Saint Nicolas Op.42 [49:40]; Hymn to St Cecilia Op.27 [10:25]; Rejoice in the Lamb Op. 30 [16:25]
Andrew Kennedy (tenor)
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge; Sawston Village College Choir; CUMS Chorus
Britten Sinfonia/Stephen Cleobury (organ)
rec. Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, 23-24 June 2012, 14-15 January, 20 May 2013 texts included
KING’S COLLEGE KGS0003 [CD+SACD: 76:32]
St Nicolas was written for performance at the centenary celebrations
of Lancing College in Sussex, Peter Pears’ old school, on 24 July
1948. The main choir originally comprised the choirs of three boys’
schools. In addition there is a gallery choir, originally from a girls’
school. The score explains that it is “suitable for performance
by any numerically big chorus, even if the singers are not very experienced”.
I had some concern before listening to this disc that the choir might
be too small and too sophisticated for the work, but to my surprise that
is not the case. This may be partly the result of being joined by the
Sawston Village College Choir for four sections and also by the CUMS chorus
for the final section in which the congregation are asked to join in singing
the hymn “God moves in a mysterious way”.
Overall the performance avoids the trap of over-sophistication which can
so easily kill the impact of the work. As in Noye’s Fludde
Britten gains a positive advantage in musical and dramatic terms from
the technical limitations of the performers. He instructs that the part
of the boy Nicolas should be sung by the youngest boy in the choir, maximising
the contrast with the young man Nicolas sung by the tenor soloist. The
second percussion part is marked ad libitum and may be played by
“as many gifted and/or enthusiastic amateurs as there are instruments”.
The resulting sense of a community with varying talents engaged in the
performance is an important characteristic of the work.
Fortunately, what we hear manages to steer a careful course between excessive
gloss and technical inadequacy. In that it mirrors the first recording
work, conducted by the composer whilst being immeasurably superior to
it in terms of recording quality. The only respect in which it might be
thought to fall short of the earlier version is in Andrew Kennedy as the
tenor soloist. Not that he is in any way technically inadequate but simply
because of the superiority of Peter Pears in what was probably his best
period vocally. His sense of engagement with the part would be hard to
match let alone exceed. It is worth noting that at performances at Lancing
College his name would be followed by the letters “O.L.” to
indicate his special status as an old boy of the school.
Although many critics have been at best lukewarm it does seem to have
been a work in which Pears had a real belief. If, however, one tries to
forget his performance that of Andrew Kennedy is far from negligible or
unconvincing, and I suspect that I will find myself admiring it much more
when I next listen to it. Certainly this is the most satisfying recording
since the first version over half a century ago.
It comes with two substantial extras. The Hymn to St Cecilia is
probably more often heard with mixed voices but as sung here there is
no sense of weakness or lack of character in the upper voices. Rejoice
in the Lamb, with its strange text from the poetry of Christopher
Smart, is always a pleasure to hear, and its many changes of character
are also well caught here.
As well as a normal CD the set also includes the same material on a separate
SACD dual layer disc.
The booklet has an interesting essay by Mervyn Cooke on the links between
Britten and King’s College, and the full texts of all three works.
Unless your sight is especially keen, however, you may find a magnifying
glass to be essential.
St Nicolas seems to have fallen in popularity in recent years, with
Noye’s Fludde more often the work of choice for schools or
youth groups wanting to perform Britten. A performance like this, however,
makes a strong case for it as being one of Britten’s most masterly
as well as most loveable works.
John Sheppard
This makes a strong case for St Nicolas being one of Britten’s
most masterly as well as most loveable works.
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