Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852-1924)
Choral Music
Evening Service in G, Op.81 (1902) [9:12]
The Lord is my Shepherd (1886) [9:40]
Bible Songs and Six Hymns, Op. 113 (1909-1910) [45:32]
Crossing the Bar (1890) [4:06]
For lo, I raise up, Op.145 (1914) [8:58]
Schola Cantorum of Dean Close Preparatory School/Benjamin Nicolas
Carleton Etherington (organ)
rec. Tewkesbury Abbey, 18-19 October 2009; 24-25 May 2010
DELPHIAN DCD34087 [77:28]
This is an exciting release from Delphian for a number of reasons: the quality
of the sound, the singing and the repertoire. However, it is this latter consideration
that is perhaps most important. The Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum have
chosen a number of works that are less well-known than those presented on
many other recordings of Stanford’s music. Most impressive is the complete
recording of the Bible Songs and Hymns, Op.113. As far as I am aware
there is only one other CD version of the complete work: Winchester Cathedral
Choir on Hyperion.
This is in many ways a radical work that blurs the distinction between the
concert hall and the cathedral. It is a masterpiece that deserves to be better
known.
The CD opens with the ‘Evening Service in G’ which was composed in 1902. It
was Stanford’s fourth major setting of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer
liturgy which included music for Morning and Evening Prayer and Communion.
Jeremy Dibble notes that the entire Service contains much fine music, but
suggests that it is the evening canticles that have best stood the test of
time. Many years ago Edmund Fellowes gave a succinct overview of Stanford’s
liturgical settings that holds good to this day: - “... [He] set up a new
standard of design and character. His method in setting the canticles has
been described as ‘symphonic’. This may be taken to mean that each canticle
was designed in a more coherent manner than formerly ... Stanford welded his
sections [of the canticles] into a whole, not only by means of well-designed
successions of modulation and with a fine sense of proportion in planning
his climaxes, but also in use of melodic figures or motives, which by their
recurrence bind the work together and give it continuity.” Jeremy Dibble has
further noted that Stanford adopts a lieder-orientated style that is entirely
appropriate for the ‘songs’ of Mary and Simeon.
The key thing to understand about the Bible Songs and Hymns is that
it is quite a revolutionary work. Although the sound-world is very much a
part of the Edwardian scene and owes little to ‘contemporary continental experimentation’
this work is both advanced and innovative. What Stanford has done is to fuse
‘secular’ and ‘liturgical’ formats in a single large-scale work. The ‘songs’
are taken from the biblical books of the Psalms, Isaiah and
Ecclesiasticus and is given to a soloist. Each ‘song’ is complemented
by a ‘hymn’ from the great devotional literature of the church. These include
the authors and sources John Milton, William Cowper, and the Scottish Psalter
of 1650. More recent words are taken from Robert Bridges. These ‘hymns’ are
re-pristinated and elaborated using the musical textures outlined and developed
in the ‘song’. They are meant to comment theologically on the accompanying
biblical text. The overall effect of this work is to present the listener
with a profound examination of the Christian Life. The six songs examine themes
of Freedom, Trust, Hope, Peace, Battle and Wisdom. Once again the dichotomy
between the secular and the sacred is held in tension. Although the texts
are fundamentally Christian, the treatment of the musical material is largely
ambiguous – at least in the ‘songs’ which owe more to German lieder than the
Anglican Church. It is only in the hymns that the ‘traditional’ message is
presented in its glory. Stanford excels himself with the massive setting of
Joachim Neander’s words Praise to the Lord which well complements the
Song of Battle. The Bible Songs and Hymns were composed in 1909-10.
Three short, but extremely satisfying anthems are presented on this CD. ‘The
Crossing of the Bar’ (1890), set to Tennyson’s deeply moving poem ‘Sunset
and evening star’ is a subtle contrast between the innocent sound of the boy
treble soloist and the deeply felt text that considers matters of death and
‘the hereafter’. Stanford’s setting of the 23rd psalm, ‘The Lord
is my Shepherd,’ is enormously attractive. In fact, Herbert Howells has described
this anthem as ‘one of the supremely lovely anthems or all our history’. It
was written in 1886, largely influenced by Brahms and composed in a near-symphonic
and cyclic form that well matches the psalmist’s progression of thought.
The final work on this CD is Stanford’s setting of ‘For Lo I raise up’. It
has never seemed to me that the biblical book of Habakkuk is a particularly
good resource for composers. However, this ‘late’ work was composed in 1914
and cleverly uses the prophet’s words to provide an analogy to the horrors
of the Great War. The judicious selection of words from Habakkuk allows for
a positive and inspiring close to the anthem. The imagery of the eagles and
horsemen rampaging through the landscape are juxtaposed with a message of
hope –‘We shall not die’ and the promise that the ‘Earth shall be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the Lord ...’ This to my ear is one of Stanford’s
most moving works.
The liner-notes are by the music scholar and Stanford specialist Jeremy Dibble:
they deserve to be carefully read. The performance is well-balanced, nuanced
and totally sympathetic to Stanford’s achievement. Finally, the works chosen
are a showcase for the talents of several boy trebles and other soloists all
of whom are members of the choir. Laurence Kilsby who was the 2009 BBC ‘Chorister
of the Year’ makes his solo debut on this disc.
John France
An exciting release.