Ave Rex Angelorum
Carols and Music tracing the Journey from Christ the King to Epiphany
Jeremy Filsell, Benjamin Mills (organ)
The Choir of Keble College, Oxford/Matthew Martin
rec. 18-21 July, 2019, Buckfast Abbey, Devon. DDD.
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as lossless (wav) press preview
CRD 3537
[60:19]
The first of the Christmas 2020 offerings to have come my way, this
recording was released in early September. It goes one better on programmes
of music from Advent to Epiphany by opening with the plainsong Christus vincit, associated with the Feast of Christ the King, the
Sunday immediately before Advent, sometimes known as ‘stir up’ Sunday from
the first words of the collect for that day and its association with giving
the last stir of the Christmas pudding before leaving it alone to mature.
It’s good to see Keble, on CRD, and Merton Colleges (the latter on
Delphian) joining the ranks of the more often recorded Christ Church, New
College, Queen’s and Magdalen. Incidentally, it seems to have been a while
since anything emanated from Magdalen – how about it, Harmonia Mundi?
It’s good, too, to see the CRD label making an impressive comeback. Several
colleagues and I have already sung the praises of an earlier CRD recording
on which the Keble choir and Matthew Martin made a strong case for the
music of the eighteenth-century Oxford professor William Hayes (Ceremonial Oxford, CRD3534 –
Spring 2018/1
–
review
–
review
–
review). In common with the Tallis Scholars and Gimell, whose wonderful series of
the Masses of Josquin has just been completed at the rate of about one CD
per year (Recommended –
review)
CRD are longer on value than on frequency of release.
Every year I look for at least one Christmas collection which breaks new
ground and which can be played all year round. In fact, I see that several
are forthcoming – look out for the article in which I plan to review as
many of them as I can – but this would be a good candidate to mention in
that regard, with several tracks of new or newly-arranged material. No one
collection could hope adequately to cover the whole of the Christmas
period, which traditionally ran until Candlemas on February 2nd., but the emphasis here on the less familiar makes for an attractive
programme. There are some familiar items, in slightly unfamiliar garb, but
nothing that has been over-worked.
The history of the carol – originally the name of a dance with no specific
connection to Christmas – is fascinating. I saw three ships,
presented here in Simon Preston’s arrangement, seems to have come from the
land-locked county of Derbyshire; of course, Bethlehem is an equally
unlikely place for three ships to come sailing in – the Dead Sea is 20
miles away.
All the arrangements have been tastefully, but not insipidly, done.
Plainsong purists may object to the harmonisations and arrangements, such
as that of the Gloria on track 8, but the harmonisations add
a degree of warmth to the music without unduly altering it.
Recorded at Buckfast Abbey, this album comes with a pleasingly warm sound.
Not the least of the reasons to record there, I imagine, was for the two
organists who divide the programme between them to have a go at the
powerful and versatile Ruffatti organ. The wonderful deep bass in the
middle of the final track, Taverner’s Ave Rex angelorum, is felt
rather than heard. It’s disappointing that the booklet doesn’t include the
organ specification, but that can readily be found online.
Otherwise, the booklet does all that it should, apart from a rather odd
translation of one of the petitions in Christus vincit - Sancta Maria: tu illum adiuva, should be translated ‘Saint Mary:
come to his aid’ [i.e. that of the Pope, named earlier in the text] like
the other petitions, so it’s odd that it’s rendered ‘come to her
aid’. Who she? That would be tu illam adiuva.
Without going as far as the British Prime Minister who recently told some
schoolchildren that they might have a problem remembering the supine stem
of confiteor – it would have been ‘all Greek’ to them – I do think
it a shame that the classical languages have fallen into as deep an
oblivion as King Alfred complained of in his day. (The answer to the supine
problem, if you wanted to know, is confessus.)
My review copy was in 16-bit (wav) format, and that seems to be the best
that’s on offer, along with the same quality on CD. There seems to be no 24-bit,
but the 16-bit is very good, so that need not be a problem.
It was an excellent idea to leave the Tavener till last, though it lends
its name to the whole collection. It’s typical of Tavener in that it
challenges the listener, yet stays within the traditional line of Western
choral music simultaneously. All concerned rise to the occasion splendidly,
both here and throughout the programme. I know that there are some fine
albums on their way for Christmas 2020 – I’ve been sampling some of them in
preparation for the article that I mentioned – but this is one of the best.
On this basis, and the earlier William Hayes recording, the other Oxford
and Cambridge college choirs have some real competition on their hands.
Brian Wilson
Contents
Christus vincit
– plainsong, arr. Martin BAKER * [2:24]
Ave maris stella
– plainsong, arr. Matthew MARTIN * [4:34]
Grayston IVES
Nova, nova!
[2:40]
Benjamin BRITTEN A Hymn of St Columba [1:59]
Matthew MARTIN O Oriens
* [6:42]
Hymn: Lo! He comes with clouds descending [4:58]
Hugo DISTLER Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen
[2:42]
Gloria
(Mass IX) – plainsong, harm. Matthew MARTIN [3:13]
Matthew MARTIN Nowell sing we [2:35]
The Cherry Tree Carol arr. Stephen CLEOBURY [2:44]
Hymn: Of the Father’s heart begotten [3:17]
Richard Rodney BENNETT Lullaby baby [3:33]
Carl RÜTTI I wonder as I wander [1:39]
I saw three ships – Trad. English, arr. Simon PRESTON [2:02]
Rocking – Trad. Czech, arr. Edward HIGGINBOTTOM [2:30]
Lennox BERKELEY Look up, sweet babe [4:16]
Hymn: Unto us is born a Son [2:07]
Alleluia: Vidimus stellam
– plainsong [1:58]
Matthew MARTIN O magnum mysterium
* [4:18]
John TAVENER Ave Rex angelorum
[2:46]
* World première recording
