CE Paisley Abbey Wed, 30th October 2013

[DracoM]

CE Paisley Abbey




Order of Service:



Introit: Give us the wings of faith (Bullock)
Responses: George McPhee
Psalms: 147, 148, 149, 150 (Stanford, Stanford, Murrill, Stanford)
First Lesson: 1 Kings 3: 6-15
Office Hymn : O Lord of heaven and earth and sea (Es ist kein Tag)
Canticles: Magdalen Service (Leighton)
Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 2: 13-end
Anthem: The Fair Chivalry (Ashfield)
Final Hymn: Ye watchers and ye holy ones (Lasst uns erfreuen)



Organ Voluntary: Improvisation sur le 'Te Deum' (Tournemire, reconstructed Duruflé)




Joseph Cullen (Organist)
George McPhee (Director of Music)

[Philip]

Paisley seems to be quite in favour with the Beeb of late - a couple of SOP episodes including one last week, and now CE. Looks like an excellent programme though, and a busy one indeed for the organist, including a boombastic voluntary.

[chrisjstanley]

A rare outing for the Ashfield who is (according to Wikipedia) perhaps best known for his setting of Lionel Johnson's 1895 poem, The Fair Chivalry, commissioned for the Southwell Diocesan Choral Festival of 1949.

Great to have a traditional Stanford end to the month with the proper psalms for the 30th evening.

Look forward

bws
Chris S

[DracoM]

Chris, as you and I know, St 's NYC Men use Ashfield settings / responses a bit. And I notice that New College Oxford has a little Ashfield on its Michaelmas Term list.

[Finzi4ever]

How ever long must George McPhee have been at Paisley by now? - an impressive epoch at least, I'd wager half a century & what an instrument to be in charge of, with an Aristide CC pedigree.

[DracoM]

It is indeed pretty well exactly 50 years this year.

[Oldcrofter]

Sunday 20 October: 7.30pm
Celebratory Concert for Dr. George McPhee

Concerto for Organ and Orchestra - Peter Naylor
Also music by Finzi(Eclogue for piano and strings) and Mozart (Divertimento in D major)

Tickets £10 from Abbey shop and at the door.

[DracoM]

Reminder CE this p.m. @ 3.30

[edashtav]

How ever long must George McPhee have been at Paisley by now? - an impressive epoch at least, I'd wager half a century & what an instrument to be in charge of, with an Aristide CC pedigree.

To put the cart before the White Horses: my word how wonderfully well Tournemire's Te Deum sounded on Paisley Abbey's French Organ. Majestic and awesome - we have a lot to thank Maurice Durufle for in this brilliant reconstruction of an improvisation.

Back to those Horses and their Chivalrous Christian Knights. Robert Ashfield's anthem is decently crafted and the choir exulted in fine style every time the White Horses appeared on their horizon. Elsewhere, the voltage of creativity was too low for my pleasure and some of Ashfield's transitions meandered aimlessly like a river losing its way across a plain with little gradient. Ashfield was a great servant of Anglican music in the later half of the 20th century. He knew what was current and his music is more of a challenge to a moderate choir and organist than it is to a listener.

I liked McPhee's responses - varied and appropriate.

Kenneth Leighton's Magdalen setting of the canticles provided the service's best music- more sharply etched and individual than the rest of the programme. I liked the manner in which McPhee had trained his choir to sing with rhythmic verve so that the meaning of phrases was reinforced. Occasionally, I found them a tad bland, however, when singing soft long lines. But, balance was always good and no individual voices obtruded from the blend. I hadn't heard this Leighton setting before but I shall be keen to hear it on future occasions.

Stanford's 150th Psalm was performed in a delightful, alert manner. I think it was the final setting in the Chant Book used by my father throughout his 50 years in parishes across Bournemouth. I soon lost count of how many times I'd sung it but I do know that as my voice broke, sank and reformed, I sang all four parts at different times. I thought that the charm of this old friend of a setting would have waned. But, no, McPhee's fresh interpretation restored my faith in it. Let everything that hath breath : Praise __ __ __ the Lord
50 years in the same post is highly unusual in today's world. George McPhee deserves our thanks for his steadfastness and high standards. If he ever retires, he will leave beyond a strong choral tradition and an organ that makes Paisley into a glorious outpost of France.

[DracoM]

Unabashed rhetoric in material chosen, and on the front foot delivery in the singing. Curious mix of very adult sounds in most parts, and then if you listened carefully, boys and girls manfully & girlfully battling to be heard. Ah Well.

Tournemire took no prisoners either!

Wonderfully celebratory for Dr MacPhee, no doubt!

Nice video on the Abbey website.

[chrisjstanley]

Thoroughly enjoyable. Congratulations to Dr MacPhee. 50 years ago last month I was just starting my choral scholarship aged 8. Some perspective.

Thought the Ashfield was taken at the right pace for the acoustic but really needs a gallop rather than a trot or canter and a bit more beef on the top line.

Jarring note, the chant for O sing unto the Lord a new song. Something about the words brings out the worst of innovation and Murrill's chant not the best alongside the hefty Stanfords IMO (of course).

Regarding the Tournemire and the Cavaille-Coll - naturally the auld alliance.
bws
Chris S

[edashtav]

T

Jarring note, the chant for O sing unto the Lord a new song. Something about the words brings out the worst of innovation and Murrill's chant not the best alongside the hefty Stanfords IMO (of course).

I loved the Herbert Murrill chant - a contrasting filling for the Stanford sandwich.

[ardcarp]

Kenneth Leighton's Magdalen setting of the canticles provided the service's best music- more sharply etched and individual than the rest of the programme. I liked the manner in which McPhee had trained his choir to sing with rhythmic verve so that the meaning of phrases was reinforced. Occasionally, I found them a tad bland, however, when singing soft long lines. But, balance was always good and no individual voices obtruded from the blend. I hadn't heard this Leighton setting before but I shall be keen to hear it on future occasions.

This is my favourite of Leighton's canticle settings, and indeed McPhee did them 'rhythmic verve' justice as you say, especially in the Mag. The opening of the Nunc is always a danger spot, as it needs gentle, sustained singing with a well-supported voice and immaculate tuning.

I enjoyed the CE, and thought there were some excellent (though well under control) voices in the ATB department.