Edinburgh based label Delphian is producing some
wonderful discs, A'e Gowden Lyric, a survey of Ronald Stevenson's
songs being a particularly
magical listening experience. That disc shares with this newcomer
the vocal talents of soprano Susan Hamilton but in every other
respect, superior quality excepted, the two are very different
propositions. Ascension is, as its title suggests, a series
of works based on "the powerful imagery of the Ascension". It
is intelligently programmed in the format of a choral evensong,
with Olivier Messiaen's L'Ascension serving as an extended
organ voluntary, following in the wake of shorter choral settings
by various modern composers with some more familiar hymns and
psalms thrown in. I found it slightly surprising and rather reassuring
to find the St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral Choir including works
by two of the most prominent and vociferous latter day musical
Catholics within the context of their Anglican service, namely
Messiaen himself and James MacMillan. It is the latter who gets
the ball rolling with Tremunt videntes angeli, one of several
premiere recordings featured here and a typically communicative
and direct but still challenging utterance from one of our most
genuine contemporary voices. The "trembling" of the title relates
directly to the texture of the music although the words come from
a fifth-century Latin hymn.
Kenneth Leighton remains an underrated if not
totally neglected voice of 20th century British music.
His early death was a great loss and one only has to hear the
Preces and Responses included here to realise the sheer
quality of his talents. On one level they are functional church
music but they are also glorious, soaring edifices of sound, far
easier for a newcomer to his music to appreciate than some of
the equally great but more intricate chamber works. Almost as
impressive are the two extracts from Richard Allain's Exon
Service, written for Exeter's Exon Singers. At times the Nunc
Dimittis and the Magnificat reminded me of the best
of both Leighton and Messiaen, the latter's influence particularly
effective in the "tape-loop" like "halo of sound" employed in
the Magnificat. Allain, who is not yet forty, is certainly
a name to watch for on the impressive evidence included here.
The other living composer represented is Patrick Gowers - his
exuberant Viri Galilaei probably owes more to the less
experimental but still great tradition in British choral music,
represented by, for example, Finzi's God is Gone Up, with
which it shares texts, and Vaughan Williams' O, Clap Your Hands.
The aforementioned hymns and psalms are as well done as the pieces
described above but pale somewhat in the prestigious company.
The remaining organ work is something else again - Messiaen's
L'Ascension started life as an orchestral work but the
composer made this organ version within a year of the 1932 original.
It is archetypal Messiaen in many ways, from the deep religion
that inspires it to the highly original musical content. I don't
think Matthew Owens' performance here, not that there is anything
wrong with it, really sets out to be compared with those by, say,
the composer himself or Jennifer Bate. That misses the point of
the programming on this disc, where the works sits as a part,
a pretty significant one, of a greater whole. It would though
be nice to think that someone hearing L'Ascension from
this source went on to make a wider exploration of Messiaen's
often wonderful music - for piano, chamber forces and orchestra,
as well as the ubiquitous organ. I thoroughly enjoyed this disc
and have listened to it several times since receiving it for review,
there is something for everyone with any interest at all in contemporary
religious settings and inspirations. Superb.
Neil Horner
Choir of St. Mary's
Cathedral, Edinburgh