This disc contains a very enterprising selection of recent Christmas
music. Though the music is unlikely to be widely performed outside
the fairly narrow window of the run-up to Christmas and its immediate
aftermath that’s no reason why it can’t be enjoyed on disc at
other times.
I think it’s fairly unlikely that James Whitbourn’s
Missa
Carolae will be heard all that often outside the Christmas
season since the composer has used a number of well-known carols
as the thematic basis for the work. The Mass, which is sensibly
dispersed among the other items on this CD – in a liturgical context
one would not hear the movements in succession – was commissioned
to mark the 1400
th anniversary of the foundation of
Rochester Cathedral and was first heard there at the Midnight
Eucharist on 24/25 December 2004. The Mass is for choir with organ
accompaniment and the musical style is accessible and direct.
It seems to me that some parts work better than others.
It starts promisingly with a Processional based on the tune ‘Pa-ta-pa-ta-pan’,
which segues (3:39) into the Kyrie. This Kyrie section, I think,
is less successful for two reasons. Firstly, it is based on ‘Noël
nouvelet’; nothing wrong with that except that the tune can be
repetitive and, frankly, Whitbourn’s treatment of it is nowhere
near as inventive as, say, that of Stephen Jackson – to be honest,
it outstays its welcome a bit. Also, even at a Christmas Mass
the Kyrie is still a penitential moment - the words are ‘Lord,
have mercy’, after all. I don’t hear much by way of a request
for forgiveness in Whitbourn’s setting. The main melodic inspiration
for the Gloria is ‘God rest ye merry, gentlemen’. This is a suitably
festive movement but I have a sense that the music and words are
being shoehorned together a bit uncomfortably at times. The Sanctus,
based on ‘In dulci jubilo’, works much better, I think, as does
the Benedictus, where the use of Ravenscroft’s ‘Remember, O thou
Man’ is very suitable. The Agnus Dei employs the Polish carol
‘Infant lowly’ to very good effect and in this movement Whitbourn’s
music has charm.
The remainder of the programme includes pieces by some of the
most interesting contemporary British composers of vocal music.
One of the foremost of these is James MacMillan. His
Dominus
Dabit Benigniatem is challenging but rewarding both to hear
and, I should think, to sing. This choir is no stranger to the
composer’s music, having made a very fine recording of his
Cantos
Sagrados and other music in 2003 (
review).
I wasn’t surprised, therefore, that they make a very good job
of this present piece, even though a comparison of the choir lists
in the two booklets confirms that there have been many personnel
changes since 2003.
O Radiant Dawn, with its thematic
reference to Tallis’s
O nata lux, is a much simpler,
more direct piece and it’s well done here.
The usual tune for Ravenscroft’s
Remember, O thou Man
crops up in the Whitbourn Mass, so it’s fascinating to hear Bob
Chilcott’s modern take on the same words. His setting is mildly
blues-inflected. It’s certainly different and Chilcott’s tune
lodges in the memory. I like the piece. Impressive too, though
very different, is John McCabe’s
I Sing of a Maiden,
which uses a solo SATB quartet as well as the choir; though I
didn’t hear the “extraordinary stillness” that Sam Laughton mentions
in his note. It’s only recently that I’ve come across Francis
Pott’s fine
A Hymn to the Virgin on a disc devoted to
his music made by the choir Commotio. On that disc the pacing
is fractionally slower and though the difference is marginal I
think the Commotio performance gives the music just a bit more
space – but the Elysian performance is a good one.
Stephen McNeill’s
Carol of the Birds is an attractive
piece in which both the melody and the surrounding harmonies take
some unexpected and interesting turns. The piece by Tarik O’Regan,
written for The Elysian Singers, is a demanding one which contains
some effective choral writing – as usual from this composer –
especially for the upper voices. I like the use of a harp to accompany
the singers. The instrument’s sound conveys innocence but, perhaps
also, a degree of chill.
The choir, which numbers twenty-nine, sings well – to judge by
the photos in the booklet they’re all fairly young and they make
a light, fresh sound and sing with enthusiasm and commitment.
Several members of the choir take solos and all do well but I
single out for special mention Geraldine Mynors, the soloist in
Goodall’s arrangement of
The Angel Gabriel.
She has a rich, well focused voice and her singing is polished.
There’s some interesting Christmas music here by contemporary
British composers, which can be enjoyed at times other than the
Festive Season. The music is well performed and well recorded,
and even when Christmas itself has passed for another year it
will be worthwhile listening to this disc to invoke
The
Spirit of Christmas Present.
John Quinn
The Elysian Singers of London/Sam Laughton