-in-Shakespeares-Plays-1369568

I understand it was not unusual for choristers to moonlight on the London stage in Shakespeare's time and later.

The tradition of chorister-actors pre-dates Shakespeare and is a huge topic with some fascinating literature. If you're interested, try E K Chambers’ The Elizabethan Stage or Michael Shapiro’s Children of the Revels.

[jean]

Erm.......? Not sure I understand what you're#re talking about, jean? Syntax fooled me. Can you check your message and clarify?

Nothing wrong with my syntax. Try again.