Just occasionally, for whatever reason and despite our vigilance,
an important release will slip through the net and will not
be reviewed on MusicWeb International. So it was, I found, when
I acquired a copy of this CD not long ago.
As a resident of Gloucester I well remember David Briggs’s
time as Director of Music at the cathedral (1994-2002). During
his time there he oversaw the rebuilding of the cathedral’s
organ, completed in 2000, and he attracted significant attention
as a prodigiously gifted organist and improviser. On leaving
Gloucester - he was then given the title Organist Emeritus -
he pursued a career as a concert organist, also devoting much
more time to composition. In September 2012 he became Artist
in Residence at St. James Cathedral, Toronto. For this recording
he returned to Gloucester and collaborated with Stephen Layton
and his Trinity College choir.
Though it is well suited to other types of music, the rebuilt
Gloucester organ is very well equipped to give an authentic
voice to French music - no doubt the result of David Briggs’
input into the redesign. As there’s a pronounced Gallic
flavour to much of the repertoire on this disc the venue could
scarcely have been better chosen and I should say straightaway
that the recording team of engineer David Hinitt and producer
Adrian Peacock seem to me to have done a conspicuously successful
job of recording the organ which is caught here to stunning
effect.
The Mass, which forms the centrepiece of this programme, was
written not for a leading cathedral choir but for Neil Shepherd
and the choir of the Parish Church at Keynsham, near Bristol.
They first performed it, with Briggs at the organ, in Notre-Dame
Cathedral, Paris in July 2002. It’s a remarkable work,
which I’d not heard prior to getting this disc. The organ
part is a huge one and sounds to encompass prodigious difficulties.
I just hope that the fact that the piece clearly requires a
virtuoso organist will not deter other choirs from taking it
up. As Meurig Bowen points out in his excellent note, the setting
“takes its lead” from the Masses by Louis Vierne,
Jean Langlais and Widor - Briggs recorded the Vierne and Langlais
Masses during his time in Gloucester (PRCD
597). From the composer’s website
I learned that one thing that the Briggs Mass has in common
with all those settings is that the accompaniment is for two
organs, following the frequent French practice. Many French
cathedrals have a Grand Orgue, usually situated at the
west end of the nave, and a smaller organ, located towards the
front of the church, near to the choir stalls, which is used
to accompany the choir. However, all the aforementioned French
Masses can be adapted reasonably easily so as to be performed
with one organ and, clearly, the same approach has been followed
here.
David Briggs has long been influenced by the celebrated French
organist, Pierre Cochereau, who was renowned for his improvisations.
Back in 1992, before coming to Gloucester Cathedral from Truro
Cathedral, Briggs recorded in Truro a disc of his own transcriptions
of improvisations by Cochereau (PRCD
428) and according to the notes Cochereau’s benign
influence hovers over this Mass. Throughout all the movements
of the Mass the organ plays a crucial, sometimes dominant role.
This is particularly true of long stretches of the Gloria, especially
the jubilantly dancing ending, from ‘Quoniam tu solus’
onwards. I found Briggs’ setting of the Gloria constantly
interesting and often arresting. The Sanctus ends with an ecstatic
- and very loud - ‘Hosanna’. By contrast much of
the Benedictus features only the organ - some liquid textures
- and sopranos with the full choir held back for a reprise of
the ‘Hosanna’. The Agnus Dei’ is very impressive.
It starts quietly but the pleas first for mercy and then for
peace become increasingly ardent though the movement achieves
an ethereal close.
The movements of the Mass are interspersed with other music,
as they would be in a liturgical context. There’s a ravishing
a cappella setting of Ubi caritas et amor which,
by coincidence, was also written for a Bristol church choir
and first performed by them in Notre-Dame. Like the wonderful
setting of the same text by Maurice Duruflé, this motet
uses plainchant as its foundation but Briggs’ piece is
more elaborate, not least in its harmonies. It’s a very
lovely piece and Stephen Layton and his choir give it a superb
performance. The other pieces within the Mass are organ improvisations
by Briggs. The Introit is richly textured while the Offertoire
and Élévation are subdued and subtle: you can
almost smell the Gauloises. The concluding Sortie is something
else entirely. This is a toccata of jaw-dropping virtuosity
during which the Gloucester organ is given a thorough work-out.
It’s absolutely thrilling and the organ sound is truly
magnificent.
Later in the programme the organ is centre-stage again. Briggs’s
setting of the Te Deum calls for the choir to sing unison chant,
accompanied by the organ. After each line of sung text the organ
plays a short continuation or commentary. The Te Deum is followed,
attacca, by a thunderous improvised toccata. Here, the
pedals are often well to the fore in what is another staggering
display of virtuosity at the organ. Briggs’ improvisation
is exhilarating and inventive - and tremendously exciting.
The ‘Mag & Nunc’ written for this very choir
are very impressive; here, as in the unaccompanied I will
lift up mine eyes, Briggs’ music is much more English,
indeed Anglican, in tone. Stephen Layton and David Briggs might
have been content to end their programme with the tumultuous
Toccata on Te Deum laudamus. Instead they opt for something
much less ‘public’ in the shape of O Lord, support
us for choir and organ. I’m so glad they did. This
little gem was written for the choir of St Thomas Church, Fifth
Avenue in New York. Meurig Bowen describes it as “a tender
wash of unashamed loveliness”. I’d second that but
I’d add that it’s also very eloquent. It caught
my ear just as forcibly as some of the more spectacular music
on the disc: when I first played the CD this was the track that
I repeated immediately. It’s a most satisfying finis
to the programme.
The singing of Trinity College Choir is absolutely splendid
throughout - these fresh, expertly trained young voices are
ideal for the task in hand. As for David Briggs’ organ
playing, it is quite simply world-class and his reunion with
the Gloucester Cathedral organ which, in its rebuilt form so
much bears his stamp, is a very happy one. There’s a full
specification of the organ in the booklet, the design and content
of which is fully up to Hyperion’s usual high standards.
What of the recorded sound? The choir is excellently recorded
and when they are singing in partnership with the full organ
the balance is expertly judged. However, it’s the sound
of the organ that takes the breath away. In a word it’s
spectacular. I’m very familiar with the cathedral’s
organ - I remember well the excitement at the recital in January
2000 when David Briggs unveiled the rebuilt instrument - and
I can honestly say that engineer David Hinitt and producer Adrian
Peacock have reproduced it magnificently. What comes out of
the loudspeakers is thrillingly present and reports the instrument
faithfully. I don’t think I’ve heard this magnificent
instrument caught so well on disc before.
In much of the music on this disc David Briggs achieves a kind
of musical entente cordiale, marrying very successfully
the English choral tradition with that of French church music.
The results are compelling and I urge you to hear them for yourself.
John Quinn
Track listing
Introit (organ improvisation) [2:48]
Kyrie [5:11]
Gloria [7:10]
Offertoire (organ improvisation) [1:49]
Ubi caritas et amor (2006) [3:09]
Sanctus [3:05]
Benedictus [4:02]
Élévation (organ improvisation) [2:54]
Agnus Dei [5:44]
Sortie (organ improvisation) [3:59]
I will lift up mine eyes (2006) [3:45]
The Trinity College Service (2008)
Magnificat [7:19]
Nunc dimittis [5:19]
Te Deum laudamus (2006) [7:16]
Toccata on Te Deum laudamus (organ improvisation) [2:30]
O Lord, support us (2005) [6:00]
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The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge/Stephen Layton 