This is the Day - Music on Royal Occasions
John RUTTER (b. 1945) This is the day [4:24]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Laudate Dominum
(Vesperae solennes de confessore, K.399) [4:00]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Psalm 23 [5:05]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) How lovely is thy dwelling
place [5:28]
Sir Edward ELGAR (1857-1934) The spirit of the Lord is
upon me (The Apostles) [7:38]
Sir William McKIE (1901-1984) We wait for thy loving
kindness [2:59]
Paul MEALOR (b. 1975) Ubi caritas [3:53]
Maurice DURUFLÉ (1902-1986) Ubi caritas [2:30]
Sir William HARRIS (1883-1973) Holy is the true light
[1:53]
John TAVENER (b. 1944) Song for Athene [5:43]
Sir Richard Rodney BENNETT (b. 1936) These Three
[5:24]
Sir William WALTON (1902-1983) Set me as a seal upon
thy heart [3:14]
Sir Henry Walford DAVIES (1869-1941) God be in my head
[1:38]
Irish Folk Tune (arr. Rutter) I would be true [2:57]
Sir William WALTON Touch her soft lips and part (Henry
V) [1:33]
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) Choral Dances from
Gloriana [9:25]
Georg Fredric HANDEL (1685-1759) Let the bright
seraphim and Let their celestial concerts all unite (Samson)
[6:10]
Elin Manahan Thomas (soprano); Andrew Lucas (organ)
The Cambridge Singers; Aurora Orchestra/John Rutter
rec. 16 January 2012, Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban; 17
January 2012, The Temple Church, London. DDD
Texts and English translations included
COLLEGIUM COLCD 136 [75:21]
No doubt there will be plenty of recordings issued in 2012 to
celebrate - or cash in on, the cynic might say - the Diamond Jubilee of
Queen Elizabeth II. This is John Rutter’s contribution.
You may ask, what have Schubert’s psalm setting or a movement
from the Brahms Requiem to do with the British royal family? It may be
similarly objected that a piece such as the one by John Tavener has little
to do with jubilee celebrations. After all, its sole connection with royalty
is that it was sung at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. The
answer to such questions lies in the title of the disc. “Music on
Royal Occasions” allows John Rutter to cast his net wide. In fact, all
but two of the pieces included here have been performed either at a royal
wedding or funeral between 1947 - the marriage of the Queen and the Duke of
Edinburgh - and 2011 - the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The
two exceptions are the piece by Richard Rodney Bennett, which was written
for the diamond wedding anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip, and the
extract from Britten’s opera, written to celebrate Queen
Elizabeth’s coronation. In case you were wondering, the Schubert was
sung at the 1960 wedding of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones
while the Brahms was heard at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen
Mother in 2002: I didn’t know those last two facts but the booklet
helpfully tells us which piece was heard at which royal event.
Both of the new pieces written for the 2011 Royal Wedding are
included. Rutter’s own offering is a nice, readily accessible piece.
To be frank - and I speak as an admirer of Rutter’s music - it’s
a trifle disappointing in that it’s pretty predictably Rutter-ish.
Then, to be fair, an occasion such as the Royal Wedding is one when a
composer probably ought to write something that is readily appreciated by a
worldwide audience. As I wrote recently, when reviewing a disc of music by Paul Mealor,
I’ve revised my view of his Ubi caritas since I first heard it.
At the Royal Wedding I thought it a somewhat grey piece but hearing it again
on the Mealor disc I thought it came over better. However, I clearly recall
thinking when I first heard it that it wasn’t a patch on the Maurice
Duruflé setting and hearing the two one after the other merely
confirms that view. The Mealor piece is nice and sincere but
Duruflé’s fluent setting is simply inspired.
New to me was the Richard Rodney Bennett piece and I’m
delighted to make its acquaintance. Written for unaccompanied choir
it’s a very fine setting of the famous passage from St. Paul’s
Epistle to the Corinthians - ‘If I speak with the tongues of men and
angels …’ It receives a very fine
performance, as do all the other pieces on the programme. It’s
enterprising to include this unfamiliar piece and it’s equally
enterprising to include the extract from Britten’s Gloriana.
Soprano Elin Manahan Thomas is on hand to sing the solos in the
Mozart and Handel selections. She sings both very well, though, to my taste,
her ornamentation in the Handel is a bit too florid. Incidentally, the
Handel is also distinguished by excellent silvery trumpet solos by Simon
Cox.
The Brahms piece is given in English. I’d much rather hear it
in German but I can understand why it’s done in English here since
that’s how it’s done as a separate Anglican anthem - and,
presumably, that’s how it was given at the Queen Mother’s
funeral. The Elgar piece that follows is the prologue to the oratorio The
Apostles and it, too, is often heard as a separate anthem. I was mildly
disappointed to hear it done here with organ accompaniment - though Andrew
Lucas plays splendidly. It’s a bit illogical to do the Brahms with
orchestra and the Elgar without; I can only think that the Aurora Orchestra
isn’t sufficiently big for Elgar’s scoring.
So, to anyone who might glance at this CD on a shelf and dismiss it
as ‘just another Jubilee potboiler’ I’d say: think again.
I must honest and say that’s what I expected when I saw the disc
advertised but I was wrong. This selection is a bit different and a bit more
thoughtful and reflective than one might expect. Perhaps one should coin a
phrase and say ‘don’t judge a CD by its cover’. The
performances are all expertly done and the recorded sound and documentation
are very good. This is a very good and well-conceived musical celebration of
Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.
John Quinn
A very good and well-conceived musical celebration of Queen
Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.