Eighty this year, John
Joubert has a varied and substantial
body of works to his credit. He composed
in almost every genre, including opera.
His large output includes numerous choral
works, both small and large, of which
very little is actually heard, let alone
recorded. This new release is a timely
reminder of the importance and variety
of Joubert’s choral output, in that
it offers two substantial works along
with some shorter ones all of which
bear the mark of remarkable craftsmanship.
Not only that; they also evince a strong
affinity with the British choral tradition,
in which Joubert always manages to bring
something new and fresh.
The opening item O
Praise God in His Holiness is
a short, rousing work with catchy, syncopated
rhythms. It may bring Walton and Mathias
to mind, but it’s typically Joubert
throughout. This lovely work stands
in sharp contrast to the imposing Pro
Pace Motets composed between
1955 and 1959. This ambitious and substantial
triptych consists of three panels each
setting words drawn from Helen Waddell’s
famous collection, on which Gustav Holst
also drew (Six Medieval Lyrics
of 1932 and The Wandering Scholar
Op.50). They are Libera
Plebem (1955), O Tristia
Secla Priorum (1959) and Solus
ad Victimam (1958). Each is
set in ternary form, often with a contrasting
central section. This ternary format
also informs the Three Hymns to
St Oswald. The music of the
Pro Pace Motets
is generally harmonically tense and
densely contrapuntal, and displays the
composer’s formal mastery to the full.
The first panel has a rather tricky
fugal section that brings Britten to
mind. In the central panel, functioning
as a slow movement, voices weave a densely
contrapuntal web with sometimes perilously
exposed solo parts. The central section
is another rapid fugal passage. The
third panel is the longest and the most
elaborate of the triptych. It is in
broad terms conceived as a slow, cumulative
crescendo, a long journey from darkness
to light, from doubt to assertiveness,
although it ends calmly. As already
mentioned, the music is quite complex
and demanding, posing numerous problems
of pitch and intonation. It is clearly
designed for accomplished, professional
singers such as The Louis Halsey Singers.
Again, How are
my Foes Increased, Lord! on
words by George Herbert strongly contrasts
with the complex writing heard in the
Pro Pace Motets. This
is yet another tripartite structure,
in which the central section briefly
features two solo voices.
A small-scale cantata,
the Sleep Canticle is
scored for soprano, tenor and chorus.
This time, the words are drawn from
Sir Thomas Browne’s Religio Medici
- a prose passage intoned by the tenor
soloist - whereas the refrain sung twice
by the soprano soloist is on words by
Julian of Norwich. The piece falls into
two sections, the first of which opens
with the tenor soloist who is joined
later by the chorus at the words "Sleep
is a death". It ends with a short
coda by the soprano soloist on words
by Julian of Norwich. The second section
follows straight after and begins with
the chorus then leading back to the
refrain again. The unaccompanied tenor
has the last word.
The Three Hymns
to St Oswald for mixed chorus
and organ were composed in 1972 and
revised some time later. The first performance
of the revised version took place in
1976. As already mentioned earlier in
this review, this is a large-scale,
substantial work; but the music is "plainer",
more straightforward than in the Pro
Pace Motets, which does not
mean that it is easier. The idiom is
generally less tense, less stringent
and less dissonant, although Joubert
allows some mild dissonance here and
there, both in the part for voices and
that for the organ. Once again, each
hymn is cast in ternary form. The second
hymn is rather more complex since the
lengthy, dance-like central section
is "a self-contained set of variations".
Each hymn ends with a serene, untroubled
Amen.
The concluding Nowell
is a lively carol in much the same vein
as similar works by Mathias, Gardner
and Rutter. The music has a rustic,
often dance-like and folksy character.
A simple, memorable tune is nicely varied
throughout. This lovely work is rounded
off by a restatement of the opening
‘Nowell’.
Needless to say, the
Louis Halsey Singers sing beautifully
throughout and are particularly impressive
in the demanding Pro Pace Motets.
These recordings made in 1975 have been
nicely transferred and sound remarkably
well.
Both the Pro
Pace Motets and the Three
Hymns to St Oswald were recorded
many years ago during the LP era (Pearl
SHE 534). These recordings of the shorter
works were also available on cassette,
if I am not mistaken. Anyway, I had
never heard them before, and I am therefore
delighted to have them re-issued now
on the occasion of John Joubert’s 80th
birthday. This release is the perfect
companion to the earlier British Music
Society’s disc released to mark Joubert’s
70th birthday (BMS 419CD).
It is good to have these fine works
back in the catalogue; and good news
too to know that SOMM will soon be releasing
a double-CD set with some of Joubert’s
chamber music. I hope that we will soon
be able to hear more of his music, especially
some of his large-scale works such as
the symphonies and the choral-orchestral
Gong-Tormented Sea Op.96.
This most welcome release
is an apt and timely birthday tribute
to a very distinguished composer whose
beautifully crafted and often appealing
music is all-too-easily overlooked.
Hubert Culot
The
British Music Society
for
details
Jean Knibbs (soprano)b; Rogers
Covey-Crump (tenor)b; Martin
Neary (organ)a 
