CE St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh Wed, 6th Sept 2017

[DracoM]

CE St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh
Wed, 6th Sept 2017
The Charles Wood Summer School


Order of Service:


Introit: Oculi Omnium (Wood)
Responses: Radcliffe
Psalm 34 (Attwood)
First Lesson: Jeremiah 17: 5-18
Office Hymn: Lord of all hopefulness (Slane)
Canticles: Gloucester Service (Howells)
Second Lesson: Matthew 12: 22-32
Anthem: Te lucis ante terminum (Balfour Gardiner)
Final Hymn: Christ triumphant, ever reigning (Guiting Power)

Organ Voluntary: Toccata (Duruflé)

Organist: Philip Scriven
Artistic Director: David Hill

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b093p8hc

[Braunschlag]

That looks to be a choristers day out! Balfour Gardiner, Howells AND the Duruflé - all the artillery in one hour. Lush!

[Vox Humana]

Just a shame that they aren't doing the Balfour Gardiner in the language to which he obviously framed the music. The Latin is a very poor fit.

[ardcarp]

Just a shame that they aren't doing the Balfour Gardiner in the language to which he obviously framed the music. The Latin is a very poor fit.

Yes, and while it's a good old war-horse, the words are not only a poor fit, but the big build-up and massive crashing entry seem TOTALLY at odds with the calm spirit of Compline. Admittedly it has a more reflective bit in the middle, but even so........

[Vox Humana]

Yes, and while it's a good old war-horse, the words are not only a poor fit, but the big build-up and massive crashing entry seem TOTALLY at odds with the calm spirit of Compline. Admittedly it has a more reflective bit in the middle, but even so........

Good point, ardcarp. Great piece for Evensong though!

[Miles Coverdale]

Just a shame that they aren't doing the Balfour Gardiner in the language to which he obviously framed the music. The Latin is a very poor fit.

According to Wikipedia, so it must be true, the music was written to both sets of words at the same time.

[Vox Humana]

According to Wikipedia, so it must be true, the music was written to both sets of words at the same time.

It's possible. I had always assumed that Balfour Gardiner took the English text from some hymn book, but when I searched I was unable to find it and I now suspect that it was made specifically for the anthem. Has anyone come across it anywhere else? Either way, Balfour Gardiner obviously set out to write an Evening Hymn (his title) and had the traditional Compline hymn in mind from the outset (in the version by Urban VIII, so I'm told), but it doesn't follow that he specifically set the Latin text. The music is moulded to the English translation, which is given primacy of place in the published copies. Compare the ugly accents (to be carefully avoided) on termiNUM and posciMUS with the way that ‘day’ and ‘pray’ help the music forward; ditto the corresponding points in verse 3, where you can throw in ‘reign’ as well. In the second verse the harmonic word-painting fits ‘terrify’, not somnia. There are other similar instances. Throughout the anthem the English text fits like a glove; the Latin doesn't except insofar as it is in the same metre.

I have a copy of an anthem by Vincent Novello with a Latin text (In manus tuas) added by H. Elliott Button (again it is added below the English). I don't claim any authority at all, but I think I'm right in saying that such dual language pieces had some popularity following the flowering of "cathedral-type" parish choral music in the late nineteenth century and for some decades after, obviously to allow performance in either Anglican or Catholic churches (Anglican churches don't seem to have sung in Latin at this time, so far as I can discover). I have certainly seen other examples from time to time. In the Balfour Gardiner (written in 1908) the Latin text is surely just a utilitarian makeshift, despite its antiquity.

[DracoM]

Gentle reminder: today @ 3.30 p.m.