Great Cathedral Anthems, Vol. 1

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: William (Henry) Harris, Herbert Howells, Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Frank Bridge, Harold (Edwin) Darke, John (Nicholson) Ireland, Ralph Vaughan Williams

Label: Priory

Magazine Review Date: 5/1989

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 75

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: PRCD270

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Collegium Regale	Harold (Edwin) Darke, Composer Harold (Edwin) Darke, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
Let all mortal flesh keep silence	Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
O taste and see	Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
Greater love hath no man	John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
(The) Holy Eucharist	William (Henry) Harris, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir William (Henry) Harris, Composer
Services, 'Collegium Regale', Movement: COMMUNION SERVICE	Herbert Howells, Composer Herbert Howells, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
(6) Pieces, Movement: Paean	Herbert Howells, Composer Herbert Howells, Composer Paul Trepte, Organ
(3) Pieces, Movement: Adagio, E	Frank Bridge, Composer Frank Bridge, Composer Paul Trepte, Organ
(3) Pieces, Movement: Allegro grazioso	Frank Bridge, Composer Frank Bridge, Composer Paul Trepte, Organ

Composer or Director: Edward Elgar, Ernest Bullock, Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Charles Wood, Ernest Walker, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Edgar (Leslie) Bainton, John (Nicholson) Ireland, Charles Villiers Stanford

Label: Priory

Magazine Review Date: 5/1989

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 75

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: PRCD257

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Give unto the Lord	Edward Elgar, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Edward Elgar, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
I will lift up mine eyes	Ernest Walker, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Ernest Walker, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
(The) Lord is my Shepherd	Charles Villiers Stanford, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Charles Villiers Stanford, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
Give us the wings of faith	Ernest Bullock, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Ernest Bullock, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
Blessed City, heavenly Salem	Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer
Ascribe unto the Lord	Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer
Let all mortal flesh keep silence	Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer
And I saw a new heaven	Edgar (Leslie) Bainton, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Edgar (Leslie) Bainton, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
Greater love hath no man	John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer Peter Wright, Organ
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace	Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer
O thou, the central orb	Charles Wood, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Charles Wood, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ

Label: Priory

Magazine Review Date: 5/1989

Media Format: Cassette

Media Runtime: 0

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: PRC257

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Give unto the Lord	Edward Elgar, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Edward Elgar, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
I will lift up mine eyes	Ernest Walker, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Ernest Walker, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
(The) Lord is my Shepherd	Charles Villiers Stanford, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Charles Villiers Stanford, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
Give us the wings of faith	Ernest Bullock, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Ernest Bullock, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
Blessed City, heavenly Salem	Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer
Ascribe unto the Lord	Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer
Let all mortal flesh keep silence	Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer
And I saw a new heaven	Edgar (Leslie) Bainton, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Edgar (Leslie) Bainton, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ
Greater love hath no man	John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer Peter Wright, Organ
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace	Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Composer
O thou, the central orb	Charles Wood, Composer Andrew Millington, Conductor Charles Wood, Composer Guildford Cathedral Choir Peter Wright, Organ

Composer or Director: William (Henry) Harris, Herbert Howells, Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Frank Bridge, Harold (Edwin) Darke, John (Nicholson) Ireland, Ralph Vaughan Williams

Label: Priory

Magazine Review Date: 5/1989

Media Format: Cassette

Media Runtime: 0

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: PRC270

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Collegium Regale	Harold (Edwin) Darke, Composer Harold (Edwin) Darke, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
Let all mortal flesh keep silence	Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow, Composer St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
O taste and see	Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
Greater love hath no man	John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
(The) Holy Eucharist	William (Henry) Harris, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir William (Henry) Harris, Composer
Services, 'Collegium Regale', Movement: COMMUNION SERVICE	Herbert Howells, Composer Herbert Howells, Composer Mervyn Cousins, Organ Paul Trepte, Conductor St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir
(6) Pieces, Movement: Paean	Herbert Howells, Composer Herbert Howells, Composer Paul Trepte, Organ
(3) Pieces, Movement: Adagio, E	Frank Bridge, Composer Frank Bridge, Composer Paul Trepte, Organ
(3) Pieces, Movement: Allegro grazioso	Frank Bridge, Composer Frank Bridge, Composer Paul Trepte, Organ

Author:

From a composer's point of view the Anglican Eucharist is likely to have a distinct advantage over the Roman Catholic Mass in that the musical part of it ends with an allegro. Symphonically, the Mass is unsatisfactory: the two long texts (Gloria and Credo) come early on, in succession, leaving the shorter pieces to form an untidy conclusion. The Anglicans arrange it so that after a prelude (Kyrie) comes the Credo as a solid first movement, then the Sanctus and Benedictus which with a liberal view of the liturgy can be treated in a lighter way as a kind of scherzo, then the Agnus Dei, clearly the slow movement, and a nice brisk allegro to finish with. How congenial Haydn would have found it; as evidently did Darke and Howells, heard in the recording from St Edmundsbury. Both settings were dedicated to the choir of King's College, Cambridge, and both were written by experts in textures for choir and organ. Darke sounds businesslike and economical compared with the more expansive and imaginative Howells, but when one checks the timings his is not in fact all that much shorter. Darke's Service is the musical counterpart to the well-made play: the craftsmanship inspires confidence even if the content does not amount to much. Howells establishes a Collegium Regale motif with a quotation from the opening bars of the Magnificat recurring at the end of the Sanctus. Harmonically more adventurous, it is written in an unmistakably personal idiom: even so, not so memorable, I would say, as the Evening Service which is among the best of all.
The St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir have strong altos, and very adequate tenors and basses. The note mentions that it is only since 1985 that they have become the traditional all-male preserve: in that case the bright-toned, confident-sounding trebles have established a tradition quickly and very well. If there is a complaint it concerns diction. The round 'o' vowel, as in ''of God'', tends to flatten out into a kind of 'uh' or 'er'. But this is identifiable only when the words are audible at all, which I found they were not in William Harris's The Holy Eucharist (where I happened not to know them in advance). This may well be the fault not so much of the choir as of the recording, which places the listener in the equivalent of those unprivileged seats that officious vergers delight in conducting you to if you arrive only five minutes before Evensong.
The record also includes some organ solos (finishing with Howells's Paean so that we can hear the St Edmundsbury 'trompeta real') and anthems, two of which are also sung by the Guildford Cathedral Choir. In general, the Guildford record is in closer, more full-bodied sound, and the choir impress as being unshakeably professional in their work. In one of the anthems, Ireland's Greater love hath no man (with its echoes, conscious or not, of Elgar's Apostles), the performance by Guildford gains from the slightly more purposeful tempo and the specially fine quality of the tenors. The other, Let all mortal flesh keep silence (Bairstow), responds well to St Edmundsbury's slow tempo, but more than that there has been careful preparation, with the marcato notes in the last verse before the Alleluias having considerably more effect than in the Guildford performance. Another comparison, this time with Worcester Cathedral in Elgar's Give unto the Lord (Hyperion), yields a rather similar result. The sheer tone of the Guildford choir is superior, but Worcester has more to say about it—sharp articulation, a new infusion of vigour at the right points, a more pictorial sense of desolation in ''the forests bare''. Still, the Guildford recital is a fine one, showing this highly experienced choir in prime condition, and given unfailingly resourceful support by the admirable playing of Peter Wright.'

The Holy Eucharist

Collegium Regale

Let all mortal flesh keep silence

O taste and see

Greater love hath no man

(The) Holy Eucharist

Services, 'Collegium Regale', Movement: COMMUNION SERVICE

(6) Pieces, Movement: Paean

(3) Pieces, Movement: Adagio, E

(3) Pieces, Movement: Allegro grazioso