Chapel of St John's College, Cambridge Wed, May 2nd 2018 [L]

[mw963]

Agree with all the applause, a quite sublime CE. I guess Lucien is very proud too...

[jonfan]

A great CE, IMHO, and thanks BBC for letting us have it live and so well balanced. (I wondered if 'the John's button' would be mentioned! Never heard it applied to the Leighton like that.) Some may have found the often languid tempi not to their taste, but the choir was so amazingly well-trained...and seemingly capable of anything....that they could respond to AN's meticulous direction to the minutest degree. Wonderfully confident 'head-voice' trebles and a fine back row demonstrating both full-voice singing and whispering pianissimos. I found the contrast with 'The Other Place' interesting, where sometimes the tempi are driven. Here, the office of CE unfolded at a calm and dignified pace.

Agree the contrast with ‘The Other Place’, especially as here there is passion in spades. I had the good fortune to observe AN in close up at a CE last month and the music and musicians move to his every gesture. He looked like Bernstein in his conducting style at times.
The psalm singing demands your attention, every verse carefully presented. The organ just right in pointing up the texts but without showing off and distracting. I hope St John’s new record label issues a cd of psalms, I’m sure it would sell well. The style showed is in the tradition set by GG, who’s cd of psalms has just been reissued as a download by Presto. So moving, time stands still. The music contrasts gave great strength to the structure of the service from the intriguing Anderson at the start through the Howells to the Taverner. What a finish with the spectacular Trompeta Real.

[DracoM]

Absolutely! John's are amazingly lucky to have AN bringing them back IMO closer to the great GG tradition, and adding to that indelibly in his own way.

[DracoM]

Re-run of this splendid CE today, 6th May, at 3 p.m.

[chitreb]

[DracoM]

[Nick Armstrong]

Just made it under the 30-day wire to catch-up with this - and have now listened to it twice.

Phenomenal singing as others have said - least favourite were the altos but what a treble sound! I've never heard a better performance of the Howells than that!

Some may have found the often languid tempi not to their taste

I had no problem at all in the Howells but.... oh dear oh dear, the psalms and responses Definitely not to my taste. I've read what others have said above - but I found that the slow pace, the constant pauses, the abbreviated phrase endings, the emphases for effect were mannered and ultimately irritating.

And to cap it off:

the sfp cresc. as "applied" to Leighton's setting of 'The Lord's name be praised'... ? I'm not a fan of it

Good lord, neither am I. I was dreading that AN would perpetrate another in the Nunc on "...and to be the GLOry of thy people....." - but thankfully not!

Sorry to those who loved the psalms and responses but the words that came to my mind, listening to the style the choir were asked to adopt in those sections of the service, were "precious", "self-regarding" and "camp" ... the sort of thing King's used to be accused of.

Not a word against the quality of the singing, mind you. That was exemplary throughout.


.

[DracoM]

'Camp'????????????????????

Good Grief!

[jonfan]

Camp ‘An affectation or appreciation of manners and tastes commonly thought to be artificial, vulgar or banal.’
I can think of several programmes to which this definition might apply but never to CE and especially one from St John’s.

[Nick Armstrong]

artificial, vulgar or banal

I'm afraid I find that sfp cresc effect to be all three.