CE Chapel of Merton College, Oxford Wed,12th Sept [L]

[DracoM]

CE Chapel of Merton College, Oxford


Order of Service:


Introit: Libera nos (Tallis)
Responses: Radcliffe
Office Hymn: Christ, mighty Saviour (Christe Sanctorum)
Psalms 65, 66, 67 (Hopkins, Atkins, Bairstow)
First Lesson: Proverbs 2 vv 1-15
Canticles: Merton College Service (Eriks Esenvalds)
Second Lesson: Colossians 1 vv 9-20
Anthem: Geistliches Lied (Brahms)
Hymn: Your voice, O God, outsings the stars of morning (Highwood)

Voluntary: Paean (Howells)


Alex Little & Tom Fetherstonhaugh (Organists)
Benjamin Nicholas (Director of Music)

[Vile Consort]

The 12th rather than the 15th, perhaps?

[DracoM]

Thx. And mea culpa.

[Pulcinella]

If this really is live, then the choir must be up/back very early: surely full term is still a few weeks off. I wonder if there are new members joining this academic year already in their ranks.

[mopsus]

If this really is live, then the choir must be up/back very early: surely full term is still a few weeks off. I wonder if there are new members joining this academic year already in their ranks.

Merton Choir often has duties outside Full Term. I can confirm that new members of the choir will be singing on the broadcast: it won’t be the first time they have performed with the choir.

[Vox Humana]

An outing for what, unless I am mistaken, is the last remaining unpublished piece of Tallis - if it really is by him. The sole (textless) source does ascribe it to him, but to me it looks a tad rough and shapeless for pukka TT. It sounds a lot better than it looks on paper though. Not sure what the musicological cognoscenti make of it.

[ardcarp]

Libera Nos is a new one to me. Presumably it's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poksr7xuX1w

The sole (textless) source

Maybe this is why David Skinner treats it as a viol piece [Fretwork] on this CD:

https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/classical/products/8366218--thomas-tallis-queen-katherine-parr-songs-of-reformation

Very beautiful.

[Vox Humana]

Maybe this is why David Skinner treats it as a viol piece [Fretwork] on this CD:

https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/cl...of-reformation

I guess so - but the words fit easily enough, so who knows?

[DracoM]

Reminder: @ 3.30 p.m. today.

[ardcarp]

Dobson organ here too. Opening recital a few years ago by the late and very lamented John Scott.

https://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/chapel-choir/dobson-organ

[ardcarp]

That was a very well-directed CE with notably excellent diction in the Psalms. The choral sound was perhaps a bit treble-dominated, but that may have been an engineering issue. The Canticles, of the Latvian tendency, were very well done I thought. (One would hardly guess that Eriks E. had studied with Michael Finnissy and Jonathan Harvey!) If anything, the Brahms (although very tidily sung) was least suited to the choir, needing maybe a little more warmth of tone and sense of line.

I note with interest from the website that Merton has started a girls' (day) choir which sings on Wednesdays...though not this one obviously.

The announcer's final spiel reminded me of the story of how journalist Horatio Bottomley turned up to interview MP Godfrey Featherstonehaugh. When asked if Mr Feather-stone-haw was at home, the butler replied "Don't you mean Mr Fanshaw sir?" To which Horatio replied, "That's the fella. Tell him Mr Bumley's here."

[Pulcinella]

That was a very well-directed CE with notably excellent diction in the Psalms. The choral sound was perhaps a bit treble-dominated, but that may have been an engineering issue. The Canticles, of the Latvian tendency, were very well done I thought. (One would hardly guess that Eriks E. had studied with Michael Finnissy and Jonathan Harvey!) If anything, the Brahms (although very tidily sung) was least suited to the choir, needing maybe a little more warmth of tone and sense of line.

I note with interest from the website that Merton has started a girls' (day) choir which sings on Wednesdays...though not this one obviously.

The announcer's final spiel reminded me of the story of how journalist Horatio Bottomley turned up to interview MP Godfrey Featherstonehaugh. When asked if Mr Feather-stone-haw was at home, the butler replied "Don't you mean Mr Fanshaw sir?" To which Horatio replied, "That's the fella. Tell him Mr Bumley's here."

Rather odd pronunciation of 'people' (Let the people praise thee...), I thought: brought back ghastly memories of Michael Howard!

[ardcarp]

[Vox Humana]

An outing for what, unless I am mistaken, is the last remaining unpublished piece of Tallis - if it really is by him.

Quite by chance I find that I am mistaken. The piece is published by Mapa Mundi.

[jonfan]

A stunning well balanced sound with urgent communicative singing that kept me fully attentive. The Psalms simply declaimed with clear diction (Bairstow chant IMHO). The EE canticles - exquisite, so moving. The small size of the choir allowed all the strands of the Brahms to sound clearly without detracting from the richness of the harmony. An affecting, moving performance with a spine tingling climax from the sopranos and tenors.
A very moving act of worship with engineering to match the excellent Delphian cds from this source. A Boxing Day CE was recorded on Thursday so very much looking forward to that as a treat after Christmas.