Advent Carol Service St John's College, Cambridge

[mopsus]

Who is the harpist? I think we should be told.

[EnzoElgar]

Who is the harpist? I think we should be told.

... and we were.

[VodkaDilc]

I could have done without the percussion in the Gardner. Did the composer authorise it? And, personally, I'd have preferred to have heard the Britten in the original version - these boys could have managed MUCH better than most.
Otherwise, a very stimulating service, with a welcome emphasis on music from the recent past. (It was so much easier when we could say 'from the 20th century'!)

[Mr Stoat]

Why 15.00? It used to be on at 16.00. It has ruined the start of Advent for me missing it as I had a service to play for at 15.00, with 3 in the ******* congregation! Grr!

[EnzoElgar]

I could have done without the percussion in the Gardner. Did the composer authorise it?

Yes. "Optional percussion."

[Mr Stoat]

Yes. "Optional percussion."

The percussion part is included in the score

[Mary Chambers]

And, personally, I'd have preferred to have heard the Britten in the original version - these boys could have managed MUCH better than most.

Absolutely agree. There seemed no good reason not to leave it to the boys. Otherwise, I enjoyed the music very much.

[Petrushka]

What a wonderful tune is Helmsley! There being no-one else in the house I joined in with gusto.

From Hymnary.org: John Wesley attributed the tune HELMSLEY to Thomas Olivers in Wesley's 1765 Sacred Melodies with his brother's text of "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending." However, Olivers is said to have heard the tune on the street somewhere. Since the first line resembles a tune by violinist and composer Thomas Augustine Arne composed for Thomas and Sally, or The Sailor's Return in 1761, it is speculated the tune was composed by Arne. Most likely, the tune comes from a 1763 edition Martin Madan's Collection of Psalms and Hymn Tunes Sung at the Chapel of Lock Hospital. Madan was the chaplain at Lock Hospital.

[teamsaint]

What a wonderful tune is Helmsley! There being no-one else in the house I joined in with gusto.

From Hymnary.org: John Wesley attributed the tune HELMSLEY to Thomas Olivers in Wesley's 1765 Sacred Melodies with his brother's text of "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending." However, Olivers is said to have heard the tune on the street somewhere. Since the first line resembles a tune by violinist and composer Thomas Augustine Arne composed for Thomas and Sally, or The Sailor's Return in 1761, it is speculated the tune was composed by Arne. Most likely, the tune comes from a 1763 edition Martin Madan's Collection of Psalms and Hymn Tunes Sung at the Chapel of Lock Hospital. Madan was the chaplain at Lock Hospital.

Oh Yes . Simply the best.

For me , That hymn IS Advent.

[ardcarp]

Just heard the whole thing recorded on our Humax (courtesy of Mrs A.) and played at full blast through the best (albeit outmoded) stuff our household has to offer. Very uplifting, so thanks St John's for getting our Advent off to a good start.

The choir couldn't sound more different from days of yore, and Andrew N. clearly favours a more traditional treble sound. The choral scholars sounded a very fine bunch; capable of wellie, but also of singing gently on occasions.

That was a very beguiling Cherry Tree Carol...lovely!

The Gardner Dancing Day is a gem and was beautifully done. I like it both with and without percussion; though I think my ideal combo is with tambourine and no side drum.

The Britten is much to be preferred in SSA, I agree. But the service was no doubt planned before the Summer break and given the uncertainty of next season's treble line, maybe A.N. was playing safe.

I just loved Jonathan Harvey's Annunciation. A most original piece and sensitively sung. A fitting tribute.

In Gabriel's piece was that a soprano sax? And was the alto solo really sung by a choral scholar? It had true contralto quality...a voice to look out for in the future, maybe?

I have to say I didn't enjoy the Brahms much. After the opening chorale, I thought it became ploddy and notey (sorry about the technical language) and felt the trebles were struggling against superior forces. Maybe this was an ill-judged item in an otherwise very enjoyable mix?

Although I wasn't able to hear the service 'live', I'm so glad it was broadcast thus. It does make a difference...I don't quite know why.

[Gabriel Jackson]

In Gabriel's piece was that a soprano sax? And was the alto solo really sung by a choral scholar?

Yes and yes!

[antongould]

Just managed to catch up with this ......really splendid IMHO, Gabriel's piece was very good I thought.

[moeranbiogman]

Anyone going to mention the Panufnik? I've never got on with her music, but this carol was the exception. Thank you Roxanna!

[DracoM]

We sometimes talk of 'big sings' for CE, but this service is a tour de force for any choir, even one as illustrious and full of stamina as John's. Wide variety of musical idioms and languages, solos of all sorts, integration of instruments other than the normal organ, a huge congregation, and the pressures of live broadcast. By comparison, this liturgical and musical steeplechase is way ahead of KCC’s Nine Lessons canter, IMO. From plainchant to Panufnik, Jackson and Harvey, old favourites and new commissions, not to mention at the very heart of it, one of the most heart-stopping pieces of Renaissance polyphony in the Parsons Ave Maria.

I thought the Brahms was a nice idea but surprisingly stodgy, the Gardner a bit two-left-footed to be a real dance, the Britten in that guise inexplicable. Don’t understand the thinking: they had a harp, they have a pretty useful squad of trebles, the men sang whole chunks on their own elsewhere, why on earth not give the trebs the chance to sing the Deo Gracias on their own without the men? Weird. Particularly early in the service as, to my ears at least, the boys very audibly seemed to tire later - quite understandably having to contend with exuberant muscle from the ranks behind them.

Panufnik I liked quite a lot, and Richard Rodney Bennett’s jolly piece, but the star of the ‘newer’ pieces for me by some distance was the exquisite Jonathan Harvey carol, beautifully sung both in solos and ensemble, and finely judged tempi as well.

I’ve rarely heard the Parsons sung that daringly slowly, and it should have been wonderful at that pace, but coupled with what I fear sounded like a bit of fraying at the edges in the tiring trebles with those long sustained and quite high tessitura phrases, meant it came across as only partially sublime. The boys were very professional, they hung on, and were supported by terrific altos who made a very light but incisive sound here and elsewhere – perhaps the stars of a very good bunch of men. What the Parsons did do, however, was to show by its unobtrusive delicacy and economy of means, how over-blown and me-me-me was some of the other material in the service. And in among all that, in the very last straight of the service, you get the bouncy Mathias Mag which takes full concentration and ensemble discipline.

A rich service, lots to linger over. And big tick to Stephen Shipley for balancing the whole thing.

[underthecountertenor]

Oh come now, DracoM, don't be coy. Tell us what material you found 'over-blown and me-me-me'. I mean, I think I've worked it out by a combination of process of elimination and informed guesswork, but I think you should spell it out for us.