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Graham KEITCH (b. 1955)
Guardian of Heaven – Choral Works
Cantate/Zoltán Pad
rec. 2017/2018, Hungarian Radio Studio 22, Budapest, Hungary
Texts and translations included
EM RECORDS EMRCD061 [78:52]

As far as I can establish this is the first commercially available recording of music by Graham Keitch, a composer who until now has been a completely unknown quantity to me. This has been my loss. The extensive booklet note tells us a little about him and identifies an impressive number of English cathedrals and churches in which his music has been performed. Given my domicile in the county of the Red Rose, I hope my ignorance of his work might be forgiven given that the most northerly of these venues seems to be Leicester Cathedral. Choirs even further afield also seem to have taken to his music, notably a cluster of groups from ‘across the pond’.

It is easy to hear why. He writes in an appealing, tonal idiom which is never seems prone either to over-sweetness or to tokenistic modernity. Whilst in both melodic and harmonic terms these works carry the unmistakeable whiff of the English church to the listener, Keitch seems to have the happy knack of making work pieces that are a joy to sing, regardless of their texts. There are moments of satisfying resolution in every one of the score of single panels on this disc, which in themselves strongly suggest that Keitch is a craftsman to the core who seems determined to equally prioritise the interests of his singers and his audiences/congregations.

It is interesting that EM Records have engaged the services of the crack Hungarian choir Cantate to record this music. If the provenance of Keitch’s oeuvre is unquestionably Anglican, there is something refreshing and cosmopolitan about these excellent singers’ projection of both English and Latin texts which veers away from the ‘RP’ of the English cathedral choir and if anything amplifies the fact that this music oozes universal appeal and exudes a quality which transcends the parochial. This feature strikes one immediately in the first couple of items; Nunc Laudare Debemus is a Latin translation of Caedmon’s Hymn which dates from the seventh century and is regarded as the first recorded English hymn text. Cantate’s Latin emerges crisply and cleanly. The rosary prayer text of O glorious Prince St Michael seems cumbersome and unsingable on paper and would arguably provide a challenge to the most articulate English voices; it is therefore to the great credit of both composer and choir that the resultant setting is both comprehensible, musical and with its virile organ accompaniment unexpectedly powerful. The slight continental tang of Cantate’s pronunciation is absolutely no hindrance. This splendid anthem is magnificent, an early highlight of the disc.

There are a couple of paired settings of the ‘Mag’ and ‘Nunc’; the more succinct Exeter canticles employ the English translation and are coloured by appealingly piquant dissonances and an organ accompaniment – the Magnificat is especially impressive and features a delightful soprano solo- Orsi Sapszon takes the unfamiliar language and idiom in her stride. The unaccompanied Latin Canticles written for the visit of the American choir The King’s Counterpoint to Canterbury Cathedral (Keitch is their associate composer) are more extended; the climaxes in the Magnificat are rounded and luminous whereas the Nunc Dimittis is a tad more restrained in its expression and subtler in its impact. Both come off well and epitomise the disc’s excellent sonics.

During that visit the same choir premiered Keitch’s Missa cantoribus viatoribus (Mass for Travelling Singers) which forms an apt centrepiece for this album. A gentle rising accompaniment in the organ leads into a gentle Kyrie – for some reason to my ears it brought to mind the equivalent movement in Maurice Duruflé ’s gorgeous if underappreciated Missa ‘Cum Jubilo’. The initial declamatory gestures of the Gloria soon yield to a more lyrical impulse before an episode rife in imaginative rhythmic interplay leads to its conclusion. The gently flowing Agnus Dei projects a sense of quiet certainty.

Of the remaining pieces in this generous survey the earliest is a setting of the Ave Maria from 2012; it is long-breathed, serene and anchored in humane rather than divine expression. Another highlight is O tu suavissima virga, a song from Hildegard of Bingen’s sequence Symphonia armoniae caelestium revelaionem. Keitch’s re-interpretation of this text is most affecting – a rapt soprano solo at its outset and centre leaves the listener in no doubt as to the source of its inspiration. It quite belies its seven-minute duration – time truly seems to stand still. For the kingdom of God emerges from an organ tune that is both perky and memorable – quite apart from the graceful choral writing it incorporates a couple of fruity and rather unexpected modulations.

In fact everything on the disc reinforces the perception that Graham Keitch is an imaginative and accomplished composer of church music which proves to be simultaneously radiant and reassuring, qualities that are not to be underestimated in this uncertain world. I would certainly hope that as and when our cathedral choirs feel ready to re-occupy their stalls once more that some of their more enlightened directors are inspired by this disc to afford Keitch’s output wider currency. Cantate are recorded in a most sympathetic acoustic and its members give accomplished, communicative accounts of repertoire that must be rather new to them. They are accompanied by organ sound which is also pleasing and immediate, although rather oddly the organist is uncredited. As EM Records’ catalogue continues to expand it is most gratifying to see them further embracing the English choral tradition by introducing us to this hitherto unfamiliar voice.

Richard Hanlon

Contents
1 Nunc Laudare Debemus (2018) [3:52]
2 O Glorious Prince St Michael (2018) [3:54]
3 Eternal Rest (2018) [2:21]
4-5 Evening Canticles (University of Exeter Service) (2017) [8:26]
6 Justorum Animae (2014) [2:49]
7 For The Kingdom Of God (2016) [4:15]
8 O Tu Suavissima Virga (2017) [7:24]
9 Deus, cui proprium est (2017) [3:53]
10 O Salutaris Hostia (2016) [2:49]
11-14 Missa Cantoribus viatoribus (Canterbury Mass) (2017)[12:36]
15 Ave Maria (2012) [3:58]
16 Visit This Place, O Lord (2017) [2:31]
17-18 Evening Canticles (University of Exeter Service) (2018) [13:12]
19 O Lux Beatissima (2017) [3:21]
20 The Church Is Built Upon The Earthly Stone (2017) [3:17]