Although she may
be best-remembered for her orchestral music and her thirteen
string quartets as well as her chamber music, Elizabeth Maconchy
also wrote a lot of vocal music – solo and choral as well
- throughout her entire composing life. Her first major choral
work (Hymn to God the Father) dates from 1931 whereas
On Stephenses Day is her last work completed
in 1989. Besides the unaccompanied works recorded here, she
also composed several works with orchestral or ensemble accompaniment.
It is to be hoped that these might also find their way onto
record before long. So, most works here are unaccompanied,
but for three somewhat shorter pieces with piano accompaniment
(The Voice of the City, The Armado and The
Ribbon in her Hair). The most striking common feature
of all these works is the remarkable variety of the choral
writing that perfectly responds to the wide literary sources
chosen by the composer. Another remarkable feature is the
contrapuntal mastery already evident in the earliest work
here and a constant characteristic of Elizabeth Maconchy’s
music in whatever genre.
Completed in 1931,
Hymn to God the Father for double mixed chorus is as
assured a setting of John Donne’s poem as one might dream.
It is a highly accomplished work by any count, full of many
typical Maconchy hallmarks, in particular her contrapuntal
skill, although the music may still be indebted to that of
her teacher RVW. I find this magnificent work one of the most
impressive items in this generous selection. The Voice
of the City is a setting for female voices and piano of
a poem by Jacqueline Morris written as a lament for the fall
of Stalingrad. This very fine setting was composed for the
Workers Music Association and is rather more straightforward
though quite effective and without compromise. We are not
told when the Sean O’Casey setting of The Ribbon in her
Hair for men’s voices and piano was composed, but probably
in the mid-1940s. The music is quite comparable to that of
The Voice of the City, though with a hint of folksong.
I was reminded of Lads of Cotswolds from RVW’s opera
Hugh the Drover. Although apparently much later, The
Armado, a setting for mixed chorus and piano of a 17th
Century ballad celebrating Drake’s victory, is quite similar
in its straightforward, rumbustious manner. Nocturnal,
composed for the 1963 Cork Festival, sets three poems by different
authors (William Barnes, Edward Thomas and Percy Shelley)
linked by a common phrase appearing in all three texts (“Will
you come”) that thus also functions as a refrain. This magnificent
cycle is one of many examples of Maconchy’s sympathetic writing
for voices that nevertheless puts some considerable but not
extravagant demands of the singers. Also composed in 1965,
Propheta mendax, a witty setting of some satirical
Latin texts from an 11th-century collection, was
commissioned by the Vienna Boys Choir for whom Britten also
composed his vaudeville The Golden Vanity Op.78 at
about the same time. The often humorous character of the words
is reflected in an alert setting, moving along at great speed.
From about the same time dates the short, beautifully done
and relatively simple carol for women’s voices, This Day.
The 1970s were a fertile decade that witnessed the composition
of a various instrumental and orchestral works as well as
a number of choral pieces. These include Prayer before
Birth (1972) for women’s voices setting a beautifully
moving poem by Louis MacNeice, Sirens’ Song (1974)
for mixed chorus to words from William Browne’s masque Ulysses
and Circe, Two Epitaphs (1975) for female choir,
Four Miniatures (1978) for mixed chorus on poems by
Eleanor Farjeon and one of my favourites here, Creatures
(1979), also for mixed chorus setting a wide range of poetry
including another poem by Farjeon. The latter cycle is a splendid
example of the way in which Maconchy responds to the diversity
of her literary sources. These settings of poems about animals
are in turn humorous, mildly ironic, serious (William Blake’s
celebrated Tiger! Tiger!) and deeply moving (Cat’s
Funeral). The concluding work is a marvellous setting
of Edith Sitwell’s Still Falls the Rain completed
in 1985 and is one of gems of this anthology. I suppose that
Britten’s setting for tenor, horn and piano – his Canticle
III Op.55 – composed in 1955 will be familiar; but Maconchy’s
own setting for unaccompanied chorus adopts another view,
but does so in a completely satisfying way, “contemplative
but energised, the music creating a forcefulness that complements
that of the poem” (Nicola Le Fanu). This magnificent setting
is, no doubt about it, a minor masterpiece that definitely
deserves wider exposure. I hope that this performance by the
BBC Singers will prompt other choirs to take it into their
repertoire.
I cannot praise
enough the dedication and immaculate singing of the BBC Singers
throughout this generously filled release and Odaline de la
Martinez for conducting vital readings of these consistently
fine, often demanding and certainly rewarding works. This
generous and beautifully produced release is a definite must
for all admirers of Maconchy’s music, but also for all lovers
of finely wrought, compelling and eminently singable choral
music. It should not be missed. My Record of the Month,
and it will feature high up in my list of recordings of the
year.
Hubert Culot
Richard Pearce
(piano)a 
