CE Chichester Cathedral Wed, 1st Feb 2017

[DracoM]

CE Chichester Cathedral
The Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple


Order of Service:


Introit: Sicut audivimus (Byrd)
Responses: Philip Moore
Office Hymn: In our darkness light has shone (Upton Cheyney)
Psalm 118 (Atkins, Pye)
First Lesson: 1 Samuel 1: 19b-28
Canticles: Sumsion in G
Second Lesson: Hebrews 4: 11-18
Anthem: Suscepimus Deus (Byrd)
Hymn: Hail to the Lord who comes (Old 120th)


Organ Voluntary: Introduction, Passacagalia and Fugue (Healey Willan)


Assistant Organist: Timothy Ravalde
Organist and Master of the Choristers: Charles Harrison

[DracoM]

This afternoon in 45 minutes!! Sorry to be so late - first time I've been able to get online for two days!!

[DracoM]

Love the clean, disciplined sound of the Chichester choir. And a high-lying tessitura is really suited by that acoustic, and which prepared the way for the terrific Healey Willan piece.

Many thx to all.

[ardcarp]

Yes; just love that tight ensemble from Chichester. Unanimous vowel sounds make for an excellent tonal blend. Psalmody particularly well disciplined. If I had one tiny quibble it was that the Sumsion in G Mag was a trifle fast. Not that they weren't nimble...they were...but there was no train to catch, i.e. a few minutes in hand at the end of the broadcast.

[mw963]

Only heard the second half but was totally wowed, both by the singing and the organ playing. And anyone who can play so effortlessly in Eb minor is my hero.

With so lamentably few Cathedral Broadcasts this winter we had a real treat today.

[DracoM]

And with that organ vol, T. Ravalde had nowhere to hide, had he!!

[Magnificat]

Only heard the second half but was totally wowed, both by the singing and the organ playing. And anyone who can play so effortlessly in Eb minor is my hero.

With so lamentably few Cathedral Broadcasts this winter we had a real treat today.

Yes, and with Chichester there is no doubt as to the forces you are listening to - boys and men. The psalmody was an especial treat, lovely chants and tone quality.

VCC

[chitreb]

Beautiful sound and such clear diction. An excellent traditional service at a very high standard.

[Finzi4ever]

Yes; just love that tight ensemble from Chichester. Unanimous vowel sounds make for an excellent tonal blend. Psalmody particularly well disciplined. If I had one tiny quibble it was that the Sumsion in G Mag was a trifle fast. Not that they weren't nimble...they were...but there was no train to catch, i.e. a few minutes in hand at the end of the broadcast.

I agree in all respects: probably the swiftest Sumsion I've ever heard - cert. the Mag and prob. the Nunc too. It worked, but is there a metronome marking on the score?
Has Philip Moore ever written anything less than wonderful? Even the responses are captivating when sung this well.

[subcontrabass]

I agree in all respects: probably the swiftest Sumsion I've ever heard - cert. the Mag and prob. the Nunc too. It worked, but is there a metronome marking on the score?

Dotted minim = 50 for the Mag.

[Vox Humana]

Yes. Lovely blend and balance - almost "old school" and all the more the glorious for it. Immaculate chanting - a real joy to hear. A couple of brownie points for the Byrd motets too - not exactly bog-standard cathedral repertoire! I'm afraid I absolutely loathed the speeds in the Sumsion. A major miscalculation IMO. For sure it suited the voices well enough, but the organ accompaniment was an incoherent jumble. In no way was the organist to blame for that - he was shafted by his DoM. Had he had a Flentrop it might have come off, but Hele organs just weren't voiced to respond so sprightly, least of all in that acoustic. Not for the first time I wondered what has happened to the notion of performing to the building's acoustic. I had better stop here before I descend into rant mode. Anyway, for the most part Chichester managed to do exactly that and did it magnificently. And congratulations to Mr Ravalde for the splendid Willan.

[ardcarp]

but the organ accompaniment was an incoherent jumble.

I wouldn't go quite that far, but it was clearly a bit of a challemge to synchronise perfectly in the Mag; and the Nunc is marked Lento Espressivo, crotchet = 66.
I am old enough to have heard Gloucester choir in HS's time (but not that piece AFAICR). I think tempi in general though were more lugubrious.
But I wouldn't want to detract from this week's v.g. CE by Chichester in great form! Agree about the Byrd X2.

[Triforium]

Many thanks to Chichester. As previously mentioned, very disciplined and lovely psalms. Ensemble was wonderful in the Moore and Byrd pieces as well. Regarding the Sumsion tempi, yep, too fast. The 'fast speeds' mentioned by other posters are prevalent in quite a few foundations. While not a fan of drawn out Victorian or stately interpretations, to my ears, overly brisk tempi risk the music sounding perfunctory.

[Dafydd y G.W.]

[...] drawn out Victorian or stately interpretations [...]

Contrary to the popular assumption such evidence as we have indicates that the Victorians favoured quite swift tempi. The stateliness came in the next generation by way of reaction: see for instance Vaughan Williams' notoriously slow metronome markings in the English Hymnal.

[Vox Humana]

Vaughan Williams' notoriously slow metronome markings in the English Hymnal.

Since you mention it, whilst I wouldn't disagree for a moment that RVW's speeds are quite unsuitable for modern, everyday, parish requirements (particularly if you have a congregation numbering under 20), I have in the past been required a couple of times to play hymns at these very slow speeds in a fairly large building with a resonant acoustic, crammed with a large congregation, and I have to admit that, once I'd got over the culture shock, the effect was absolutely magnificent.