CE Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford 7th March 2012

[DracoM]

CE Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford


Order of Service:


Introit: Beati mundo corde (Byrd)
Responses: Francis Pott
Office Hymn: God is the refuge of his saints (Cannock)
Psalm: 37 (Russell, Gauntlett)
First Lesson: Job 1:1-22
Canticles: Dyson in D
Second Lesson: Luke 21:34 – 22: 6
Anthem: Prayer for the Church's Banquet (Francis Grier) ('Choirbook for The Queen'- first performance)
Final Hymn: Hark what a sound (Highwood)


Organ Voluntary: Joie et clarté from Les Corps Glorieux (Messiaen)



Michael Heighway (Organ Scholar)
Stephen Darlington (Director of Music)

[DracoM]

Reminder: today @ 3.30 p.m.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

i shall be listening DracoM

i note that Lord Blair formerly of the Met read English at Christ Church

we are attending the Stravinsky and Mendelssohn concert there this evening ...

[DracoM]

aka C

Is that Francis Grier's relation soloing?

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

not sure i will find out this evening

enquiry confirms that she is

[Simon Biazeck]

A very prayerful atmosphere and beautifully sung - lovely choral balance, but not over-homogenised with lots of nice detail from all voices, and the latest Pott Preces & Responses (pub. Shorter House) are very nice indeed. That acoustic is so revealing and they are clearly masters of it!

[DracoM]

Even if you are used to it as that choir will be, the dryness of the CCC acoustic can still be truly merciless and intimidating. The slightest blur or mis-match or wobbly entry revealed, and in a live broadcast, no patching allowed, it doubles the pressure. As a listener it also takes a bit of getting used to - acoustic almost as claustrophobic as the Chapel Royal. This can put a lot of pressure on the DoM to make good repertoire choices, and I must say today, I thought the balace of pieces was just about perfect. A cappella and accompanied pieces, modern textures plus the jostling richness of Byrd.

That introit oddly for me was the least successful part of the service. Some pretty striving altos / tenors cut through like a laser, while the boys had to fight to be heard and the basses seemed to be sort of low waffly rumble. Knowing that acoustic a bit, I wondered if the balance engineers were caught a bit unawares by the intensity of the sound, because later on, there was a much cleaner and very nicely judged sound altogether in tutti passages.

Liked the new Potts responses, slightly angular, but workable and well sung. CCC like NCO have very much their own way with psalms, slightly quirky, but reasonably disciplined - some good strong lads on the front row kept things moving in psalms and elsewhere pretty well. The Dyson Mag bounced along very nicely in good heart, but the Nunc was taken at what seemed to me to be a pretty scarily slow speed.

The Grier anthem by and large seemed to exploit upper registers. FG will know better than most what works in that space, and the trebs and altos sustained exchanges near the top of their compass to exciting, polyrhythmic effect. Will be interesting to hear it in a bigger acoustic. But as SB says above, it was the chamber music like intimacy and exchanges that really worked, and one hopes this piece works its way into repertoires elsewhere. And a felicitous match to the Messiaen voluntary later, executed in a forensic, analytic style that really repaid attention.

Oh yes, and another tourist guide / travelogue opening. Please, WHY do they do it??

[AuntyKezia]

Oh yes, and another tourist guide / travelogue opening. Please, WHY do they do it??[/QUOTE]

Perhaps because they know some of us like it?

[DracoM]

Why do you like it? Genuinely interested.

[AuntyKezia]

I like it because it gives a geographical and sometimes historical context to the service we're about to hear. I even enjoy it when, as yesterday, it relates to a place I already know well, though obviously it's even more valuable in the case of somewhere I've never visited.

I also appreciated what some on this board felt to be extraneous commentary during the service from Manchester last month, especially the bit about the psalms just prior to them being sung.

The part of the broadcast that I do sometimes feel I'd gladly dispense with is the organ voluntary at the end, if (and only if) the chosen piece seems totally out of sympathy with what has gone before - but I know this is often a highlight for other MBers so I won't be agitating for its removal just yet!

[MrGongGong]

The part of the broadcast that I do sometimes feel I'd gladly dispense with is the organ voluntary at the end, if (and only if) the chosen piece seems totally out of sympathy with what has gone before - but I know this is often a highlight for other MBers so I won't be agitating for its removal just yet!

For me , I could get do without the rest (but I'm glad it's there !) and have an hour of Messiaen organ music in it's place

[DracoM]

So it must be a real disappointment to you that all that singing / praying stuff gets in the way.

[ardcarp]

Dear Aunty, There is always a knob (if you'll forgive the expression) for dispensing with final organ voluntaries...the same knob I use for The Archers, inter alia. The older amongst us will remember when CE was only allotted 45 mins and the organ was often faded at the end. Now we have a choice. Alas, the travelogue may sometimes be there because there is time for one. Domage.

[MrGongGong]

So it must be a real disappointment to you that all that singing / praying stuff gets in the way.

I could do without the praying stuff entirely (but do know why it's there !) the singing is fine (even when it's singing the praying stuff !!)........ having been a participant in these rituals I find them kind of interesting even though I don't believe a word of it anymore (and as it seems neither do most of the participants !).
CE is very interesting from an ethnomusicological perspective , its a shame that we don't have a Jaap Kunst style piece of research about it (but I know you will obviously think this is far too irrelevant for discussion etc etc )......

[MrGongGong]

Dear Aunty, There is always a knob (if you'll forgive the expression) for dispensing with final organ voluntaries...the same knob I use for The Archers, inter alia. The older amongst us will remember when CE was only allotted 45 mins and the organ was often faded at the end. Now we have a choice. Alas, the travelogue may sometimes be there because there is time for one. Domage.

Is that the Aldridge knob perchance ?
I have a "Mcgough Knob" (oooer mrs) for "Poetry no thank you"