RECORDING OF THE MONTH
David BRIGGS (b. 1962)
Messe pour Notre-Dame (2002)
Introit (organ improvisation) [2:48]
Kyrie [5:11]
Gloria [7:10]
Offertoire (organ improvisation) [1:49]
Ubi caritas et amor (2006) [3:09]
Sanctus [3:05]
Benedictus [4:02]
Élévation (organ improvisation) [2:54]
Agnus Dei [5:44]
Sortie (organ improvisation) [3:59]
I will lift up mine eyes (2006) [3:45]
The Trinity College Service (2008)
Magnificat [7:19]
Nunc dimittis [5:19]
Te Deum laudamus (2006) [7:16]
Toccata on Te Deum laudamus (organ improvisation) [2:30]
O Lord, support us (2005) [6:00]
The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge/Stephen Layton
David Briggs (organ)
rec. 8-10 July 2009, Gloucester Cathedral. DDD
Texts and English translations included
HYPERION CDA67808 [72:34]
Just occasionally, for whatever reason and despite our vigilance, an important
release will slip through the net and will not be reviewed on MusicWeb International.
So it was, I found, when I acquired a copy of this CD not long ago.
As a resident of Gloucester I well remember David Briggs’s time as Director
of Music at the cathedral (1994-2002). During his time there he oversaw the
rebuilding of the cathedral’s organ, completed in 2000, and he attracted
significant attention as a prodigiously gifted organist and improviser. On
leaving Gloucester - he was then given the title Organist Emeritus - he pursued
a career as a concert organist, also devoting much more time to composition.
In September 2012 he became Artist in Residence at St. James Cathedral, Toronto.
For this recording he returned to Gloucester and collaborated with Stephen
Layton and his Trinity College choir.
Though it is well suited to other types of music, the rebuilt Gloucester organ
is very well equipped to give an authentic voice to French music - no doubt
the result of David Briggs’ input into the redesign. As there’s
a pronounced Gallic flavour to much of the repertoire on this disc the venue
could scarcely have been better chosen and I should say straightaway that
the recording team of engineer David Hinitt and producer Adrian Peacock seem
to me to have done a conspicuously successful job of recording the organ which
is caught here to stunning effect.
The Mass, which forms the centrepiece of this programme, was written not for
a leading cathedral choir but for Neil Shepherd and the choir of the Parish
Church at Keynsham, near Bristol. They first performed it, with Briggs at
the organ, in Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris in July 2002. It’s a remarkable
work, which I’d not heard prior to getting this disc. The organ part
is a huge one and sounds to encompass prodigious difficulties. I just hope
that the fact that the piece clearly requires a virtuoso organist will not
deter other choirs from taking it up. As Meurig Bowen points out in his excellent
note, the setting “takes its lead” from the Masses by Louis Vierne,
Jean Langlais and Widor - Briggs recorded the Vierne and Langlais Masses during
his time in Gloucester (PRCD
597). From the composer’s website
I learned that one thing that the Briggs Mass has in common with all those
settings is that the accompaniment is for two organs, following the
frequent French practice. Many French cathedrals have a Grand Orgue,
usually situated at the west end of the nave, and a smaller organ, located
towards the front of the church, near to the choir stalls, which is used to
accompany the choir. However, all the aforementioned French Masses can be
adapted reasonably easily so as to be performed with one organ and, clearly,
the same approach has been followed here.
David Briggs has long been influenced by the celebrated French organist, Pierre
Cochereau, who was renowned for his improvisations. Back in 1992, before coming
to Gloucester Cathedral from Truro Cathedral, Briggs recorded in Truro a disc
of his own transcriptions of improvisations by Cochereau (PRCD
428) and according to the notes Cochereau’s benign influence hovers
over this Mass. Throughout all the movements of the Mass the organ plays a
crucial, sometimes dominant role. This is particularly true of long stretches
of the Gloria, especially the jubilantly dancing ending, from ‘Quoniam
tu solus’ onwards. I found Briggs’ setting of the Gloria constantly
interesting and often arresting. The Sanctus ends with an ecstatic - and very
loud - ‘Hosanna’. By contrast much of the Benedictus features
only the organ - some liquid textures - and sopranos with the full choir held
back for a reprise of the ‘Hosanna’. The Agnus Dei’ is very
impressive. It starts quietly but the pleas first for mercy and then for peace
become increasingly ardent though the movement achieves an ethereal close.
The movements of the Mass are interspersed with other music, as they would
be in a liturgical context. There’s a ravishing a cappella setting
of Ubi caritas et amor which, by coincidence, was also written for
a Bristol church choir and first performed by them in Notre-Dame. Like the
wonderful setting of the same text by Maurice Duruflé, this motet uses
plainchant as its foundation but Briggs’ piece is more elaborate, not
least in its harmonies. It’s a very lovely piece and Stephen Layton
and his choir give it a superb performance. The other pieces within the Mass
are organ improvisations by Briggs. The Introit is richly textured while the
Offertoire and Élévation are subdued and subtle: you can almost
smell the Gauloises. The concluding Sortie is something else entirely. This
is a toccata of jaw-dropping virtuosity during which the Gloucester organ
is given a thorough work-out. It’s absolutely thrilling and the organ
sound is truly magnificent.
Later in the programme the organ is centre-stage again. Briggs’s setting
of the Te Deum calls for the choir to sing unison chant, accompanied by the
organ. After each line of sung text the organ plays a short continuation or
commentary. The Te Deum is followed, attacca, by a thunderous improvised
toccata. Here, the pedals are often well to the fore in what is another staggering
display of virtuosity at the organ. Briggs’ improvisation is exhilarating
and inventive - and tremendously exciting.
The ‘Mag & Nunc’ written for this very choir are very impressive;
here, as in the unaccompanied I will lift up mine eyes, Briggs’
music is much more English, indeed Anglican, in tone. Stephen Layton and David
Briggs might have been content to end their programme with the tumultuous
Toccata on Te Deum laudamus. Instead they opt for something much less
‘public’ in the shape of O Lord, support us for choir and
organ. I’m so glad they did. This little gem was written for the choir
of St Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue in New York. Meurig Bowen describes it as
“a tender wash of unashamed loveliness”. I’d second that
but I’d add that it’s also very eloquent. It caught my ear just
as forcibly as some of the more spectacular music on the disc: when I first
played the CD this was the track that I repeated immediately. It’s a
most satisfying finis to the programme.
The singing of Trinity College Choir is absolutely splendid throughout - these
fresh, expertly trained young voices are ideal for the task in hand. As for
David Briggs’ organ playing, it is quite simply world-class and his
reunion with the Gloucester Cathedral organ which, in its rebuilt form so
much bears his stamp, is a very happy one. There’s a full specification
of the organ in the booklet, the design and content of which is fully up to
Hyperion’s usual high standards.
What of the recorded sound? The choir is excellently recorded and when they
are singing in partnership with the full organ the balance is expertly judged.
However, it’s the sound of the organ that takes the breath away. In
a word it’s spectacular. I’m very familiar with the cathedral’s
organ - I remember well the excitement at the recital in January 2000 when
David Briggs unveiled the rebuilt instrument - and I can honestly say that
engineer David Hinitt and producer Adrian Peacock have reproduced it magnificently.
What comes out of the loudspeakers is thrillingly present and reports the
instrument faithfully. I don’t think I’ve heard this magnificent
instrument caught so well on disc before.
In much of the music on this disc David Briggs achieves a kind of musical
entente cordiale, marrying very successfully the English choral tradition
with that of French church music. The results are compelling and I urge you
to hear them for yourself.
John Quinn
An entente cordiale between the English choral tradition with that
of French church music, spectacularly recorded.
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