Based in the U.K.’s
second city, Birmingham, Ex
Cathedra was founded in 1969 by
Jeffrey Skidmore. Though we hear it
on this CD as a chamber choir the organisation
is much more than that for under the
banner "Ex Cathedra" operates
also a vocal consort of 8 – 12 singers,
a period instrument orchestra and an
Educational Programme. For this recording
the choir comprises 16 sopranos, 9 altos
(four of them male), 9 tenors and 12
basses. They have released CDs on the
ASV and Hyperion labels but here they
appear on their own eponymous label.
Their enterprising and wide-ranging
activities can be explored in greater
detail at www.ex-cathedra.org.
I’m ashamed to say
that this is the first time I’ve heard
the choir but I’m enormously impressed
both by the quality of the performances
and by the enterprise and scope of the
programme. I mean it as a compliment
when I say that the singing itself calls
for little comment. Tuning, blend, balance
and diction are well nigh flawless throughout
a demanding programme. There are several
solo opportunities, all of them demanding
and all taken expertly by members of
the choir. The sound that the choir
makes is consistently pleasing. Their
dynamic control is first class and when
they sing full out there’s ample power
but never the slightest suggestion that
the tone is forced.
Some of the music is
familiar. Holst’s In the bleak midwinter
is well known (I happen to think the
Harold Darke setting is infinitely more
interesting) and I’m bound to say I
thought the chosen tempo was just a
fraction slow. Warlock’s grave, exquisite
Bethlehem Down is raptly sung.
Again the tempo is very steady (indeed,
I can’t recall hearing it done quite
so slowly) but this time I think the
music is better able to take it and,
as elsewhere on the disc the singers
display immaculate control. The other
familiar items by Britten and Villette
are also very well done. In the latter’s
Hymne à la Vierge the
sensuous harmonies flow seamlessly and
beautifully.
But it’s the less well-known
music that deserves to catch the ear
and, as will be seen from the heading,
no fewer than five of the seventeen
items on the disc are receiving their
première recordings. Most remarkable,
perhaps are the three "O"
antiphons. These texts are among the
series of ancient antiphons recited
before and after the Magnificat at vespers
on the seven days from 17 December.
Starting in 1997, Ex Cathedra has commissioned
eight settings of all of these antiphons
from various composers. The three presented
here are all fascinating. The setting
of O Adonai, the antiphon for
18 December, by Roderick Williams comes
from 1998. If the composer’s name sounds
familiar that’s because he is in fact
the young baritone who is fast establishing
a fine reputation for himself (he was
recently heard to excellent effect on
the Chandos recording of Dyson’s Quo
Vadis.) I didn’t know he is also
a composer but on the evidence of this
piece he is an accomplished writer who
has something original to say. His setting,
which, perhaps appropriately features
a baritone soloist, is a dramatic and
pleading one that makes a strong impression,
well conveying the clamour of a people
seeking redemption. Williams’ use of
spatial effects is especially striking.
That is also an important
feature of Daryl Runswick’s setting
of O Clavis David (20 December)
from 1999. In his liner notes Jeffrey
Skidmore explains that this piece was
designed "specifically to provide
a dramatic end to the first half of
Candlelight [Ex Cathedra’s annual
Christmas recital] with the singers
processing out through the audience
leaving the church in total darkness."
Dramatic stuff indeed! At the start
Runswick conjures up a musical hubbub,
requiring his singers to employ glissandi
and a wide variety of other unusual
vocal techniques. About halfway through
the piece (3’15"), the point at
which the choir’s egress presumably
begins, the frenetic vocal activity
gives way to a more peaceful, repeated
choral progression over which a soprano
soloist soars and weaves a spectacular
line. The singers’ recessional is well
handled here by the engineers. Runswick
has written a fascinating piece though
some listeners may find the opening
rather strong meat. I suspect it makes
an even stronger impression in concert
when the visual aspect can be realized.
Impressive though these
two compositions are, however, for me
the standout piece among these antiphons
is Fyfe Hutchins’ O Emmanuel
(23 December), written in 2000 when
the composer was just twenty years old.
What an assured and mature bit of writing
this is! Jeffrey Skidmore writes that
it is "a remarkably controlled
yet passionate realization of an amazing
text." Much of the music is written
in block chords but there’s ample variety
in the textures and the piece is by
turns beautiful and dramatic. Frankly,
I thought it an inspired setting. It’s
not a short piece at 7’44" but
it doesn’t seem long at all. A remarkable
work to which Ex Cathedra respond eloquently.
Among the other less
familiar offerings there’s a powerful,
strongly projected yet well controlled
performance of Samuel Barber’s fine
setting of words by Laurie Lee. This
I’d heard before but the processional
Hanacpachap cussicuinin was completely
new to me. Its inclusion represents
the choir’s interest in South American
baroque music and this piece is apparently
the oldest printed example of polyphony
from that part of the world. It’s dignified
yet primitive beauty makes a strong
impression, the whole underpinned by
the insistent rhythm of a deep tom-tom.
What a pity a translation of the text
wasn’t provided. Another piece receiving
its première recording is Philip
Sheppard’s Christmas at sea.
This is a most unusual setting of
words by Robert Louis Stevenson in which
the choir is accompanied by an electric
cello, played here by the composer.
The instrument contributes high, spectral
wailing sounds that brilliantly evoke
the sound of an icy maritime gale whipping
through a ship’s rigging. There are
also sepulchral low notes that suggest
the marine depths and the vessel’s groaning
timbers. Over all this the choir sing
the text mainly in chordal harmony to
a mock-jaunty shanty rhythm (there’s
a brief, stratospheric soprano solo
towards the end.) It’s a strange piece
to which my description doesn’t really
do justice. It may not be to all tastes
but I found it fascinating and it’s
certainly a different view of Christmas,
just as Stevenson’s text was.
The programme opens
and closes in extreme simplicity. At
the start we hear a recent work by John
Tavener. Frankly, he doesn’t break any
new ground here (for him) but it’s a
hushed, effective introit, displaying
the composer’s habitual economy of means.
After so much twentieth-century music
it’s fitting that the last word is with
Bach, one of the greatest innovators
of all. His serene chorale from the
Christmas Oratorio, devotedly
sung, brings a touching end to this
varied and stimulating programme.
For me the highlight
comes quite early on in the programme
with a simply superb rendition of Morten
Lauridsen’s luminous O magnum Mysterium.
This rapt piece by the Californian composer
is fast becoming a modern classic, and
justly so. Here is receives a dedicated,
spacious performance. It is a deceptive
piece. It sounds simple but it requires
consummate control from both singers
and conductor. Happily Skidmore and
his singers are more than equal to its
demands. I particularly like the way
that, as the climax develops, the heady
tone of the tenors comes through wonderfully
but without being obtrusive. Like my
colleague, John Phillips, I was greatly
impressed by the recording made by the
choir that commissioned the piece, the
Los Angeles Master Chorale (on RCM
19705). However, I think this present
performance just has the edge, simply
because I feel that the piece works
to best effect with a choir of about
this size whereas the Los Angeles choir,
though never remotely sounding unwieldy,
is much bigger.
I haven’t mentioned
several pieces, such as the disarmingly
beautiful Czech carol. However, I hope
I’ve made it clear by now that this
is an outstanding release in every way.
Good notes, the provision of texts and
translations and the excellence of the
very natural recorded sound are "just"
icing on the cake. This CD offers a
discerningly chosen programme, excellently
executed. For anyone who has a taste
for something enterprising this will
be a most welcome addition to their
Christmas CD collection.
Sadly, this CD arrived
after I had submitted my nominations
for Recordings of the Year. Notwithstanding
this I cannot recommend it highly enough.
If you only buy one CD of Christmas
music this year, make sure it’s this
one.
John Quinn
Ex Cathedra/Jeffrey Skidmore