CE: Chapel of Merton College, Oxford [R] Wed, 13th Jan 2021

[DracoM]

CE: Chapel of Merton College, Oxford [R] Wed, 13th Jan 2021
Recorded 27 October 2020


Order of Service:


Prelude: In dir ist Freude (Bach)
Introit: Ecce sacerdos magnus (Elgar)
Responses: Ayleward
Psalms 47, 48 (Nares, Walmisley)
First Lesson: Exodus 15 vv.1-19
Office hymn: Jesus, our master and our only saviour (Iste Confessor)
Magnificat: Stanford in B flat
Second Lesson: Colossians 2 vv.8-15
Nunc dimittis: Wood in B flat
Anthem: Tribus miraculis (Hassler)
Hymn: O what their joy and glory must be (Regnator orbis)

Voluntary: Prelude and Fugue in A, BWV 536 (Bach)

Kentaro Machida (Organ Scholar)
Simon Hogan (Organist)
Benjamin Nicholas (Director of Music)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r486

[DracoM]

Good fresh voices and a very nice balance too,

[jonfan]

Good fresh voices and a very nice balance too,

Agree. Very beautiful and expressive singing; the beginning had an enticing sweep of different pieces of period and style from Bach, through Elgar to Ayleward and the psalm chants. I enjoyed the two contrasting canticle settings. The choice of anthem didn't particularly thrill me and the final organ voluntary a bit underwhelming in registration, but the service as a whole I really enjoyed. The choir takes an obvious pleasure in singing and sharing it.

[Magister Chori]

Great singing, even if I tend to prefer services when more unified in style (also quite strange the fact they had chosen a different setting for each canticle...).

Not the best organ playing (or perhaps the acoustic?): quite lacking in clarity, particularly in the opening prelude.

[ardcarp]

quite strange the fact they had chosen a different setting for each canticle

That occurred to me too...but (I suppose) why not?

particularly in the opening prelude.

Also known in the past (and quite inexplicably) as The Giant Fugue. Personally, I'd have liked the recurring pedal motif to have been slightly more prominent, and to have begun with a slightly detached first note to give it more 'spring'. But hey, who are we to complain? We're getting CEs, albeit recorded....but recorded in difficult times. I liked the Hassler anthem with its very discreet organ doubling.

[ocarina]

That occurred to me too...but (I suppose) why not?



Also known in the past (and quite inexplicably) as The Giant Fugue. Personally, I'd have liked the recurring pedal motif to have been slightly more prominent, and to have begun with a slightly detached first note to give it more 'spring'. But hey, who are we to complain? We're getting CEs, albeit recorded....but recorded in difficult times. I liked the Hassler anthem with its very discreet organ doubling.

Wir glauben... (BWV 680) from Clavierubung 3 is the one sometimes referred to as the giant fugue. This was In dir ist... (BWV 615) from the orgelbuchlein. They both have ostinato in the pedal and I thought the striding of BWV 680 across much of the pedal compass was the source of the “giant” nickname.

[ardcarp]

You are quite right of course! I've played both in the past but get muddled easily at the moment. And yes, the striding of the pedal in Wir Glauben is what gave rise the the 'Giant' name. But Fugue? Not really.

[Pulcinella]

That occurred to me too...but (I suppose) why not?
...

At least they were in the same key!

But it seemed to me an odd thing to do, too.
I'd have to check in these particular instances, but usually/often the Mag and Nunc share a common Gloria, and I love the way that composers make this happen effectively: I think one of the cleverest is Rubbra in A flat.

[Keraulophone]

the striding of the pedal in Wir Glauben is what gave rise the the 'Giant' name.

Wir glauben (Luther, 1524, Creed-hymn): ‘In an independent pedal-part, a bass ostinato, Bach depicts with a step motif symbolising steadfastness the unshakeable strength of [Luther’s] faith.’ - Albert Schweitzer: Bach Organ Works, Vol.7 p.LIX.

The following Wir glauben, however, is given an entirely different treatment for manuals only in the style of a French Overture... the wondrous variety of the Master, as Schweitzer often refers to him.

Dr Albert Schweitzer born on this day, 146 years ago.

[subcontrabass]

Wir glauben (Luther, 1524, Creed-hymn): ‘In an independent pedal-part, a bass ostinato, Bach depicts with a step motif symbolising steadfastness the unshakeable strength of [Luther’s] faith.’ - Albert Schweitzer: Bach Organ Works, Vol.7 p.LIX.

The following Wir glauben, however, is given an entirely different treatment for manuals only in the style of a French Overture... the wondrous variety of the Master, as Schweitzer often refers to him.

Dr Albert Schweitzer died on this day, 146 years ago.

Born 14 January 1875. (Died 4 September 1965)

[Keraulophone]

Born 14 January 1875. (Died 4 September 1965)

Thanks!

[Vox Humana]

But Fugue? Not really.

It absolutely is, surely? A fugue over an independent, ostinato pedal. I think this may be unique, but then no one of Bach's fugues is quite like another, which, for me, is one of the things that makes his inventiveness so awesome.

[ardcarp]

All this organ talk spurred me to dig out Wir Glauben BWV 680 and In dir ist Freude BWV 615. I'm afraid I have both in rather un-cool Novello editions which I've had since student days. The nice thing about Orgelbuchlein is that the simple chorales are printed too. In the case of In dir ist Feude it's a great tune (attrib. Gastoldi) for a choir to sing. Sometimes in a combined choir and organ recital it's pleasing for the audience to hear the unadorned chorale sung first.

I was surprised to find that on the piano the manual parts fell easily under my fingers...sort of from memory....even after a gap of several years. I hummed the pedal parts (no great feat) and can't wait to nip into our local church tomorrow and get the...er... feet moving. I can't believe that I never noticed, on the very next page of Clavierubung Part 3, is a manuals only version of Wir Glauben as mentioned by Keraulophone. I can't help adding that ancient records I had of Albert Schweitzer playing Bach were dire...great scholar though he was.

Vox, I completely agree about the fugal element of Wir Glauben. It's just that the pedal 'tune' is unrelated to the fugal subject.

[ocarina]

I can't believe that I never noticed, on the very next page of Clavierubung Part 3, is a manuals only version of Wir Glauben as mentioned by Keraulophone.

All the chorale settings in clavierubung 3 (except Allein Gott) have a big version for man+ped and a shorter manuals only version; it’s an intriguing aspect of the amazing structure of the collection. I’m sure I had a discussion on here previously about recordings and groupings and learnt that one of the recordings I have (which splits the collection across 2 cds right between the wir glaubens) actually makes some sense; it’s a point of symmetry. Bach begins the second half of the collection with the 2nd wir glauben in a french style incorporating some elements of overture writing. He does similar in the goldbergs and elsewhere. Apparently a classic rhetorical device, to start again in the middle. Crafty old Bach.

[ocarina]

Sorry I’ve gone right off piste here. Blame ardcarp