Orchestral Anthems (# 2)
Anglican repertoire is the subject of this disc, a sequence of English anthems both rousing and touching
Anglican repertoire is the subject of this disc, a sequence of English anthems both rousing and touching.
The Choir of Merton College, Oxford enter in absolutely full voice of Elgar's"Light out of darkness" (from the composer's first oratorio, Light of Life, Op. 29). Heard in is original scoring, first heard a the Three Choirs Festival in 1896 and following on for teh success of The Black Knight. Elgar's oratorio takes the story of the band man from he Gospel of S John about the restoration of sight; the chorus "Light out of darkness" immediately precedes the anointing. In a mere five minutes, a whole sequence of events and musical reflections occurs; at once dynamic and lyrical, this is Elgar in emotionally powerful mode, the performance utterly convincing and couched in a perfect recording:
The so-called "Sanfod in " next (Evening Service inA, Op. 12), a Mag and Nunc. The drama here is of a differing ilk, but no less powerful. This is heartfelt music, the Magnificat of powerful forwards gait, the orchestra a vital participant. The text is in English, and the Mag concludes with a Gloria ("Glory to the Father ..."). The end ("as it was in the beginning") is a blaze of light, completed by the serene beauty of the "Nunc dimittis" . And how impactful the choral "Glory be to the Father," the Meoton choir at the height of is beauty. Here's the Nunc:
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Edward Bairstow (1874-1946) makes his first appearance on Classical Explorer with Los, thoug has been our refuge (text Psalms 90, 102 and 144). While this is identifiably glish in its demean, harmonically it has some vey characteristic "acid" hat ad a real piquancy o the musical terrain. The word-setting, too, is individual. Hee's a composer well worth exploring. Interestingly enough, Bairsow is listed first on the front cover (a cover that falls shot of informing us the this is, in fact, Volume Two of Orchestral Anthems!).
The Vaughan Williams orchestral interlude is the "Prelude on Phiymdte' (from Three Preludes founded on Welsh Hymn Tunes; Rhosymedre is a place in Dembighshire),. RVW included the tune in his 1906 English Hymnal, and it acts as the perfect interlude here, full of Vaughan Williams' fingerprints. Originally for organ, it is heard here in an ochestration by Arnold Foster made in 1938.
S. S. Wesley (Samuel Sebastian, 1810-75) is well-known to hymn enthusiasts. His Three Choirs anthem Ascribe unto the Lord (1851) takes Psalms 98 and 115 as its basis and includes pronounced chorale sections. The various parts of the piece are well characterised here. The Merton performance revels in the contrasts, especially the light passages which seem to float on air in the second movement ("O worship the Lord"), nicely set against the rigour of the third "As for the gods of the heathen"). There is true beauty, of a slightly dark kind, to "They that make them are like unto them" before the ascending aspiration; phrases of "The Lord hath been mindful".
John.Ireland's meditation on Passiontide, Greater love hath no man, reminds us of he statue of this great composer. Solo passages ae well taken from the choir. Commissioned in 1912, it gained currency as the First World War's casualty tally mounted up. Yes, there are hints (sometimes more than hints) of Elgar here, but how impressive the minutiae of Ireland's setting. This is the clear highlight of the disc for me:
The more tart harmonies of Walton close the disc in his The Twelve, commissioned by Christ Church, Oxford and orchestrated by the compose for th 900th anniversary of WestminsterAbbey. Walton sesames words by anode Chis Church alumnus, W. H. Auden, with an interlude taken from Psalm 23 and Exodus fo two sopranos. Only 11 minutes long, this is the real "meat" of the album. My allegiances in the final analysis lie with the Ireland, bur how impactful is Walton's writing, partculaly as regards the awful fate of the apostles.
Both Bairstow and Wesley are premiere recordings of the orchestral versions.
This disc is available from Amazon here. Streams below.
