Nowadays many musicians
tend to make "career moves"
at fairly frequent intervals. It is
interesting to note, therefore, that
when Dr. John Sanders retired as organist
of Gloucester Cathedral in 1994 he was
only the third person to have occupied
that post in the twentieth century.
He himself had been Organist since 1967
and his two predecessors had also served
for long terms, Herbert Sumsion between
1928 and 1967 and Sir Herbert Brewer
from 1896 until his death in 1928. Sanders’
connection with Gloucester pre-dated
his appointment as Organist for he was
Sumsion’s assistant from 1958 until
he was appointed Organist of Chester
Cathedral in 1963.
Throughout his time
at Gloucester John Sanders was a respected
and popular figure and I well recall
being in the congregation for his very
last evensong. After he had played the
voluntary (the Widor Toccata)
the entire congregation accorded him
a prolonged standing ovation. I never
knew him personally but, coming to live
in Gloucester in the late 1980s, it
was impossible to be involved in local
musical life and be unaware of his strong
and wholly positive influence.
His retirement, away
from the demanding daily routine of
directing the musical life of a cathedral
(to say nothing of the Three Choirs
Festival, which was held at Gloucester
on eight occasions during his term of
office) gave him much more leisure for
composition and it is perhaps significant
that the majority of the pieces here
recorded were written after he stepped
down from the organ loft at Gloucester.
There are a number
of very appropriate threads drawn together
by this release. It was a splendid idea
to invite the choir of Gonville and
Caius College to make this recording
for Sanders was Organ Scholar of that
college from 1952. Dr. Sanders himself
chose most of the music for this release
and wrote liner notes for most of the
items. It had been intended that he
would be present for the recording but
sadly this was not to be for complications
following surgery brought about his
sudden and unexpected death just before
Christmas 2003. As I suspect was always
intended, Priory have issued this CD
to coincide with the Three Choirs Festival
at Gloucester (August 7 – 14, 2004),
a festival which has been dedicated
to his memory and which features several
of his compositions, including some
of the works on this disc. There’s another
nice coincidence in that Thomas Hewitt
Jones, one of the organ scholars at
Gonville and Caius, is the nephew of
the Cheltenham composer, Tony Hewitt
Jones, who devised the theme on which
Sanders based his Soliloquy for Organ.
Fittingly, it’s Thomas Hewitt Jones
who plays the piece and he does so very
well though I must say I found the exuberant
Toccata a more obviously appealing
work.
As I said, most of
the music here recorded was written
in his retirement but some earlier pieces
are included. The earliest is My
beloved spake, written in 1958 for
the wedding of a college friend and
first performed at that wedding by the
choir of Gonville and Caius College.
Sanders says of the piece that "some
of the harmonies may be reminiscent"
of his composition teacher, Patrick
Hadley. Hadley himself set the same
text in 1936, though his work includes
an organ accompaniment whereas that
by Sanders is a capella. Hadley’s
piece does seem to exert a beneficent
influence, especially at the words "Arise
my love" (track8, 2’00") but
Sanders is his own man and his is a
fluent, assured piece with sensuous
harmonies that are wholly appropriate
to the text. In fact this is but one
of three wedding anthems on the disc.
The others, Dedication (2003)
and I will lift up my eyes, written
for the wedding of Sanders’ own daughter
in 1999, are just as fine. All three
must have made splendid wedding presents.
Of I will lift up my eyes Sanders
says that "the spirit of Howells
was present when I was writing this
music." I would agree, for Sanders’
exquisite setting has much of the harmonic
richness of Howells and also a similar
musical fastidiousness and responsiveness
to words.
The opening item on
the programme is the Festival Te
Deum of 1960. In 1962 Sanders orchestrated
it at the request of Herbert Sumsion
for performance at the Three Choirs
Festival. In this guise it was heard
again at the opening concert of the
2004 Festival. Though the version for
large choir with orchestra is impressive
and rich I must say I have a preference
for the original version as recorded
here. It’s a confident and economical
setting. This year’s Three Choirs Festival
programme contains the comment that
"Many settings of the Te Deum laudamus
are episodic, come to too many climaxes
and lose impetus in the middle; this
setting is a model of tight structuring
and is grateful on the voice and on
the ear." Well said!
Sanders made three
settings of the evening canticles, of
which the Gloucester Service was the
first. A fine setting for Hereford followed
(presumably written for his old friend
and colleague, Roy Massey) and one,
which I have not heard, for Lichfield
in 2002. What a shame there was no setting
for Worcester to give Three Choirs symmetry.
The Gloucester canticles emphasise the
feminine side of these texts, Sanders
explains. However, in the Magnificat
this does not prevent an appropriate
virility at "He hath showed strength
with His arm". There’s also a majestic,
celebratory "Glory be", common
to both canticles but this leads to
a soft, slightly questioning "Amen".
A lyrical bass solo (well taken) dominates
the first half of the Nunc Dimittis
but at the words "to be a light
to lighten the Gentiles" the music
rises to a sumptuous brief climax before
receding again. This fine set of canticles
receives a performance worthy of the
music.
At the heart of the
programme is Sanders’ Requiem (1998)
for unaccompanied choir. This is cast
in eight short movements, which includes
as well as the Ordinary of the Mass
for the Dead and passages from the Proper
of that Mass two additional movements.
These are a passage from the Russian
Orthodox Kontakion of the Departed (as
the Offertory) and the wondrous text
after John Donne, "Bring us, O
Lord God, at our last awakening."
In a way these were daring choices by
Sanders and his librettist, Canon Heavisides,
the Precentor of Gloucester Cathedral.
Would a solitary extract from Russian
Orthodox liturgy fit in? Could Sanders
match the memorable setting of the Donne
words by Sir William Harris (a piece
he must have directed often)? In both
cases the answer is emphatically in
the affirmative.
There are countless
felicitous touches in this work which
sounds to be so understandingly written
for the voices. The two movements already
mentioned are eloquent and original.
So too is the ‘Pie Jesu’, set as a gentle,
lilting berceuse and written as a touching
tribute to Sanders’ own granddaughter,
who died in infancy. The concluding
‘In Paradisum’ is marvellous. It begins
with a lovely soprano solo (outstandingly
sung here) accompanied by the other
female voices. Many composers have set
this whole text quietly but in Sanders’
setting at the words "Chorus angelorum"
there’s a great outburst of joy, as
if the heavenly hosts are waiting to
welcome the souls of the departed.
This is a consoling
and dignified Requiem of great beauty.
In particular I’m struck by the fact
that every time there’s a reference
to light in the text Sanders responds
with incandescent, luminous harmonies.
The other word that clearly fires his
imagination is "Requiem" ("rest").
This fine, eloquent work deserves to
be well known and widely performed and
the wholly sympathetic advocacy it receives
here should assist greatly.
Let me quickly mention two more pieces.
Cardinal Newman’s marvellous words receive
a very beautiful, eloquent and sincere
setting for unaccompanied choir. The
concluding "Amens" are particularly
satisfying. The very last piece on the
disc is also Sanders’ last composition.
A Prayer was completed
not long before his last illness and
received its first performance at his
memorial service in a packed Gloucester
Cathedral in February 2004. It’s an
eloquent summation of the musical virtues
so evident throughout this CD for it
combines sincerity, simplicity of utterance,
harmonic beauty, melodic grace and a
discerning eye for a text.
All the music in this
recital exhibits great compositional
and technical skill. But above all the
pieces are the work of a practical musician
who was exceptionally well versed in
the capabilities of the human voice
and the organ. His music challenges
the performers but is never difficult
for its own sake. In short, the music
is intended to be enjoyed by both performers
and listeners.
John Sanders is expertly
served by Geoffrey Webber and his fine
choir. The balance is faultless as is
tuning, and the singers’ diction is
always admirably clear. The singers
are young and their voices fresh but
there is no suggestion of any lack of
vocal maturity. They make a lovely sound
and the various solos are all very well
done. Both organists play extremely
well, clearly relishing the capabilities
of the Gloucester instrument. The engineers
have produced excellent, clear but atmospheric
sound using the tricky acoustics of
Gloucester Cathedral to good effect.
Finally the documentation is first rate.
All the texts are given and the notes
are mostly by John Sanders himself with
a few by his son Jonathan, who also
contributes an affectionate tribute
to his father. Praise be, all the notes
are set in clear type, something one
can’t always take for granted these
days.
This is billed as the
first volume in a new series from Priory.
The standard for this series has been
set at a very high level from the outset.
The CD is a fitting tribute to an excellent
musician. It also provides proof in
abundance that fine liturgical music
is still being written to enlighten
us in these troubled times. I recommend
this CD with the greatest possible enthusiasm.
John Quinn
The Choir of Gonville and Caius College,
Cambridge/Geoffrey Webber 