As any one of the works
on this disc reveals, William Mathias
was completely and utterly at home writing
for voices. It is an assurance that
reaches its culmination in the staggering
Cantata, This Worlde’s Joie.
If I may be allowed a personal recollection,
I well remember a performance of this
work in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall,
in the presence of the composer, and
being completely bowled over by it,
and its appearance on CD is a real cause
for celebration. It is a work of great
strength, and also a work to treasure.
Originally intended for the 1971 Fishguard
Festival, it finally received its premiere
in 1974. It was written with the soloists
on the present recording in mind (the
choral and orchestral forces at the
premiere were the Dyfed Choir and the
Welsh Philharmonia).
Mathias uses early
English texts (some anonymous – identifiable
authors are William Cornysh, Chaucer,
John Skelton, born 1460, Robert Greene,
1560-1592 and Dunbar, born 1465). But
the music is emphatically not from the
mists of time. The bright, glittering
opening is ample evidence of this. Mathias
charts the seasons from Spring through
Winter, simultaneously invoking Youth-Maturity-Decline-Death.
Choral writing is everywhere completely
assured, and everywhere Mathias’s ear
for orchestration appears amazingly
mature. Surely, surely, this work is
Mathias’s masterpiece. Hearing it again,
it is a mystery why live performances
are not more widespread. Without doubt
this impression is aided by the performance.
The chorus provides
a ‘background’ onto which the soloists
provide more immediate emotions; the
boys’ choir make ‘comments’, often using
carol-like texts. The soloists are uniformly
exemplary. Janet Price will need no
introduction; Michael Rippon has long
been one of my favourite home-grown
baritones. Of course Sir David Willcocks’
specialisation has always been choral
music, so no surprise that he inspires
The Bach Choir and St George’s Choristers
to real heights. Geraint Evans in the
excellent accompanying booklet sums
it up perfectly – ‘There are occasional
points of contact to the Britten of
the Spring Symphony and the War
Requiem and the Tippett of The
Midsummer Marriage, but the essence
of this ‘Act of Celebration’ is characteristically
that of Mathias himself’. And how gripping
and moving that essence is.
At nearly 50 minutes,
This Worlde’s Joie makes up the
bulk of this offering. Ave Rex
(subtitled, ‘A Carol Sequence’) is much
more than a make-weight, however. Its
five movements are well-balanced. The
second movement is very dynamic, very
pointed (and receives a superb performance);
the central setting of ‘There is no
rose of such virtue’ is also the longest,
and moves to an impressive climax. Without
doubt, most people will know ‘Sir Christemas’.
It is a similar pleasure
to encounter the well-loved Sir Geraint
Evans in the 1972 work, Elegy for
a Prince, composed in memoriam
for Mathias’s father. The text is a
Medieval Welsh elegy by the magnificently-named
Gruffydd ab yr Ynad Coch (Griffith son
of the Red Judge) for Llywelyn, ein
Llyw Olaf (Llywelyn, the last native
Prince of Wales). The actual musical
material calls upon the slow movement
of the Harp Concerto ( SRCD325
). Evans is authoritative as well as
warm-toned yet determined. Elegy
for a Prince makes a fitting partner
for This Worlde’s Joie.
The present disc makes
the ideal complement to the disc of
Mathias
concertos on Lyrita. Recordings
stem from a variety of sources, yet
all do the greatest of service to Mathias’s
music. Recommended.
Colin Clarke
William
Mathias
The
Lyrita catalogue
bSir Geraint Evans (bass-baritone); cJanet
Price (soprano); cKenneth Bowen (tenor);
cMichael Rippon (baritone); aWelsh
National Opera Chorus; aLondon Symphony
Orchestra, bcNew Philharmonia Orchestra/bDavid
Atherton, cSir David Willcocks. 