According to the list in the booklet, the Manchester Cathedral
choir consists of fifteen trebles (eight of whom are girls), three
male altos, three tenors and four basses. The size of the choir
is a relevant consideration in evaluating this CD, as we shall
see.
Their programme of Parry’s choral music includes some of
his most celebrated pieces. They open with the 1902 Coronation
anthem,
I was glad, which comes over very well. I was particularly
taken with the semi-chorus at “O pray for the peace of Jerusalem”.
They sing this passage very well; indeed, as well as I can recall
hearing it done. At the other end of the programme, perhaps inevitably,
comes
Jerusalem and, immediately before it, the chorus
from the oratorio,
Judith, which has achieved deserved
renown as the tune for the hymn
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.
Another famous hymn crops up in the anthem,
Hear my word, ye
people. The culmination of this anthem is the hymn,
O Praise
ye the Lord. Mind you, we have to wait quite a while for this
fine tune to make its appearance. The anthem itself was written
to be performed by massed forces at the 1894 Festival of the Salisbury
Diocesan Choral Association. Much of the piece is scored for semi
chorus (or solo quartet) with the full choir joining in only when
the hymn is reached. I imagine that the intention was that the
main body of the anthem would have been sung by the more expert
choirs of the Salisbury diocese with the village choirs adding
their vocal weight in the less complicated final section. Here
the Manchester singers perform the whole thing and they make a
good job of it. There’s an important bass solo, beginning
at “Clouds and darkness are round about Him”, and
soloist Mark Rowlinson makes a very favourable impression. Later,
there’s an extended passage, beginning at “He delivered
the poor in his affliction”. In my copy that’s marked
as a soprano solo but here it’s sung by unison trebles -
not all of the trebles, I suspect - and these confident young
singers do it very well. To be honest, I think the anthem is about
five minutes too long for its material - I enjoy singing it more
than listening to it - but it’s still well worth hearing
and it’s done very effectively here.
The earlier set of Evening Canticles, written at the behest of
Stanford for the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, are sturdy
and reliable and somewhat conservative in tone. The gentle Nunc
dimittis is rather lovely. I don’t know if these canticles
feature in the Manchester choir’s regular repertoire but
they sing them well and with assurance.
The centrepiece of their programme is the
Songs of Farewell.
These six wonderful anthems for unaccompanied choir are among
Parry’s finest vocal works, technically demanding and containing
music that’s often not just eloquent but emotionally searching.
As the set progresses they become increasingly testing for the
singers and the number of vocal parts expands. The first two pieces
are in four parts, then in each successive piece Parry adds a
vocal line until the final piece, ‘Lord, let me know mine
end’, which is luxuriantly laid out for two four-part choirs.
I’m very sorry to have to report that, in my view, the scope
of these pieces is a bit beyond the resources of the Manchester
choir.
In saying this I don’t mean to suggest for a moment that
they don’t sing well - that would be most unfair - though,
following in the score I felt that on many occasions more could
and should have been made of the dynamic contrasts that Parry
writes in most scrupulously. No, the real problem is that the
choir just isn’t big enough as Parry progressively requests
larger vocal forces. So the first two pieces, ‘My soul,
there is a country’ and ‘I know my soul hath power’,
which are both written in four parts, come over quite well. However,
in the third piece, the five-part ‘Never weather-beaten
sail’ doubts begin to creep in. To my ears there simply
isn’t enough variety of dynamics or expression and the choir
lacks the necessary reserves of power to do full justice to Parry’s
music. And in the last three pieces, where the parts multiply
still further, there aren’t enough singers on the lower
parts to achieve the requisite balance. Indeed, throughout the
whole set the texture is too treble-dominated.
I deliberately didn’t listen to any comparative versions
of the
Songs of Farewell for the simple reason that all
the recordings in my collection are by mixed adult choirs, so
I felt I would be comparing apples and pears. Eventually, however,
I did sample one alternative version to check that my judgements
weren’t unduly harsh. The version I chose was by the Rodolfus
Choir conducted by Ralph Allwood (Herald HAVPCD 217) and the reason
for choosing this was that the singers in that choir are all young
people. Allwood’s choir is clearly larger, though not hugely
so, and much better balanced as a result. Crucially, the lower
parts register much more and the dynamic markings are much more
closely observed. As a result, Parry’s textures are far
more accurately rendered. I also noticed that Allwood is much
more spacious in his approach to the last two songs and the extra
breadth he brings to the music is entirely appropriate.
I’m sorry that I can’t be more enthusiastic about
this recording of the
Songs of Farewell. They say
that size isn’t everything but on this occasion it matters
a great deal. If the Manchester Cathedral choir had had a couple
more each of altos, tenors and basses in their ranks I’m
sure the performance would have been more successful, to match
the rest of the programme. As it is, if you’re buying this
CD principally for the
Songs of Farewell then I feel duty
bound to suggest that there are better alternatives on the market.
However, it’s only fair to point out that my colleague,
John France, who knows a thing or two about English music, reacted
very positively to this collection.
John Quinn
see also review by John
France (August 2009 Bargain of the Month)
Mark Rowlinson* (baritone); Jeffrey Makinson (organist)
