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9 Look up, sweet babe, Op. 43 No. 2 He is meek, and he is mild, Look up sweet babe, look up and see He became a little child. For love of thee, tho’ far from home, I, a child, and thou a lamb, We are called by his name. The East is come to seek herself in thy sweet eyes. Little Lamb, God bless thee! To thee thou day of night, thou East of West Little Lamb, God bless thee! Lo we at last have found the way. To thee the world’s great universal East William Blake The general and indiff’rent day. ENGLISH CHORAL MUSIC Richard Crashaw $ The Lord’s Prayer Our Father who art in Heaven 2 CDs featuring music by Howells, Elgar, Hallowed be Thy name 0 & ! Magnificat and Nunc dimittis Thy kingdom come See tracks 1 & 2 Thy will be done Stanford, Finzi, Tavener and others On earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread @ An Easter Sequence - Sortie And forgive us our trespasses God is ascended, As we forgive those who trespass against us Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge • Christopher Robinson God is ascended in Jubilee And lead us not into temptation and the Lord in the sound of the trumpet, But deliver us from evil Alleluia! Amen Rejoice to God our helper: Sing aloud to the God of Jacob. % Song for Athene Alleluia. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. # The Lamb Alleluia. Remember me O Lord, Little Lamb, who made thee? when you come into your kingdom. Dost thou know who made thee? Alleluia. Give rest O Lord to your hand-maid, Gave thee life, and bid thee feed who has fallen asleep. By the stream and o’er the mead; Alleluia. The Choir of Saints have found the well- Gave thee clothing of delight, spring Softest clothing, woolly, bright; of life, and door of paradise. Gave thee such a tender voice, Alleluia. Life: a shadow and a dream. Making all the vales rejoice? Alleluia. Weeping at the grave creates the song: Little Lamb, who made thee? Alleluia. Dost thou know who made thee? Alleluia. Come, enjoy rewards and crowns Little Lamb, I’ll tell thee, I have prepared for you. Little Lamb, I’ll tell thee; He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb.

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CD 1 8 Crux fidelis, Op. 43 No. 1 from the Mass of the Presanctified Crux fidelis, inter omnes Faithful cross, above all other, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) Herbert Howells (1892-1983) Arbor una nobilis: Tree all peerless and divine; 1 Magnificat in G, Op. 81 4:13 0 Take him, earth, for cherishing 7:44 Nulla silva talem profert, No forest bears such a flower, 2 Nunc Dimittis in G, Op. 81 4:18 fronde, flore, germine. such a leaf. Soloist: Oliver Lepage-Dean (treble) Peter Hurford (b. 1930) Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, Sweet is the wood and sweet are the nails, ! Litany to the Holy Spirit 2:26 dulce pondus sustinet. Laden with the sweetest weight. Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) Soloist: Oliver Lepage-Dean (treble) 3 Justorum Animae from Three Latin Motets 3:24 Felle potus ecce languet, See him assuage his thirst with gall. Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) Spina, clavi, lancea, Thorns, nails, and a spear Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) @ Welcome Sweet and Sacred Feast, Op. 27, No. 3 7:31 Mite corpus perforartur, pierce his soft flesh. 4 Ave verum corpus, Op. 2, No. 1 2:39 Sanguis unda profluit, His blood flows as water Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986) Terra, pontus, astra mundus to wash over all the earth, Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Tenebrae Motets - Third Nocturn, Op. 72 Quo lavantur flumine. The sea, the sky, the whole universe. 5 Give unto the Lord (Psalm XXIX), Op. 74 7:50 # I. Eram quasi agnus innocens 2:50 $ II. Una hora non potuistis 2:02 Flecte ramos, arbour alta, Towering tree, bend your branches Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) % III. Seniores populi 2:22 Tensa axa viscera, To bear the load of his flesh. 6 The Call 2:05 Et rigor lentescat illa Surrender from your Soloist: Oliver Lepage-Dean (treble) Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986) Quem dedit nativitas: natural tension, ^ Magnificat in A flat 4:18 Et superni membra Regis And relax to bear the sweet limbs Herbert Howells (1892-1983) Tende miti stipite Of the most high God and King. 7 Magnificat, St Paul’s 6:33 Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) 8 Nunc Dimittis, St Paul’s 4:59 & God is gone up, Op. 27, No. 2 4:24 Sola digna tu fuisti You are a most worthy source Ferre mundi victimam: To comfort and bear Herbert Howells (1892-1983) Atque portum praeparare a harsh victim of the world. 9 Paean for Organ 6:03 Arca mundi naufrago, Ark, which saved the universe; Organist: Iain Farrington Quam sacer cruor perunxit Tree, anointed with the sacred blood Fusus agni corpore Of the Lamb’s body slain on a spindle.

Crux fidelis, inter omnes Faithful cross, above all other, Arbor una nobilis: Tree all peerless and divine; Nulla silva talem profert, No forest bears such a flower, fronde, flore, germine. such a leaf.

Translated by Kate Johnson

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O dear white children casual as birds, 7 The Lord is my Shepherd, Op. 91 No. 1 CD 2 Playing among the ruined languages, The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. So small beside their large confusing words, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth Sir William Walton (1902-1983) Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989) So gay against the greater silences me beside the still waters. 1 Set me as a seal upon thine heart 3:34 7 The Lord is my Shepherd, Op. 91, No. 1 4:21 Of dreadful things you did: O hang the head, He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of Soloists: Oliver Lepage-Dean (treble); Soloist: Benjamin Durrant (treble) Impetuous child with the tremendous brain, righteousness for his name’s sake. Edward Lyon (tenor) O weep, child, weep, O weep away the stain, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989) Lost innocence who wished your lover dead, death, I will fear no evil: Sir William Walton (1902-1983) 8 Crux Fidelis, Op. 43, No. 2 6:53 Weep for the lives your wishes never led. For thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort 2 Coronation Te Deum 9:50 Soloist: Allan Clayton (tenor) me. (arr. Simon Preston and Mark Blatchly) O cry created as the bow of sin Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989) Is drawn across our trembling violin. (Psalm 23) Sir William Walton (1902-1983) 9 Look up, Sweet Babe, Op. 43, No. 2 4:34 3 Gloria from Missa Brevis 3:24 Soloists: James Geidt (treble) O law drummed out by hearts against the still Soloists: Oliver Lepage-Dean (treble); Long winter of our intellectual will. Geoffrey Silver (tenor) Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988) 0 Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis 5:03 That what has been may never be again. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) ! Collegium Magdalenae Oxoniense 3:13 4 A Hymn to the Virgin 3:06 O flute that throbs with the thanksgiving breath Soloists: William Goldring (treble); Christopher de la Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988) Of convalescents on the shores of death. Hoyde (alto); Simon Wall (tenor); Reuben Thomas (bass) @ An Easter Sequence - Sortie 4:11 Soloist: Crispian Steele-Perkins (trumpet) O bless the freedom that you never chose. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) 5 Jubilate Deo 2:38 Sir John Tavener (b. 1944) O trumpets that unguarded children blow # The Lamb 3:47 About the fortress of their inner foe. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) 6 Hymn to St Cecilia, Op. 27 10:20 Sir John Tavener (b. 1944) O wear your tribulation like a rose. Soloists: Benedict Giles, Ben Harrison (trebles); $ The Lord’s Prayer 3:30 Richard Moore (alto); Jonathan Bungard (tenor); Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions Reuben Thomas (bass) Sir John Tavener (b. 1944) To all musicians, appear and inspire. % Song for Athene 5:43 Translated daughter, come down and startle Composing mortals with immortal fire.

W.H. Auden

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Howells (8.554659) An Evening Hymn (8.557129) 5 Jubilate Deo Translated Daughter, come down and startle Recorded: 13th-15th March 1999 Recorded: January/February 2002 O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands, serve the Lord Composing mortals with immortal fire. Producer: Andrew Walton Producer & Engineer: John Rutter with gladness and come before his presence with a Engineer: Eleanor Thomason Booklet Notes: George Guest song. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God: 2 Booklet notes: Andrew Burn It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are I cannot grow; Publishers: Novello, OUP, Stainer & Bell, CPP-Belwin Leighton (8.555795) his people, and the sheep of his pasture. I have no shadow Recorded: 9th-11th July 2002 To run away from, Britten (8.554791) Producer: Andrew Walton O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and I only play. Recorded: 13th-15th July 1999 Engineer: Eleanor Thomason into his courts with praise; Producer: Andrew Walton Booklet notes: Andrew Burn be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name. For I cannot err; Engineer: Eleanor Thomason Publishers: Novello, OUP the Lord is gracious and his truth endureth from There is no creature Booklet notes: Barry Holden generation to generation. Whom I belong to, Publishers: OUP and Boosey & Hawkes Stanford (8.555794) His mercy is everlasting, for the Lord is gracious. Whom I could wrong. Recorded: 12th-13th July 2002 Glory be to the Father, and to the Son; and to I am defeat. Rubbra (8.555255) Producer: Andrew Walton the Holy Ghost; When it knows it Recorded: 24th-26th March 2000 Engineer: Eleanor Thomason As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: Can now do nothing Producer: Andrew Walton Booklet notes: Andrew Burn world without end. Amen. By suffering. Engineer: Eleanor Thomason Publishers: Stainer and Bell Booklet notes: Andrew Carwood All you lived through, Berkeley (8.557277) 6 Hymn to St Cecilia, Op. 27 (1942) Dancing because you Tavener (8.555256) Recorded: 20th, 21st, 22nd March 2003 No longer need it Recorded: 11th –13th July 2000 Producer: Andrew Walton 1 For any deed. Producer: Andrew Walton Engineer: Eleanor Thomason In a garden shady this holy lady Engineer: Tony Faulkner Booklet notes: Andrew Burn With reverent cadence and subtle psalm, I shall never be Different. Love me. Booklet notes: Ivan Moody Publishers: Chester Music Ltd. Like a black swan as death came on Publisher: Chester Music Ltd. Poured forth her song in perfect calm: Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions Elgar (8.557288) And by ocean's margin this innocent virgin To all musicians, appear and inspire: Finzi (8.555792) Recorded: 8th-10th July 2003 Constructed an organ to enlarge her prayer, Translated Daughter, come down and startle Recorded: 17th-19th March 2001 Producer: Andrew Walton And notes tremendous from her great engine Composing mortals with immortal fire. Producer: Andrew Walton Engineer: Eleanor Thomason Thundered out on the Roman air. Engineer: Eleanor Thomason Booklet notes: Keith Anderson 3 Booklet notes: Andrew Burn Publishers: Novello and Company Ltd. Blonde Aphrodite rose up excited, O ear whose creatures cannot wish to fall, Publishers: Boosey & Hawkes Moved to delight by the melody, O calm of spaces unafraid of weight, White as an orchid she rode quite naked, Where Sorrow is herself, forgetting all Walton (8.555793) In an oyster shell on top of the sea; The gaucheness of her adolescent state, Recorded: 10th-12th July 2001 At sounds so entrancing the angels dancing Where hope within the altogether strange Producer: Andrew Walton Came out of their trance into time again, From every outworn image is released, Engineer: Tony Faulkner And around the wicked in Hell’s abysses and Dread born whole and normal like a beast Booklet notes: Barry Holden The huge flame flickered and eased their pain. Into a world of truths that never change: Publisher: OUP Restore our fallen day, O re-arrange. Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions To all musicians, appear and inspire:

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3 Gloria 4 A Hymn to the Virgin English Choral Music Gloria in excelsis Deo, Of one that is so fair and bright CD 1: Stanford, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Howells, Hurford, Finzi and Rubbra et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Velut maris stella, Laudamus te, benedicimus te, Brighter than the day is light, The music on this CD stretches from Stanford, often composed earlier in 1887-8. The words of the first of adoramus te, glorificamus te. Parens et puella: viewed as the father of English choral music, these motets, Justorum animae (CD1, Track 3) derive Gratias agimus tibi propter Magnam gloriam tuam. I cry to thee, thou see to me, through to pupils of his including Vaughan Williams from the third chapter of the Book of Wisdom. The calm Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Lady, pray thy Son for me, and Howells. The most famous of all modern English of the first section is contrasted by a more animated Jesu Pater omnipotens. Tam pia, composers, Edward Elgar, also finds echoes in the middle part with the voices entering in imitation before Domine Fili unigenite Jesu Christe. That I may come to thee, Maria! passionate lyricism of Finzi, with the distinctive, the calm returns. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris. muscular voice of Rubbra perhaps the biggest Qui tollis peccata mundi, All this world was forlorn surprise of all. A full CD of Stanford’s Choral Music, sung by the miserere nobis, Eva peccatrice, Choir of St John’s College under Christopher suscipe deprecationem nostram. Till our Lord was ybore Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) was one of the Robinson, is available on Naxos 8.555794. Qui sedes ad dextram Patris, De te genetrice. seminal figures of the British musical renaissance in the miserere nobis. late nineteenth century. Born in Dublin, he The sacred choral music of Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Quoniam tu solus sanctus, With ave it went away demonstrated talents as a composer from his teens and shares the same innate qualities so admired today in his tu solus Dominus, Darkest night, and comes the day won an organ scholarship to Queens’ College, orchestral music: an unerring sense for musical tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe. Salutis; Cambridge, in 1870. As professor of composition at the development and drama allied to a glorious ear for Cum sancto Spiritu The well springeth out of thee. Royal College of Music from 1883 to 1924, he taught melody. in gloria Dei Patris, Amen. Virtutis. two generations of British composers including The Ave Verum (CD1, Track 4) was published in Vaughan Williams, Holst, Ireland, Moeran and Howells, 1902 as Elgar was developing his reputation. Simple yet Glory be to God on high, Lady flow’r of ev’rything, and was knighted in 1902. immensely accomplished, its endearing melody and and on earth peace, goodwill towards men. Rosa sine spina. It is for this and his contribution to Anglican church harmonies have graced wedding services and church We praise thee, we bless thee, thou bare Jesu, Heaven’s King, music, however, that Stanford is principally services across both the Anglican and Catholic we worship thee, we glorify thee, Gratia divina: remembered. This included major settings of the Churches for over 100 years now, as strong a testament we give thanks to thee for Thy great glory, Of all thou bear’st the prize, canticles as well as anthems, hymns and organ works. as any. O Lord God, heavenly King, Lady Queen of paradise His settings of the Services swept away the moribund The setting of Give unto the Lord (CD2, Track 5) God the Father Almighty. Electa: approach of earlier Victorian composers and established was written in 1914 for the Sons of Clergy Festival at St O Lord the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ; Maid mild, mother es new expressive means through applying Brahmsian Paul’s Cathedral. It is dedicated to Sir George Martin, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. Effecta. procedures in cyclical unity, thematic transformation who had succeeded Stainer as organist at St Paul’s in Thou that takest away the sins of the world, and symphonic structure. The rôle of the accompanying 1888. The powerful opening is apt for the occasion, have mercy upon us, Anonymous, c. 1300 organ is also heightened to superb effect. These tenets, mounting in triumph at the words “The God of glory receive our prayer. subsequently enriched and developed with maturity, thundereth”. The cedars are dramatically broken, the Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father, mark all the Services that followed, not least the wilderness shaken and the forests stripped bare, before have mercy upon us. G major Magnificat and Nunc dimittis (CD1, Tracks 1 the meditative tranquillity of the Temple and the For thou only art holy; and 2) heard here, with its delightful arpeggiated organ following return to the majesty of the opening. The thou only art the Lord; accompaniment and soaring treble solo line, sung here psalm ends with the serenity of the blessing of peace. thou only, O Christ, by Oliver Lepage-Dean, possibly one of the most with the Holy Ghost, distinguished trebles of the past decade. A full CD of Elgar’s Choral Music, sung by the Choir art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen. The unaccompanied Three Latin Motets have justly of St John’s College under Christopher Robinson, is remained among the most enduring of Stanford’s sacred available on Naxos 8.557288. works. Although published in 1905, they were

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A pupil of Stanford, Herbert Howells (1892 – 1983) is own words, “a tonal opulence commensurate with a vast ^ Magnificat 2 Coronation Te Deum widely regarded as among the most gifted English church,” while the “harmonic and tonality changes are See track 1 We praise thee, O God: composers of the generation to succeed Elgar, Vaughan deployed in a more leisured, more spacious way.” The we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. Williams, Holst and Delius. His strong sense of place effect is utterly mesmerising, whether heard in the vast All the earth doth worship thee: the Father everlasting. and unique sound-world set him apart, while his acoustic of St Paul’s, or as they are heard here, in the & God is gone up, Op. 27, No. 2 To thee all Angels cry aloud: contribution to the renaissance of English choral music more immediate sound world of St John’s Chapel, God is gone up with a triumphant shout, the Heavens and all the Powers therein. during the course of his long life is probably which Howells must have known so well. The Lord with sounding trumpets’ melodies. To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry, unparalleled. To add to his gifts as a teacher, orator and Sing praise, sing praise, sing praises out, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; The son of a local organist, Howells was born in composer, Howells was an organist of immense Unto our King sing praise seraphic-wise! Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory. 1892 in deepest Gloucestershire, the beauty of which distinction, capable as great organists are of extended Lift up your heads, ye lasting doors, they sing, The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee. marked his musical personality as indelibly as the and sophisticated improvisation. His Paean (CD1, And let the King of Glory enter in. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee. Malvern Hills did with Elgar. Despite a Welsh name Track 9) repays repeated listening and shows to startling The noble army of Martyrs praise thee. and, indeed, an ethnically Celtic background, he always effect his determination to use the brilliance of the Methinks I see Heaven’s sparkling courtiers fly, The holy Church throughout all the world regarded his spiritual home as being very much on the twentieth century organ to full measure. In flakes of Glory down him to attend, doth acknowledge thee; English side of the Welsh border. In 1963 Howells heard with shock, along with the And hear heart-cramping notes of melody The Father of an infinite Majesty; His musical ambitions burgeoned at London’s rest of the world, of the death of President John F. Surround his chariot as it did ascend; Thine honourable, true and only Son; Royal College of Music, where he was widely regarded Kennedy. It says much about his standing that he was Mixing their music, making ev’ry string Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. as the most naturally gifted student of his generation and immediately commissioned to write a motet to be sung More to enravish as they this tune sing. Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ. where he soon outgrew the disciplined tutelage of at the memorial service in Washington Cathedral. Ever God is gone up etc. Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father. Stanford and Parry. Later, Howells himself became one concerned to find precisely the right text for this When thou tookest upon to deliver man, of the College’s most distinguished teachers for a monumental occasion, he triumphed using Helen Edward Taylor thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb. remarkable 59 years. Waddell’s translation from Prudentius’s Hymnus circa When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, In late 1941 Howells was appointed as Acting exsequias defuncti. The result, Take him, earth, for thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Organist at St John’s College, Cambridge and eighteen cherishing (CD1, Track 10), is quite simply one of the CD 2 Thou sittest at the right hand of God, months later, spurred on by a sense of mission to finest English choral motets of the twentieth century. In in the Glory of the Father. revitalise English choral music, he composed his a work which had to speak with dignity of the world’s 1 Set me as a seal We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge. famous morning and evening Canticles for King’s loss, it achieves the integration of text and music at the Set me as a seal upon thine heart, We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, College, Cambridge, the Collegium Regale service. Its highest level. Perhaps for Howells the work brought As a seal upon thine arm; whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. immediate success marked a watershed for cathedral again to the surface some of the same feelings of loss For love is strong as death; Make them to be numbered choral music, described in a letter from the Dean of which he himself had suffered in his life. Many waters cannot quench love, with thy Saints in glory everlasting. King’s College, Cambridge as “a wholly new chapter in Appropriately, perhaps, this was the motet at Neither can the floods drown it. O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage. church music….so much more than music-making; it is Howells’ own memorial service twenty years later in Govern them, and lift them up for ever. experiencing deep things in the only medium that can do 1983 in Westminster Abbey. Here the composer took (Song of Solomon) Day by day we magnify thee; it.” his place of rest in the north aisle alongside others who And we worship thy Name, ever world without end. Over the next forty years Howells was to write no had helped forge a character and identity in England’s Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin. less than twenty settings of the Canticles for cathedrals compositional life such as Vaughan Williams, Elgar, O Lord, have mercy upon us, in both England and the United States. Of these settings, Stanford and Walton. During the course of his long life, O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis for London’s St Paul’s he had been a distinguished teacher, examiner, scholar, as our trust is in thee. Cathedral are among the best-known and most highly- broadcaster and critic, widely admired and respected. O Lord, in thee have I trusted; regarded. The sheer visceral excitement of the St Paul’s Today his most audible legacy is a corpus of work let me never be confounded. Service, (CD1, Tracks 7 & 8) is perhaps unrivalled in its whose individuality and calibre mark Howells out as vast harmonic climaxes. The works have, in Howells’ perhaps the single greatest contributor to the re-birth of

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Was’t not enough to lose thy breath $ 2 sacred choral music in Britain, a fact borne out by a visit awarded a fellowship at Worcester College Oxford in And blood by an accursed death, R: Una hora non potuistis vigilare mecum, qui to almost any Anglican cathedral. 1963. But thou must also leave exhortabamini mori pro me? Vel Judam non videtis, The Nine Tenebrae Responsories are settings of the To us that did bereave quomodo non dormit, sed festinat tradere me Judæis? A full CD of Howells’s Choral Music, sung by the texts used during Matins on Maundy Thursday. Matins Thee of them both, these seals the means Choir of St John’s College under Christopher consists of three Nocturns, each with three psalms and That should both cleanse V: Quid dormitis? surgite, et orate, Robinson, is available on Naxos 8.554659. antiphons and three readings with three responsories: And keep us so, ne intretis in tentationem. Vel Judam non videtis, hence nine responsories in total. There is a similar Who wrought thy woe? quomodo non dormit, sed festinat tradere me Judæis? Peter Hurford (born 1930) was Organ Scholar of Jesus scheme for Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Rubbra O rose of Sharon! O the lily College Cambridge and is a distinguished organ composed the three sets over the course of 10 years, Of the valley! R: Could ye not watch one hour with me, ye that were recitalist. His great love of the music of J.S. Bach can be completing the last set (heard here – CD1, Tracks 13 - How art thou now, thy flock to keep, ready to die for me? Or see ye not Judas, how he seen in this simple but moving setting of Robert 15) in 1961. It seems then that Rubbra did not initially Become both food, and Shepherd to thy sheep. sleepeth not, but maketh haste to betray me to the Jews? Herrick’s Litany to the Holy Spirit (CD1, Track 11), a conceive these pieces for complete liturgical piece that has become widely popular through the performance but there is a unity of purpose and Henry Vaughan V: Why sleep ye? Arise, and pray, world. The Five Mystical Songs of Ralph Vaughan approach and all textual repetitions as dictated by the lest ye enter into temptation. Or see ye not Judas, Williams (1872 – 1958) have proved to be an enduring liturgical rubrics have been observed. how he sleepeth not, but maketh haste to betray me to part of his large contribution to choral music and Only when the colour of the words is married to the Tenebrae Motets, Op. 72 - Third Nocturn the Jews? include this setting of George Herbert’s The Call (CD1, music is the genius of these pieces released. Moments Track 6). reminiscent of the late twentieth-century minimalists # 1 % 3 give an extra sense of timelessness but this is only one R: Eram quasi agnus innocens: ductus sum ad R: Seniores populi consilium fecerunt, ut Jesum dolo Edmund Rubbra (1901 – 1986) holds a distinguished technique in a set bristling with integrity, variety and immolandum, et nesciebam: Consilium fecerunt inimici tenerent, et occiderent: place in the history of English music. His works emotional power. mei adversum me, dicentes: Venite, mittamus lignum in cum gladiis et fustibus exierunt tamquam ad latronem. combine lyrical beauty and intellectual vigour, with The Magnificat in A flat major (CD1, Track 16) was panem ejus, et eradamus eum de terra viventium. harmonic inventiveness deployed to draw out strong composed in 1948 and compares with Howells’s famous V: Collegerunt pontifices et pharisæi concilium: thematic ideas. Collegium Regale settings of the 1940s which so V: Omnes inimici mei: adversum me cogitabant mala ut Jesum dolo tenerent, et occiderent: Rubbra’s deeply-felt spirituality and religious changed the course of English choral music. Rubbra’s mihi: verbum iniquum mandaverunt adversum me, cum gladiis et fustibus exierunt tamquam ad latronem beliefs proved an inexhaustible wellspring in his setting is bold and muscular, underlined by the daring dicentes: Venite, mittamus lignum in panem ejus, composition, inspiring a corpus of sacred music which use of the diminished fifth and a tempo both urgent and et eradamus eum de terra viventium. R: Seniores populi consilium fecerunt, ut Jesum dolo is at once bold and revelatory. His reception into the majestic. Throughout there is sensitivity to just tenerent, et occiderent: Roman Catholic Church in 1948 was to prove both accentuation and word stress, and a magnificent Gloria R: I was like an innocent lamb: I was led to the sacrifice cum gladiis et fustibus exierunt tamquam ad latronem. inevitable for him, and also influential for the further follows: the organ accompaniment has a certain and I knew it not; mine enemies conspired against me, development of his music. notoriety for its original and highly effective use of saying, Come, let us put wood into his bread, and root R: The Elders of the people consulted together: Rubbra was born to working-class parents in simultaneous duplets and triplets weaving in contrary him out of the land of the living. How they might by craft apprehend Jesus and slay him: Northampton where his father was employed in a boot motion before drawing back to a climactic and unison with swords and clubs they went forth as to a thief. factory and young Edmund ran errands to supplement finish. V: All mine enemies contrived mischief against me, the family income long before he left school at the age they uttered a wicked speech against me, saying, V: The Priests and Pharisees held a council: of fourteen to work as a railway clerk. His mother A full CD of Rubbra’s Choral Music, sung by the Come let us put wood into his bread, How they might by craft apprehend Jesus and slay him: fostered his musical talents and he eventually studied Choir of St John’s College under Christopher and root him out of the land of the living. with swords and clubs they went forth as to a thief. under Gustav Holst at Reading University, after which Robinson, is available on Naxos 8.555255. he won an open scholarship to the Royal College of R: The Elders of the people consulted together: How Music in 1921. A distinguished teacher, he eventually The music of Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) is rooted in the they might by craft apprehend Jesus and slay him: with served as professor of music at the Guildhall School of tradition of Elgar and his lifelong friend Vaughan swords and clubs they went forth as to a thief. Music and Drama in London (1961 – 74) and was also Williams. It was his response to words, however, that

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gave his music its particular individuality, resulting in Welcome sweet and sacred feast (CD1, Track 12) Not though ancient time decaying When the house doth sigh and weep, music that seems inevitably to mirror the essence of the was a BBC commission from its Religious Broadcasting Wear away those bones to sand. And the world is drown’d with sleep, poet’s thought. As in Finzi’s favourite poet, Thomas Department. Finzi was drawn to a seventeenth century Ashes that a man might measure Yet mine eyes the watch do keep, Hardy, a sense of urgency can be felt in the music author, and set here The Holy Communion by Henry In the hollow of his hand. Sweet Spirit, comfort me! reflecting his keen awareness of life’s frailty. A further Vaughan (1622-1695). The first performance was in a preoccupation was his belief that adult experience BBC Evensong broadcast from St Michael’s Cornhill Not though wandering winds and idle Robert Herrick tarnishes the innocent wonder of childhood. Both these on 11th October 1953. It begins with a short organ Drifting through the empty sky, concerns may be traced to Finzi’s own early experience introduction, which, almost at the end of the work, Scatter dust to nerve and sinew, when the deaths of his father, three brothers and his returns transformed into one of Finzi’s most lyrical and Is it given to man to die. @ Welcome sweet and sacred feast, Op. 27, No. 3 teacher Farrar made an indelible impression on him. As memorable phrases at the words O rose of Sharon! O Welcome sweet and sacred feast; welcome life! a young man he was introspective: literature provided the lily of the valley! Once again the shining road Dead I was, and deep in trouble; companionship, and in authors like Robert Bridges, God is Gone Up (CD1, Track 17) was Leads to ample paradise: But grace and blessings came with thee so rife, Thomas Traherne, Wordsworth and Hardy he found like commissioned for the St Cecilia’s Day Service of 22nd Open are the woods again That they have quicken’d even dry stubble minds. November 1951, when it was performed at St That the serpent lost for men. Thus souls their bodies animate, Indefatigable that nothing good should be lost, Sepulchre’s, Holborn Viaduct, with John Dykes Bower And thus, at first, when things were rude, Finzi’s energetic mind went far beyond his conducting choristers from the Chapels Royal, St Paul’s Take, O take him, mighty leader, Dark, void, and crude compositions. He was an ardent champion of neglected Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Take again thy servant’s soul. They, by thy Word, their beauty had, and date; composers like Ivor Gurney, and with the fine amateur Cathedral. It has an exultant air, with its fanfare-like Grave his name, and pour the fragment All were by thee, string orchestra he founded, the Newbury String opening mirroring the words “The Lord with sounding Balm upon the icy stone. And still must be; Players, he revived works by forgotten eighteenth trumpets’ melodies”, and make a fitting climax. Nothing that is, or lives, century composers such as John Stanley and Richard By the breath of God created. But hath his quick’nings, and reprieves Mudge. He also collected a library of English poetry A full CD of Finzi’s Choral Music, sung by the Choir Christ the prince of all its living. As thy hand opes, or shuts: and literature of over three thousand volumes including of St John’s College under Christopher Robinson, is Take, O take him. Healings and cuts, many rare editions. Not least, in his orchard, he rescued available on Naxos 8.555792. Take him, earth, for cherishing. Darkness and day-light, life and death several traditional English apple varieties from Are but mere leaves turn’d by thy breath. extinction. Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, 4th Century But that great darkness at thy death (Translated by Helen Waddell) When the veil broke with thy last breath, Did make us see The way to thee. ! Litany to the Holy Spirit In the hour of my distress, Was’t not enough that thou hadst paid the price When temptations me oppress, And given us eyes And when I my sins confess, When we had none, but thou must also take Sweet Spirit, comfort me! Us by the hand When I lie within my bed, And keep us still awake, Sick in heart and sick in head, When we would sleep, And with doubts discomforted, Or from thee creep, Sweet Spirit, comfort me! Who without thee cannot stand?

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4 Ave verum corpus Hail true body 6 The Call CD 2: Walton, Britten, Berkeley, Leighton and Tavener Ave verum corpus, natum Hail true body, born Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life: ex Maria Virgine, of the Virgin Mary, Such a Way, as gives us breath: The music on this CD stretches from Benjamin background, there can be little surprise that choral music vere passum, immolatum that truly suffered, sacrificed Such a Truth, as ends all strife: Britten’s very first choral composition to Lennox became a natural first mode of expression for the in cruce pro homine. on the cross for man. Such a Life, as killeth death. Berkeley (sometime protégé of Britten) and Tavener developing composer in his teens and that he returned to (erstwhile pupil to Berkeley), one of whose works the genre at intervals throughout his long career. Cujus latus perforatum Whose pierced side Come, My Light, my Feast, my Strength: here dates from as recently as 1999. In between The 1938 anthem Set me as a Seal (CD2, Track 1) vere fluxit sanguine; truly flowed with blood; Such a Light, as shows a feast: feature vibrant works by a complete original, shows another side to Walton. This perfectly-honed esto nobis praegustatum, be for us a foretaste Such a Feast, as mends in length: Kenneth Leighton, and William Walton – as near as jewel was the kind of piece he might have laboured to mortis in examine. in the trial of death. Such a Strength, as makes his guest. this group came to an establishment figure with his perfect over weeks and months, for all its 2 minute Coronation Te Deum of 1952. duration. The resulting anthem is a still moment of O clemens, O pie, O clement, O merciful, Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart: peace and invocation. O dulcis Jesus, O sweet Jesus, Such a Joy, as none can move: William Walton (1902 - 1983) spanned a In 1952 Walton, in mid-career and at the very heart Fili Mariae. Son of Mary. Such a Love, as none can part: compositional divide in 20th Century British of musical life in Britain, was commissioned to write a Such a Heart, as joys in love. composition. Before the Second World War, as choral paean to celebrate the start of Queen Elizabeth audiences looked forward from the era of Elgar and II’s reign. The Coronation Te Deum (CD2, Track 2) is 5 Give unto the Lord George Herbert Holst, he was regarded as the great new hope of British performed here in the frequently-heard arrangement by Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, music, with his jazzy rhythms, his bravura orchestration Simon Preston with organ reduction by Mark Blatchly. give unto the Lord glory and strength. and astringent harmonies. After the war, the rise of The original featured orchestra, organ and large Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; 7 & 8 Magnificat and Nunc dimittis European modernism made Walton look like a choruses of voices split into groups for antiphonal worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. See tracks 1 & 2 conservative force and he consequently fell from critical effect. Even in its more modest form, the work retains The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: favour. Thankfully, history tends to be a less partisan its innate sense of grandeur and occasion, and a festive the God of glory thundereth: it is the Lord judge of composers than contemporary music criticism, feeling it shares with works such as Belshazzar’s Feast. that ruleth the sea. 0 Take Him, Earth, For Cherishing and his reputation is now much restored. Like so many choral composers, Walton often wrote The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation: Take him, earth, for cherishing. In the sphere of Walton’s sacred choral music, the his best material with a sense of place in mind. The the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. To thy tender breast receive him. facts speak plainly. Working over a span of some sixty Missa Brevis was written in 1966 for the Friends of the The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars: Body of a man I bring thee years, he created a relatively small corpus which new Coventry Cathedral. At seven minutes duration, yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. Noble even in its ruin. includes some of the finest works in the Anglican canon, this is indeed a “short Mass”, but highly effective in writing anthems and canticles which are still performed liturgical context, with its memorably angular melodies, Yea, the voice of the Lord divideth Once was this a spirit’s dwelling, and admired in churches and cathedrals throughout the acerbic harmonies and taut structure. The Gloria heard the flames of fire. By the breath of God created. English-speaking world. here (CD2, Track 3) shows typical Walton flair. Yea, the voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness, High the heart that here was beating. William Walton as musician and composer first Without parading its innovation, the music has an and strippeth the forests bare. Christ the prince of all its living. sprang to life through the music of the Anglican Church. unforced harmonic and melodic originality. At its razor- In His temple doth everyone speak of His glory. His father was the choirmaster at the local church in sharp best, it is powerful and arresting, fusing words and Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Guard him well, the dead I give thee. Oldham, where William served an early apprenticeship music in a way which is unrivalled in English choral The Lord sitteth above the water-flood: Not unmindful of his creature as a young chorister. His voice and musicianship proved repertoire. and the Lord remaineth a King for ever. Shall he ask it: he who made it sufficient to secure him admission to the choir at Christ The Lord shall give strength unto His people: Symbol of his mystery. Church, Oxford. A full CD of Walton’s Choral Music, sung by the the Lord shall give the blessing of peace. Choristership at Christ Church, Oxford revealed Choir of St John’s College under Christopher Comes the hour God hath appointed Walton’s promise as a musician and was followed by Robinson, is available on Naxos 8.555793. (Psalm XXIX) To fulfil the hope of men. unusually early entrance to the college as an Then must thou, in very fashion undergraduate at the age of just 16. Given this Benjamin Britten (1903 – 1976) could occasionally be What I give return again. 8.557557-58 16 9 8.557557-58 557557-8 bk English Choral 26/01/2005 10:59am Page 10

disparaging about pre-20th century orchestral and W.H. Auden (who regarded Britten as his protégé), with CD 1 operatic composition in the British Isles, but he always each part rounded off by an exaltation to St Cecilia. made a careful exception where choral music was Auden deliberately conflates his subject – the patron 1 Magnificat 2 Nunc dimittis concerned. Whereas in opera he regarded it as a life’s saint of music – with composers and music in general, My soul doth magnify the Lord: Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, ambition to establish a genre (until his arrival largely as well as with Britten himself, whose birthday fell on St and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. according to thy word; missing from his native country since Handel’s day), but Cecilia’s Day. Auden offers music its own self portrait, For he hath regarded For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, in the choral sphere he chose instead to work within a as naïve, incapable of taking a moral standpoint, simply the lowliness of his hand-maiden. which thou hast prepared before the face tradition, one for which he had the deepest knowledge playing and wanting to be loved: “I cannot grow, I have For behold from henceforth of all people, and respect. no shadow to run away from, I only play”. As the work all generations shall call me blessed. To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, Nonetheless, no tradition touched by Britten’s continues Auden widens his field of reference to the For he that is mighty hath magnified me, and to be the glory of thy people Israel. towering musical imagination could fail to be renewed innocence of composers as a species, including Britten and holy is his Name. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and revitalised, and he left behind a corpus of work himself: “O dear white children… Playing among the And his mercy is on them that fear him and to the Holy Ghost: which has already embedded itself deeply into the ruined languages”. While war rampages through throughout all generations. as it was in the beginning, is now, choral and liturgical culture of all Anglophone Europe, he seems to say, composers such as you merrily He hath showed strength with his arm; and ever shall be; countries. Choral music, he acknowledged, formed the deploy the musical building-blocks of those civilisations he hath scattered the proud world without end. Amen. very bedrock of British musical life in centuries past, without political engagement to protect their future – a in the imagination of their hearts. from madrigal groups to cathedral choirs, from small bizarre and untenable position to Auden as a writer and he hath put down the mighty from their seat, (Luke 2, vv. 29-32) professional groups to large amateur choral societies. artist. and hath exalted the humble and meek. A Hymn to the Virgin, (CD2, Track 4) is one of Britten’s scintillating setting leaves little doubt he he hath filled the hungry with good things, Britten’s very earliest works, written in a matter of understood and endorsed Auden’s view of music and and the rich he hath sent empty away. 3 Justorum Animae hours at the age of 17 from his sick bed, during his final musicians, coming to terms with his own pacifism and he remembering his mercy Justorum animae in manu Dei sunt, term at school. It sets a semi-chorus (or solo quartet) lack of direct political engagement. Each section has its hath holpen his servant Israel, et non tanget illos tormentum mortis. interposing Latin texts again a 14th-century English own unusual thematic and harmonic developments, and as he promised to our forefathers, Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori, poem, and shows the fecundity and ease of Britten’s the work sparkles with typical ingenuity, setting Abraham and his seed, for ever. illi autem sunt in pace. talent. technical hurdles for choral singers. Moreover, the The Jubilate Deo (CD2, Track 5) was the first fruit quietly passionate unison chorusses of “Blessed Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and of a proposal from the Duke Of Edinburgh that Britten Cecilia…” between each section create a strong and to the Holy Ghost: there shall no torment of malice touch them. In the should write some music for St George’s Chapel unifying effect, allowing the work to function at a as it was in the beginning, is now, eyes of fools they seem to die, but they are in peace. Windsor. Nothing more of that idea seems to have simple, hymnic level. and ever shall be; emerged except this joyous, dancing work, with its pert As music, it also functions as a hymn or paean to the world without end. Amen. rhythms, sparkling organ accompaniment and masterly art’s patron saint: it speaks warmly to musicians who word-setting. have always delighted in its themes, revelled in its (Luke 1 vv. 46-55) The Hymn to St Cecilia (CD2, Track 6) was begun harmonies and relished its technical challenges without during Britten’s stay in the United States in the early perhaps grasping the subtleties of Auden’s texts. 1940s, and completed during his return on the ship Perhaps there is a deep irony in this, or perhaps it is the “Axel Johnson” in 1942. US customs officials work’s deepest truth. Music is music, pure and simple – confiscated his half-completed score of the work just in itself it is deeply hard to politicise. Therein lies its joy before his departure from America. Spurred on by this and its universality. unexpected loss, Britten re-wrote the first section entirely from memory, and used the opportunity of A full CD of Britten’s Choral Works sung by the Choir escaping from the drab company on board to complete of St John’s College under Christopher Robinson is the rest. available on Naxos 8.554791. The words are a setting in three parts by the poet 8.557557-58 10 15 8.557557-58 557557-8 bk English Choral 26/01/2005 10:59am Page 14

Although 10 years his junior, Britten acted as an composing at the age of eight while a chorister at the important mentor to Lennox Berkeley (1903 – 1989) Cathedral. His distinctive compositional voice is during his years of development in the 1930s before his characterized by rich, lush harmonies, subtle reputation was wholly established. Charm, wit and dissonance, rhythmic energy and a lilting, angular masterly craftsmanship are the watchwords usually lyricism. Pithy thematic ideas and syncopated rhythms associated with Lennox Berkeley, but for all its are allied to a brilliant mastery of counterpoint and a elegance, Berkeley’s compositional voice is marked by unique sense of melody borne of a lifelong love of an inner conviction borne of a strong personal faith and hymns, chorale and chant. membership of the Roman Catholic Church which he Choristership made a great impression on him: joined in 1928. His legacy is a significant body of sacred ‘Any natural composer is a product of his background, choral music familiar across the Anglican and Roman experience and training … With my upbringing and my Catholic Churches. boyhood as a cathedral chorister this is perhaps why I The motet Crux Fidelis (CD2, Track 8) for tenor respond emotionally to Christian subjects and texts … solo and unaccompanied choir was first performed in church music is undoubtedly a channel of 1955 by Britten’s long-term partner Peter Pears and the communication for me … early experiences are of Purcell Singers. In this Good Friday hymn the choir immense and fundamental importance in musical as in vividly describes the agonies Christ endured; there is all other kinds of development and I therefore speak as anguished dissonance at the mention of the crown of one who comes from inside the church’. thorns, whilst the tenor solo (sung here by Allan Characteristics of his music are its lyricism, Clayton) in the central section brings a personal rhythmic energy, virtuoso writing, and a penchant for response to the meaning of the Passion in a soaring, instrumental colour. intense vocal line. Leighton’s first setting of the Magnificat and Nunc The Lord is my Shepherd (CD2, Track 7) was the dimittis (CD2, Tracks 10 and 11) is subtitled Collegium second of Berkeley’s works dedicated to Walter Hussey, Magdalenae Oxoniense being composed for the choir of the remarkable cleric who as incumbent of St Matthew’s Magdalen College in 1959 and dedicated to its Northampton and subsequently as Dean of Chichester, choirmaster Bernard Rose. In both canticles the organ initiated a remarkable series of commissions from part is elaborate, providing a buoyant texture that composers including Britten and Bernstein (The underpins the words. The Magnificat is bright and Chichester Psalms). This setting of Psalm 23 was joyous with its sections bound together by the two-bar commissioned to mark the 900th anniversary of the organ call to attention at the opening. Its Gloria ends foundation of Chichester Cathedral and was first heard fervently with the words ‘world without end’ as an in 1975. The instantly memorable melody of the solo exultant descending phrase punched out by the voices. treble at the beginning, and the mastery of choral In the Nunc dimittis the organ part becomes more and writing in the unaccompanied middle section (evoking more elaborate until it reaches its full glory in the The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge, 2003 the valley of the shadow of death) are quintessential triumphant Gloria. Berkeley: original, beautiful, elegant yet true to the text. An Easter Sequence was commissioned by the Berkshire Boy Choristers of the United States for their A full CD of Berkeley’s Choral Music, sung by the service in St Severin, Paris, on Low Sunday 1969. For Choir of St John’s College under Christopher his texts Leighton used the Propers for the Sundays after Robinson, is available on Naxos 8.557277. Easter, the Antiphon at First Vespers on Ascension Day and Psalm 23. It is scored for two-part boys’ or female Kenneth Leighton (1929 – 1988) was born in the voices, organ and trumpet. The music is vigorous, built northern English city of Wakefield and started around fanfare-like figures for trumpet and voices as if 8.557557-58 14 11 8.557557-58 557557-8 bk English Choral 26/01/2005 10:59am Page 12

heralding the risen Lord. The “Sortie” (CD2, Track 12) 1985. It sprang to prominence through its inclusion in The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge is the final part of the work and sees the voices and the annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols trumpets unite for a flowing melody of affirmative broadcast from King’s College Cambridge on Christmas St John’s College was founded in 1511 and is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge. The College strength. Eve and has a strong hold among church choirs across Choir, which has a world-wide reputation for its unique sound and for the quality of its music-making, has had as the spectrum. its main duty since the 1670s the singing of the daily services in the College chapel during the University Term. The A full CD of Leighton’s Choral Music, featuring A very recent work, The Lord’s Prayer (CD2, Track Services follow the Church of England cathedral tradition with Evensong six times a week and a Sung Eucharist on Crispian Steele-Perkins on trumpet and sung by the 14), is the youngest on this compilation, dating from Sunday mornings. Choir of St John’s College under Christopher 1999, and deploys bare musical material to striking The all-male Choir consists of fourteen Choral Students and sixteen Choristers. The Choristers are appointed at Robinson, is available on Naxos 8.555795. effect. Dedicated to the baby daughter of Tavener’s voice trials, which take place regularly, and are educated at St John’s College School, which is situated at the edge publisher at Chester Music, the work’s harmonic ebb of the College grounds. The School now educates some 440 boys and girls up to the age of thirteen. There is intense Taught by Lennox Berkeley among others, and flow give it a childlike simplicity, waves of gentle competition for places, not only for the financial rewards in terms of scholarships, but also for the unique musical John Tavener (born 1944) has over a span of 35 years dissonance. training which the Choristers receive. The ages of the Choristers range from nine to thirteen years and they are shown an originality of concept and an intensely Song for Athene (CD2, Track 15) has become one of encouraged to play a full part in the life of the School as well as the Choir. There are also four Probationers who personal idiom, making his voice entirely separate from Tavener’s best known pieces since it was sung at the begin their training at the age of eight and join the choir as vacancies arise. The alto, tenor and bass parts are taken those of his contemporaries. The contemplative side of funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. The work takes as by Choral Students who are admitted as undergraduates to the College to study a variety of subjects. Choral Students his nature has led him in more spiritual directions and its text a mixture of Shakespeare (specifically Hamlet) very often become professional singers and many have been awarded scholarships by the Royal Academy of Music his commitment to the Russian Orthodox Church which and the Orthodox funeral service. The work, originally and the Royal College of Music. Apart from its liturgical commitments, the Choir gives a number of concerts each he joined in 1977 is evident throughout much of his written in 1993, is typical of Tavener’s rich choral year both in the United Kingdom and overseas. Recent tours have taken the Choir to Australia, South Africa, work. sound, its peals of “Alleluia” increasing gradually in Canada, the United States, Holland, Belgium, Sweden and Japan. Tavener, in aiming to write music suitable to volume and impinging further on the listener’s The repertoire of the Choir stretches from the fifteenth century to the present day. Many highly acclaimed convey the theology and the spirituality of the Orthodox consciousness. In both these works, the choral writing recordings have been made and these are available world-wide. The Advent Carol Service, the Lent Meditation, and Church, creates music of what is sometimes called carries resonances of renaissance polyphony and of the Evensong on Ash Wednesday (when Allegri’s Miserere is sung) are broadcast annually on BBC Radio 3. The choir “dynamic stasis”. Long phrases of eastern chant, English cathedral tradition but transmutes them into has recently completed an extensive survey of English Choral Music on the Naxos label (please see page 4 for harmonic transparency and the stillness of his work runs something quite different, and quite recognisably by complete list). The series, including discs of Howells (Winner of the Cannes Classical Award 2001), Britten counter to what the composer sees as the more “active” Tavener. (nominated for a Gramophone Award 2000), Tavener (nominated for a Classical Brit Award and a Gramophone spirit of western sacred music: nevertheless, Tavener’s Award 2001), Rubbra (nominated for a Gramophone Award 2001) and Walton (nominated for a Gramophone western background inevitably plays its part and the A full CD of Tavener’s Choral Music, sung by the Award 2002), has sold 100,000 copies to date. Many composers have written for the Choir, including Tippett, unique sound of the fusion of these two is characteristic Choir of St John’s College under Christopher Howells, and Langlais; more recently works have been commissioned from Francis Grier, Andrew Gant, John of all his choral music. Robinson, is available on Naxos 8.555256. Tavener and Judith Bingham. The Lamb (CD2, Track 13), a delicate yet sacred lullaby to the poem by William Blake, was written in Christopher Robinson Christopher Robinson has been Organist and Director of Music at St John’s College, Cambridge since October 1991. His expertise as a choral and orchestral conductor was already well known following similar appointments at Worcester Cathedral (1963-74) and St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle (1975-91). He was conductor of the City of Birmingham Choir from 1964 to 2002 and conducted the Oxford Bach Choir from 1977 to 1997. Christopher Robinson was elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in 1980 and was President of the Royal College of Organists from 1982 to 1984. He holds honorary degrees from Birmingham University and the University of Central England. In 1992 the Queen honoured him with the appointment of Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in recognition of his work at Windsor Castle. In 2002 he was awarded a Lambeth doctorate.

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W.H. Auden

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Translated by Kate Johnson

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CMYK N N AXOS The rich sounds of the highly acclaimed Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge conducted by AXOS Christopher Robinson can be sampled in this extensive collection, which explores the legacy of modern English choral music. CD 1 presents music from Stanford, often viewed as the father of English choral music, through to works by his pupils Vaughan Williams and Howells. Other featured composers include Elgar, the most famous of all modern English composers, whose music also finds echoes in the DDD NLS HRLMUSIC ENGLISH CHORAL passionate lyricism of Finzi. The music on CD 2 stretches from Benjamin Britten’s very first choral MUSIC ENGLISH CHORAL composition to Lennox Berkeley (sometime protégé of Britten) and Tavener (erstwhile pupil of 8.557557-58 Berkeley). In between feature vibrant works by Kenneth Leighton and William Walton. Total ENGLISH CHORAL MUSIC Playing Time CD 1 CD 2 2:29:51 1 Stanford: Magnificat in G 4:13 1 Walton: 2 Stanford: Nunc Dimittis in G 4:18 Set me as a seal upon thine heart 3:34 3 Stanford: Justorum Animae 3:24 2 Walton: Coronation Te Deum 9:50 4 Elgar: Ave Verum 2:39 3 Walton: Gloria from Missa Brevis 3:24 5 Elgar: Give unto the Lord 7:50 4 Britten: A Hymn to the Virgin 3:06 6 Vaughan Williams: The Call 2:05 5 Britten: Jubilate Deo 2:38 7 Howells: Magnificat, St Paul’s 6:33 6 Britten: Hymn to St Cecilia 10:20 8 Howells: Nunc Dimittis, St Paul’s 4:59 7 Berkeley: The Lord is my Shepherd 4:21 9 Howells: Paean for Organ 6:03 8 Berkeley: Crux Fidelis 6:53

0 Howells: 9 Berkeley: www.naxos.com Made in Canada Sung texts included Booklet notes in English Naxos Rights International Ltd. h

Take him, earth, for cherishing 7:44 Look up, Sweet Babe 4:34 1999-2004 & ! Hurford: Litany to the Holy Spirit 2:26 0 Leighton: @ Finzi: Magnificat Coll Magdalenae 5:03 Welcome Sweet and Sacred Feast 7:31 ! Leighton: Nunc Dimittis 3:13 #-% Rubbra: @ Leighton: An Easter Sequence - Sortie 4:11 Tenebrae Motets - Third Nocturn 7:15 # Tavener: The Lamb 3:47 ^ Rubbra: Magnificat in A flat 4:18 $ Tavener: The Lord’s Prayer 3:30 g & Finzi: God is gone up 4:24 % Tavener: Song for Athene 5:43 2005

Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge • Christopher Robinson A full track list and recording details can be found in the booklet

8.557557-58 Series Producer: Andrew Walton • Series Engineer: Eleanor Thomason 8.557557-58 Executive Producer: Barry Holden NAXOS RADIO Over 50 Channels of Classical Music • Jazz, Folk/World, Nostalgia www.naxosradio.com Accessible Anywhere, Anytime • Near-CD Quality