Recording CDs based
on the service of Evensong can be a
problem as the music for the service
does not really stretch to a complete
disc. For this disc from St. Mary’s
Cathedral, Edinburgh, they have taken
the imaginative solution of producing
a fine service for Ascension Day and
then including Messiaen’s ‘L’Ascension’
as an extremely uplifting postlude.
Additional interest arises from all
of the music being by composers working
in the 20th century and much
of it has a particular association with
St. Mary’s.
The disc opens with
the first recording of James MacMillan’s
‘Tremunt videntes angeli’. Written for
St. Mary’s Cathedral, it was performed
at the dedication of the Cathedral’s
Millennium Window designed by Sir Eduardo
Paolozzi. The motet sets words from
the fifth century Latin hymn Aeterne
rex altissime. It opens in stunning
fashion with a series of canonic melismas
sung over a low drone bass. The melismas
are first sung by the lower voices and
then by the upper voices. The improvisatory
element implicit in this opening is
developed by the composer as he allows
the lower voices to improvise, creating
a murmuring soundscape over which the
trebles sing the text ‘tibi sit gloria’.
This is a tremendous piece, successfully
melding modern techniques with a sense
of history to give us music that sounds
both modern and as if it has existed
for ever. It is the sort of piece that
inspires in me not only admiration,
but the earnest wish that I had been
able to write it. St. Mary’s Choir gives
the piece a fine, committed performance.
Whilst all the other music on the disc
is exceptionally fine, this is a superb
opening.
Kenneth Leighton’s
‘Preces and Responses’ were written
for St. Mary’s in 1964. They have since
become well known throughout the Anglican
Communion. Settings of responses can
sometimes come over as stilted or awkward,
but Leighton produces music of great
harmonic interest and rhythmic vitality
which still manages to sound natural
and of its place.
The office hymn uses
a 19th century text by J.M.
Neale which is a paraphrase of the Latin
hymn Aeterne rex altissime used
by James MacMillan. As with most Anglican
choirs on disc, the choir here sing
as if they have a cathedral full of
people to support, whereas on a recording
they could have produced something a
little more subtle. The psalms are sung
to the plainsong tones rather than traditional
Anglican chant.
Richard Allain’s ‘Exon
Service’ was composed for St. Mary’s
musical director Matthew Owens and his
choir The Exon Singers. The Magnificat
opens with the trebles and altos divided
into four-parts, each singing one of
the plainsong Magnificats. The intention
is to create a halo of sound around
the soprano soloists singing the English
text. This works well once the piece
gets started, but I did rather feel
that the opening sounded merely untidy.
Soprano soloist Susan Hamilton sings
both this and the Nunc Dimittis with
lovely firm, warm tone. Both pieces
are punctuated by rather uncompromising
bravura flourishes on the organ. In
the Nunc Dimittis, the soprano and tenor
sing the text soaring over the choir.
This is the sort of setting which stretches
these traditional forms to their limit
and I would be extremely interested
to know how it works in the context
of a service.
Patrick Gowers’ ‘Viri
Galilei’ sets two texts, the proper
for Ascension Day and Bishop Christopher
Wordsworth’s hymn ‘See the Conqueror
Mounts in Triumph’. The result starts
mysteriously and gradually builds to
a glorious conclusion. Like the other
pieces on this disc this deserves to
be better known and it receives a fine
performance from the St. Mary’s forces.
Matthew Owens, having
directed the choir of all the previous
pieces then turns to the organ for the
concluding piece in the programme, Messiaen’s
L’Ascension. Composed in 1932 as a set
of symphonic meditations for orchestra,
Messiaen subsequently produced an organ
version with a new third movement. It
is not as rhythmically complex as some
of his later works but has some wonderful
moments which look forward to his later
works.
This is a tremendous
recital and showcases both the talents
of St. Mary’s Cathedral choir and a
range of fine contemporary Scottish
composers.
Robert Hugill
see also review
by Neil Horner
Choir of St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh
