Jazz in the Cathedral ?
I once asked an old Irish Roman Catholic Priest how he kept his mission fresh and kept his flock coming. His reply was…’Surprise the punters!’
It has become a habit that on the last Sunday in June, when St Mary’s Cathedral Choir stops for their Summer break, they do some spectacular music.
This year was no different…. 10.30 am saw us gathering at the Cathedral to join in a Jazz Mass by Bob Chilcott.
‘Bob who?’ some of you might ask.
There you are!
He was born in 1955 and proved to be a choral man through and through. He was a Choral Scholar at King’s College, Cambridge and in 1985 became a member of the Kings’s Singers, an a cappella group, for some 12 years. In 1997 he took up composing and conducting full-time and has produced an extensive list of music, much of which is suitable for young singers. We have already had some of his music within the Cathedral.
The music for the Liturgy was supplied by a number of relatively-young musicians (well, at my age, most musicians are relatively-young!), including a flautist and clarinetist drawn from the choir. Even the very-young junior members of the treble line sang their hearts out! The enjoyment in the choir and congregation was evident as the usual high quality was maintained, and with that happiness which jazz can provide…despite the references to ‘blues’.
It was a wonderful morning, in a well-filled church, and I’m sure that my friendly Irish priest would have been pleased with ‘the surprise’!
Gerald Finzi
At our Ascension Day Service on Thursday evening, in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, we sang all the good old favourites, such as ‘Hail the Day…’ words by Charles Wesley, ‘The Head that once…..’ with Jeremiah Clarke’s tune St Magnus, and Saward’s ‘Christ Triumphant….’ to John Barnard’s great tune ‘Guiting Power’. ALL GOOD STUFF !!
The music of the Liturgy was Haydn’s Kleine Orgelmesse…..very much a ‘no-nonsense’ setting which does exactly what it says on the tin.
For the anthem, the Cathedral Choir sang ‘God is Gone Up’…..a title which is highly-suitable for such an occasion. It was written by Gerald Finzi, the son of a father of Italian/ Jewish descent and mother of German/Jewish parentage.
He was born in London in 1901, into a well-off household and was able to be educated privately. He lost his father at 7 and during the First World War the family moved to Harrogate. In his early years he also lost three of his brothers…..which no doubt had an influence on his writing. He took the chance to study with Edward Bairstow who was close-by, at York Minster.
At the age of 21 he moved to Gloucestershire where he could compose in the lovely rural countryside. However, five years later he returned to London where he became acquainted with Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst and Sir Arthur Bliss. He married artist Joy Black in 1933 and moved to Wiltshire.
At the outbreak of war he moved to a farm in Hampshire, where he opened the house to German and Czech refugees, and he formed the amateur group the Newbury String Players. This allowed him to work on eighteenth century pieces, and several premieres by his contempories were given.
He was diagnosed in 1951 as having Hodgkin’s Disease but he continued with his work. In 1954 there was an all-Finzi concert in the Royal Festival Hall, and Sir John Barbirolli commissioned his Cello Concerto for the Cheltenham Festival of 1955. He died in 1956.
Whilst he is not a common name in the average listener’s vocabulary, and I don’t find ‘God is Gone up’ an easy piece to listen-to, I have to admit that perhaps his music does require a little more investigation.
‘Early one morning…..’
I was on Radio 4 this morning….maybe you didn’t notice! To be honest, it was more a case of my croaky voice, and cough!
St Mary’s Cathedral is convenient for the BBC in Glasgow, and is often used for services. Today Morning Service was live from there from 8.10 am. That meant we had to be seated by 7.45! The Choir of 40 was its usual wonderful self with some unusual pieces (including one from a Salvation Army book)For this wonderful piece of music listen to the anthem just after the Sermon….’The Quiet Heart….’ (words by James Morgan, and music by June Collin)….superb!
The uniquitous cold/cough which I brought into the Cathedral had to be stifled several times, and even my singing of the hymns had to be done with caution. I had two microphones quite close to where I was sitting, and I am sure that at least one cough may now be in the BBC archives. If you are a desperately-sad case, and want to see if you can spot it, then click on the link below…at least for about a week, and then the BBC will probably decide to edit it out after numerous complaints!
Superb silence by candlelight
Attended the Midnight Eucharist at the Cathedral last night. In preparation, candles had been lit on all the window ledges. At Communion, everyone was given a candle which was lit and they carried down the side aisles before they returned to their seats. As the last communion carol was finished by the choir, the overhead lights were slowly dimmed and we only had the lights from the window candles, those fixed to the choir screen, and those being held by the congregation.
Something dramatic happened in that time when the last few Choir chords drifted into the rafters and only the small flickering points of light illuminated what would have been otherwise a very dark space. The silence was palpable.
Maybe that told it all. Perhaps the speech and music had simply been a preparation for this moment. This is what I shall remember most from this Service…not the pomp, the wonderful music, or the tremendous words…..just the silence…….
Praise Indeed!
When we first went to St Mary’s Cathedral Glasgow, we found a super tradition. After the recession of Choir and Clergy, almost everyone stays in their seats while the closing Organ Voluntary is being played. At the conclusion, everyone claps.
There is something lovely about this. It is in strong contrast to many Churches where I have played, where people could not get out quickly enough. (Maybe it was my playing which drove them out!). I was often left playing to empty pews, after all the practice I had put in!
We are very lucky at St Mary’s in the tremendous music we are able to hear, and the vocal and instrumental available, and I think they know we appreciate this, but…………..
There has been a rather strange suggestion that… ‘(the Provost and Musicians) would prefer the congregation to applaud after services only when people feel they cannot help themselves!’
Perhaps then, we should be issued with numbered cards to vote, or see how far a Mexican Clap would spread, from an initial twitch of the hands!
We clap at baptisms, we clapped at the anniversary service for the Bishop, we clap at weddings, we clap when we are happy.
No….let’s keep a lovely tradition.. or maybe you disagree….let me know
Dancing in the Cathedral?….Surely not!
NO, Strictly Come Dancing has not come to St Mary’s Cathedral!
Sunday was a very busy day! Morning Service, celebrating Christ the King (and a baptism) was followed by the swiftly-handled AGM. Then, home for a quick bite of lunch and snooze, before going out again for Choral Evensong.
This was a special Service for Bishop Idris and which was introduced by Handel’s ‘Zadok the Priest’ (no doubt to celebrate the his 40 year anniversary of being priested, and 10 year anniversary of taking up the mitre). The Cathedral was completely full, including the old Choir Stalls being full of clergy.
The Versicles and Responses were by Rose, and the Choir and Provost did them proud. The Mag and Nunc were Stanford in E Flat, and the Charles Wood Anthem ‘O Thou, the Central Orb’, Both of these pieces are not easy to do, so require a lot of practice. The work-load on the Cathedral Choir is very heavy, so this may have explained the occasional lapses. However this was made up for by the wonderful Hymns, and the young organist who belied his years with his understanding of the registration of the organ.
The solemnity and gentleness of Evensong was followed by a very jolly time when we joined in a ceilidh with the Jiggers Band. Cake, biscuits, drinks, ice-cream all were in appearance and it was actually quite fun watching Bishops dancing the light fantastic, where the Altar would normally be…….shades of David in the temple?….perhaps not!
So, music filled this great space for a whole day…..now, if only the old stones could speak!
A tale of two composers
We attended an art exhibition and musical sing-along at Glasgow’s St Mary’s Cathedral on Saturday night, which is celebrating All Saints’ Tide. The Cathedral serves as a perfect gallery, and the pictures which were by local artists were certainly eclectic.
However, we were there specifically to see two of Scotland’s most prominent composers who had been involved in the planning and execution of the evening which was called ‘Celebrating Three Loves’.
Neither John Bell, nor James MacMillan, can say that they enjoy universal appeal. In this they are no more fortunate than any other composer or writer. In many ways they are different……
- John (on the left of the above photo) is a Church of Scotland Minister, extrovert in nature, has a somewhat outrageous dress-sense, achieves an instant rapport with an audience, often writes both words and tunes in his hymns, draws on many traditional secular Scottish tunes, which he then adapts. His great association with Wild Goose Publications and the Iona Community shows the historical background of Scottish religion which he utilises. He also likes a lot of Third-world music and words, and much of this appeared in the programme. We have a fair experience of his music at the Cathedral and the vast majority is easy to sing. It appears to grow out of nature and relates to contemporary problems of life.
- James comes from a Catholic background (he and his wife are lay Dominicans), and like John Bell, his faith is very important to him in his personal and musical life. St Anne’s Mass and the Galloway Mass are relatively simple and are suitable for congregational singing. His Mass of 2000 was written for Westminster Cathedral much of it only suitable for liturgical use. He seems to be a much more reserved and introverted person, but perhaps that is not the experience of those who work with him. His music seem to me to be very inward-looking, and comes from deep within his own psyche.
Quite a bit of the evening’s music was written by one or the other. Of course you can’t compare chalk and cheese, and any comments must be made on the merits of any piece to which one is listening. I listened intently to each piece, and whilst not everything was to my particular liking, I had to admit that the whole evening gave us a rare insight into the talent which is about today within our small country. As long as we can all pick and choose the pieces we like, then all is well in our musical firmament……especially when it can be played and sung by the marvellour musicians of St Mary’s.
Notes Tremendous!
Have been listening again to a recording made by Frikki Walker of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow. It was his first CD (named as is the title of this post) and has a wealth of good ’solid’ music, which allows him to show off the instrument to its best. Recordings were made in May 2006.
Some are particular favourites of mine, and whilst I cannot even approach the playing-skill displayed, I always enjoyed having-a-go at playing them…
- ‘Nun Danket Alle Gott’, arranged as a chorale improvisation by Karg-Elert
- ‘Elegy’ by George Thalben Ball. I have a recording of this made in a south of England village organ, and it sounds so different….actually I prefer the more-gentle registration of the English organ (but don’t tell Frikki!)
- C.S.Lang’s ‘Tuba Tune in D Major’ looks easy on paper, but not so easy in the execution!
- He contributed his own ‘Oxford Elegy’, a gentle little piece with some marvellous original snatches of tunes….which would easily pass the Old Grey Whistle Test.
- The final piece is well-known to almost every church-goer. It is the noisy and fiery ‘Toccata from the 5th Organ Symphony’ by Widor.
I would love to put some of them as links here, but if you would really like to hear the CD, you can borrow mine, or (even better) buy one from the Cathedral!
P.S. If he brings out a CD with his own compositions, perhaps he could call it ‘Voices Tremendous’.
EIGHTY YEARS YOUNG!
THE FOLLOWING WAS TAKEN FROM A POST I DID EARLIER THIS YEAR (Feb 17th) ON ANOTHER BLOG BUT I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED…..
Evensong at the Cathedral was special tonight…. the choir numbered 50, of present and past choristers who had gathered together to celebrate. The music was selected by Bernard Porter, a previous organist who was 80 years old this weekend, but certainly does not look it!
He was a pleasure to sing under, with gentle criticism and much praise, a wonderful musical knowledge, but who used and practised his skill and craft with a wonderful under-stating. The youngest and most inexperienced chorister gained from being with him, and even those of who have sung for many years still came away knowing a little more about the works we were singing.
Heavens….this seems terribly like an obituary! No, he is still alive and kicking, with an impish grin. I asked him what he will do for the next 20 years, and he said that it will all seem a bit ‘downhill from now on’. So different from those musicians who are so full of themselves, with a puffed-out ego.
So let me add my congratulations…well done Bernard!
A proud junior Choir member
St. Mary’s Cathedral has an indisputably great senior choir, and when all are able to attend at once, the Choir area is jam-packed! We now also have a Junior Choir of Trebles, and they have been present at many special occasions.
Part of the reason for having such a group is to permit the use of the quite unique singing tone of young voices. It also allows the individual child to develop self-confidence, accept instruction, and acquire the art of being part of a team.
It was lovely when one of the older children was awarded a medal recently as a token of one of her steps of achievement. As she returned to her seat, she gave a little jump of pride and a whoop of joy. I don’t think it was selfish of her, but a sense that she had achieved something by her own work. A ripple of laughter went round the congregation, followed by applause.
What a wonderful little moment!
