Requiem Æternam
Maurice DURUFLÉ (1902-1986)
Requiem, Op. 9 (version for soloists, choir, cello and organ)
(1947)* [41:49]
Robin MILFORD (1903-1959)
Mass for Five Voices, Op. 84 (Mass for Christmas Morning)
(1945-7) [18:20]
*Christine Rice (mezzo); *Mark Stone (baritone)
*Guy Johnston (cello); Tristan Mitchard (organ)
The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford/David Crown
rec. *13-15 July, 2011, Abbey Church, Douai Abbey, Berkshire,
UK; 11-12 July 2011, Somerville College Chapel, Oxford. DDD
Latin texts and English translations included
STONE RECORDS 5060192780208 [59:12]
Somerville College was founded in 1879. Initially it admitted
only female students but it has been co-educational since 1994.
Its chapel is a relatively recent foundation, dating from 1935.
Unlike some Oxbridge colleges the chapel choir does not sing
daily services; usually it sings only for Sunday evening service.
In addition it gives concerts and sometimes sings for services
in other churches during term time. On these recordings the
choir numbers 6 sopranos, five (female) altos, four tenors and
seven basses.
I first encountered Duruflé’s serene Requiem over
forty years ago when I took part in a performance by my school
choir and orchestra. In those days it was still a relative rarity,
at least in the UK, but nowadays its stature is appreciated
and performances and recordings are much more frequent occurrences.
I’m pleased that David Crown has selected the version
with organ accompaniment. That was probably inevitable given
the size of his choir but this is the version which I think
best achieves the intimacy that the music demands.
The performance is a good one though occasionally the tenors
are inclined to over-sing in louder passages, such as in the
Kyrie. On the other hand the sopranos sing with purity
and clarity of tone at the wonderful passage ‘Sed signifier
sanctus Michael’ in the Domine Jesu Christe movement
and they also do well in the cruelly exposed opening of In
Paradisum. I liked the fresh tone of the choir and they
sing the piece as if they believe in it. Occasionally I wondered
if a choir of just twenty-two is a little on the small side
for this work, even when accompanied only by organ.
The solo roles are done well by Christine Rice and Mark Stone
although some may feel that the sound of their fully-fledged
voices is just a little out of scale with the performance. Guy
Johnston partners Miss Rice with a lovely account of the cello
line in Pie Jesu. I’ve a couple of mild reservations
about the organ accompaniment, even though it’s very well
played by Tristan Mitchard. Once or twice the organ pedals sound
a bit muddy in quiet passages - I noticed this particularly
at the start of the Domine Jesu Christe movement. More
seriously, in the In Paradisum movement at cue 101, just
before the full choir enters, the organ has a crucially important
solo line which continues for most of the rest of the movement.
In this performance for much of the time this line is submerged
under the choir, which is a great pity. These instances make
me wonder if the Douai organ doesn’t possess quite the
necessary range of stops for this work.
David Crown has clearly prepared his choir very well and directs
the performance with assurance. In the Domine Jesu Christe
movement he slows the tempo down at ‘Quam olim Abrahae’
(5:05). That’s not marked in the vocal score and I don’t
think it quite works; it makes the music sound a bit sentimental.
The Sanctus is taken at a speed that’s slower than
the metronome marking - and slower than the composer in his
own recording (review);
the result comes across as a bit sluggish. Otherwise Crown’s
direction is sure-footed. In particular he’s successful
in maintaining the flow that’s so vital in this plainchant-derived
music where bar lines are there almost as a matter of practical
convenience and little else.
The coupling is most unusual and very enterprising. Most recordings
of the Duruflé Requiem couple it with French music, either
by Duruflé or by other French composers. However, David
Crown has opted for an English work that was written almost
contemporaneously with the Duruflé. Robin Milford’s
music has largely fallen into neglect these days and I must
confess that his Mass for Five Voices was new to me:
has it been recorded before? Milford was a pupil of Holst and
Vaughan Williams in the 1920s and James Percival tells us in
his very useful notes that Milford’s subsequent career
involved him quite a lot in choral music.
The Mass was originally entitled Mass for Christmas Morning
though it has little obvious connection with Christmas; it was
given its present title after Milford’s death at the request
of his niece. According to the notes Milford seems to have been
inspired to compose the Mass by hearing Zoltan Kodály’s
Missa brevis on the radio though I have to say that I
don’t hear much in the way of echoes of that powerful
masterpiece in Milford’s setting. Milford provided an
ad lib organ part but this is not used here, except in
the Credo, and even there the organ part is not hugely important,
it seems.
The music is very modal and the harmonies are fluid and frequently
tricky; it sounds far from easy and, to be honest, the Somerville
choir sounds a bit taxed by the music at times. They sing the
music with evident commitment but the singing isn’t always
polished - the tenors sometimes sound a bit youthfully raw -
and intonation doesn’t always sound completely secure;
a case in point is the Sanctus, which sounds as if it contains
some of the most challenging music in the work. I wonder if
part of the trouble is the recording venue. I’m not familiar
with the chapel at Somerville College but I wonder if it’s
a smaller building - and acoustic - than Douai Abbey and so
places the singers under a more merciless scrutiny. Perhaps
it would have been fairer to the choir if the Milford had also
been recorded at Douai. However, this is a creditable recording
of a worthwhile setting of the Mass and if its presence in the
catalogue encourages other choirs to take it up then the Somerville
choir will have done Robin Milford a fine service.
There are lots of recordings of the Duruflé Requiem in
the catalogue, including several excellent ones. I don’t
think this newcomer challenges the market leaders but it’s
a decent performance and the coupling is both enterprising and
rewarding.
John Quinn
A decent Duruflé Requiem with an enterprising coupling.
see also review by Paul Corfield Godfrey