Sunday 17th December 2024 Advent 3

Jubilate Deo in B flat  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.

 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.

Sunday 3rd December 2023 Advent 1

 In Night's Dim Shadows Lying  Words Charles Coffin  Music from the Katholisches Gesangbuch  Arr George Guest

SATB Choir - accompanied or a cappella. A beautiful strophic setting of this Advent text by Charles Coffin (1676-1749). Used as an introit, an anthem, part of your Lessons and Carols service, communion music ... the possibilities abound.

In night’s dim shadows lying,

Our limbs fast lock’d in sleep,

to thee, with faithful sighing,

Our souls their vigil keep.

Desire of every nation,

Hear, Lord, our piteous cry;

Thou Word, the world’s salvation,

Uplift us where we lie.

Lord, be thine Advent hasten’d,

Lest sin thy people mar;

The gates which Adam fasten’d —

The gates of heav’n, unbar.

Son, to thine endless merit,

Redeemer, Saviour, Friend,

With Sire and Holy Spirit

Be praises without end. Amen.

Charles Coffin was born 4 October 1676 at Buzancy, Ardennes in the Duchy of Rheim and educated at College du Plessis. In 1701, he was appointed chief assistant to Charles Rollin, principal of the Collège de Beauvais. He succeeded Rollin as principal in 1712. That same year he was entrusted with the funeral oration for Louis, Duke of Burgundy, the father of Louis XV. In 1718. he became rector of the University of Paris, a post which he held until his death.

Hymns

Coffin published in 1727 some of his Latin poems, for which he was already noted, and in 1736 the bulk of his hymns appeared in the Paris Breviary of that year, an edition of which was published in 1838 at Oxford by John Henry Newman. 1736 also saw the publication of Coffin's Hymni Sacri Auctore Carolo Coffin, and in 1755 a complete edition of his Works was issued in 2 vols.

The Hymni Sacri included a poem adapted from the original chant, Jordanis oras prævia, which Rev. John Chandler later translated to the hymn On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry set to the tune Winchester New for use at Matins during Advent. Chandler also translated Coffin's The Advent of Our King.

Among his other works is an ode in praise of the wines of Champagne. This work is a version of a similar poem in which Bénigne Grenan, professor at Harcourt College, praised the pre-eminence of Burgundy wine, and that one of Charles Coffin's Jansenist friends, Marc-Antoine Hersan, had had fun reciting one evening at a dinner.

Jansenism

While the papal bull Unigenitus condemned Jansenism, many in France interpreted it as an attack on the prerogatives of the French church. The University of Paris and the provincial Parlements were hotbeds of opposition. The University was known to harbor Jansenist sympathizers; the Parlement of Paris went so far as to threatened to confiscate the temporalities of the Archbishop. As rector of the University and clerk to the Parlement of Paris, even Coffin's hymns were viewed by some with suspicion.

Death

Coffin died of pneumonia in Paris 20 June 1749. Due to his persistence in appealing against the apostolic constitution Unigenitus, under instructions from the Archbishop, who wished to make an example, the parish rector of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, refused to administer last rites to him, or give him a Christian burial Robert Darnton observed that, "To deny the final absolution of sins to Christians on their deathbed was, in the eyes of many, to send them straight to Purgatory, an unforgivable abuse of royal and ecclesiastical authority.” Four thousand Parisians joined the funeral procession. Because the crown had supported the suppression of the Jansenists, Danton notes that the religious rite took on political overtones. The Parlement of Paris subsequently issued an official and strong “remonstrance” to the king. Richard J. Janet sees the resulting popular demonstrations as contributing to the growing disenchantment with the monarchy that would later play into the coming Revolution.

Coffin left a legacy to the college of Beauvais, and founded awards at the University of Paris.

Taken from Wikipedia

George Guest was born in Bangor, Gwynedd. His father was an organist and Guest assisted him by acting as organ blower. He became a chorister at Bangor Cathedral and subsequently at Chester Cathedral, where he took organ lessons from the sub-organist, Dr. Roland Middleton. He passed the examinations for ARCO in 1940 and FRCO in 1942. By this time he had become the organist and choirmaster of Connah's Quay parish church, Flintshire.

Being proud of his Welsh roots, from the 1970s onwards, Guest took a personal interest in the Cambridge University Welsh Society (Cymdeithas Y Mabinogi), sponsoring many of its events and providing a welcome face for Welsh students away from home.

At the age of 18 he was called up for military service, and joined the Royal Air Force, being posted to India in 1945. On leaving the services in 1947 he took up the post of sub-organist at Chester Cathedral. The cathedral organist, Malcolm Boyle, encouraged him to apply for the organ scholarship at St John's College, Cambridge, for which he was successful.

At Cambridge he studied under Robin Orr, who had served as organist and choirmaster at St. John's College since 1938. In Guest's final year as Organ Scholar, Robin Orr announced that he intended to retire, and the College Council offered the post to Guest, who took over the position in 1951.

Within five years of Guest becoming organist and choirmaster, the whole future of the choir at St. John's College came into question, with the proposed closure of the day school which provided the choristers. Guest, with the support of his predecessor, persuaded the College to fund a Choir School.

Under George Guest's direction, the choir built up a formidable reputation, challenging the supremacy of the choir of King's College, Cambridge. Guest introduced a more "continental" tone into the choir, as George Malcolm was doing at Westminster Cathedral.

The choir began broadcasting on the BBC in the early 1950s and started making recordings in 1958. By the time of Guest's retirement in 1991, the choir had recorded sixty LPs or CDs under his direction.

For many years from 1972 the BBC broadcast Evensong from St. John's College on every Ash Wednesday, and the Advent Carol Service each year since 1981. During George Guest's tenure, the choir undertook many overseas tours.

In 1987 Guest was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Herbert Howells and Michael Tippett are among the many composers who wrote liturgical settings for the St. John's College choir whilst George Guest was organist and choirmaster. They also include the French composer Jean Langlais, who wrote a setting of the psalm Beatus vir for the choir: a rare occurrence of a Continental composer writing for the English cathedral tradition.

Organ Scholars who studied under George Guest include:

Sir David Lumsden (Southwell Minster, New College, Oxford, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, London)

Brian Runnett (organist, Norwich Cathedral)

Jonathan Bielby (organist, Wakefield Cathedral)

Jonathan Rennert (St Michael's, Cornhill)

David Hill (choral director) (sub-organist, Durham Cathedral; organist, Westminster Cathedral; organist, Winchester Cathedral; organist and choirmaster, St John's College, Cambridge; now Chief Conductor, BBC Singers)

Robert Huw Morgan (University Organist, Stanford Memorial Church)

Adrian Lucas (organist, Worcester Cathedral)

Andrew Lumsden (Southwark Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Lichfield Cathedral, Winchester Cathedral)

Sir Stephen Cleobury (King's College, Cambridge)

John Scott (St Paul's Cathedral, London, and subsequently St Thomas Fifth Avenue, New York City)

Andrew Nethsingha (Truro Cathedral; Gloucester Cathedral; Organist and Director of Music, St John's College, Cambridge)

Preceded by

Robin Orr

Director of Music, St John's College, Cambridge

1951–1991 Succeeded by

Christopher Robinson

George Guest was a guest on Desert Island Discs in 1976 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/a5168c08#p009n0jz). He was a lifelong supporter of Chester City FC. The famous British baritone Simon Keenlyside was a chorister and subsequently a choral scholar in the choir of St John's College, Cambridge while George Guest was the choirmaster there. Actor Clive Mantle was another chorister at St. John's.

Taken from Wikipedia

George Guest on Desert Island Discs

Sunday 26th November 2023 Christ The King

 Ave Verum Corpus W A Mozart (K618)

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

Sunday 19th November 2023 Second before Advent

 Benedictus in C  C V Stanford

The Benedictus was composed in 1909 as part of Stanford's Morning and Evening Service together with the Office of Holy Communion Op 115.  Stanford was given the choice to hear one of his services sung at Matins at York Minster in 1923 when he was a guest of the organist, Edward . "He chose the one in C", Bairstow recalled, "for he said he had never heard it!"

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.

Charles Villiers Stanford from Wikipedia

God Be In My Head  John Rutter

God be in my head is one of the earliest English prayers found in the Sarum Primer of 1514. It is a prayer for God's guidance. John Rutter has written a beautiful setting to these profound yet simple words.

God be in my head,

And in my understanding;

God be in mine eyes,

And in my looking;

God be in my mouth,

And in my speaking;

God be in my heart,

And in my thinking;

God be at mine end,

And at my departing.

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.

John Rutter [Wikimedia Commons]

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.

Sunday 12 th November 2023 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.

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

 

Sunday 5th November 2023 All Saints

"Give us the wings of faith" by Ernest Bullock, words Isaac Watts.

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.
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, by unknown artist {Wikimedia commons]

 

Sunday 15th October 2023 Trinity 19

  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.

C V Stanford in 1921 from Wikipedia

Ye Servants of th'all Bounteous Lord   Samuel Webbe Junior

This is a two verse anthem scored for SATB suitable for all occasions. It is a joyful anthem praising God eternally.  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 the younger (1768–1843) was an English music teacher and composer.

The son of Samuel Webbe (1740–1816), he was born in London, and studied the organ, piano, and vocal composition under his father and Muzio Clementi.

Webbe in his active interest in glee clubs followed in the footsteps of his father, and composed many canons and glees. In 1798 he moved to Liverpool, as organist to the Paradise Street Unitarian Chapel, where John Yates (1755–1826) was minister.

Around 1817 Webbe joined John Bernard Logier in London, teaching the use of the chiroplast. There Webbe became organist to the chapel of the Spanish embassy, before returning to Liverpool, where he was appointed organist to St. Nicholas and to St. Patrick's Roman Catholic chapel. He died at Hammersmith on 25 November 1843.

Webbe published, with his father, A Collection of Original Psalm Tunes, 1800. He was also the author of anthems, madrigals, and glees, besides a Mass and a Sanctus, and a Chant for St Paul's Cathedral. He wrote settings for numerous songs and ballads. About 1830 he published Convito Armonico, a collection of madrigals, glees, duets, canons, and catches, by well-known composers.

Webbe married Diana Smith in 1803. Their son Egerton Webbe (1810–1840) wrote on musical subjects; and their daughter Louisa married Edward Holmes.

Taken from Wikipedia