CE Chester Cathedral 11th July 2012

**ardcarp** · 10-07-12, 08:04

Here are some details about the choirs from Chester's own website:

http://chestercathedralchoir.co.uk/

In short, no choir school; boys 8 until voice break; girls up to 18; six lay clerks plus choral scholars. Might one hope, given the scale of Blest Pair of Nylons, that they are using combined forces for the broadcast? Any inside info will I'm sure be welcomed by followers of The Choir forum.

**ardcarp** · 11-07-12, 22:21

A lovely choice of music with interesting new Pott (Mag more impressive than Nunc, I thought) and scrummy R.R. Bennett. Chester's Romantic beast of an organ did what it does best throughout, including psalm accompaniment and as 'orchestra' in the Parry. Good to know there is a high standard of music at Chester. It would be good to hear from someone who was there/took part?

**Eine Alpensinfonie** · 11-07-12, 22:48

I heard this service on the way home from work. I didn't know what was coming, so I was both delighted and surprised whe Blest Pair of Sirens was announced. They didn't do badly, though I thought the choir sounded rather small.

**ardcarp** · 12-07-12, 19:12

Yes, Blest Pair is a tough call for a smallish choir. (I noticed the first tenor entry "and to our high raised fantasy present" had a narrow squeak...but, hey, it's usually sung by about 600). I know Draco is temporarily 'off duty' so I feel like stepping into his shoes and saying, 'didn't anyone else listen to the broadcast?'

**mopsus** · 12-07-12, 22:17

You say 'usually' but I have the impression that Blest Pair has rather fallen out of the choral society repertoire, and nowadays most performances of it are in Cathedral/major church services. I'm willing to be corrected on this - maybe up North (for example) things are different?

**ardcarp** · 13-07-12, 00:05

It does seem to have gone out of fashion somewhat. I sang it as an 11-year-old treble (several choirs combined) and adored it for its wacky words and good tunes. Ironically I hadn't made the link that 'words and music' were the eponymous Blest Pair. I still think it's an odd piece to use as an anthem, but then in the dear old C of E anything goes. IMO it is greatly enhanced by the presence of a symphony orchestra. The organ reduction, however well played...as it was on Wednesday.....doesn't begin to capture the colour of the piece.

**decantor** · 13-07-12, 00:52

Originally posted by ardcarp View Post

It does seem to have gone out of fashion somewhat. I sang it as an 11-year-old treble (several choirs combined) and adored it for its wacky words and good tunes. Ironically I hadn't made the link that 'words and music' were the eponymous Blest Pair. ...... IMO it is greatly enhanced by the presence of a symphony orchestra.

I too first encountered Blest Pair as a 12-yo treble, ardcarp, along with 300 or so other young singers and the CBSO under Rudolf Schwarz in the early 1950s. I too discovered only later who those two blessed sirens were. But I always threw myself at the words "jarred against nature's chime, and with harsh din".....and it's coloured my musical taste ever since, I think. Nothing like a dramatically jarring harsh din, say I, especially if it includes the juicy minor second that Parry didn't need!

I thought Chester gave us a fine service this week: the music was interesting, and the choir did well with it. But I hesitate these days to comment on CE in detail. Discussion too easily turns sour, and mention of certain aspects of cathedral singing can bring down on one's head a shed-load of disapprobation from fellow-boarders.

**W.Kearns** · 13-07-12, 08:55

John Milton, in his place in the hereafter, is no doubt tickled pink (celestially speaking) by that description of his words as 'wacky'.

**Finzi4ever** · 13-07-12, 16:25

Originally posted by ardcarp View Post

Yes, Blest Pair is a tough call for a smallish choir. (I noticed the first tenor entry "and to our high raised fantasy present" had a narrow squeak...but, hey, it's usually sung by about 600). I know Draco is temporarily 'off duty' so I feel like stepping into his shoes and saying, 'didn't anyone else listen to the broadcast?'

I loved it and have no criticisms to make! I thought they produced a splendidly full sound and I've always adored that H&H, especialy the rich flues. Great, fruity psalms (singing and playing). From where is that 'through-composed' rich accomp. of Engelberg available, anyone? The Bridge is an underplayed tour de force and taken at the perfect pace here. I'm buzzing from the whole show - apols, service!

**ardcarp** · 13-07-12, 17:17

Discussion too easily turns sour, and mention of certain aspects of cathedral singing can bring down on one's head a shed-load of disapprobation from fellow-boarders.

It certainly has very often; but so far Chester has elicited nothing but sweetness and light...an endless morn of light in fact.

**RAC** · 14-07-12, 11:06

Originally posted by Finzi4ever View Post

I loved it and have no criticisms to make! I thought they produced a splendidly full sound and I've always adored that H&H, especialy the rich flues. Great, fruity psalms (singing and playing). From where is that 'through-composed' rich accomp. of Engelberg available, anyone? The Bridge is an underplayed tour de force and taken at the perfect pace here. I'm buzzing from the whole show - apols, service!

The Engelberg accompaniments were by its composer - Stanford. The fullest version I have is in RSCM Festival Service Book 6 (1971) where it is set to the 8 verses of "For all the saints" with 7 different accompaniments (vv. 2 & 3 the same) ending with 6 bars of organ then a plagal Amen, the setting is Copyright Stainer & Bell 1908.

In the early 1950s as a young treble I remember we used to sing "For all the saints" to Engelberg one year and Sine Nomine the next, I wonder whether (m)any places use Engelberg for it now.

Happily Engelberg is now commonly sung, to "All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine" by F Bland Tucker (1895-1984) as on Wednesday, and also to "When in our music God is glorified" by Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000). Sing Praise (2010) sets it to "Go to the world! Go into all the earth" by Sylvia Dunstan (1955-93) and also to "Let us rejoice: God's gift to us is peace!" by Martin Leckebusch (b.1962).

The accompaniments to the 5 verses of Wednesday's hymn are 5 of the 7 mentioned above, they can be seen in the settings of "For all the saints" in BBC Songs of Praise (199 ii) and Ancient & Modern Revised (527 i).

According to the short history of the organ on the Cathedral web site Gray & Davison built a new organ in 1844 and since then Whiteley Bros. of Chester (1876), William Hill & Son (1910), and Rushworth & Dreaper (1969) have done work on it. Since 1991 it has been in the care of David Wells of Liverpool, so no input from H & H!

RAC

**Pegasus** · 16-07-12, 15:32

Originally posted by decantor View Post

I thought Chester gave us a fine service this week: the music was interesting, and the choir did well with it. But I hesitate these days to comment on CE in detail. Discussion too easily turns sour, and mention of certain aspects of cathedral singing can bring down on one's head a shed-load of disapprobation from fellow-boarders.

I quite agree. With both sentences.

This, I did feel, was a glimpse afforded to us of a sincere act of worship. The music was positive and imaginative in performance. The RRB introit (whose writing for voice I do enjoy, despite the often challenging tessitura) showed careful attention to ensemble singing, especially to the balance of parts when textures changed, something I felt to be reinforced by the magical opening choral homophony of the Parry.

Dare I say how much I enjoyed the organ opening of the anthem, which led me to recall some great recordings of orchestral transcriptions/realisations made on that organ from RF's vintage ...

**Finzi4ever** · 22-07-12, 17:15

Apols, I meant Hill

**mw963** · 24-07-12, 13:20

Apropos of nothing other than Chester, I was reminded by this thread of a fantastic (I'm sounding like La Dereham there) broadcast evensong they did in 1998. It was all top notch, superb psalm singing amongst others, but the highlight was Richard Shephard's setting of "Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem" as the anthem. Sadly Optimod FM did its best to undo the very skillful dynamic range that Messrs Poulter and Eccles and the choir had envisaged, but a few years ago I remastered it (sounds rather grand) back to how I imagine it should have sounded. Moody, playful, and also a good fine blast, particularly the contrasting Alleluias at the end! Salisbury did it a few years later and in comparison their version fell flat on its face.

That broadcast stands out for me as one of the highlights of the last 20 odd years - bet no one else remembers it.

CE Chester Cathedral 11th July 2012

CE Chester Cathedral 11th July 2012

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