Sunday 22 December 2019

Sunday 22nd December 2019 Service of 9 Lessons and Carols

Adam Lay YBounden 15th Century Boris Ord

Boris Ord (1897 - 1961) was born Bernhard Ord.  He was a British organist and choirmaster of Kings College, Cambridge (1929 - 1957)  He served in the RAF during World War 2. His arrangement of Adam Lay Ybounden is his only published work.

photograph of Ord seated
Boris Ord, photographed by Antony Barrington Brown from Wikipedia


Nativity Carol   John Rutter

John Rutter was born in London in 1945 and had his first musical training at Highgate School as a chorister. He studied music at Clare College, Cambridge where he wrote his first published music and had his first recording whilst still an undergraduate.
His compositions cover a wide variety of musical genres but he is well know by all choirs who must have some Rutter in their repertoire. He formed the Cambridge Singers and spends his time composing and conducting.


He was awarded a CBE for services to music in the 2007 Queen's New Year Honours List.

John Rutter.jpg
John Rutter from Wikipedia


A Maiden Most Gentle  Words Andrew Carter  French Traditional Melody arranged by Andrew Carter

Taken from Andrew Carter's Website:
Andrew Carter's music is performed worldwide.  As composer, guest conductor and workshop leader he has travelled extensively in the United States, Antipodes and Europe. A twenty-five year association with Oxford University Press has established his reputation as a writer of both choral miniatures and larger scale concert works for chorus and orchestra. Of these latter the widely performed Benedicite was followed by Te Deum, Musick's Jubilee, Horizons, Song of Stillness, and Laudate Dominum. Of similar scale, the Magnificat (MorningStar 2004), is already proving popular. In a lighter vein, the Three Nonsensical Songs for upper voices and orchestra were premiered by Quad Cities Symphony in 2005. After conducting his Magnificat in North Carolina in April 2008, Andrew gave workshops in Toronto and attended the celebrated St Olaf’s College in Minnesota as composer-in-residence.
A particular honour in the field of church music was the invitation to write Missa Sancti Pauli for the 1997 tercentenary celebrations of Wren's St Paul's Cathedral. Over the years several of Andrew’s carols have been included in the renowned Christmas Eve broadcast from King's College Chapel, Cambridge, with Mary's Magnificat featuring again in 2009. Andrew Carter’s Christmas Carols, conducted by the composer with John Scott at the organ, was named amongst the ‘ten best ever’ Christmas CDs in the BBC Music Magazine (Nov, 2007).
Andrew’s lifelong love of the organ is reflected in the festive Organ Concerto (MorningStar 2008) and an album of organ pieces (Oxford) which includes the much acclaimed Toccata on Veni Emmanuel.  More recently, the substantial 22-variation Passacaglia (Banks 2007), written to honour Francis Jackson’s 90th birthday, was premiered by John Scott Whiteley in York Minster.
Born in Leicester in the English Midlands, Andrew Carter studied music at Leeds University before settling in York. During his time as a bass songman at York Minster, he founded the Chapter House Choir, the award winning mixed-voice concert group which he conducted for seventeen years, and for whom he penned many of his early published arrangements.


The Little Road To Bethlehem   Michael Head

The Little Road To Bethlehem is one of  Head's most popular songs.  The words are by Margaret Rose. This evening it was sung by two of our junior choristers, Emily and James helped by Sarah Amos from the sopranos.

From Wikipedia
Michael Dewar Head was born in Eastbourne, United Kingdom on 28 January 1900. His father was a barrister and journalist and his mother an accomplished amateur singer and pianist. His mother's influence evidently dominated, and at age 10 he commenced his musical training, taking lessons in piano with Jean Adair and in singing with Fritz Marston at the Adair-Marston School of Music. He was educated at Monkton Combe School in Somerset.
He began to study at the Royal Academy of Music but was soon called up for service in the War. While working at an ammunition factory, he composed the song cycle Over the rim of the moon (Head et al., 1920).This was to become his first published work.
After the war, Head resumed his studies at the Academy. He studied composition with Frederick Corder, piano with T B Knott and organ with Reginald Steggall. He won the Sir Michael Costa scholarship for composition. He also won other awards for composition, sight singing and harmony. In 1924 Michael Head was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. Two years later, he took up a post at Bedales School, Petersfield, where he taught for three years.
Head gave his first public recital as a self accompanied singer at Wigmore Hall in 1929. After this debut performance, his fame grew rapidly. He gave several more recitals in the British Isles and in many parts of the world. Additionally he gave several radio recitals, both in Britain and Canada. He took up the post of Pianoforte Professor at the Royal Academy in 1927 after an invitation by Sir John McEwen. This post he was to hold until his retirement in 1975.
Head was appointed an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and as such toured many countries, including Barbados, where he first met and became friends with Organist Dr. John George Fletcher in April 1969, South Africa and Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia). At the outbreak of World War II, he returned to London and continued teaching throughout the blitz. During this time, he gave hundreds of concerts in factories and in small towns.
Head died in Cape Town on 24 August 1976, from a sudden and unexpected illness, while examining for the Associated Board in Rhodesia and South Africa.

Michael Head
Michael Head 


Still, Still, Still   trad. German translated Andrew Gant  Music Andrew Gant

Andrew Gant is a British composer, singer, author and Liberal Democrat politician.  He attended Radley College and then read Music and English at St John's college, Cambridge. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and gained a PhD at Goldsmiths College, University of London.


In The Bleak Midwinter  Words Christina Rossetti  Music Harold Darke

This carol is based on a poem by Christina Rossetti, sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The first setting was by Holst and appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906.  Harold Darke's setting is more complex and first appeared in 1911.

Christina Rossetti by her brother from Wikipedia.


Harold Darke (1888 - 1976) was an English composer and organist. He is particularly known for his choral compositions which make up an established part of the Anglican repertoire.


Harold Darke.jpg
Harold Darke from Wikipedia

I Saw Three Ships  English traditional carol arranged by David Willcocks

Taken from Wikipedia
"I Saw Three Ships (Come Sailing In)" is a traditional and popular Christmas carol from England. The earliest printed version of "I Saw Three Ships" is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire, and was also published by William Sandys in 1833.
The lyrics mention the ships sailing into Bethlehem, but the nearest body of water is the Dead Sea about 20 miles (32 km) away. The reference to three ships is thought to originate in the three ships that bore the purported relics of the Biblical magi to Cologne Cathedral in the 12th century.
Another possible reference is to Wenceslaus II, King of Bohemia, who bore a coat of arms "Azure three galleys argent". Another suggestion is that the ships are actually the camels used by the Magi, as camels are frequently referred to as "ships of the desert". 

Sir David Valentine Willcocks, CBE, MC (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, which he directed from 1957 to 1974, making frequent broadcasts and recordings. Several of the descants and carol arrangements he wrote for the annual service of Nine Lessons and Carols were published in the series of books Carols for Choirs which he edited along with Reginald Jacques and John Rutter. He was also director of the Royal College of Music in London. 
During the Second World War (1939–1945) he served as an officer in the British Army, and was decorated with the Military Cross for his actions on Hill 112 during the Battle of Normandy in July 1944. His elder son, Jonathan Willcocks, is also a composer. 



Sunday 22nd December 2019 Advent 4

The Angel Gabriel from heaven came. Sabine Baring-Gould  Basque traditional arr. Edgar Pettman.

This is a Basque Christmas folk carol based on the annunciation of the Virgin Mary by Archangel Gabriel.  It was collected by Charles Bordes (1863 -1909) a french music teacher and composer and paraphrased into English by Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) an Anglican priest and collector of folk songs. It is commonly sung to an arrangement by Edgar Pettman (1866-1943) English organist, choral conductor and music editor.

Saturday 21 December 2019

Sunday 15th December 2019 Matins Advent 3

Jubilate Deo and Magnificat from Morning, Communion and Evening Service in B flat Op.10  Charles Villiers Stanford


Taken from the Novello  Copy
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford has a perverse relationship with posterity.  Remembered today largely for his choral miniatures, this restless symphonist was the unwilling Janus of British music.  A significant presence on the European scene in his own lifetime, he was an outspoken critic of Wagner, Strauss and modernism in general. Nevertheless, as a formalist with flair and skill, his influence catalysed much of the great English music of the 20th century.  As fellow composer George Dyson said: "In a certain sense the very rebellion he fought was the most obvious fruit of his methods."

The Jubilate in B flat displays the composers trademark mastery of thematic structures.


Taken from Wikipedia.
The Magnificat (Latin for "[My soul] magnifies [the Lord]") is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos . It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical services of the Catholic Church (at vespers) and of the Eastern Orthodox churches (at the morning services). It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn. Its name comes from the incipit of the Latin version of the canticle's text.

The text of the canticle is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke (1:46–55) where it is spoken by Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. In the narrative, after Mary greets Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, the latter moves within Elizabeth's womb. Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith (using words partially reflected in the Hail Mary), and Mary responds with what is now known as the Magnificat.

Within the whole of Christianity, the Magnificat is most frequently recited within the Liturgy of the Hours. In Western Christianity, the Magnificat is most often sung or recited during the main evening prayer service: Vespers in the Catholic and Lutheran churches, and Evening Prayer (or Evensong) in Anglicanism. In Eastern Christianity, the Magnificat is usually sung at Sunday Matins. Among Protestant groups, the Magnificat may also be sung during worship services, especially in the Advent season during which these verses are traditionally read.

Charles Villiers Stanford
C V Stanford from Wikipedia

Sunday 1 December 2019

Sunday 1st December Advent 1 with Christingle

O Thou The Central Orb  Charles Wood

This is one of Wood's many fine anthems. It is suitable for Advent.


Charles Wood (1866-1926) was born in Ireland. He was a treble chorister in the nearby St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh. He received his early education in the cathedral choir school and also studied the organ under Robert Turle and Dr Thomas Marks. In 1883, he was one of the inaugural students of the Royal College of Music, studying composition under Charles Villiers Stanford and CHH Parry. After four years he continued his studies at Selwyn College, Cambridge. In 1889 he was appointed as organ scholar in Gonville and Caius college, Cambridge, becoming a fellow in 1994 and Director of Music and organist. Following the death of Stanford in 1924 Wood took over the role of Professor of Music in Cambridge.

He is remembered for his Anglican Church music.

Charles Wood from Wikipedia

Sunday 17 November 2019

Sunday 17th November Matins 2 before Advent

Te Deum Laudamus in G  Herbert Sumsion

This was written for the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester 1935.

The Te Deum Laudamus is a very early Christian hymn of praise traditionally attributed to Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine.  It is sung as part of Matins.

Herbert Sumsion (14.1.1899 - 11.8.1995) was an English musician and organist at Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 -1967. As a major figure is the Three Choirs festival he had links with the major 20th century composers.  Although known primarily as a cathedral organist, his work was far ranging.

Herbert Sumsion on Discogs
H Sumsion from Discogs

Sunday 10 November 2019

Sunday 10th November 2019 Remembrance Sunday

So They Gave Their Bodies  Peter Aston (1938- 2013)  From Pericles' Funeral Oration (Athens 431BC) translation Alfred Zimmern

Peter Aston was born in Birmingham.  He studied at The Birmingham School of Music and The University of York.  In 1964 he was a lecturer in music at The University York. Ten years layter he was appointed Professor of Music at The University of East Anglia and eventually Emeritus Professor of Composition.  He is best known for his liturgical works although also wrote chamber works for voice and instrument, choral and orchestral works and an opera for children. He was a lay canon in Norwich Cathedral and founded the Norwich Festival of Contemporary Church Music. He founded the Tudor Consort and English Baroque Ensembles.


Picture
Peter Aston from The Morley Consort of Voices
Pericles' Funeral Oration was written by Thucydides for his history of the Peloponnesian war. Pericles delivers the oration to not only bury the dead, but to praise democracy.

"So they gave their bodies to the commonwealth and received, each for his own memory, praise that will never die, and with it the grandest of all sepulchres, not that in which their mortal bones are laid, but a home in the minds of men, where their glory remains fresh to stir to speech or action as the occasion may require."


Pericles' Funeral Oration by Philipp Foltz

Monday 4 November 2019

Sunday 3rd November 2019 All Souls Requiem Mass

Requiem Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

Taken from the service sheet.

Gabriel Fauré, born in 1845, was appointed titular organist a La Madeleine, Paris, in 1896 and director of the Paris Conservatoire in 1905.

Fauré started to think about the composition of a requiem in 1885 after the death of his father.  Unlike Berlioz and Verdi he removed the Dies Irae sequence, which he considered over theatrical.  Hence the Offertorium comes up much sooner than is usual in a requiem mass setting.  He permits himself only a brief reference to the “day of wrath” in the Libera me baritone solo.

Gabriel Faure
Gabriel Fauré by John Singer Sargent [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons"

Fauré’s Requiem happily lends itself to a liturgical performance by amateur choirs, being particularly popular with English choirs, with the organ taking the place of the orchestra. This seems to have been recognised early on its life, coinciding as it did with liturgical experimentation in the Church of England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – experiments now adopted and sanctioned for universal use with the introduction in 1980 of the Alternative Service Book and more recently the Common Worship services. These owe their formation to the proposed 1928 Prayer Book and the English Missal (1933) and their structure, including additions to the Book of Common Prayer, fit best with Fauré’s arrangement of sections. The 1928 Prayer Book and English Missal largely formalised a variety of liturgical practices which had been used in sung Communion services previously. 

The service is an act of worship, to include remembrance of the departed, and may sound something like a similar service in an English church at about the time of Faurés death in November 1924, when sections of his requiem were sung at his funeral at La Madeleine.

A head and shoulders portrait of a late-middle-aged man of the early twentieth century with white hair and a large white moustache
Faure in 1907 from Wikipedia

Sunday 3rd November 2019 All Saints

Give Us The Wings Of Faith  Words Issac Watts  Music Ernest Bullock

This anthem was written for All Saints' Day, the words from a hymn by Isaac Watts.

Sir Ernest Bullock (1890-1979) was not primarily a composer, but an educationalist and organist.  He was born in Wigan, where he became organist at his parish church. He was then assistant organist at Leeds Parish Church in 1907.  In 1908, he received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Durham, gaining his Doctor of Music in 1914. In 1912, he was assistant organist at Manchester Cathedral.  After WW1 he was organist at St Michael's College, Tenbury, almost immediately moving to Exeter as cathedral organist in 1919.  In 1928 he succeeded Sir Sidney Nicholson as Master of Choristers in Westminster Abbey.  He provided music for the coronation of King George VI, writing most of the fanfares for that and also the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.
 In 1941, Bullock went to Glasgow as the Gardiner Professor in Music at the university. In 1952 he became director of the Royal College of Music.  He was knighted in 1951 and he retired in 1960.

Ernest Bullock
Sir Ernest Bullock  from Wikipedia
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was born in Southampton, the son of a committed religious nonconformist. His father, also Isaac was twice incarcerated for his beliefs.  He received a classical education at the King Edward VI school, but was barred from attending Oxford or Cambridge universities as they were restricted to Anglicans. He went to the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690. He was pastor of a large independent chapel in London where he helped train preachers.  However, his religious opinions were more ecumenical than was usual for a nonconformist. He promoted education and scholarship rather than preaching for a particular sect. He is famous for the writing of the words of hymns. He promoted hymn singing and his prolific hymn-writing helped to usher in a new era of English worship.

Isaac Watts from NPG.jpg
Issac Watts Unknown artist from Wikipedia



Sunday 27 October 2019

Sunday 27th October 2019 Last after Trinity

Alleluias of Saint James  (Let all mortal flesh keep silence) Words Liturgy of St James  Music Trad. French melody arr. A. J. Greening

This is a translation from the Greek Liturgy of St James. It is usually set to the traditional French tune of Picardy. Today's arrangement of this hymn tune was verses 1 and 3 in unison and verses 2 and 4 ladies being the leader and gentlemen the follower singing in canon.

Next week at 6pm the choir will be leading the service with Fauré's Requiem for All Soul's.

Sunday 20 October 2019

Sunday 20th October 2019 Trinity 18

Te Deum Laudamus in B flat C V Stanford

The "Te Deum" is from Morning, Evening and Communion Service in B flat Major first performed in Trinity College Chapel,Cambridge on 25th May 1879. 

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) thought to be one of our great British composers was actually Irish, born in Dublin, although educated at The University of Cambridge and then studied music in Leipzig and Berlin.

Whilst an undergraduate, he was appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambridge and was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life.  He was also Professor of Music at Cambridge.  His pupils included Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams whose fame went on to surpass his own.

He is best remembered for his sacred choral compositions for church performance in the Anglican tradition. Along with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, he was thought responsible for the renaissance of music in the British Isles.

Image result for c v stanford composer
Stanford from Wikipedia

O Lord Increase Our Faith   H Loosemore (1607 - 1670)

Henry Loosemore was born in Devon.  He was a chorister and afterwards a lay clerk in one of the Cambridge colleges. At some time he was organist at King's College. In 1660 he became organist at Exeter Cathedral.  He died suddenly in 1670 whilst in Exeter. 

O Lord Increase Our Faith has incorrectly been attributed to Orlando Gibbons in the past, and in Gibbon's version, has the word "our" replaced by "my".  However a manuscript was found of Loosemore's which allowed the correct attribution and also the correction of the text.

Thursday 17 October 2019

Thursday 17th October 2019

Guy Jonathan Borer

Today we said farewell to our friend and fellow chorister, Guy. He was a stalwart of the bass line and died after a short illness. We shall miss our enthusiastic and committed member of the choir.

The music at his funeral was chosen because he loved it.

O Thou The Central Orb   Charles Wood  Words H R Bramley

Guy particularly liked this anthem as it has a stirring bass entrance in the middle of the piece.

The choir said together

Bless, O Lord, us thy servants, who minister in thy temple.
Grant that what we sing with our lips, we may believe in our hearts,
and what we believe in our hearts, we may show forth in our lives.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.

As Guy took his final journey on this earth, we sang the Nunc Dimitis in C by C V Stanford.

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou has prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost:
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be;
World without end.
Amen.

For the recessional, our musical director Joanna Chivers, played Guy's favourite organ piece,  The War March of the Priests  from Athalia by Felix Mendelssohn.


Sunday 13 October 2019

Sunday 13th October 2019 Trinity 17

Let Thy Merciful Ears, O Lord      (Thomas?) Mudd   b c 1560

The words to this anthem are the Collect from the 10th Sunday after Trinity.

Mudd whose first name was possibly Thomas was born 1559 or 1560, and was probably born in London. His father served as organist and Vicar Choral at St Paul's. Aged 17, he matriculated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.  He was not allowed his degree because of his Catholic sympathies.  He achieved his BA from Peterhouse in 1581 and MA from Pembroke College (1584).

In 1598 he was thought to be one of England's 16 excellent musicians. Unfortunately, many compositions of this era are attributed to Mudd or Mr Mudd and so it is difficult to know which piece can be apportioned to the correct Mudd! There were a number of Mudds composing about this time.


Thursday 10 October 2019

Sunday 6th October 2019 Trinity 16

Ave Verum Corpus  Mozart

Ave Verum Corpus (Hail, true body) is a setting of the Latin Hymn, in D major.  It was written for Anton Stoll, a friend and church musician of St Stephen, Baden.

It was composed in 1791 whilst visiting his wife Constanze who was pregnant with their 6th child and staying at the spa Baden bei Wien.  It was composed for the feast of Corpus Christi.  Mozart's manuscript has only "Sotto voce" marked at the beginning with no other markings.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Mozart was a child prodigy competent on keyboard and violin.  He began composing at the age of five. He performed around Europe for royalty.  At the age of 17 he was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court but was restless and travelled looking for a better position.  Whilst visiting Vienna he was dismissed from his position in Salzburg.  He remained in Vienna, where he gained fame but no financial security.

He composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as the finest in symphonies, concertante, operatic, chamber and choral music.  He remains one of the best loved classical composers, whose work influenced many composers.  Joseph Haydn said of Mozart "Posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years."

W A Mozart from Wikipedia







Wednesday 9 October 2019

Sunday 29th September 2019 Harvest Thanksgiving

O Lord How Manifold Are Thy Works   Joseph Barnby 1838-1896 

Joseph Barnby was born in York, the son of an organist and from age 7 was a chorister at York Minster.  He was educated at he Royal Academy of Music and in 1862 appointed organist at St Andrew's, Well St, London where it is said he raised the services to a high degree of excellence!

He conducted "Barnby's Choir" from 1864 and in 1871 was appointed conductor of the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society. In 1875 he was director of music at Eton College and in 1892 became principal of the Guildhall School of Music and in the same year was knighted.

From Wikipedia

O Lord How Manifold Are Thy Works is a Harvest anthem taking the words from  Psalm 104 -65 and 103.

Sunday 21 July 2019

21st July 2019 Matins Trinity 5

Benedictus in b flat    C V Stanford

This is the Canticle of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist,  and is taken from Luke's Gospel (Luke 1:68-79) It is sung daily at Morning Prayer.

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) thought to be one of our great British composers was actually Irish, born in Dublin, although educated at The University of Cambridge and then studied music in Leipzig and Berlin.

Whilst an undergraduate, he was appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambridge and was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life.  He was also Professor of Music at Cambridge.  His pupils included Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams whose fame went on to surpass his own.

He is best remembered for his sacred choral compositions for church performance in the Anglican tradition. Along with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, he was thought responsible for the renaissance of music in the British Isles.

head and shoulders shot of an elderly man with full head of hair, moustache and pince-nez
C V Stanford in 1921 from Wikipedia

Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring

This is the common title of the 10th and last movement of the cantata “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben” (BVW 147) composed in 1716 and 1723.  It is commonly played at weddings and Christian festive seasons of Easter and Christmas.  Much of the music of this cantata comes from Bach’s Weimar period (the 1716 parts) finished in 1723 in Leipzig.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He was a highly respected organist in his lifetime, although not recognised as a composer of magnitude (possibly one of the greatest) until a revival of his works in the first half of the 19th century. He showed considerable skill in counterpoint and harmony. He was able to adapt rhythm, form and texture from abroad. He was a prolific composer of church music due to the demand for huge numbers of cantatas over the Christian year.  It is thought her wrote over 300 with only around 200 surviving. He also wrote many other works sacred and secular.  It is now agreed that his music has technical command, intellectual depth and artistic beauty.


Johann Sebastian Bach.jpg
J S Bach from Wikipedia

Thursday 18 July 2019

Sunday 7th July 2019 Trinity 3 Sea Sunday







Peter Nardone

I Give To You A New Commandment   Peter Nardone

The anthem today is based on  John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you.  What makes this anthem particularly lovely is the Latin hymn Ubi caritas which is sung by the men after the ladies have sung through the New Testament words as a wonderful counter-tune below the ladies.
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor. Exsultemus et in ipso jucundemur. Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum. Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
















Peter Nardone - (Bach Cantatas Website)

[Where charity is true, God is there. The love of Christ has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be glad in him. Let us fear and love the living God. And from a sincere heart let us love one another.]

Peter Nardone was born in Scotland in 1965 and studied organ and piano at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He later studied singing at the Royal Academy of Music, London. In 2012 he was Organist and Director of Music at Worcester Cathedral and artistic director of the Three Choirs Festival.  As a singer, he has sung with the Monteverdi Choir, Tallis Scholars, Kings Consort  and many others.

His compositions are mostly religious.


Crossing The Bar  Sir H Parry   Alfred Lord Tennyson

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was a British poet, and for much of Queen Victoria's reign was Poet Laureate

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson by George Frederic Watts
Alfred Lord Tennyson, from Wikipedia

C H H Parry was born in Bournemouth in 1848 into a rich family and was educated at Eton where he also gained his music degree.  He went to study further at Oxford.  His music influenced other great English composers such as Elgar and Vaughan Williams.  He wrote his best music in his later years and this include his Songs of Farewell.  He died in Rustington in 1918, just before the end of the Great War.

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
From Wikipedia

Wednesday 3 July 2019

Sunday 30th June 2019 Trinity 2 St Peter and St Paul

Communion Service in F major  Herbert Sumsion

The choir sang the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei  from the setting.

Herbert Whitton Sumsion (14.1.1899 - 11.8.1995) was an English musician and organist at Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 -1967. As a major figure is the Three Choirs festival he had links with the major 20th century composers.  Although known primarily as a cathedral organist, his work was far ranging.

Give Us The Wings Of Faith  Ernest Bullock  Text Issac Watts

Sir Ernest Bullock (1890- 1979) was an English organist, composer and teacher. He was born in Wigan, Lancashire and joined the local church choir as a small boy.  Both his parents died when he was still a boy and the organist there, Edward Bairstow, under took his education, taking him as an articled pupil.  He went to the local Grammar School.  In 1906, Bairstow moved to Leeds and took Ernest along with his own three children. As a non residential student, he qualified with a degree in Music from Durham University in 1908 and obtained a Doctor of Music in 1914.  He qualified in 1909 as a fellow of the Royal College of Organists.

In 1928 he became organist and master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey where he stayed until 1941 having involvement musically in  the coronation of King George VI. In 1941 he moved to Scotland, as Professor of Music in Glasgow. He is noted for his church music and in particular his anthems. 

Sir Ernest Bullock from Wikipedia
Give Us The Wings Of Faith was written by Issac Watts (1674-1748) who was the son of a schoolmaster and born in Southampton. He had a precocious talent and was studying Latin before he was four and writing verse by the age of seven. He went to London to study for the ministry at the age of sixteen.  He was an assistant minister and pastor in London before at the invitation of Sir Thomas Abney, moving to Abney Park and remaining there for the rest of his life.  He was a prolific writer and his collected works were first published in 1720. He is best known for his hymns which he often wrote to consolidate the meaning of his sermon, coming after he had preached. He published more than 800 hymns.  There is a monument to him in Southampton and also one in Westminster Abbey.

Issac Watts from hymntime.com


Sunday 23 June 2019

Sunday 23rd June 2019 Trinity1

Tantum Ergo  Louis Vierne

Tantum ergo is the incipit of the last two verses of Pange lingua.  This is a Medieval Latin hymn written by St Thomas Aquinas c. 1264. The Genitori genitoque and Procedenti ab utroque portions are adapted from Adam of Saint Victor's sequence for Pentecost.  An incipit, is the opening phrase,or in music the opening sequence of notes.
The singing of Tantum ergo occurs during veneration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the Catholic Church and other denominations that have this devotion. We sang it as out anthem at the end of Holy Communion.

Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937) was a french organist and composer.  He was born in Poitiers, with very poor vision due to congenital cataracts.  However it was discovered at a young age that he had a gift for music. He was schooled initially in the provinces and then went to the Paris Conservatoire. In 1892, he was assistant organist to Charles-Marie Widor and subsequently was organist at Notre Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death.  He suffered greatly from his own ill health, the loss of his brother and son during World War One and he almost lost a leg after a severe accident. Although his leg  was saved it took a year for him to relearn to use it to play the organ. His organ in Notre Dame was in a severe state of disrepair and he undertook a tour of America, playing to raise money for its refurbishment. This tour was a huge success but it took its toll on his health.

He was playing a recital at his organ in Notre Dame, and had completed the majority of the programme.  He suddenly pitched forward with his foot on the low E pedal and died with the note echoing through the great cathedral.  He had often said he wished to die at the console of the great organ of Notre Dame and so fulfilled his wish.  Maurice Durufle (another great french composer and organist)  was at his side as he died.

Vierne in about 1910 from Wikipedia

Thursday 20 June 2019

Sunday 16th June 2019 Trinity Sunday

Today was Matins.  We sang the Herbert Sumsion setting of Te Deum Laudamus in G.

This was written for the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester 1935.

The Te Deum Laudamus is a very early Christian hymn of praise traditionally attributed to Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine.  It is sung as part of Matins.

Herbert Sumsion (14.1.1899 - 11.8.1995) was an English musician and organist at Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 -1967. As a major figure is the Three Choirs festival he had links with the major 20th century composers.  Although known primarily as a cathedral organist, his work was far ranging.


Herbert Sumsion on Discogs
H Sumsion from Discogs

The anthem was Ye Servants of th'all bouteous Lord (Laudate Peuri) by Samuel Webbe Junior.  

This is a setting of Psalm 113, which is in regular use in Jewish, Catholic, Anglican and Protestant liturgies. It has been set to music often. 

Samuel Webbe (1768-1843) was the son of self taught musician Samuel Webbe.  He studied organ, piano and vocal composition, with his father and Muzio Clementi.  Like his father he had an active iterest in Glee clubs and composed many canons and glees.

Tuesday 11 June 2019

Sunday 9th June 2019 Pentecost

Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire       Thomas Attwood 1765 - 1838

This is based on Veni Creator Spiritus, with the lyricist John Cosin translating.  It is an office hymn for Pentecost.

Attwood was born in London, the son of a musician in the royal band. He became a chorister in the Chapel Royal by the age of nine.  He was sent abroad to study at the expense of the Prince of Wales (later George IV) who was impressed by his skill at the harpsichord.  He was a favourite pupil of Mozart. He returned to London in 1787.

In 1796 he was made organist of St Paul's and the same year composer of the Chapel Royal.  For George IV's coronation he wrote the anthem "I was glad".

Much of his work is forgotten, only a few anthems regularly performed including "Turn thy face from my sins" and today's anthem.

Thomas Attwood
Thomas Attwood from Wikipedia

Saturday 27 April 2019

21st April 2019 Easter Sunday

This Joyful Eastertide   Melody David Psalmen  Amsterdam 1685  Harmony Charles Wood 1866-1926  Words G R Woodward 1848-1934

Scripture References; st. 2 = 1 Cor. 15:51-52 ref. = 1 Cor. 15:14, 20 George R. Woodward (b. Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, 1848; d. Highgate, London, England, 1934) wrote the text of this Easter carol to fit the VRUCHTEN tune. The text expresses the joy Christ's resurrection brings to believers (st. 1); that joy provides a sense of security throughout our lives (st. 2) and gives confidence even in the face of death (st. 3). The hymn was first published in Woodward's Carols for Easter and Ascension (1894), which later became a part of the 1902 edition of his famous Cowley Carol Book. Educated at Caius College in Cambridge, England, Woodward was ordained in the Church of England in 1874. He served in six parishes in London, Norfolk, and Suffolk. He was a gifted linguist and translator of a large number of hymns from Greek, Latin, and German. But Woodward's theory of translation was a rigid one–he held that the translation ought to reproduce the meter and rhyme scheme of the original as well as its contents. This practice did not always produce singable hymns; his translations are therefore used more often today as valuable resources than as congregational hymns. With Charles Wood he published three series of The Cowley Carol Book (1901, 1902, 1919), two editions of Songs of Syon (1904, 1910), An Italian Carol Book (1920), and the Cambridge Carol Book (1924). Much of the unfamiliar music introduced in The English Hymnal (1906) resulted from Woodward's research. He also produced an edition of the Piae Cantiones of 1582 (1910) and published a number of his translations in Hymns of the Greek Church (1922). Liturgical Use: Easter season; funerals. --Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

VRUCHTEN is originally a seventeenth-century Dutch folk tune for the love song "De liefde Voortgebracht." It became a hymn tune in Joachim Oudaen's David' s Psalmen (1685) as a setting for "Hoe groot de vruchten zijn." The tune is distinguished by the melismas that mark the end of stanza lines and by the rising sequences in the refrain, which provide a fitting word painting for "arisen." Although the melody has a wide range, it has become a popular Easter carol in modern hymnals. The harmonization by Dale Grotenhuis (PHH 4) makes for glorious part singing (many hymnals use a harmonization by Charles Wood). Use medium organ accompaniment, possibly with a trumpet stop or real trumpets. --Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Charles Wood (1866-1926) was born in Ireland. He was a treble chorister in the nearby St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh. He received his early education in the cathedral choir school and also studied the organ under Robert Turle and Dr Thomas Marks. In 1883, he was one of the inaugural students of the Royal College of Music, studying composition under Charles Villiers Stanford and CHH Parry. After four years he continued his studies at Selwyn College, Cambridge. In 1889 he was appointed as organ scholar in Gonville and Caius college, Cambridge, becoming a fellow in 1994 and Director of Music and organist. Following the death of Stanford in 1924 Wood took over the role of Professor of Music in Cambridge.

He is remembered for his Anglican Church music.
Charles Wood
Charles Wood from Wikipedia

George Radcliffe Woodward was an English Anglican priest who wrote mostly religious verse.  He fitted most to well known melodies usually from the Renaissance, and occasionally harmonised himself , but usually left this to his collaborator Charles Wood.  He was born n Birkenhead and educated in Elstree, then Harrow and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.  This Joyful Eastertide was published in "Carols for Easter and Ascension tide" in 1894.

Wednesday 24 April 2019

Good Friday 19th April 2019

A Meditation in Words and Music for Good Friday

The service started with prayers.

Were You There?  Arr. Francis Westbrook 1903 - 1975
This is an old American Spiritual,  first published in 1899, but likely composed by enslaved African - Americans.  It was the first spiritual to be published in an American hymnal.

Francis Westbrook, taken fromm Praise.org.uk  b Thornton Heath, Surrey 1903, d Harpenden, Herts 1975. Whitgift (now Trinity) Middle Sch, Croydon; Didsbury Theol Coll Manchester; ordained 1930 (Wesleyan Methodist). Distinguished pianist; BA (London), FRCO, MusD (Manchester, while in circuit ministry). Prof at London Coll of Music 1968–75; Principal, Williams Sch of Church Music, 1971–75. Held office at RSCM and Methodist Ch Music Soc; edited The Choir 1948–64. 2 tunes and 20 arrangements in The School Hymn Book of the Methodist Church 1950, which he helped to edit, as also Hymns and Songs, 1969. H&S had 6 of his tunes, Praise for Today (1974) had 3. Other music includes cantatas, motets, and anthems. Methodist though he was, FBW commended John Merbecke’s plainsong Music for the Congregation at Holy Communion (1550, some 6 years after JM compiled the first-ever English Bible concordance) as a work ‘which for simplicity and beauty has never been surpassed’; he also believed that, unlike N American churches, British ones did not offer their members ‘anything that deserves to be called a hymn book’—since they hand out no more than word-books! (Or often, not even that.) Fred Pratt Green’s tribute in verse, among Ten Friends, begins ‘Of all the people I have known well, you were the nearest to being a genius.’

Our biblical readings came from John's gospel, telling the Passion story.

John 19: 14-16 Jesus before Pilate

However interspersed between these and the hymns and motets were poems.

When Jesus Came To Golgotha  Studdert Kennedy

John 19: 16-27 Jesus is crucified

Drop, Drop Slow Tears   Orlando Gibbons

Drop, drop, slow tears is a devotional reflection, sung at Passiontide but not specific to that season. Like The King of love and Let all mortal flesh, it was a Vaughan Williams ‘marriage’: in The English Hymnal he joined a poignant text by the Jacobean poet and clergyman Phineas Fletcher to one of Orlando Gibbons’s hymn tunes (Song 46, published in 1623). Interestingly, poet and composer are linked by their connection with King’s College, Cambridge, where Gibbons was a chorister and Fletcher a student. Taken from hyperion-records.co.uk

Gibbons sang in the choir of Kings College Cambridge between 1598 and 1598, where his eldest brother was master of the choristers. He gained his Bachelor of Music in 1606. King James 1 appointed him a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and he was organist there from around 1615 until his death, being senior organist from 1623. He was also a keyboard player in the privy chamber of Prince Charles (later Charles 1) and organist at Westminster Abbey. He died suddenly at the age of 41.

He wrote a large number of pieces for keyboard, madrigals and many verse anthems.

John 19: 28-30 Jesus dies on the cross

Ah Holy Jesu   Johann Cruger 1598-1662 Words Johann Heermann 1585-1647

This is a German hymn for passion tide. It was written in 1630 and first published in Devoti Musica Cordis.

Johann Cruger was born the son of an Inn keeper in Gross Breesen and educated in the Lateinschule nearby. He composed numerous works and also wrote about music education.

Johann Cruger from Wikipedia

Johann Heermann  was born in Raudten. He started to write poetry at the age of 17. His earlier works were written in Latin with a few lines of German and based on the Gospels, but he then moved to German. Some of his works were set to music by J S Bach.

Johann Heerman from Wikipedia



Am I A Stone  Christina Rossetti

John 19: 31-37 Jesus is brought down from the cross

In Evil Long I Took Delight  John Newton

O Saviour Of The World  John Goss 1800 - 1880


Sir John Goss was a boy chorister in The Chapel Royal and later a pupil of Sir Thomas Attwood, organist at St Paul's cathedral.  He spend a short time in the chorus of an opera company before being organist at a number of churches, finally at St Paul's where he worked hard to improve the musical standards. His works are mostly vocal, both sacred and secular.  From 1827 until 1874, he was a professor at The Royal Academy of Music teaching harmony.  He taught Arthur Sullivan and John Stainer who succeeded him as organist at St Paul's.

upright=Goss circa 1835
Sir John Goss from Wikipedia
By Faith We Serve Him  Parminer Summon

The service concluded with prayers.

Sunday 14 April 2019

Sunday 14th April 2019 Palm Sunday

The Crucifixion    John Stainer

A Meditation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer  for solo tenor and bass voices and chorus with hymns to be sung by the congregation

Taken from the Novello edition 1998.

The Crucifixion was first performed in St Marylebone Parish Church on 24th February 1887 and published by Novello the same year. In 1915 Vovello issued a "revised edition" in which the only alterations made are substitutions of words, There is no obvious verbal or theological reasons for the changes, however the alterations may have been made by the librettist and have been retained.

The piece follows the story from Jesus and his disciples going to the garden of Gethsemane, and Jesus praying and asking his disciples to watch over him, moving the story to his arrest and trial, Calvary and the crucifixion and finished with the death of Christ on the cross.  The soloists set the scene and tell the story, with lovely choral interludes, many of which are well known, including "God So Loved The World" and beautiful hymns, whose "proper" titles are pretty meaningless, but the first lines are instantly recognisable, and our congregation joined in.

John Stainer was born in Southwark, London in 1840. He was an English composer and organist.  Much of his music is not longer performed except for The Crucifixion. His work as an organist and choir trainer set the standards for Anglican Church Music still used today.  He was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral from age ten, and organist of St Michael's College, Tenbury at the age of 16.  He was later organist at Magdalen College, Oxford and later St Paul's Cathedral.  He had to give up due to ill health and poor eyesight, but became Professor of Music at Oxford.  He died suddenly in Italy in 1901 whilst on holiday.

Sir John Stainer, Wikipedia

Our soloists were:
Dr Martin Grant Ridley
Martin Ridley Tenor
SAS_Brochure2012
Peter Webster Baritone
Our soloists were excellent and their voices blended so well.  Fred Walker, one of our basses, was the "voice from the choir".

The choir was augmented by other singers who joined us for this occasion and they were very welcome and we hope to enjoy their company on other occasions  (Our annual Fauré Requiem for instance).  Keep a look out on this blog site and also the main blog for details of upcoming singing days.

Friday 12 April 2019

Sunday 7th April 2019 Passion Sunday Lent 5

Jubilate in B flat  Stanford

Taken from the Novello Copy:
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford has a perverse relationship with posterity.  Remembered today largely for his choral miniatures, this restless symphonist was the unwilling Janus of British music. A significant presence on the European scene in his own lifetime, he was an outspoken critic of Wagner, Strauss and modernism in general. Nevertheless, as a formalist with flair and skill, his influence catalysed much of the great English Music of the 20th century.  As fellow composer George Dyson said: "In a certain sense the very rebellion he fought was the most obvious fruit of his methods". The Jubilate in B flat displays the composer's trademark of thematic structures.
Also see 21.5.2017.

head and shoulders shot of an elderly man with full head of hair, moustache and pince-nez
Stanford from Wikipedia

Sunday 24 March 2019

Sunday 24th March 2019 lent 3

"O Saviour of the world"  Sir John Goss (1800 - 1880)

Sir John Goss was a boy chorister in The Chapel Royal and later a pupil of Sir Thomas Attwood, organist at St Paul's cathedral.  He spend a short time in the chorus of an opera company before being organist at a number of churches, finally at St Paul's where he worked hard to improve the musical standards. His works are mostly vocal, both sacred and secular.  From 1827 until 1874, he was a professor at The Royal Academy of Music teaching harmony.  He taught Arthur Sullivan and John Stainer who succeeded him as organist at St Paul's.

"O Saviour of the World" is a suitable anthem for Lent, Holy Week or Communion, The words are from the Anglican Order for the Visitation of the Sick.

upright=Goss circa 1835
Sir John Goss from Wikipedia


Come and Sing  The Crucifixion by John Stainer

We are hosting a Come and Sing performance of  The Crucifixion by John Stainer on Sunday 14th April (Palm Sunday). Non singing supporters are most welcome to come to the performance and to join in the hymns.

If you already know the work - great, but if not don't let that hold you back.  The pre-rehearsal will take you through it and you'll be with fellow singers who know it well, so if you haven't done any choral singing since you were at school, then this is your chance to start again.

Participants who don't own a score can borrow one on the day - just ask at registration.

Singers should arrive from 3pm so the rehearsal can begin promptly at 3.30pm.  There will be a break at about 5pm for tea and the performance will be at 6pm.

Sidlesham Church is just off the B2145, Chichester to Selsey road.  There are regular buses (the Selsey Link) from Chichester Bus Station and Selsey.  The nearest bus stop is by The Anchor and the church is a 100m walk down Church Lane to the north of the pub.  If travelling by car, parking is available by the Church Hall in Church Farm Lane which is the road just south of the pub.  Car share if you can.  The route from the hall to church will be marked.

There is disabled access to the church, contact us through the "contact us" page on the website if you require one of the small number of disabled parking spaces.  Toilets are in the Parish Rooms adjacent to the church.

The cost is £5 for singers and £2.50 for members of the audience (Students £4 and £1).  You can book in advance or pay on the day, cash or cheque only, as we do not have facilities for debit and credit cards.

If you have any other inquiries, please contact our Director of Music via the "contact us" page on the website, 

Sunday 17 March 2019

Sunday 17th March 2019 Matins Lent 2

Jubilate in C Major    C V Stanford.

Because we are in Lent, we sing the Jubilate.  We used Stanford's setting in C major.

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) thought to be one of our great British composers was actually Irish, born in Dublin, although educated at The University of Cambridge and then studied music in Leipzig and Berlin.

Whilst an undergraduate, he was appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambridge and was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life.  He was also Professor of Music at Cambridge.  His pupils included Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams whose fame went on to surpass his own.

He is best remembered for his sacred choral compositions for church performance in the Anglican tradition. Along with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, he was thought responsible for the renaissance of music in the British Isles.

head and shoulders shot of an elderly man with full head of hair, moustache and pince-nez
C V Stanford from Wikipedia

 Hide Not Thy Face From Us      Farrant

The text is Psalm 27 verse 10.

Richard Farrant was an early English composer and like many from his era, his early life is not well documented. He is listed as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1552 so it is speculated that he was born around 1525.

He was active in ceremonies around the royal family participating in the funerals of Edward VI, Mary I and the coronations of Mary I and Elizabeth I.

As well as being a composer he also wrote plays and he created the first Blackfriars Theatre.