CE Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge [A] Wed, 17th June 2020

[mw963]

Yes it is - one and the same. Thank you ardcarp and Andrew Butler.

[jonfan]

It seems 'English Praise' has been airbrushed even from the internet. I take it that it was published before 'New English Hymnal' in 1986 so very strange that Howell's descant to Michael wasn't included in that publication. The descant is available as a leaflet from Novello.
'New English Praise' was published in 2006 as a supplement to NEH. Tunes such as Coe Fen and Corvedale were included as well as many useful new texts and tunes. Music editors included Michael Fleming and Simon Lindley, so high quality assured.

[mopsus]

English Praise was in use in Merton College Chapel in the early 1980s. We used to sing the responsorial psalms and a few other hymns. (At another church I sang a very weak one from it for the Feast of the Transfiguration.)

I haven't done a 'head count' of descants but Ancient & Modern Revised (still in use at my church for many hymns) is quite generous with them, and I believe The English Hymnal avoided them, although it has some 'alternative versions' with other harmonisations or with the melody in an inner voice. Maybe on reflection the descant to 'Michael' was thought too complicated for parish use.

[Wolsey]

It seems 'English Praise' has been airbrushed even from the internet. I take it that it was published before 'New English Hymnal' in 1986 so very strange that Howell's descant to Michael wasn't included in that publication. The descant is available as a leaflet from Novello.
'New English Praise' was published in 2006 as a supplement to NEH. Tunes such as Coe Fen and Corvedale were included as well as many useful new texts and tunes. Music editors included Michael Fleming and Simon Lindley, so high quality assured.

We'll have to wait and see if it is published in the successor to the hymnals mentioned. The Revised English Hymnal was to have been published on 30 June, but the pandemic has resulted in yet another delay.

PS Ardcarp: Howells' descant is very much in copyright, so posting it here in its entirety, I'm afraid, is illegal.

[ardcarp]

Howells' descant is very much in copyright, so posting it here in its entirety, I'm afraid, is illegal

It was strictly for study purposes!

Maybe...... the descant to 'Michael' was thought too complicated for parish use.

How patronising!

I knew Arthur Hutchings as a close friend. (Sadly he died a few years ago.) He was, in a professional capacity, quite a combative figure*. His 'revision copy' of English Praise (pictured above) is littered with scrawlings and brusque comments about things he thought ought to have been done differently, and over which he was presumably over-ruled by the other editors. For instance he abhorred some of the over-fussy harmonisations of simple folk-like tunes. I can imagine him fighting for and winning the case for inclusion of the Howells descant, though I have no certain knowledge of this.

Sad that English Praise is no longer available. Changing the subject slightly, it is a fact that some publications dominate the market. OUP's Carols for Choirs (books 1 - infinity) is understandably popular and I guess we all love them up to a point. If you run a choir, you can be pretty sure that most people have copies of I & II at least, which avoids the necessity of ordering lots of sheet music. There is, however, a danger in that. Some excellent carols get sidelined, and apart from the ones that hit the headlines (often via a Kings broadcast) many fall into oblivion. Anyone who wants to invest in sets of other carol books might want to consider Novello's Book of Carols Vol I & II. An older Novello carol book Sing Nowell has some brilliant arrangements plus original pieces. I don't know if that's still available.

* In contrast, one happy memory is of garden birds feeding from his hand. He came to retire just around the corner from us.

[Keraulophone]

Ooo, so much Howells concentrate in that antepenultimate bar.

[jonfan]

Some obviously good memories of Arthur Hutchings for you Mr A. I agree, Novello have some fine, original collections of carols for choirs in their listings and yes, Sing Nowell is still available. There’s a fun setting of Ding Dong Merrily in there we enjoyed singing by Malcolm Williamson (remember him?).
A collection I still enjoy using for sheer practicality and breadth of choice is University Carol Book edited by Erik Routley. Every page crammed full of music in short score in unfussy arrangements. Loads of material from Europe, many in arrangements by Terry and Pettman. It came out in 1961 so was always in the shadow of Jacques and Willcocks which was issued the same year.

[ardcarp]

and yes, Sing Nowell is still available.

Good.

And of course there's the Oxford Book of Carols (which sits on my shelf next to the University Carol Book). It's a great compendium of carols, both music and texts, from Medieval times onwards, and with helpful footnotes about sources. Like the UCB, the arrangemnts are simple and unfussy.

[jonfan]

Continuing well off piste, I’ll make the observation that OBC of 1928, and UCB, are superbly practical for choir use as they are compact and easy to hold up. However worthy the New Oxford Carol Book is, and even the Shorter version, one needs a crane to hold it up in a concert after a while. I used to enjoy how GG, in the Advent Carols from St John’s, would alert one to the byways of OBC so you would be ready with fresh repertoire next year.

[ardcarp]

Loved some of the simple carol arrangements GG used, e.g. The Cherry Tree Carol, harmony straight from OBC with just a simple organ twiddle between verses.

[Andrew Butler]

The famous 1954 KCC televised Christmas Eve Carols under Boris Ord includes at least one "straight" choir carol from the OBC IIRC

[ardcarp]

A Virgin Most Pure? 1928 edition?

[PeterboroughDiapason]

It seems 'English Praise' has been airbrushed even from the internet. I take it that it was published before 'New English Hymnal' in 1986 so very strange that Howell's descant to Michael wasn't included in that publication

The Howells descant is excellent if you want to put the congregation off singing, but I'm not surprised it didn't make it into NEH. Rutter and and Stephen Farr have both written more useful ones (as indeed have I and, no doubt, many more organists.)

I have used the organ part for the last verse once or twice which has given pleasure to me if not universally.