Three Choirs Festival 2007 (2) :  Ralph Vaughan Williams : Serenade to Music; Claude Debussy: En blanc et noir, orchestrated by Robin Holloway; Herbert Howells : Hymnus Paradisi Geraldine McGreevy (soprano) & Andrew Kennedy (tenor); Natalie Clinton-Griffith, Geraldine McGreevy, Elizabeth Weisberg, Gillian Keith (sopranos); Kate Symons-Joy, Jeanette Ager, Frances Bourne, Susanna Spicer (mezzo-sopranos); Nicholas Mulroy, Andrew Kennedy, Andrew Staples, Allan Clayton (tenors); Allan Smith, James Birchall, Nicholas Perfect, Alex Ashworth (basses); Festival Chorus; Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Christopher Robinson. Gloucester Cathedral 6.8. 2007 (JQ)

There was a pleasing symmetry about the invitation to Christopher Robinson to appear as guest conductor at this concert. In the first place he is no stranger to the Three Choirs Festival, having played a leading role in its fortunes during his time as Organist and Director of Music at Worcester Cathedral (1963-74). In the second place, after a period as Director of Music at the Chapel Royal, Windsor (1975-91), he enjoyed a distinguished tenure as Director of Music at St John’s College, Cambridge (1991-2003). During that time one of his Organ Scholars at St. John’s was Gloucester Cathedral’s Director of Music, Andrew Nethsingha, who himself will become Director of Music at St. John’s in September. But symmetry aside, the prime reason for inviting Dr. Robinson to conduct this concert was, surely, the fact that he is an extremely able and distinguished choral and orchestral conductor, a fact that was proved beyond any doubt during the course of this concert.

A significant point of interest in this concert lay in the UK première of an orchestration by Robin Holloway of Debussy’s three pieces for two pianos that carry the collective title En blanc et noir. Holloway was commissioned to orchestrate the pieces by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. Debussy wrote the music in 1915 and Holloway describes them as an “explicit reaction to the grim contemporary events [of the Great War].”  Writing in the programme, Holloway explains his work on Debussy’s piano originals thus: “My orchestration aims at fidelity to the spirit of Debussy’s wonderful work, rather than to the letter of his orchestral practice. There is, of course, no “gilding”, though some passages have been opened out rhythmically and acoustically because of the very different spacings and voicings natural to the two very different media. But “faithful” to what? This late work is so new in its composer’s œuvre that there is actually no model for how to score it anyway.” This seems to me to suggest an approach not dissimilar to Colin Matthews’s comparable work on the piano Préludes  (see review)  I suspect, however, though I can’t be sure, that Holloway has not gone as far as Matthews in actually inserting a few bars of his own material here and there – that seems to be the implication of his comments.

I must be quite honest and admit that I don’t really know the piano originals sufficiently well to be able to judge how successful Holloway’s orchestrations are in terms of re-imagining the music. Also I’d like to hear his orchestrations again – and soon – in a less resonant acoustic because, despite the skill and care with which Christopher Robinson and the players invested the music, some detail was, almost inevitably, less than ideally clear. However, even on a first hearing I have no hesitation in declaring that Robin Holloway has done a magnificent job in the sense of realising this music with highly imaginative sonorities. Whilst recognising his comment quoted above that there’s no model for scoring these particular pieces, the first of them sounded to me to be particularly authentically Debussyian. In the second and third pieces quite a bit of the scoring employed the darker, deeper tones of the orchestra. Throughout, the Philharmonia’s playing had bite where called for and, at other times, a delightful subtlety. Robin Holloway, who was present to acknowledge a warm reception, was evidently delighted with the performance. Though mine must be, of necessity, an interim judgement I am sure this is a significant addition to the orchestral repertoire and I’m impatient to hear it again.

Before the Debussy/Holloway we heard the first of the vocal works on the programme. Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music is one of the most magical scores I know. Every detail is just perfect. And what a feat of imagination to take a short extract from Shakespeare and not just set it to music but write it for sixteen leading singers of the day, giving each a cameo solo that brought out the individual characteristics of their voices. The aptness of RVW’s writing for the individual singers is readily apparent if one listens to the “original cast recording” that Sir Henry Wood and his singers made just a few days after the first performance, which took place at his golden jubilee concert in 1938.

Though it can be performed by other forces, such as full SATB choir, there’s absolutely no substitute for hearing the sixteen-voice original version, which is what the Three Choirs laid on for this concert, using a team of young British singers. I wonder how many of them had had the opportunity to perform the work before? James Clark, the leader of the Philharmonia, played the long, radiant violin solo at the start of the work quite beautifully. I have to say, though, that there were times when I felt that the orchestra could and should have played more softly. Equally, the singers, when singing as a consort, were often too loud – or, at least that’s how it seemed from my seat at the front; perhaps further back in the nave the distance factor imparted a softer focus to the voices. But as I heard it, the opening bars that the vocalists sing was not at the pp level that’s marked in the score and there seemed to be no attempt to achieve the magically sudden ppp at the words “and the night” a few bars later. On the other hand, when all sixteen were singing together at full tilt – at “Such harmony is in immortal souls” and, even more so, at “And draw her home with music” – the effect was truly thrilling.

Each of the singers gets a short solo, often no more than two or three bars long. The results were slightly variable. Best of all were the four altos, all of whom delivered their lines with lovely tone and just the right degree of expression. I was also impressed with a couple of the tenors, Andrew Staples and Allan Clayton, the latter opening up the demanding high line originally intended for Walter Widdop most ardently. Baritone Allan Smith made a favourable impression with a good, forward tone and Nicholas Perfect put over the last difficult, deep bass solo convincingly. It’s a glorious, radiant work and I was delighted to get a comparatively rare chance to hear it live.

“Glorious and radiant” is a description that most certainly can be applied to Herbert Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi. This deeply personal and very moving work was, of course, Howells’ response to the tragically early death of his young son, Michael. But having written the work in 1938 Howells then hid it from public view. It was only in 1950 that Vaughan Williams, in a service to music as great as any of the works that he himself composed, persuaded Howells to release the work for performance. As the Dean of Gloucester reminded us in a short, characteristically witty introduction to the concert, it was in this very cathedral, at the 1950 Three Choirs Festival, that Howells himself conducted the first performance of the work.

I wonder how well the choir on that occasion coped with Howells’s hugely demanding writing. I cannot imagine that they surpassed the achievement of their 2007 counterparts for, cards on the table, the real stars of this performance were the Festival Chorus. I thought their singing was quite superb. In particular, the Sanctus was a tour de force of impassioned, accurate and powerful choral singing. In this movement Howells is often at his most ecstatic and the chorus rose to and met every challenge he set them. Here, and throughout the performance, the choir sang as if their lives depended on it and gave Christopher Robinson total commitment. I would have given anything to have been a member of the choir on this occasion for I’m sure it was as memorable an experience for them as their singing was for the audience.

I’m afraid I can’t be quite as enthusiastic about the soloists. Both seemed to be trying too hard. Geraldine McGreevy sang with a vibrato that was frequently too wide for comfort and on one or two occasions she seemed just to run out of breath. It is a cruelly demanding part but too often there was an unsteadiness in her voice that I didn’t care for. Andrew Kennedy sang with clarity for the most part but his physical deportment was often distracting. I just wish he’d stand still and also cut out the extraneous gestures with his right hand. 

The Philharmonia played the rich score with great precision and no little passion. I felt that they could have taken the volume down a notch at times – in the Prelude there was not quite enough mystery for my taste but Howells’ many great climaxes were delivered with power and passion.

The performance was a personal triumph for Christopher Robinson, as was warmly acknowledged by the audience’s applause. It was quite clear that he had the full measure of the score and that he was deeply committed to it. He led the performance with conviction but also with a welcome economy of gesture. Howells’s textures are often extremely rich and complex but even in the cathedral’s resonant acoustic Robinson ensured that there was greater clarity of texture than I would have believed possible. I suspect it’s been quite a while since he graced a Three Choirs podium but he directed the entire programme splendidly and I hope we shall see him back again soon.

This was a rich evening in the best traditions of the Three Choirs festival and yet again it confirmed that the standards of this year’s festival are very high – especially the choral standards.

 John Quinn

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