David Owen Norris is probably best known to most
people as a pianist and broadcaster. He is also a composer and a number
of his works have been taken up by the English Music Festival. It was
at the first Festival in 2006 that
Prayerbook received its first
performance. Since then his Piano Concerto has been played there and
the 2013 Festival was the occasion of the première of his Symphony.
Prayerbook is founded in Norris’s great love of the Book
of Common Prayer and much of the libretto, which he has fashioned, comes
from the BCP. There are other sources too and though these are listed
at the end of the libretto in the booklet I would have found it more
helpful if each source had been cited after the relevant passage of
text, a common practice which makes identification a lot easier. The
work is subtitled ‘An Oratorio about Tradition and Change’
and Norris says that the work offers “a potted history of religious
and political controversy in England”. I’m afraid I don’t
quite get that. ‘Tradition and Change’ are not illustrated
very clearly in the libretto; still less do I discern any historical
narrative. Indeed, one problem that I have with this work is that I
feel that the libretto does not
flow. I’m sure the fault
is mine but I really have struggled with the scheme and design of this
work.
There’s a short
video
on the composer’s website in which he gives a talk about the work,
illustrated with musical examples. That’s actually an introduction
to a live performance which these same performers gave in Romsey Abbey
the night before the recording sessions. Unfortunately, I only found
this after I’d finished listening to the recording and as I was
about to type up this review. In many ways I wish I’d seen the
video before listening because I might have understood a bit more about
what’s going on in
Prayerbook: for all Norris’s accomplishments
as a broadcaster about music I don’t find his booklet note as
helpful and clear as I would have liked.
The oratorio is scored for baritone and soprano soloists - a second
soprano, Lauren Fowler, is listed but I suspect her part is secondary.
There are also parts for SATB choir, trebles and a Barbers Shop Quartet
- the Cambridge-based group, Over-the-Bridge. There’s a prominent
and demanding part for organ - played here by the excellent David Coram
- and the rest of the accompaniment is provided by a string quartet,
three trombones, trumpet, timpani and percussion.
The work is divided into three parts, respectively entitled ‘Faith’,
‘Hope’ and ‘Charity’ and there’s a Trinitarian
aspect since each part represents a member of the Holy Trinity, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. The music is often dramatic and always accessible
but I would describe it as variable in the sense that I found it hard
consistently to engage with it. One reason for this is that I didn’t
always find myself on Norris’s wavelength, something which may
well not be a problem for other listeners. For example, in Part III
he sets the Table of Kindred and Affinity from the BCP - the list of
people who may not marry others - as a double fugue involving the Barbers
Shop Quartet and the Chorus. It’s entertaining up to a point -
and technically correct, I’m sure - but I’m afraid I simply
lost patience with it after a while. Furthermore, it’s not entirely
clear to me what function this passage of text serves at this point
in the work - it does follow a setting of
Love divine all loves excelling
but that’s not actually a wedding hymn, though it’s often
used as such. Even more mystifying is the decision to set in Part II,
for soprano solo and chorus, the words ‘In Quires and Places where
they sing here followeth the Anthem’. In the video Norris explains
that these are his favourite words in the BCP but it’s an instruction
not a prayer so I can’t see what he’s getting at, the more
so since he doesn’t then follow that setting with an anthem. His
music for this Rubric is not unattractive but he spins it out for over
four minutes and it’s just too long. I’m also unconvinced
by his settings of one or two well-known hymns, such as
O God, our
help in ages past and
Love divine all loves excelling;
the latter may be a new tune but I’m unsure. These sound too fussy
to me.
I enjoyed some other passages much more. The baritone has two arias,
both of which set words written by Dr. David Jenkins, the retired Bishop
of Durham. Both are inventive and interesting and they are sung excellently
by Peter Savidge. A little later there’s a dramatic setting of
The Litany. Perhaps this is a bit over-long but the music, which the
composer describes as a ‘brutal march’, graphically illustrates
the evils and misfortunes from which deliverance is sought. Towards
the end I was impressed with the movement entitled ‘Chaconne:
A Dark Speaking’ in which there is a very powerful first section
followed by some calmer, more lyrical music.
The performance, under the composer’s direction, is strongly committed.
Peter Savidge is excellent; the less experienced Fiona Hymns is not
at his level though she offers some ardent singing at times. The choral
singing is good but not flawless. The instrumental playing is incisive.
Engineer Richard Bland has done a fine job - the organ, brass and percussion
sound particularly thrilling.
This work does not really ‘do it’ for me but others may
respond more positively. I hope so since this is a patently sincere
composition and it’s good that there’s a recording to bring
it to a wider public. If you do decide to investigate
Prayerbook
I’d recommend that you make the video, which I mentioned earlier,
your first stop.
John Quinn
