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Patrick GOWERS (b.
1936)
1. Veni, Sancte Spiritus (2000)
[6:31]
2. Cantata (1991) [28:02]
3. Adagio for organ [10:08]
4. Chester Lullaby [4:00]
5. Toccata for organ (1970) [9:06]
6. Fugue for organ (1988) [6:23]
7. Libera me [2:14]
8. An Occasional Trumpet Voluntaryfor organ [3:20]
David Davies
(1), Stephen Farr (2,3,5,6,8) (organ)
Guildford Camerata/Guildford Cathedral Choir (1)
Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra/David Hill (2), Stephen
Farr (1,4,7)
rec. 9 May 2005, 4, 5, 31 January 2006, Guildford Cathedral LAMMAS
LAMM196D [69:48]
Patrick
Gowers turned seventy last year and this CD, mostly recorded
during his birthday year, is a nice tribute. That said, it
doesn’t attempt to give a full musical portrait for I learned
from the biographical note that Gowers’ wide range of musical
compositions includes concert works for orchestra, chamber
music and film scores. He’s also well versed in jazz and
that, perhaps, comes across in the joyful, dancing rhythms
of the opening piece on this disc, Veni, Sancte Spiritus. This
is a delightful, celebratory piece with a rich organ part
and it features a splendid broad tune. It’s excellently performed
by the cathedral choir and I’m sorry that this is their sole
contribution to the disc.
The
other short choral works are entrusted to Guildford Camerata
and they do them very well. I particularly enjoyed Chester
Lullaby, which includes a haunting soprano solo, beautifully
sung by Camerata member Jennifer Snapes. This is a Christmas
piece, the text of which is a set of sixteenth century words
by the nuns of Chester. Unfortunately, the words are not
supplied and, in fact only the words of Cantata are
printed in the booklet. This seems perverse since it’s the
only vocal work in the collection to an English text, albeit
those words are in seventeenth century English.
Cantata is the most substantial offering in
the programme. In a way I’m surprised
that Gowers chose such a utilitarian, almost unappealing
title. However, the title does underscore the debt to Bach’s
chorale cantatas – a debt acknowledged in the use of an original
chorale, which appears when first the choir sings. Perhaps
the title’s plainness suits the rather austere tone of much
of the music. The work was commissioned for the 1991 Southern
Cathedrals Festival at Salisbury and Gowers chose some of
the Psalms for his text. The work is scored for SATB chorus,
accompanied by an orchestra consisting of, I think, strings,
organ and timpani. There are five movements, of which the
first, which takes 11:52 in this performance, is easily the
longest. The movement begins with what is aptly described
in the notes as a “dark, searching and intense” orchestral
prelude. Not until 6:22 do we hear the voices but when the
choir does come in their hushed entry has been most effectively
prepared by the orchestra. The music is gravely beautiful
and Gowers varies the vocal textures intelligently: at times
soloists from the choir – all of them good – are deployed,
while in other places the choir is divided into as many as
twelve parts.
The
second movement sounds more dramatic through the use of dotted
rhythms, especially near the start, and more dissonant harmonies.
Towards the end the music becomes a “lively, haunted dance” but
the volume is subdued and this imparts a strangeness to the
music. The third movement builds almost remorselessly to
a majestic climax at the words “He bow’d the heav’ns”. By
contrast, the succeeding movement, which is mainly slow in
tempo, is quiet and contemplative for the most part though
a powerful climax is achieved near the end, at “and laid
thine hand upon me.” Finally, the chorale with which the
choir began is sung in a forthright fashion for the fifth
and final movement. Cantata is a fine if rather restrained
work and its appearance on disc is welcome.
The
four organ works are, for the most part, all well worth hearing.
I make that qualification because it did seem to me that
the Adagio is a bit dull. In a note the composer says
it should be played “remote but bright a la cathedral sound.” The
work contains some interesting harmonies and registrations.
However, I didn’t really feel it gets anywhere. The music
is mainly quiet, though the volume increases for about a
minute around 7:00, but there isn’t a real climax and that,
for me, is a structural handicap.
I
enjoyed the other pieces much more. Toccata was written
for Simon Preston and Gowers relates, amusingly, that Preston
expressly asked him to include some (Count) Basie chords
but the programme annotator for the London première, assuming
this to be a misprint, described the chords as “basic”. Well,
basic the music certainly is not. The piece is a brilliant,
effervescent display piece. Though there are some exuberantly
loud passages there’s also a good deal of effective writing
in a quieter vein. The piece receives a dashing performance
from Stephen Farr.
The Fugue is
a companion piece, even though it was written eighteen years
later. It proceeds slowly and the dynamics gradually decrease
until we reach a quiet ending. Anyone coming new to the piece,
as I did, might be forgiven for expecting that the fugue
in a Toccata and Fugue would end loudly but Gowers is his
own man in this respect and in others and I’m glad he doesn’t
do the blindingly obvious. To close, Stephen Farr gives us An
Occasional Trumpet Voluntary, which might be described
as “by Jeremiah Clarke out of Widor”. It’s great fun and
it provides a most effective ending to the whole programme.
All
the performances here are excellent and the music is well
worth getting to know. I suspect that most, if not all the
pieces are receiving their first recordings. The recorded
sound is very good and my only cavil concerns the documentation.
This is something of a curate’s egg. As I’ve remarked, the
text of Cantata is provided but we get neither texts
nor translations of the other vocal works. Richard Seal,
the retired organist of Salisbury Cathedral, who commissioned Cantata,
writes a good and perceptive note about the piece. The notes
about the other works are by Gowers himself, who gives varying
amounts of information about his pieces. Only some of the
dates of composition are supplied.
I
enjoyed this collection of music by Patrick Gowers and I’m
glad that such a generous selection of his music has been
gathered together so conveniently in one very recommendable
CD.
John Quinn
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