Choral Vespers from St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Armagh Aug 29th 2012

[DracoM]

Choral Vespers from St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Armagh
Tx Wed 29th August 2012 but recorded beforehand
The Charles Wood Summer School.



Order of Service:



Responses: Plainsong
Hymn: Hail, O thou of woman born
Psalms: 114, 115 (Plainsong)
Reading: Acts 13 vv23-25
Homily: Cardinal Seán Brady
Magnificat primi toni á 8 (Palestrina)
Anthem: Ave Maria (Parsons)
Te Deum (Collegium Regale) (Howells)



Organ Voluntary: Apparation de l'église éternelle (Messiaen)




Daniel Hyde (Organist)
David Hill (Director of Music)

[DracoM]

Reminder Today @ 3.30 p.m.

[DracoM]

Erm.......well....maybe not, judging by the late-running of the Prom repeat.

[jean]

When I heard the priest intone the opening Deus in adiutorium meum intende, I thought it was an interesting new chant I had never heard before.

When the choir came in with the response, I realised it wasn't...

[DracoM]

Well, that was like a journey back in time. Like the 1950's maybe?

Sounded like considerable forces tackling material ostensibly written for small forces eg Palestrina, Parsons etc. In a huge swimming pool acoustic. Extraordinary. The Howells Te Deum came out of it best for me.

Not sure I liked being lectured by Cardinal Sean Brady of all people about my religious duty.

[Flosshilde]

Not sure I liked being lectured by Cardinal Sean Brady of all people about my religious duty.

If you listen to a religious service coming from a Catholic cathedral that's a risk you have to take. These pesky Cardinals will insist on muscling in

[DracoM]

No, it's WHO His Eminence is and his recent backstory that does not recommend him to me as a mentor.

[Miles Coverdale]

I see that in the current debate about abortion in Ireland Brady has said that it is 'important people have the courage to make their voices heard'. Shame he didn't follow his own advice in the 1970s.

[DracoM]

Precisely.

[AlexM]

I'd have preferred proper Gregorian psalms, in Latin, not the stripped-down Anglican version with made-up antiphons. Howells sounded terrific, but what's he doing there?

[french frank]

Howells sounded terrific, but what's he doing there?

And nothing suitable by Charles Wood?

(Welcome, Alex!)

[DracoM]

Welcome to the Forum, Alex.

Indeed. There was a slightly odd pot-pourri that was a bit tricky to understand. Marked contrast with the previous week's Edington mix of plainsong and other modes. Everyone yesterday felt much happier seemingly with the Howells, and it sang well.

[Pegasus]

Music and performance of the highest quality.

In recent weeks we have heard services sung by ad hoc ensembles and combined forces (amongst others); there is no doubt in my mind that this was the best by some considerable distance. I am glad that we have been reminded what is possible, and the highest standards that we should expect.

Intonation and blend was delightful. A wonderful sense of legato, underpinned by confident vocal control, supported each phrase. Tempi (which would be challenged by the generous acoustic) were never indulgent.

And to consider what the rest of the repertory was for the week ...

The finest music in the finest hands.



Addendum. The shock and horror of hearing a priest sing with an untrained voice was something I could come to terms with. However, I am with DracoM, in thinking that the choice of priest for the Homily was altogether more distasteful.

[DracoM]

Sorry, I just cannot agree with such undiluted praise for the performances in this service, and coming from as distinguished a correspondent as Pegasus, I am even more surprised.

Repertoire was good, but the actual singing? In that acoustic mix, how on earth could you tell? Or were you there?

[jean]

Addendum. The shock and horror of hearing a priest sing with an untrained voice was something I could come to terms with.

I wasn't objecting to an untrained voice, Pegasus, but to the fact that he didn't know the tune, or couldn't sing the notes in the right order.

What has happened to the post that answered mine? It's gone completely, and I thought we couldn't do that.

I was going to reply that I know priests who can sing plainsong properly.

(I couldn't listen carefully enough and must LA before I comment further on the whole service.)