Although the release date for this recording was given as 3 January
2013 I did not receive my review copy until after Easter so listening
to it as part of some Lenten penitential reflection was not possible
for me. That said, it is clear that that is how Hyperion and Martin
Baker, the sensitive master of Music who together have brilliantly
planned this CD, would have had exactly in mind. Even so, it is a
disc you can hear right through at one sitting, or, indeed at any
time of the year or in fact sitting in the sun whilst on holiday as
I did. I am sure that it would always have a spiritually enhancing
effect. The singing is enchanting and the rarefied mix of plainchant,
polyphony and gentle homophony will work for anyone - for those with
faith or for those with no faith.
Now I need to put some flesh on the bones. You might remember George
Malcolm, well known at one time as a harpsichordist of much repute,
indeed a fine ‘early-music-man’ in general. It is less well-known
that he had a highly successful tenure as Master of the Music at Westminster
(1947-1959) and during that time he introduced some of his own pieces
which were fashioned ideally for the liturgy. Whilst it is true that
these are often modest in scope, they are also examples of ‘the
art which conceals art’. His quasi-renaissance language weaves
plainchant, the staple diet of the cathedral worship, into his own often
purely functional polyphony in the way of Allegri’s
Miserere.
You can also hear it in Malcolm’s own
Miserere, which
gives
its title to the disc as a whole. It is certainly effective and less
demanding than the former masterpiece but will never usurp its hold
on Ash Wednesday or Holy Week evensong. Malcolm’s other contributions
are similar but his motet
Veritas mea is an impassioned work
worthy of a wider audience.
There is other contemporary music too. Colin Mawby, once a chorister,
is represented by a very moving setting of
Justus ut Palma.
Similarly functional is David Bevan’s modest and moving
Magnificat
quarti toni, which is immediately preceded by its plainchant.
Use of particular modes as you can see in the track-listing is significant
throughout and this one is on the fourth tone.
There is a tradition that plainchant at Westminster can often be accompanied
chordally by the organ. This function is carried out beautifully here
by Peter Stevens in the
Cum Jubilo Mass found in the
Graduale
Romanum. I had forgotten what wonderful and expressive lines this
Mass possesses. Its sections divide off various motets during the
second half of the CD.
Earlier on in the disc, sections of Palestrina’s
Missa Emendemus
in melius are represented. With their sombre lines and harmonies
it proves distinctly suitable for Lent. Robert Parsons’
Ave
Maria which is deservedly such a regular part of the repertoire
nowadays and Guerrero’s moving, canonic
Ave Virgo remind
us that Lent is interrupted by a day of solace, Mothering Sunday.
More importantly as far as this CD is concerned, The Feast of the
Annunciation falls on 25 March, just six days after the Feast of St.
Joseph.
The emphasis at this penitential time is on forgiveness of sins, those
of the world and our own. We can trace this theme through the opening
plainchant
Attende, Domine (Hear O Lord and have mercy for
we have sinned against you) to Byrd’s setting of
Emendemus
in melius (not related to the Palestrina) ‘Let us make amends
for the sins we have committed’, Giovanni Croce’s angst-ridden,
St, Mark’s motet
In spiritu humilitatis to the closing
Nunc Dimittis Antiphon - Save us O Lord, while waking. The
whole eighty minutes of the disc is cast in a mood of beauty and sobriety.
The CD is made even more attractive by the cover reproduction of a
painting of the
Visitation to the Blessed Virgin Mary by the
wonderful Siennese artist Simone Martini.
Gary Higginson
See also review by
John
Quinn
Track-Listing
1. Plainsong:
Attende, Domine [3.24]
2.
George MALCOLM (1917-1997) Miserere mei, Deus [8.43]
3.
William BYRD (1543-1623) Emendemus in melius [4.31]
4.
Giovanni da PALESTRINA (1525-1594)
Missa Emendemus in melius
- Kyrie [2.39]
5.
Agnus dei [5.05]
6.
George MALCOLM Scapulis suis [4.11]
7. Plainsong:
Audi, benigne conditor [2.39]
8.
Giovanni CROCE (1557-1609) In Spiritu humilatatis [5.35]
9. Magnificat Antiphon:
Evigilia super nos [0.46]
10.
David BEVAN (b.1951) Magnificat quarti toni [4.45]
11. Antiphon Repeat:
Evigilia super nos
12.
Colin MAWBY (b.1936) Justus ut palma [4.06]
13. Plainsong Mass IX
‘Cum Jubilo’: Kyrie [2.05]
14.
Gloria [3.21]
15.
George MALCOLM:
Veritas mea [3.14]
16. Plainsong:
Credo IV [4.37]
17.
Robert PARSONS (1535-1572) Ave Maria [5.35]
18. Plainsong Mass
‘Cum Jubilo’: Sanctus and Benedictus
[1.39]
19.
Agnus dei [1.31]
20.
Francisco GUERRERO (1528-1599) Ave virgo sanctissima
[4.59]
21.
Thomas TALLIS (c.1505-1585) Te lucis ante terminum
- first setting [2.07]
Nunc Dimittis Antiphon:
Salva nos, Domine [0.28]
22.
George MALCOLM:
Nunc Dimittis tertii toni [1.38]
23. Antiphon repeat:
Salva nos, Domine [0.39]
