Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2022 i Choir & Organ

What do Jacques Loussier, The Swingles, Joshua Rifkin, and Glenn Gould all have in common? Each has delighted and dismayed in equal measure (depending on one’s point of view) by performing the music of J.S. Bach in a remarkable manner. Is the great composer turning in his grave, or grinning at the ingenuity of these different interpretations? For me, each draws out something special. In Loussier’s jazz interpretations, it was of course a sense of indefatigable rhythm that drives forward so much of Bach’s music. The Swingles, through emphasising different lines in turn, bring out the incredible complexity of Bach’s counterpoint, the ear drawn from part to part. In playing Bach on a piano, Glenn Gould could shape the notes within the phrases with a subtlety of light and shade…

Correction: In the October 2022 issue, Traveller’s Joy referred to Basil Bunting as a ‘Cumbrian poet’. Bunting was Northumbrian. After 35 years, the Ireland-based choir Anúna has announced that its concert on 3 Dec in St Bartholomew’s Church, Dublin will be its last in Ireland, stating on social media that the choir’s withdrawal was owing to an ‘absence of infrastructural support’ and that performing at home was no longer affordable. anuna.ie The ISM has announced that it has changed its name from the Incorporated Society of Musicians to the Independent Society of Musicians, keeping the same founding objectives and the same well-known acronym. The organisation said that it has made this change to highlight its independence, which allows it ‘to speak with authority on the issues facing musicians.’ ism.org St…

Buckfast Abbey has announced that Philip Arkwright been appointed by the board of trustees as chief executive officer. Arkwright has been employed by the Abbey since 2013, originally as organist and master of the music, but most recently in the senior role of strategic operations manager with responsibility for the charitable and religious aspects of the Abbey. buckfast.org.uk Jesus College, Cambridge has announced Benjamin Sheen as their new director of music from January 2023, succeeding Richard Pinel who has been appointed director of music at St Mary’s Bourne Street in London. Sheen currently holds the position of sub-organist at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, having previously spent seven years in New York working at Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue as associate organist. jesus.cam.ac.uk/chapel-and-choir New York City-based conductor and baritone Malcolm…

SIGNUM CLASSICS AND FLOATING EARTH celebrated their 25th and 35th Anniversaries respectively with an event at London Coliseum’s Sky Bar on 18 October. Signum Records was founded in 1997 and is a British independent label at the forefront of classical music. They have built a catalogue of over 700 titles and release 40-plus new recordings every year by world-renowned artists including The King’s Singers, Alessio Bax, Viktoria Mullova, James Rhodes, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, and Tenebrae. In collaboration with sister company Floating Earth, they have won awards for several recordings, including the 2020 Grammy for Best Choral Performance, for the Houston Chamber Choir recording of Duruflé: Complete Choral Works [SIGCD571]. Signum Records director Steve Long told C&O: ‘The past 35 years have been an amazing journey from setting up an engineering company,…

Judith Weir: O sweet, spontaneous earth Addison Chamber Choir/Wordsworth 26 Nov, St Peter’s, Chiswick, London W4, UK Andris Dzenitis: Credo Latvian Radio Choir, Sinfonietta Riga/Klava 2 Dec, Riga Cathedral, Riga, Latvia John Casken: Light into My Dark University of Manchester Chorus and Symphony Orchestra/Guy 3 Dec, Martin Harris Centre, Manchester, UK John Duggan: In the bleak mid-winter Commotio/Berry 3 Dec, SJE Arts, Oxford, UK Örjan Matre: Two Christmas Songs Albert Schnelzer: Glittrande kall (Sparkling Cold) Swedish Radio Choir/Putniņš 3 Dec, Berwaldhallen, Stockholm, Sweden Simon McEnery: Nine Angels Salisbury Chamber Chorus/McEnery 3 Dec, St Michael and All Angels Church, Lyndhurst, UK Gloria Coates: Rainbow across the night sky (revised version) Brendan Champeaux: Periscope Catherine Lamb: song/form Exaudi/Weeks 4 Dec, Hall One, Kings Place, London, UK Paul Mealor: The Ingression of Love…

Christmas is traditionally a time for charitable giving, and many charities hold fundraising events. Here is a round-up of just a few. Great Ormond Street Hospital is holding its Christmas Carol concert at St Paul’s Knightsbridge (14 Dec); money raised will directly fund vital cancer services at GOSH, including pioneering research into kinder and safer treatments, and crucial welfare services for patients and families. NSPCC Childline’s ‘Merry Little Christmas’ concert at Cadogan Hall (13 Dec) will feature traditional Christmas carols, musical performances and celebrity special guests. Last year’s event raised £49,000. Children’s hospice charity Demelza will host its ‘Celebration of Christmas’ at Canterbury Cathedral (19 Dec). Hertfordshire Chorus, Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School and singer-songwriter Eirra will lead the singing at the carol concert for Willow – a charity which offers…

COMPETITIONS 2023 visit our online listings at www.choirandorgan.com Competitions are listed by date. ORGAN 23rd International Organ Competition for the Wiesbaden Bach Prize Dates 12-14 January Location Wiesbaden, Germany Eligibility Organists of all nationalities born on or after 1 January 1992 Prizes 1st Prize – Bach Prize (€6,000 and contract to play in 2023 Wiesbaden Bach Festival); 2nd Prize (€4,000); 3rd Prize (€2,500) Jury Henry Fairs, Margareta Hürholz, Daniel Beckmann, Tobias Lindner Closing date 1 October 2022 Address Bernhard-Schwarz-Str. 25, D-65201, Wiesbaden, Germany Email info@bach-wiesbaden.de Web bach-wiesbaden.de Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition Dates and Locations First Round: 17-21 April, Hamburg, Germany; 9-12 May, New Haven, CT, US; 22-25 May, Beijing, China; 28-31 May, Moscow, Russia. Second and Third Rounds: 3-9 September, Kaliningrad, Russia Organs Steinmeyer (1962, V/86), St Michaeliskirche, Hamburg;…

The most illustrious graduate of the landmark organ programme that graced the University of Oklahoma from 1938-76, Diane Bish has been an inspiration to me personally since I began to play the organ as a teenager. I finally had the privilege of meeting her in 2018 when the university honoured her lifetime’s achievement. The work we are doing in the organ department at the University of Oklahoma (OU) has partly been inspired by Diane Bish and her travels. We are working hard to build on that legacy. So often when I travel, people tell me about their connection to her teacher, Mildred Andrews, with whom Diane studied at OU in the 1960s. I would have given anything to have met her. I ask Diane about her memories of Mildred Andrews.…

The north European country of Belgium can be hard to characterise, save for its associations with Agatha Christie’s fictional sleuth Hercule Poirot, and the non-fictional and less interesting administrative centre of the European Union at its capital. Brussels also serves the country as an administrative region. The other two are Wallonia (French-speaking and bordering France, Luxembourg and Germany) and Flanders (Dutch-speaking and adjoining a little of France plus the Netherlands and the North Sea). My trip (from London on Eurostar) took me to three cities in Flanders. Bruges (Brugge) came to prominence in the 13th century competing with Ghent to control the cloth trade, making garments from high-quality English wool for export across the known world. By the late 16th century its trade, and its vital river, had dried up;…

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VOCES8 University of St Andrews Music Centre St Paul’s Cathedral Oundle for Organists Clare College, Cambridge Southbank Centre National Youth Choirs of Great Britain Royal College of Organists European Choral Association-Europa Cantat Canadian International Organ Competition MertonCollege, Oxford Orgelfestival Holland Saint Thomas, Fifth Avenue Three Choirs Festival Royal Holloway University of London BBC Singers Association of British Choral Directors Royal Canadian College of Organists European Cities of Historic Organs St John’s College, Cambridge St Albans International Organ Festival Salisbury Cathedral International Federation for Choral Music Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition ASSOCIATES American Guild of Organists American Institute of Organbuilders Association of Canadian Choral Conductors Chorus America Cornell University International Society of Organbuilders Leicester Chorale Mount Royal University Oberlin College Conservatory Thornton School of Music USC To find out more about…

LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL IS LAUNCHING a new Music Foundation to support and develop opportunities for those with an interest in making music there. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the news that the Cathedral is now offering equal opportunities to girl and boy choristers (see C&O June 2022). It marks a major step forward in the life of the music department, which in 2013 had suffered the redundancies of five lay clerks, a choral scholar and the assistant organist, owing to a budget deficit. Director of music Stephen Moore said: ‘We want to strengthen what we already have and strive to build a community of musicians that offers opportunity for anyone who wishes to be involved. The Foundation will seek to build on the strong links with the Cathedral…

Salisbury Cathedral is holding a voice trials workshop on 3 Dec, prior to holding voice trials on 21 (girls) and 28 (boys) Jan. Contact 01722 555417, musicofficer@salcath.co.uk. bit.ly/3xR1qny On 1 Dec the RSCM and Churches Conservation Trust present ‘Christmas Past, Present, and Future: The Sounds of Christmas in our Historic Churches’ at All Hallows by the Tower, London, exploring the nature of traditional and modern carols and their symbolism within churches. Guest presenter is Classic FM’s concert host and author Zeb Soanes. bit.ly/3N9Ddz7 York Early Music Festival will run from 8-17 Dec. Artists include the Yorkshire Bach Choir (Handel’s Brockes-Passion, 10 Dec); The Marian Consort and Spiritato (11 Dec); The Orlando Consort (a farewell recital, 15 Dec); and Solomon’s Knot (Kuhnau’s Christmas cantatas, 16 Dec). Details at ncem.co.uk/events. Performances of…

AN UNPUBLISHED ORGAN WORK BY OLIVIER MESSIAEN has received its premiere recording by Jon Gillock. Gillock performs the 13-minute Vie pour Dieu des ressuscités on the IV/111 Quoirin organ (2011) in the Church of the Ascension, New York City, on his sixth and final two-CD volume of Messiaen’s organ works. The work was discovered while the Messiaen collection was being catalogued at the Bibliothèque National de France. Gillock first heard of the work when it was premiered by Thomas Lacôte on the organ at La Trinité, Paris, on 17 March 2019. The work matches the fifth movement for cello and piano – ‘Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus’ – from Messiaen’s Quatuor pour le fin du temps. However, the Quartet version was written after the organ version, with both originating from…

DCD34197 Cantique de Noël: French Music for Christmas, from Berlioz to Debussy Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge A number of traditional French melodies have been adapted over the years to become familiar Christmas fare in English-speaking lands; on this recording, though, they are heard in their original French arrangements, and accompanied by the French-style organ in the chapel of Exeter College, Oxford. The resulting Romantic fervour is an aspect of Christmas that is sometimes lost amid the Anglo-Saxon tradition of Christmas trees and domestic bliss, and it gives fresh context and meaning to beloved music from Berlioz and his successors. DCD34122 Advent at Merton The Choir of Merton College, Oxford Benjamin Nicholas director The beginning of Advent is celebrated with a particular solemnity at Merton. For its second…

FRANCK TRIBUTES Tributes to César Franck continue in the month of his birth. On 8 December in Chester Cathedral, Philip Rushforth presents a recital of music by Franck and his pupils; alongside the Fantaisie in A and Choral no.2 in B minor, Rushforth plays the Prelude in E flat by Vincent d’Indy and Étoile du soir (from the 24 Pièces de fantaisie) by Louis Vierne. And on 10 December, 200 years to the day since Franck was born, James Lancelot (pictured) gives a recital at St Dominic’s Priory Church in Newcastle upon Tyne, with a programme including the Andantino in G minor, Fantaisie in A and Choral no.1 in E (admission £10, under 21 free). Organised by Newcastle and District Society of Organists, the recital is part of an all-day Franck…

In 1858, William Hill (then aged 69) built a substantial chamber organ for the residence of Peter Davis, in Melbourne. Davis was a wealthy land developer and auctioneer and the organ was built regardless of cost; the only restriction was its physical footprint. The casework and smaller wooden pipes were lavishly made from mahogany, which was a luxury timber. With its elaborate carved Classical-style case, this is a rare survivor internationally. The only comparable chamber organ in the UK from this period is at the Church of St Nicholas, Ingrave, Essex, clearly made by Hill on a more restricted budget. This was the first of around 40 organs exported to Australia by the Hill & Son firm; the last in 1916, for the Sydney Conservatorium, was torpedoed en route and…

When I was asked to write an article about the basics of building an online organ following, it made me reflect on how the organ world is adapting to today’s post-Covid world. I have a good insight into this, having 90,000 subscribers on YouTube and 10,000 followers on Instagram which is built up around the organ community that is Beauty In Sound (BIS).Only until a couple of years ago, online organ communities were limited to website forums and Facebook groups. I’ve been a member of various online forums since the 1990s; they are akin to a work conference where you catch up with colleagues, meet like-minded people, talk about common interests and find out the latest gossip. Facebook groups are largely the same, but far worse. These places are what…

Jeremy Filsell’s latest disc on the Signum label, Bach: Clavier-Übung III [Signum SIGCD 744], covers the third of four volumes similarly entitled by Bach, but the only one conceived for organ. This is the first recording to use all five organs at Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, New York: the Miller-Scott Chancel Organ (Dobson Opus 93, 2018); the Loening-Hancock Gallery Organ (Taylor & Boody Opus 27, 1996); the Choir Room Organ (Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1335, 1957); the Tower Organ (Peter Collins, 2008); and the Martha J. Dodge Continuo Organ (Taylor & Boody Opus 39, 2001). The Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys interpolate the opening and closing prelude and fugue, the 21 chorale preludes, and four duets with 10 chorale settings. Tom Winpenny returns to the Harrison & Harrison organ…

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THE RVW TRUST AND THE VAUGHAN WILLIAMS CHARITABLE TRUST have merged to form the Vaughan Williams Foundation (VWF). The announcement was made at the composer’s 150th birthday celebrations at LSO St Luke’s in London on 12 October. The new Foundation will honour Vaughan Williams’s commitment to supporting composers of today; make his own work widely accessible to the general public; and uphold the values and vision of the composer and his wife Ursula. The VWF is funded by the royalties earned from RVW’s music. With the launch of a new website, the VWF has made available some of its unique resources, including transcripts of over 5,000 items of RVW’s annotated correspondence to friends, family, pupils and fellow musicians; an extensive catalogue of RVW compositions; and photos from the collection of…

ALASTAIR PUTT (1983-2022) The composer, singer and guitarist Alastair Putt has died aged 39. Putt was a pupil at Tiffin School before studying music at New College, Oxford, where he sang as an academic clerk under the direction of Edward Higginbottom. After moving to London, he sang regularly with the BBC Singers and Exaudi. In 2009, Putt studied composition with Malcolm Singer and Julian Anderson at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Putt was one of the 2011 LSO Panufnik Composers Scheme cohort. Consequently, the LSO commissioned a five-minute work, for which he wrote Spiral inspired by Fibonacci. As a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center in Boston in 2012, he impressed the composition faculty, which included fellow British composers George Benjamin and Oliver Knussen, and was subsequently commissioned…

‘HANDEL’S MESSIAH: THE LIVE EXPERIENCE’ heralds a new style of concert experience focusing on the classical music canon’s most enduring works. The concert – on 6 December at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane – is the first event from Classical Everywhere, a new venture from Immersive Everywhere, the multi-award-winning London events collective and creators of ‘Peaky Blinders: The Rise’, ‘Doctor Who: Time Fracture’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’. In December, Classical Everywhere presents an edited version of Handel’s work in a historic venue with a performance augmented by aspects of lighting design, visual effects, choreography, and staging. The production is designed for touring, so it can easily transported to venues worldwide. Gregory Batsleer, artistic director and founding member of Classical Everywhere, conducts soloists Danielle de Niese, Nicky Spence, Idunnu Münch…

THE BBC SINGERS and their principal guest conductor Bob Chilcott team up with the writer, comedian and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig to present the UK premiere of Benedict Sheehan’s musical dramatisation of A Christmas Carol. Nearly 180 years after the first publication of Charles Dickens’s seasonal tale of a misanthrope redeemed, the ensemble retells the evocative and festive classic in this 70-minute work by the Grammy-nominated composer. The music is scored for narrator, soloists, mixed-voice choir and optional bones. Dickens’s text has been trimmed from 30,000 to 5,000 words by Matthew Guard, the artistic director of Skylark Vocal Ensemble who commissioned and then recorded the work with master storyteller Sarah Walker in August 2021. Sheehan’s score features original music alongside arrangements of traditional carols including ‘The first Nowell’, ‘The truth from…

I was delighted to have the chance to review David Hill’s Celebration CD featuring the historic Henry Speechly organ of St Lawrence, Alton in Hampshire (see Reviews p.66). For several decades the church’s Organ Society was steered by the indefatigable Peter Ashworth. Back in 1980, I had joined Southern Arts Association, based in Winchester, as music and dance officer, and the Organ Society was one of my clients – we usually helped them with fees to commission new pieces for their recitalists. To do the job I was out most evenings, visiting music and dance organisations in Hampshire and all the surrounding counties – so I tended to start work at 9.30am. After one particularly late night getting back from Chipping Nortonin Oxfordshire – my most northerly venue – at…

CD LEIGHTON AND MARTIN: MASSES FOR DOUBLE CHOIR Choir of King’s College London/Joseph Fort (dir) Delphian Records DCD34211 Choir & Organ is delighted to welcome the Choir of King’s College London and its director Joseph Fort as our New Music partners for 2023 (see feature, p.16). As Delphian Records artists they have recorded works from Rachmaninov and Brahms to Sean Shibe and Edward Nesbit (this last gained a 5-star review in our July/August 2022 issue). Among their discography is this critically acclaimed CD of Masses by Kenneth Leighton and Frank Martin. Courtesy of Delphian Records, we have 4 copies to give away; quote code ‘KCL’. CELEBRATION CD David Hill, Speechly organ, St Lawrence, Alton Herald HAVPCD 416 ‘A masterclass in articulation’ (see review, p.66) So used are we in the…

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HARRISON & HARRISON October 2022 saw the inauguration of the Durham firm’s new 86-stop organ for Christ Church, Greenwich, Connecticut. ANDREW NETHSINGHA Westminster Abbey’s new organist and master of choristers talks to David Hill. REFINDING A VOICE A 17th/18th-century organ in France’s Champagne region has been recently restored after a silence of over 80 years. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS What projects does the music department have lined up to celebrate its centenary in 2023? DAVID WELLS LTD Work in progress at the Liverpool firm includes restorations and a new Echo division for the Anglican Cathedral. Plus… International news and previews, specialist reviews, regular columns, and our first 2023 New Music composition.…

Rating: Highly recommended Very good Good Average Poor THIS ISSUE’S REVIEWERS Early Music Editor Rebecca Tavener Organ Music Editor Stephen Farr Choral Music Editors Joy Hill Jeremy Jackman Jeremy Summerly Chris Bragg Rupert Gough Douglas Hollick Graeme Kay Brian Morton David Ponsford Michael Quinn Philip Reed Clare Stevens KEYBOARD CDS Franck: L’Œuvre d’orgue Michel Bouvard, Cavaillé-Coll organ (1889), Saint-Sernin de Toulouse, France La dolce volta LDV 113.4 (2CDs) [78:35; 80:19] In this bicentennial year for César Franck there are inevitably a lot of recordings of the organ works to consider. The more I play and listen to Franck’s organ music, the more I feel it is like fine French wine: something that really needs to mature over time. Michel Bouvard has been teaching and performing these works for some 30…