The Sweet and Merry Month: Music for May Morning
The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford/Mark Williams
rec. 2021, Church of St John the Evangelist, Oxford, England
OPUS ARTE OACD9049D [72]
This delightful CD explores many works inspired by the May Morning Tradition in Oxford, a festival which is a fusion of pagan and Christian tradition. The bottom line is a celebration of the coming of longer days, the rebirth of Spring and the promise of a successful harvest. At 6am on May Day, the crowds gather below Magdalen Tower, to hear the choir sing Benjamin Rogers’ Hymnus Eucharisticus (track 10 on this disc) - and the celebrations continue for the rest of the day and night…
I have selected a few personal highlights; much could have been said about the contributions from several great composers featured on this disc including (but not limited to) Thomas Morley, John Stainer, William Cornysh, Orlando Gibbons and William Byrd.
Two of my Desert Island part-songs are included on this CD. First, Charles Villiers Stanford’s The Blue Bird, a setting of a text by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge. This poem is taken by Stanford and is turned into a glorious miniature. Few other motets have this feeling, this magic, this power to move. There is a “combination of coolness and warmth - of sunlight and cloud.” If this were the only music that we remembered Charles Villiers Stanford for, he would be well-worth recalling. The second is John Ireland’s “calm and solemn” The Hills, to a poem by James Kirkup. This was completed in 1953 as his contribution to A Garland for the Queen and it is another perfect fusion of words and music. The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford pass my “test” with flying colours with their rendition of these two masterpieces.
Two novelties on this CD embrace an attractive setting of Lennon and Macartney’s I’ll follow the sun. Listeners may want to be reminded that the song originally appeared on the Beatles for Sale album, released in 1964. The present arrangement is by Grayston Ives. Equally “pop” is Guy Turner’s reworking of Harold Arlen’s classic Somewhere over the Rainbow featured in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
I cannot recall having heard a choral version of Vaughan Williams’s Linden Lea but it succeeds remarkably well in this arrangement. I am not sure if it was made by the composer, or another hand.
This CD is not parochial. The rarely heard Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder by Claude Debussy is given a commanding performance. This is not a “religious” song, but sets a text allowing the author to express adoration of his lover. It is the first of Three Chansons to poems by Charles d’Orléans. They were premiered in 1909, and surprisingly are Debussy’s only adventure into unaccompanied choir.
Several traditional songs are heard, including the maudlin, but quite beautiful Loch Lomond, for which David Overton has created a captivating score for baritone and choir. Equally charming is the setting by James Whitbourn (a former Clerk) of the Irish folksong The Lark in the Clear Air. Gordon Langford’s arrangement of The Oak and the Ash has some delicious harmonies and is one of the loveliest pieces on this CD.
Few albums of (mainly) British a cappella music would be complete without Edward Elgar’s As torrents in Summer. This short number is taken from the massive (some 95 minutes) Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, op.30, 1896. The present introspective song is included in the works restrained epilogue. Equally essential is Hubert Parry’s Shelley setting, Music when soft voices die composed in 1897. It is short, but flawlessly stated. Benjamin Britten’s rollicking The Ballad of the Green Broom is the last of the Five Flower Songs, finished in 1950. This anonymous text tells a story of a boy made good and is full of musical onomatopoeia.
I was a little disappointed by the liner notes. First, they are presented in small font and I could find no download on the company website. Secondly, virtually no dates are given for the repertoire. I accept that with considerable effort this information could be located online, yet for me this is information that I find essential. Lastly, there are few, if any, descriptive or historical details about the wide-ranging selection of music. That said, there is an important discussion about the Oxford May Morning tradition, which is essential contextual reading and the booklet is well illustrated.
As stated at above, any choir that passes The Bluebird and The Hills test need little special pleading. All the music on this CD is sung with care, devotion and enthusiasm. My only suggestion would be that maybe the odd organ solo or poetry reading would have helped to break up the long run of 26 part-songs, madrigals, catches and rounds. I enjoyed every track on this CD – there is something here for everyone. It is a lovely journey, from the opening track featuring the College Clock to the final sounding of the bells of Magdalen College.
John France
Previous review: Marc Rochester
Contents
The College Clock [0:53]
Sumer is icumen in - Traditional round arr. Grayston Ives (b.1948) [2:45]
Thomas MORLEY (1557-1602) Now is the month of Maying [2:11]
Robert Lucas de PEARSALL (1795-1856) Lay a garland [3:01]
John LENNON (1940-80)/Paul MCCARTNEY (b.1942) arr. Grayston Ives I’ll follow the sun [2:14]
ANON O Lusty May (pub.1612) [1:51]
William CORNYSH (1465-1523) Ah Robin [2:25]
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) Linden Lea [2:38]
Loch Lomond - Traditional Scottish folksong, arr. David Overton (b.1942) [3:26]
Benjamin ROGERS (1614-98) Hymnus Eucharisticus [2:25]
John STAINER (1840-1901) Sicut lilium [1:18]
Gerald FINZI (1901-56) Haste on my joys [2:10]
Charles Hubert Hastings PARRY (1848-1918) Music when soft voices die [2:25]
Harold ARLEN (1905-86), arr. Guy Turner (b.1955) Somewhere over the rainbow [5:16]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918) Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder [2:12]
Lark in the Clear Air - Trad. Irish Folksong, arr. James Whitbourn (b.1963) [2:36]
Orlando GIBBONS (1583-1625) The Silver Swan [1:41]
Carlo GESUALDO (c.1566-1613) Felice primavera [3:21]
John IRELAND (1879-1962) The Hills [3:19]
William BYRD (1543-1623) This sweet and merry month of May [2:36]
Peter WARLOCK (1894-1930) The Spring of the Year [2:16]
The Oak and the Ash - Trad. English folksong, arr. Gordon Langford (1930-2017) [3:27]
Thomas WEELKES (1576-1623) In pride of May [3:33]
Heinrich ISAAC (c.1450-1517) Hora e di Maggio [1:22]
Edward ELGAR (1857-1934) As torrents in Summer [2:24]
Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852-1924) The Bluebird [3:39]
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-76) The Ballad of Green Broom [2:12]
The Bells of Magdalen College, Oxford [0:56]
