CE Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Wed 13th Nov 2013

[DracoM]

CE Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford




Order of Service:



Introit: The Lamb (Tavener)
Responses: Morley
Psalms: 69, 70 (Stainer; Hawes; SS Wesley)
First Lesson: 2 Samuel 18-6 > 19: 4
Magnificat: Lambe
Second Lesson: Romans 8: 31-end
Nunc Dimittis: John Tavener
Anthem: Valiant-for-truth (Vaughan Williams)
Hymn: Judge eternal (Rhuddlan)



Organ Voluntary: Acclamations (from Suite Médiévale) (Langlais)



Ghislaine Reece-Trapp (Organ Scholar)
Stephen Darlington (Director of Music)

[ardcarp]

Those of a superstitious nature will find slightly eerie the co-incidence of Tavener's Nunc Dimittis appearing in today's CE, also accompanied by an introit Lacrimosa, a Mag by Lambe and Valiant for Truth where "the trumpets sounded for him on the other side".

Luckily I am not remotely superstitious...and all the above (barring (!) Lambe) are entirely appropriate to the season of Remembrance. Still, the Start the Week thing was uncanny.....

I wonder what Stephen Darlington will be saying to his choristers tomorrow? No doubt they'll acquit themselves of the Nunc with the usual 'job done' attitude in the way that most youngsters deal with matters of emotion.

[DracoM]

Reminder today @ 3.30 p.m.

[DracoM]

Change of introit justified and exemplary.
The wonderfully idiosyncratic way CCCO have with psalms is well-known, but very nicely sung, disciplined and paced.

Then we came to the Walter Lambe Magnificat. On their Eton Choirbook CD 'More Divine than Human', the tenor and particularly the basses sang almost without vibrato, thus more nearly matching the altos and trebles, and also keeping the harmonies pin-sharp. They did the plainsong very restrainedly, almost devotionally. Yes, of course in a recording you have far more control over every aspect of how the choir sounds, you have engineers who can juggle, the choir can patch, even re-take. All that. Singing live, liturgically and broadcast, you have none of that control. Yes.

But what we actually had this afternoon from the BBC might well surprise Mr Darlington when he listens back. For almost the entire service the huge-toned tenors and particular basses were showcased, and seemed determined to be so. The treble line sounded as many treble lines made up of boys do sound these days and at this time of the term for all manner of well-rehearsed reasons, young and though hugely musical, just do not at the moment quite have the power of a bank of 12/13 yr olds or as this same team might well have generated / trained into by say February 2014. They sang pretty well without vibrato. The men behind them did not sing without vibrato, they have well-developed, even awesomely powerful voices, and were not made to sing down to suit. On the contrary. And in the very dense, even delicate textures of late 14th early 15th century music, ongoing vibrato of that kind, striving big voices can easily outdo less robust voices in front of them. The result was that at times this afternoon in full ensemble the treble and alto lines virtually disappeared, or were just able to surface if they sang top of the stave and flat out, even if they had the bulk of the line that interwove fine decorations with the cantus firmus. Sorry, but at times, the effect was unhappy, even, dare I even say it, ugly. Individually, very fine voices indeed. In this context, unhelpful.

The Tavener Nunc is tiny gem, but straightforward, and finely sung.

Ironically, the very traits one might have come across as a bit uncomfortable in the Lambe were the very making of the RVW, which I thought was very finely done indeed - not easy, some slightly unexpected developments here and there, but deft and agile music-making, and sung with real conviction.

Langlais was splendidly done, real imagination and power. Loved it. More, more...........!!

Slight question: following that first lesson, might not a setting of 'When David heard....' have been relevant, particularly in the context of the Remembrance 'season' as suggested by the prayers etc??

[ardcarp]

I'll start off by saying I enjoyed the broadcast greatly. There's something in the Oxford water supply that makes psalms idiosyncratic. A sort of isisrhythm I suppose.

The trebles did a great job. Draco's meticulous analysis of the sound is commendable. He is obviously comparing the broadcast with their superb Choirbook CD, and I agree there were Ts and Bs sounding somewhat overblown this pm, fine voices nonetheless. It has been mentioned many times that a current trend is for front rows to be struggling a bit against full-voiced back rows...at least that's how it sounds on broadcasts. It is wonderful to hear pre-Reformation stuff in CE, and whilst one can never be sure (of course) it seems probable that the treble sound might not have been so different 500 years ago. Whether 'the clerks' sang like that...who knows?

As far as When David Heard is concerned, I thought the beautifully read first lesson departed somewhat from the usual Anglican sang froid and became audibly emotional at the end!

The organ voluntary was superbly executed...but that Rieger speaks with a German accent, and I could not help but think how the Langlais might sound on a big beast in a vast Gallic space.

[DracoM]

Totally agree about the Langlais. Beauvais, maybe? Chartres? Or.....?

[Finzi4ever]

Totally agree about the Langlais. Beauvais, maybe? Chartres? Or.....?

....basically anywhere than on that horrid Rieger! (That said, G R-T made it sound every bit as good as it possibly can.)

[positif]

I'd be fascinated to learn of the origins of Christ Church's style of psalm singing. Is it rooted in some historical precedent (as I think New College's compound metre approach is - which, I must admit, I find rather easier to listen to)?

[ardcarp]

I'd be fascinated to learn of the origins of Christ Church's style of psalm singing.

I think I've mentioned all this before, so forgive me for being repetitive, boring or both. Firstly, when a regular choir sings psalms day in, day out, it almost always happens that mannerisms creep in, which over the course of time become exaggerated. Secondly though, there was a very early style of psalm singing (which may have its roots way back in the time when Anglican chant first began to be used) where words on the reciting note were gabbled at high speed and those on the chanting notes were sung in rhythm.

Don't get me started on the Somerset barrel organ.......

[Miles Coverdale]

I'd be fascinated to learn of the origins of Christ Church's style of psalm singing. Is it rooted in some historical precedent (as I think New College's compound metre approach is - which, I must admit, I find rather easier to listen to)?

I remember Stephen Darlington telling me when I was an Academical Clerk there that it had its origins in Francis Grier's time as organist (it may have been Simon Preston's, but I think it was Grier's), and was an attempt to manufacture an acoustic when there wasn't really one. One of the members of the choir was paid to go through all the choir's copies of the Oxford Psalter and underline the words to be lengthened in red.

The effect seems to be a bit more pronounced now than I remember it being then, but that may just be my memory playing tricks on me.

[Vox Humana]

...there was a very early style of psalm singing (which may have its roots way back in the time when Anglican chant first began to be used) where words on the reciting note were gabbled at high speed and those on the chanting notes were sung in rhythm.

That would depend on what you mean by "very early". The precursors of Anglican chant, the psalms composed by such as Tallis and Gibbons, were through-composed with all the syllables notated rhythmically. To my ears, Gibbons's setting of Psalm 145 is wonderfully mesmeric: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w69NTzHUD2o. The style which you mention followed subsequently and held sway for most of the history of Anglican chant. The humble parish church choir which I was conned into joining in the late '50s still used this method. I wouldn't say that the reciting notes were gabbled exactly, but to say that they were untidy would be an understatement. Then there was a bump at the barline like a horse refusing a fence and the minims were sung in strict rhythm. My goodness, it was awful!

[ardcarp]

Then there was a bump at the barline like a horse refusing a fence and the minims were sung in strict rhythm.

Exactly!

[gainasbass]

Regarding MC's interesting post (#10) I have just unearthed and listened to a recording of CC Oxford's CE broadcast on 18 May 1994: O Rex Gloriae (Palestrina), Responses (Smith - cantored excellently by a female minor canon), Psalms 93 and 94 (Lemon, S,S, Wesley), St. Paul's Service (Howells), God is gone up (Finzi), O for a thousand tongues to sing (Oxford New), Majeste du Christ demandant sa gloire a son Piere (Messiaen) - Stephen Darlington/Timothy Noon. Some 19 + years separated these broadcasts, but to all intents and purposes the choir's personnel in both broadcasts could have been one and the same; the psalms were sung in exactly the same way, and with the same emphases (which I consider to be exciting) - in fact the same high standards of singing were evident on both occasions, which enhanced the office of Evensong. The only difference was in the transmission of the broadcasts. The 1994 broadcast was crisp and pleasant to the ear, but one of the microphones was placed in such a way that it sounded as though one of the altos on decani was singing a solo for the most part, but he had a very good voice and it certainly didn't detract in any way. Thank you CC Oxford!

[Nick Armstrong]

The wonderfully idiosyncratic way CCCO have with psalms is well-known, but very nicely sung, disciplined and paced.

Just back from Oxford, including Evensong at CCC - the psalms hypnotic, Leighton's 'Second Service' more interesting than the Greene 'Lord let me know mine end' anthem but still not as good as the Magdalen service. Sweet singing in the choir, and good to have a bit of a bellow to 'Wachet auf', the last hymn.

An oasis at 6pm on a raw but fine evening, and good as ever to adjourn to The Eagle and Child for food and a pint of something warming

[ardcarp]

Sounds like you had a good evening out Calibs.
And enjoyed Evensong too.

Greene 'Lord let me know mine end' anthem

I rather like it (if taken at a suitably penitential speed) especially the 'Man walketh in a vain shadow' bit)....but then it's difficult to be discerning about things you knew as a kid. I suspect that applies to a lot of the Anglican repertory which we'd probably rubbish if heard de novo and without yesterday's baggage.