Sunday Worship 10.6.18

[ardcarp]

This came from St Bartholomew the Lesser. There was a pleasing and competent small professional ensemble (a quartet?) and everything was just fine except the hymns which were unsettled. The organist seemed to keep rushing ahead, chipping microseconds off the end of each line. This was strange because in the choir items, he/she accompanied beautifully. There didn't seem to be much in the way of an audible congregation. The hymn tune Wolvercote is one of my favourites.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b5s44l

[subcontrabass]

This came from St Bartholomew the Lesser. There was a pleasing and competent small professional ensemble (a quartet?) and everything was just fine except the hymns which were unsettled. The organist seemed to keep rushing ahead, chipping microseconds off the end of each line. This was strange because in the choir items, he/she accompanied beautifully. There didn't seem to be much in the way of an audible congregation. The hymn tune Wolvercote is one of my favourites.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b5s44l

Presumably this choir: http://greatstbarts.com/Pages/Choir/Choir.html , which is an octet. I agree that the hymns seemed a little rushed.

[Vox Humana]

Yes, the hymns were dreadful. I wouldn't say that the organist shortened the lines by microseconds; rather, the problem was that his phrasing made the final note of each line sound clipped/snatched because of the speed at which he was going. This was quite clearly too fast for the singers, who, one could hear quite clearly, were not allowed to breathe properly and therefore had no hope of keeping up. I don't know whether the blame lies with the organist, the conductor, a BBC diktat or something else, but the result was a classic demonstration of how not to do it. Had the hymns been allowed breadth they would have been fine.

It was good to hear Sidney Campbell's Sing we merrily again. It doesn't seem to be done much these days. I think it's maybe not so much fun for the singers as it is for the organist. Campbell wrote a stonking Te Deum in B flat for the enthronement of Archbishop Ramsey at Canterbury in 1961 - a wonderfully 'ceremonial' setting, although some might think it a bit brash. No one ever does that today and, apart from Campbell, I'm not sure they ever did, which is a pity. Amongst other things he also wrote a quite unique, but very effective set of Responses: starkly neo-medieval with a lot of two-part writing doubled at the octave (S+T, A+B). They'd make a good foil to the usual fare on today's menus.

[ardcarp]

This was quite clearly too fast for the singers, who, one could hear quite clearly, were not allowed to breathe properly and therefore had no hope of keeping up

I'm sure the (professional) singers were quite capable of 'keeping up', but they were kept in strict time by the director. May the organist felt he had to gee up the congregation to get everything done in the allotted time. Or something like that.

To Sidney Campbell. He also wrote a stonking anthem, Michael and His Angels Fought Against the Dragon which choristers loved. But looking online I can't see any sign of it. Out of print? I think he wrote it for the re-dedication of a church called St Michael's...somewhere....after a fire.

[Vox Humana]

To Sidney Campbell. He also wrote a stonking anthem, Michael and His Angels Fought Against the Dragon which choristers loved. But looking online I can't see any sign of it. Out of print? I think he wrote it for the re-dedication of a church called St Michael's...somewhere....after a fire.

IIRC, a fire caused by a bomb or two that necessitated a new cathedral. 'Fanfare for Michaelmas': yes, a fine piece. It's reprintable on demand via musicroom.com - I think most of Novello's stuff is.

[bach736]

.

It was good to hear Sidney Campbell's Sing we merrily again. It doesn't seem to be done much these days.

Haha - Ely did it on Sunday 3rd June.

[Vox Humana]

Haha - Ely did it on Sunday 3rd June.

Good-oh!