Haydn Masses in Splendid Performances

In my recent post of music from Handel's Messiah, I mentioned that the period instrument movement that gained strength in the 1970s was particularly suited to choral music. The more mellow sound of the old instruments seemed to blend better with voices - particularly those who sang in the same spirit.

This disc from nearly 50 years ago is an excellent example. In it, the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and the Academy of Ancient Music join with distinguished soloists in two of Haydn's settings of the Mass. Simon Preston (1938-2022) is the conductor.

Simon Preston

Here is Eric Salzman in Stereo Review about Haydn's sacred music: "Haydn's church work is like his other music, which is to say charming. witty, entertaining, always attractive, never boring. Isn't it just as well to praise God with wit, technique, and beauty as with some forced re-creation of antique piety? That, at least, was the sentiment of the age.

"The enchanting Missa Sancti Nicolai, written in 1772, has a kind of pastoral, Christmasy quality undoubtedly connected with its date and circumstances. December 6 was consecrated to St. Nicholas, and it was thus the name-day of Haydn's patron, Prince Nicholas Esterházy; Haydn composed the Missa Sancti Nicolai as a birthday surprise."

Joseph Haydn

Here is what the same critic had to say about the other work on the program: "The Missa brevis was a response to the impatience of an elegant and intellectual age with the tedium of the required church services. An abbreviated text, good fast tempos, even doubling up on the words - different portions of the text simultaneously in different parts! - all helped to cut a two- or two-and-a-half-hour service to a neat thirty minutes. The master of the Missa brevis was undoubtedly Joseph Haydn. Haydn could set the age-old Catholic texts in the most elegant, gracious rococo curlicues or classical symmetries without the slightest sense of disrespect."

As the for the performances, back then people were still getting used to the sound of period instruments. Salzman had no problem with them - but was not so sure about the singing: "The Academy of Ancient Music ... produces a mellow sound quite distinct from that of modern orchestras. The singing here also has a rounded, blended tone of great sweetness and beauty, though I would prefer a little less tastefulness and a little more bite. The soloists, especially, sound too restrained and well-behaved: modern High Church Anglican singers rather than the Italian opera singers who actually performed this music with Haydn." Wonder how he knew what 18th century singers sounded like.

Judith Nelson and Emma Kirby at the recording session

In fact, soprano soloists Judith Nelson (1939-2012) and Emma Kirkby (b. 1949) - not to mention the choir - are almost literally angelic. Roger Fiske in The Gramophone wrote: "[T]he two soloists really do contrive to sound like idealized choristers rather than sophisticated lady sopranos. In other words they sing without any vibrato, which is how the strings play, and it all adds up to a completely convincing performance of style and charm ... Both performances are of the highest class and with such happy music (most of it at least sounds happy) the effect is irresistible." 

It remains to be said that the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral is excellent. Finally, Christopher Hogwood, who directed the Messiah performance mentioned above, is heard here as an an accompanist on the chamber organ in the Missa brevis. Simon Preston was the choir director for his Messiah recording.

LINK

The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral with
its current director, Peter Holder

'Carols of Today' from Distinguished British Composers

In 1965, the Oxford University Press commissioned new carols from 17 of Britain's best composers, publishing the works in a volume called Carols of Today. The following year, the Argo record label recorded 14 of the works for an LP given the same name.

Today's post is devoted to that very good album and the delightful or at least impressive compositions it contains. The composers and their carols follow:

• William Mathias (1934-92) - Wassail Carol, Op. 26, No. 1
• Benjamin Britten (1913-76) - Jesu, as Thou art our Saviour
• John Joubert (1927-2019) - A Little Child there is yborn, op. 48
• Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012) - The Sorrows of Mary
• Alun Hoddinott (1929-2008) - What Tidings, Op. 38
• Peter Racine Fricker (1920-90) - In Excelsis Gloria
• Nicholas Maw - (1935-2009) Balulalow
• Peter Wishart (1921-84) - Alleluya, A New Work is come on Hand
• John McCabe (1939-2015) - Coventry Carol
• Alan Rawsthorne (1905-1971) - The Oxen
• Gordon Crosse (1927-2021) - Laetabundus
• Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016) - Ave Plena Gracia
• Phyllis Tate (1911-87) - The Virgin and Child
• John Gardner (1917-2011) - The Shout - An Easter Carol

The performers were the Elizabethan Singers, a group formed and conducted by Louis Halsey. This was the third seasonal recording that the ensemble had recorded for Argo, following Sing Nowell in 1963 and Sir Cristemas in 1965. The Singers also produced a number of other LPs with Halsey and other conductors into the 1972. Halsey went on to form the Louis Halsey Singers, also active in the studios.

The soloists on this recording were soprano Susan Longfield, tenor Ian Partridge and bass Christopher Keyte, all highly accomplished, as was Simon Preston, one of Britain's best known organists.

Simon Preston, Louis Halsey, Susan Longfield

While all the composers represented have passed on, Halsey, Partridge and Keyte are still with us. The sadly short-lived Susan Longfield died at age 35, and Simon Preston passed away earlier this year.

The music represents a few generations of composers from Alan Rawsthorne, Phyllis Tate and Benjamin Britten to John McCabe, Richard Rodney Bennett and others born in the 1930s. Those who have heard my recent posts of Britten and William Mathias will know of the expressive quality of their choral music; the others are of a similar standard. The three composers who contributed to the Oxford book of carols but who were not represented on the record are Imogen Holst, David Blake and Adrian Cruft.

Not all these compositions are Christmas carols: those of Richard Rodney Bennett and John Gardner were written for Easter. The settings are of generally of texts from the 11th to 16th centuries, with the exception of a Thomas Hardy setting and a 20th century text by Adam Fox, onetime Oxford professor of poetry and later Canon of Westminster Abbey.

The download includes scans and texts, as usual. The excellent recording comes from Holy Trinity Church in Kensington.

The cover above is one of the many that Arthur Wragg executed for Argo. Another cover for a Christmas disc, from the Choristers of Ely Cathedral, can be found on this blog. There are several other designs for choral music LPs and an extensive series for Shakespeare's plays. I'll post a link to my collection of these soon. The Carols of Today cover would seem to have been more influenced by the art of the French painter Georges Rouault than Wragg's other covers.

A Service of Thanksgiving

With the coming of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., I thought I would post a Thanksgiving celebration of a different type. It is a service of Thanksgiving to mark the centenary of the Royal College of Music in February 1982.

Westminster Abbey

The service took place in Westminster Abbey, and the musical selections were all written by former students and faculty of the college. All are liturgical, reflecting the strong historic emphasis on church music at the RCM. Four of the composers were alive at the time - Sir Michael Tippett, Herbert Howells, Gordon Jacob and Douglas Guest. The latter had just retired as organist and Master of the Choristers at the Abbey.

Sir David Willcocks

For this occasion, the choir and instrumentalists were conducted by Sir David Willcocks, the RCM Director at the time. The organist was Simon Preston. Both were RCM alumni.

The RCM was founded by the royal family, and one of its members has served since then as its President. At the time of the service, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother held that position. She later was succeeded by the Prince of Wales, who remains in the post. Both attended the service.

The program is well performed (except for one exposed brass mishap) and exceptionally well recorded by the BBC for broadcast live on Radio 3. The RCM later issued this LP of the music.

The service as presented by the BBC actually included several spoken passages that are not included on the LP. One musical selection appears to have been left out - Parry's Fantasia and Fugue in G, performed by organist Jane Watts, then an RCM student.

Herbert Howells

For me, the most affecting passages are those by Herbert Howells and Douglas Guest. Howells contributed two selections: the Te Deum from his Collegium Regale and the hymn "All my hope on God is founded." He wrote the latter in memory of his son Michael, who died young. (The cover ascribes the piece to Michael.) 

Guest's selection is a setting of Lawrence Binyon's "They Shall Grow Not Old," from Binyon's 1914 war poem, "For the Fallen."

But all the music is well worth hearing; I hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful holiday!

The Royal College of Music