CE Derby Cathedral Sept 12th 2012

[DracoM]

CE Derby Cathedral



Order of Service:



Introit: Praise to God (Sidney Campbell)
Responses: Vann
Psalms: 65, 66, 67 (Turle, Bielby, Stewart)
First Lesson: Wisdom 3: 1-9
Office Hymn: Father, hear the prayer (Sussex)
Canticles: Westminster Service (Howells)
Second Lesson: Mark 10: 7-31
Anthem: I my best-beloved's am (John Rutter - Choirbook for the Queen)
Final Hymn: Sing praise to God (Palace Green)



Organ Voluntary: The Sun's Evensong (Karg-Elert)



Tom Corfield (Assistant Organist)
Peter Gould (Master of the Music)

[DracoM]

Gentle reminder. Today @ 3.30 p.m.
Derby ought to be thrilled that their county cricket team is all-but promoted to Div 1, so choir should sing with added gusto? Looks like boys/girls/men ensemble.

[Simon]

I shall be hoping to listen and I wish them well.

Derby isn't a place people living north of Matlock go to, much, with Derbyshire being such a long county and Derby being so far south within it - (and with the A6 being so appalling - not a dual carriageway to be seen). For anything but local shopping it's Sheffield/Chesterfield or possibly, on the few days in the year when the surrounding roads are passable, Buxton.

Also, despite its ancient origins, the cathedral itself, though lovely inside and with a good acoustic (I sang in it once) hasn't got, for me at least, that feeling that you get from the warm, golden stone of the massive Norman pillars and arches of, say, nearby Southwell or from the immensity and complexity of Lincoln.

That's a shame, because the choir is good, or certainly was when I heard them last year. Mr Gould is well-liked, clearly eminently capable and a devoted servant of music, and I believe may be the longest-serving cathedral DoM in the country. The cathedral community has also the reputation of being warm, welcoming and friendly, with none of the "side" that one gets, occasionally, from some snobby foundations who think they are God's gift to the world...

Best wishes, Derby, for a good broadcast!

[mw963]

Well I thought that was HUGELY enjoyable. Lovely psalms, canticles went well, I was a little "unmoved" by the anthem (but still enjoyed it), fascinating voluntary. What a lovely voice one of the priests had.

Time was (and I mean a LONG time ago) when Derby's tuning used to let them down (although one always felt they were trying their best) and I did feel the tuning sagged a tiny bit in the second set of responses (again, nice to hear those too) but overall that's one of the most enjoyable evensongs (from a personal perspective) I've heard in a while.

I know I'm putting my head on the block here, but tuning in to the psalms (missed the introit) both SWMBO and I said "Girls choir". That's not a criticism, but it seemed obvious to us that it was a "girls' sound". I sincerely hope that doesn't stir up a hornet's nest, it's not supposed to. Just my luck if it turns out to have been boys only!!

[DracoM]

< Looks like boys/girls/men ensemble.>

See my message above. Unless, of course, they changed it from their own published schedule?

[Philip]

I know what you mean Simon. Derby has wonderful acoustics, although the building isn't the archetypal Cathedral with huge pillars, arches and vaults, and certainly not my favourite. That said, Peter Gould does very good things with the choir, who are from local schools as there is no Cathedral School, and Tom Corfield is a fine accompanist.

I attended on Sunday evening just gone for the 'trial run' of this broadcast, which was sung by the Girls and Men who seemed on fine form, especially considering it is so early in the term. It featured the Vann, Howells, Rutter and Karg-Elert. The Howells isn't his finest setting but does have some wonderful moments, not least the extended cadence which concludes each Gloria. I enjoyed the Rutter piece, with what seemed to me to be hints of plainsong; not the usual twee Rutter at all. It seemed to come across very well on the radio.

[DracoM]

Well, it was all very neat, efficient, nicely balanced.
'HUGELY' enjoyable? Hmm. But of course quot homines etc.

[mw963]

I think "overall effect" has more impact on me than individual musical "scores" (in the "points mean prizes" sense) perhaps; you pros hear and notice things that escape us lesser mortals which maybe spoil the overall effect for you....

And we all get sensitised to certain foibles....

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that at my poor level of musicianship it can be the case that a service - even impeccably performed - of music I don't like is going to "score" less highly for me than one where the music is to my taste and - in spite of some minor shortcomings - I've felt the choir/organ/choirmaster have had a damned good go.

Not that there were any obvious shortcomings in this case to my ears, apart from that minor tuning sag that may or may not have happened....

In the case of the make-up of the choir, I hadn't seen your message at the time we tuned in and made our observation....

[ardcarp]

I know many of us don't like the all-too-common introductory 'travelogue'...but this one was brief, to-the-point, and elegantly drafted and delivered. Haven't heard the Sidney Campbell 'Praise to God' for years. Parish Church fodder, IMHO, and perhaps not a masterpiece!

[Simon]

Nicely done in my view, too. Good psalms, especially, and we liked the Rutter anthem. Not what we expected!

Thanks, all at Derby, for a very good service.

[Old Grumpy]

Thanks, all at Derby, for a very good service.

Currently listening:

[john_york]

I have just listened to Derby's offering of CE and was quite impressed. Being an old "Derbian" I am always keen to listen to listen to their offering. I thoroughly enjoyed the Campbell introit, and the chant for psalm 66 was just lovely. (Wasn't Peter Gould under Bielby when he was at Wakefield?) It isn't often you get a triple chant and Tom Corfield's accompaniment was at its usual very high standard!! I did feel that there were some tuning issues in the psalm, especially in the girls section.

Howells Westminster has never been my favourite when compared to the others, however they did give it a good shot.

There were some tuning issues in the responses, but these still remain one of my favourite settings. Derby did these a long time ago when I was in the congregation at York Minster and they went terribly flat

The Anthem wasn't too bad for saying it was Rutter

Overall it was a good Evensong, although I don't feel the girls were as strong, or sound as confident as on their previous offerings. A few tuning issues, but hey, we all have those days.

I hope to pop down to Derby soon and see them for real.