It’s sometimes said of a disc that it “marks
the end of an era”. Well in this case that statement is
more than usually accurate. For thirty-two years the choir of
The
Abbey School, Tewkesbury, sang Choral Evensong in the town’s
magnificent abbey church on most weekday evenings during term
time. Sadly, in 2006 the school was obliged to shut its doors.
So this disc, containing a complete Evensong, including the spoken
parts of the service, was recorded as a kind of valedictory offering.
It was originally intended as a limited edition disc for sale
in the Abbey shop and was previously issued with the catalogue
number DCD34713. However, the recording has sold successfully
and it is now being reissued for reasons that I’ll mention
at the end of this review.
The music has been shrewdly chosen not just to show to best advantage
the choir - and the imposing Milton organ of Tewkesbury Abbey
- but also to reflect the heritage of the Abbey church and its
environs. So Gloucestershire composers, in the shape of Howells
and Vaughan Williams, are represented; one of the psalm chants
is by the late Michael Peterson, the first Director of Music
at the Abbey School; and, perhaps most significantly of all,
the canticles are sung to a recent setting by Gabriel Jackson,
here receiving its first recording. This was one of several sets
of canticles expressly written for the choir.
The choir sings very well and generally I applaud the direction
of Ben Nicholas. One area in which I do take issue with him,
however, is in the chanting of the psalms. Both psalms seem to
me to be taken very steadily. In the case of Psalm 131 this is
not inappropriate both for the text and the style of the chant
and, in any event, the psalm is only four verses long. However,
Psalm 91 has sixteen verses and Nicholas’s spacious treatment
of it is rather too much of a good thing, I find. He seems a
bit too ready to indulge expressive points at the expense of
flow and as a result the delivery of the psalm sounds laboured.
Elsewhere, however, his direction is much more assured. The lovely
Tallis introit is well pointed and here the music does indeed
flow. He also does the Jackson canticles very convincingly. I
hadn’t heard this setting before but I found it very impressive.
In the booklet notes it’s suggested that this set of canticles
represents, in some ways, a homage to Herbert Howells. In the
Magnificat that’s particularly apparent in, say, the long,
melismatic opening for trebles alone, accompanied by a light,
bubbling organ part. Later there’s an enviable tenor line
at “He hath filled the hungry” and I also liked very
much the gentle radiance in the music at “He remembering
his mercy”. The exciting doxology is underpinned by a toccata-like
organ accompaniment and the setting rises to a majestic “as
it was in the beginning” of which I’m sure Howells
himself would have approved. The Nunc Dimittis is prayerful,
beginning with tenors and basses only. The whole choir joins
in at “To be a light” with some luminous harmonies
that evoke Howells. The music for the doxology differs from that
of the Magnificat - the music used at this point in the Magnificat
would have been unsuitable. Here Jackson gives us a more flowing
passage that suits the canticle ideally. This is a fine set of
canticles, which I hope will be taken up widely. Their debut
recording is an auspicious one.
Vaughan Williams’s visionary anthem is well done. The music
can seem episodic but Nicholas makes it a seamless whole. It’s
not common practice to sing the Te Deum at Evensong, except on
festal occasions but I’m certainly not going to quibble
when the chosen setting is one of the finest in all Anglican
music. And anyway, I think the occasion of this recording warrants
its inclusion. It’s performed here with relish and commitment.
At the end of the piece Howells’s magisterial music for
the words “Let me never be confounded”, is sung with
wonderful confidence. Was this, I wonder, something of a statement
of future intent?
I’ve mentioned the singers and conductor but have done
scant justice to the organ playing of Carleton Etherington, the
Abbey organist. In a word it’s splendid. He accompanies
with finesse and imagination - there are some lovely, albeit
discreet touches in the psalms. He plays the opening Howells
voluntary quite beautifully and he gives an exuberant account
of Vièrne’s toccata at the end - but, enjoyable
though that is, one regrets that the otherwise English programme
could not have been completed by an English organ work at the
very end.
This is a splendid recreation of the timeless service of Evensong
in one of this country’s very finest non-Cathedral churches
- and, frankly a church that puts several cathedrals in the shade.
The music is beautifully performed by a well-trained and committed
choir. The sound has been improved somewhat from the original
CD. First time round it was very good but, to my ears, Paul Baxter
has now added an extra bit of warmth and, at the same time, has
achieved even more clarity. The organ comes across magnificently
and the wonderfully resonant acoustic of Tewkesbury Abbey is
expertly captured. The notes are good and the English texts are
provided. There’s one presentational change from the original
issue that must be mentioned. Inside the disc we now get a superb
colour photograph of the nave of Tewkesbury Abbey, looking forwards
from the back; the image does full justice to this magnificent
building.
When first issued, this recording marked the close of a chapter
in the musical life of Tewkesbury Abbey. However, since then
a new, and so far very successful chapter has begun. After the
school’s closure had been announced another local independent
school, Dean Close School, Cheltenham, offered places which most
of the choristers were able to take up and, now renamed the Schola
Cantorum, the choir continues the regular rhythm of the church’s
year, singing Evensong several nights each week during term time.
That’s a cause for gratitude and celebration. The Schola
Cantorum has forged a successful relationship with Delphian,
for whom they’ve made several recordings over the last
three years or so. The success of the relationship has encouraged
Delphian to reissue this disc, with a new catalogue number, as
part of their main catalogue. I’m glad they’ve done
that for, leaving aside any questions of commemoration, this
CD is a splendid representation on disc of the liturgy of Evensong.
John Quinn
The Abbey School Choir, Tewkesbury/Benjamin
Nicholas 
