Online at the BBC this week, don't miss the choir of Hereford Cathedral singing the evening service Herbert Howells composed for them.
It is a lush, beautiful service which is rarely heard.
Howells, like a fine wine only got better with age (but was able to get you drunk all along). His later works are always intoxicating.
In Howells's extensive catalog or services it is the fourth to last service he composed. Written in 1969, it is succeeded only by settings written for Magdalene College, York and Dallas, Texas.
The Hereford service is authored by a fully mature Howells, and one who writes with increasing density. Standing in opposition to the harmonic activity is the opening of the Magnificat. The movement, like several other evening services by Howells, begins with a lyrical treble line. The full choir enters at the words "for he that is mighty".
Upon first hearing, one might be tempted to say that the Magnificat delves into the richness of Howells fully-developed harmonic language of complex flexibility and surprise. Certain moments sound as if they are poised spin out of control harmonically, but this is only an illusion. Howells has provided a sure foundation for these passages, and their resolution is powerfully satisfying.
The Nunc Dimittis seems to be a summary of the same ideas, but without all the arcane tangents -- just a hint at where they might have gone. It is much more innocent, but pleasingly so.
Cheat sheet: In the audio file at the BBC, the Magnificat starts at 20:50; Nunc dimittis at 29:37
Also noteworthy: the particularly lovely introit, "View me Lord" by Richard H. Lloyd.
The Choir of St. John's College Cambridge is webcasting one evensong each week from their new, freestanding website. The inaugural webcast debuts today.
Their audio player makes it ridiculously easy to skip the sermon.
One can hope that King's and other English collegiate chapels are not far behind in this endeavor.
Now, a non-musical web tangent:
The arrangements of the webcast do make one wonder a little bit about the politics behind the St. John's enterprise. The choir has recently launched this new website which is separate from the college's domain. It is also a bit heavy in the self-promotion department, but that's another story.
Perhaps one of the primary reasons for the creation of this site is the choir's desire webcast evensong services. This initiative does seem to have the blessing of the college (see this press release) but I think it loses some of its prestige by not being hosted by the college.
Now, maybe there's some technical or theological reason that ac.uk addresses cannot stream audio, but I'm not privy to that kind of "Bob's your uncle" or "Heath Robinson" or whatever you want to call it.
And this separation of a music program from its umbrella institution is not an isolated incident. I run across this from time to time in parish churches and cathedrals on this side of the Atlantic. It seems to me that in the interest of the web presence of both parties this kind of separation should be discouraged and regarded as insubordination on the part of the musicians. Of course this is only valid if the umbrella institution has a responsive site and adequate technical support.
Labels: Evensong, St John's (Cambridge), web
Don't miss the BBC's broadcast of Choral Evensong from St. Thomas Church in New York City. (Hurry, because it will be replaced by another broadcast on Sunday.)
Take particular note of the new, rather nice, rather lengthy introit by Tavener.
While listening to this, I was disappointed that music lists are not archived at St. Thomas's website and I cannot see what they sang for Christmas.
The BBC's weekly broadcast of Evensong (from Lincoln Cathedral this week) includes, among other things, the first broadcast of "The Windows" by Tarik O'Regan.
It's neat poem that uses stained glass as a metaphor for preaching.
"The Windows" by George Herbert.
Labels: Evensong, literature, music
I don't normally write about work on any kind of current basis, but I had an extraordinary mid-liturgy exegetical experience that I would like to relate.
Thursday evening, at evensong, the psalm was 73. I had been practicing the accompaniment for psalm all week, mostly trying to line up the notes of the chant with the text. For this particular psalm/chant pairing, this task was a bit more exciting due to the number of passing tones. The chant, incidentally, was written by Henry Smart, who was not a dumb composer.
So there I was working away, and it wasn't as if I was ignoring the words (I usually am either singing them or mouthing the words as I work), but I wasn't quite taking in the whole meaning either.
Because once we sang the psalm at evensong, I understoood the meaning of the opening of the psalm for the very first time.
Generally in a double chant two verses are sung to the same chant tone before it repeats.
So, we begin with 8844 on the Swell.
1. Truly, God is good to Israel, *
to those who are pure in heart.2. But as for me, my feet had nearly slipped; *
I had almost tripped and fallen;
Then, as I reached over to pull on the Oboe, I inadvertently pulled out new shades of meaning. It might have also been that there is a big difference in singing something yourself and having the same bit sung to you. I hadn't connected how dangerously close the psalmist comes to having "tripped and fallen" with what came next. It seems that his envy nearly brought him to do something that he would regret; it brought him to almost "trip and fall". The dark color of the Oboe was the perfect complememnt for the psalmist's description of the "wicked".
3. Because I envied the proud *
and saw the prosperity of the wicked:4. For they suffer no pain, *
and their bodies are sleek and sound;
It was a strange experience, understanding for the first time what the psalmist's attitude was toward these "hard-bodies", and how it was all tied into the psalmist's feet nearly slipping. I read along as the choir sang, but was also very concious of my accompanying duties.
5. In the misfortunes of others they have no share; *
they are not afflicted as others are;6. Therefore they wear their pride like a necklace *
and wrap their violence about them like a cloak.
I have to say, it was a unique experience, this real time liturgical exegesis, mostly because it was so distracting! Here I was, contemplating the meaning of the text while I was playing it.
It seems that I was embodying verse 22 of the psalm (which was not sung at evensong).
22. I was stupid and had no understanding; *
I was like a brute beast in your presence.
. . . not so Smart after all . . .
Labels: Anglican chant, Evensong, Psalms, Smart
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