CE The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban 3rd July 2013

[DracoM]

CE The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban
The Feast of St Thomas the Apostle



Order of Service:



Introit: Quia vidisti me (Hassler)
Responses: Ayleward
Psalm 139 (Russell, Martin)
First Lesson: Job 42:1-6
Office Hymn: Glory to Thee, O Lord (Harewood)
Canticles: St Paul's Service (Howells)
Second Lesson: 1 Peter 1: 3-12
Anthem: Lobet den Herrn, BWV 230 (JS Bach)
Final Hymn: Blessed Thomas doubt no longer (Regent Square)



Organ Voluntary: Toccata in F, BuxWV 156 (Buxtehude)





Tom Winpenny (Assistant Master of the Music)
Andrew Lucas (Master of the Music)

[DracoM]

Reminder: today @ 3.30p.m.

[DracoM]

Fine service.

Good balance of choir, and a stunning Buxtehude voluntary as well. Good all-round teamwork.
For my taste, the Howells canticles were taken pretty slowly thus asking the boys particularly to hold some pretty high sostenuto long lines while stuff unfolded under them - OK, but maybe just little thinning of tone? I suppose if you write for the huge acoustic of St Paul's you can expect the space to hang up the noise and let it resonate, but St Alban's is a bit less generous.

Was it just me, or were there some hesitations in the responses? Very nice precenting [ is there such a word?], and NO travelogue PR at the start of the service. HURRAY!

Still, quot homines as usual.

[ardcarp]

I enjoyed very much the 'trad Anglican' sound with unaffected head-voices from the trebles and a well-blended choral sound. And Howells seemed very appropriate to all that. I do just question the wisdom of programming a Bach motet as the anthem. Choirs seem to have to do this now and again as a sort of badge of honour. Top professional choirs know how difficult it is to bring them off well...perfect articulation and singing well within one's technique....and whilst I applaud this afternoon's valiant performance, I feel that the very devotional atmosphere conjured by St Alban's sound would have been better served by a more 'Anglican' choice of anthem.

Sparkling Buxtehude indeed!

[Op. XXXIX]

Didn't strike me that the Howells was too slow, perhaps that's just my preference.

But the exquisite singing of Psalm 139 completely captivated me, and I had to back up and listen again.

Not the biggest fan of 'Regent Square', though the tempo was literally identical to mine, and I suppose many hymns develop a 'consensus' tempo over the years.

Great service.

[chitreb]

I should like to have been in the Abbey for this service, particularly to listen to the Buxtehude but also to immerse myself in the wonderful tone of the choir and the excellent blending of the parts. Unlike Op.XXXIX I found the psalm a little slow and I felt the singing lacked a bit of conviction (it's that taste thing again). I agree with ardcarp about the Bach - a valiant go but a tad fraught at times.

The broadcast quality was good but sounded a bit as if one was listening from halfway back in the Nave (not necessarily a bad thing but lacking a little presence). This was more evident on the webcast but was still imo a feature of the live radio broadcast (analogue).

[DracoM]

Went back to listen to that Bach again. Seemed to me that the in the first ten seconds half the choir struggled enough with punchy note-making to blur the sound the other half were making. No lack of will nor rising to the challenge, just technique. I got the impression that it slowed a bit to get everybody back on track? Or was that just me tuning in to them?

[ardcarp]

Notwithstanding my earlier comment, I think it was a big achievement to sing Lobet live on air and the kids were clearly enjoying the challenge. I still think it was the wrong choice, but that's just a personal opinion.

There is a wide variety of styles of psalm-singing, and I agree with Op.XXXIX that the reflective way they did Ps 139 was indeed captivating.

[Magnificat]

Went back to listen to that Bach again. Seemed to me that the in the first ten seconds half the choir struggled enough with punchy note-making to blur the sound the other half were making. No lack of will nor rising to the challenge, just technique. I got the impression that it slowed a bit to get everybody back on track? Or was that just me tuning in to them?

Draco,

If I could just pick up on some points made about the service.

I tend to agree about the Bach. These cantatas are not my favourites at the best of times and as Ardcarp says a more Anglican anthem would have been a better choice although I thought the boys were pretty tireless considering the 14 year olds must now be past their peak and the rest are pretty young. It's a shame that the choir weren't able to broadcast as originally planned in October.

The psalm singing, as always at St Albans, was absolutely stunning.

These broadcasts from the Nave at the Abbey always seem to me to give an impression of the acoustic as it is from way down to the West Front whereas if you were sitting as most people do in the front half
there would indeed be much more presence about the sound. For me the best broadcast sound I've heard for listeners over the years is when the choir is singing in the Quire facing the High Altar.

I thought the St Paul's Service was extremely well done and didn't notice any hesitation in the responses which are part of the choir's staple repertoire and present no difficulties to them whatsover.

The service was beautifully put together, I thought, with the new Precentor Rev Paul Arbuthnott's ( ex Christ Church, Dublin and other NI cathedrals ) intoning probably the best we have heard this year on CE, and, of course Jeffrey John's, as usual, wonderfully thoughtful prayers - why isn't he a Bishop yet?

VCC

[Magnificat]

PS

Tom Winpenny - what a classy player he is.

VCC

[ardcarp]

Good! I'm glad we heard from you at last, VCC, and thanks for the inside info. I think we know why JJ isn't a bishop, and IMO the reason is absolutely ridiculous in this day and age.

[Gabriel Jackson]

I think we know why JJ isn't a bishop, and IMO the reason is absolutely ridiculous in this day and age.

Indeed!

[Miles Coverdale]

I think we know why JJ isn't a bishop, and IMO the reason is absolutely ridiculous in this day and age.

He almost certainly would be if Rowan Williams had stuck to what everyone thought were his principles and hadn't caved in to appease the evangelicals.

[Triforium]

I enjoyed this service. Some very nice phrasing indeed in the Psalm. I don't think the Howells was too slow - difficult to take it any faster really, particularly in moments such as "and his mercy is on them", "he remembering" and the tenuto at "he hath filled". Amazing dim and rit on "Israel" in the Nunc. I liked the Bach and thought programming the Howells with all of the Baroque music worked well. Nice voluntary, thanks for the zimbelstern at the end!

As chitreb indicated, it sounded as though the microphones were pretty far away. I could hear the trebles well, but wanted a bit more from the lower voices as it came across on the broadcast. I too would like to have been present for this service.

Many thanks to all involved!

[Philip]

Like others I very much enjoyed this.

I did also get the feeling that the choir sounded a bit distant but the singing was excellent. The highlight for me was the Psalm, which was beautifully paced and sung. I didn't find the Howells too slow - many directors pick up the pace considerably at 'As it was in the beginning' but to me this was about right - more time to enjoy that majestic conclusion. The Howells most of all would probably have benefitted from a slightly more immediate sound, but thats an environmental/microphone issue rather than an issue with the singing. The Bach motet was less to my taste and I support the comments above. Some most inventive registrations for the Buxtehude - the 32' reed etc might have a few purists running for cover but it was nice to hear lots of variety, and good to hear that bit of Tuba in the Tenor register at the end of the Howells Gloria each time.

Overall, though, some very fine moments, kudos to all at the Abbey.