CE St Paul’s Cathedral, London [L] Wed, November 7th 2018

[DracoM]

CE St Paul’s Cathedral, London Wed, November 7th 2018 [L]
The centenary of the end of the First World War


Order of Service:


Introit: When you see the millions of the mouthless dead (Macmillan)
Responses: Radcliffe
Psalms 84, 85 (Parry, Hemmings)
First Lesson: Isaiah 57: 15-19
Office hymn: Crossing the bar (Parry)
Canticles: William Denis Browne in A
Second Lesson: John 15: 9-17
Anthems: Lord, let me know mine end (Parry); For the fallen (Blatchly)
Hymn: O God our help in ages past (St Anne)

Voluntary: Chorale Fantasia on ‘O God our Help' (Parry)


Simon Johnson (Organist)
Andrew Carwood (Director of Music)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00011dw

[Vox Humana]

Some rare canticles there, but clearly very appropriate for the occasion. (The Wikipedia article on Browne is interesting.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Denis_Browne

[ardcarp]

Mark Blatchly's For the Fallen is unashamedly retro in its harmonic language. But what a piece! Mrs A for one goes weak at the knees whenever she sings/hears it. So I'll be ready to prop her up on Wednesday. I do hope St Paul's will have a real trumpet player on hand.

[DracoM]

Been in a choir that sang it - trumpeter couldn't play because he was weeping.

[ardcarp]

Quite a few tear-jerkers on the list, 'Crossing the Bar' for one. I played for the funeral of a close friend last Thursday He was a keen sailor, and the Tennyson poem was read. The final lines.....

I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

.....caused a few wet eyes.

Here's the Parry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CBHeFnH1nA

[terratogen]

More years ago than I'd care to admit, a video of Barry Rose's Saint Paul's choristers singing Blatchly's 'For the Fallen' completely changed the course of my research. Weirdly, I'm where I am today—wherever that is—for having been so moved by that performance. Looking forward to hearing it broadcast.

[DracoM]

Brisk reminder - in 19 mins...today!!!

[DracoM]

Very fine CE.
For me, the MacMillan stood out as a piece, but the Parry took some singing.

PS: very odd shift in balance about eight minutes in? Choir suddenly shifting about forty feet into the distance. Hmm. BUT for once they really managed to good effect the St Paul's resonance.

[ardcarp]

Choir suddenly shifting about forty feet into the distance

Yes, very strange. And we didn't get Crossing the Bar did we? Or did I doze off and miss it?

I was less moved than I expected by the lovely Blatchly piece. Was I expecting too much? Or was a certain tendresse missing?

Anyway, those St Paul's choristers can certainly pump out the decibels...which they need to.

[Vox Humana]

And we didn't get Crossing the Bar did we?

We didn't get psalm 84 either. What is it with these cuts? I don't get it. It shouldn't be beyond the wit of man or woman to know how much time each piece (and the lessons) will take and programme appropriately.

[ardcarp]

..and I think there were a few minutes in hand after the broadcast ended.

[Op. XXXIX]

Mark Blatchly's For the Fallen is unashamedly retro in its harmonic language. But what a piece!

I certainly enjoyed it (as I did the canticles which I had not heard before). Interestingly, there is a nice picture of the young Mark Blatchly in Simon Carpenter's book 'The Beat is Irrelevant'. He is with the Guildford choristers on tour in Jersey in 1972.

[BBMmk2]

This be interesting, I have an ancestor buried here.

[DracoM]

..and I think there were a few minutes in hand after the broadcast ended.

More than a few, actually.
I just wonder who makes these decisions - e.g. on-site BBC editor, advice from BBC HQ? Maybe after a sing-through for sound balance? Carwood? Dean? Or organist dropping his scores and can't find them in the heat of the moment?

[ardcarp]

...I first read that as 'dropping his scones'