CE Canterbury Cathedral July 4th 2012

[DracoM]

CE Canterbury Cathedral


Order of Service:


Introit: Jesus Christ the apple tree (Piccolo)
Responses: Shephard
Psalms: 22, 23 (Camidge, Parisian tone)
First Lesson: Job 39
Canticles: Dallas Service (Howells)
Second Lesson: Romans 15:14-21
Anthem: The spirit of the Lord (Elgar)
Final Hymn: Ye watchers and ye holy ones (Lasst uns erfreuen)


Organ Voluntary: Sonata for Organ - first movement (Howells)



David Newsholme (Assistant Organist)
David Flood (Organist and Master of the Choristers)

[DracoM]

Upcoming @ 3.30 p.m.

[ardcarp]

I knew the Piccolo but not the Howells Dallas...of whose very existence I was unaware. Difficult to judge a piece on one hearing. It seemed as if Howells was writing a pastiche of his own style, i.e. slightly overdoing all the Howells-isms. But this is heresy. I must listen again.

[DracoM]

Neat and professional. Dallas canticles a bit slow maybe, but the Elgar I liked. So refreshing to hear Elgar choral textures uncluttered by washes of fuzzy voices and being sung with some conviction coolly and straight.

Loved the Howells Sonata vol. Almost the best thing in the service.

[weston752]

I thought the Piccolo would have benefitted from a greater degree of spaciousness - it had a sense of being too driven for my liking; the chanting of the psalms struck me as rather mannered, without over-much characterisation. Perhaps they were saving themselves for the Howells M&ND, which I didn't know, and thoroughly enjoyed. I felt the lessons were being read in a more resonant building than that in which the choir was singing!

[ardcarp]

the chanting of the psalms struck me as rather mannered, without over-much characterisation.

It is a source of amazement to me that there are so many differing styles of psalm singing. The pointing Canterbury used was slightly 'old fashioned' as compared (for instance) with Sheffield's last week where words were grouped together to make more natural English emphasis. The latter trend can be said to have started (I think) with The English Psalter (Messrs Macpherson, Bairstow and Buck) where the traditional verse structure was often ignored to allow natural speech rhythm. The Oxford Psalter (still widely used) is a good halfway house. This is not the only way to sing psalms however. The 1st volume of the old Kings 'Psalms of David' recording used quite dated pointing but is none the less very beautiful. Many cathedrals use their own pointing...which changes with change of DoM. I personally dislike over-mannered psalm singing, particularly where it involves dragging out certain syllables in an arbitrary fashion. And then there's NCO.

Anyone got any favourite psalm-singing choirs?

[Mr Stoat]

I thought the Piccolo would have benefitted from a greater degree of spaciousness - it had a sense of being too driven for my liking; the chanting of the psalms struck me as rather mannered, without over-much characterisation. Perhaps they were saving themselves for the Howells M&ND, which I didn't know, and thoroughly enjoyed. I felt the lessons were being read in a more resonant building than that in which the choir was singing!

My experience of singing, and directing and playing for visiting choirs at Canterbury, is that when singing in the Quire, one does not actually get the feeling of resonance - although if you can "hit" the west wall with a big ending, it does come back at you.

[Magnificat]

. I personally dislike over-mannered psalm singing, particularly where it involves dragging out certain syllables in an arbitrary fashion. And then there's NCO.

Anyone got any favourite psalm-singing choirs?

ardcarp

I agree with you about the way that some choirs drag out syllables in a quite unnatural fashion. I see no need for it at all. It ruins the flow of the words and, therefore, the chant itself. I get very annoyed when a particularly lovely chant is spoiled in this way.

As far as I am concerned the expression of the mood of the psalm is the main thing and this is not helped by over - mannered singing.

Appropriate word painting is a necessity, the lions didn't ramp and roar enough for me at Canterbury, and clear diction especially important when the meaning of the words is so vital and for this reason I prefer psalms to be sung on the slow side rather than too fast.

Of course they were done superbly well at St Albans under BR and still are, in my opinion, although Andrew Lucas has his preferences as to performance.

VCC

[Mr Stoat]

ardcarp

I agree with you about the way that some choirs drag out syllables in a quite unnatural fashion. I see no need for it at all. It ruins the flow of the words and, therefore, the chant itself. I get very annoyed when a particularly lovely chant is spoiled in this way.
VCC

I don't know whether SJC still do it, but in George Guest's time he liked to clarify/emphasise meanings by prolonging appropriate words/syllables. eg "The darkness is NO- darkness with thee...."

[130.mitFuga]

The Piccolo is a fine piece but it does require a broader tempo and a treble line with a bit more heft than we heard. In the unaccompanied verse with unison trebles and divisi ATB, the men must surely refrain from singing their parts "importantly", as the harmony is perilously dense. Very fine playing of that truly orchestral Elgar, I thought.