Notes and Editorial Reviews
Many, or perhaps most, readers of Gramophone would be surprised to find themselves buying a record of hymns, and I can't claim to have been overjoyed on finding that this one had been sent to me for review. The time spent listening to it, however, has been delightful: sceptical readers are strongly recommended to surprise themselves.
Rejecting the taste of their Victorian predecessors, the first generation that came to maturity in the twentieth century inherited a hymnbook heavy with modes of expression, musical and verbal, they wanted to disown. Vaughan Williams is quoted in the excellent notes for this record voicing a moral repugnance: the tunes 'are positively harmful to those who sing and hear them'. The new century lost
Read more
no time in starting on a reformation, with The English Hymnal being published in 1906, VW as its editor of music. The two hymn tunes of his that are included here admirably represent the new spirit: Come down, O love divine with its affectionate but unsentimental simplicity, For all the saints with its vigour and freshness.
The twentieth century has by now bequeathed its own legacy of bad taste, but none of that is found in this selection. Suspect, no doubt, is Patrick Appleford's Lord Jesus Christ, written for his East End parish church in 1958, but its popular associations are with the end-of-pier concert-party rather than the brash banalities of discoland or the opulent cheapness of the modern musical. Besides, it is performed with the unfailing good style and sound musicianship of the cathedral tradition at its best. Singers, organist and director do everything well. Tone, enunciation, resourcefulness of arrangement and accompaniment, all are exemplary.
So too are the recorded sound and presentation, Alan Luff's notes providing just the information we require and many incidental details about mysterious names - 'Down Ampney' (RVW) we may know, and 'Michael' named after Howells's dead son, but 'Guiting Power' and 'Coe Fen' need annotation, which is duly provided. And did we know, before reading these notes, that 'Michael' was composed over breakfast, Ireland's 'Love unknown' on the back of a menu card, and Sir William Harris's Lead, kindly light ('The night is dark, and I am far from home') on a train journey through Alberta?
-- John Steane, Gramophone [1/2000]
Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Christ triumphant, ever reigning by John Barnard
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
2.
How shall I sing that Majesty "Coe Fen" by Ken Naylor
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
3.
Like a mighty river flowing "Old Yeavering" by Noel Howard Tredinnick
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
4.
Father, hear the prayer we offer "Cypress Court" by Barry Ferguson
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
5.
I vow to thee, my country, H 148 by Gustav Holst
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: circa 1921; England
6.
We sing the praise of him by Sydney Hugo Nicholson
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
7.
Here I am, Lord by Dan Schutte
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1981; USA
8.
All my hope on God is founded by Herbert Howells
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
9.
Give me the wings of faith "San Rocco" by Derek Williams
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1968; England
10.
Lord Jesus Christ "Living Lord" by Patrick Appleford
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1958; England
11.
English Hymnal: no 4, For all the saints by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: circa 1905; England
12.
My Song Is Love Unknown by John Ireland
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
13.
Praise the Lord of heaven "Vicars' Close" by Malcolm Archer
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
14.
Glorious things of thee are spoken by Cyril Taylor
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1941; England
15.
English Hymnal: no 1, Come down, O Love divine by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: by 1906; England
16.
King of Glory, King of Peace "Redland" by Malcolm Archer
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
17.
Holy spirit, ever dwelling by Herbert Howells
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
18.
Lord, for the years by Michael Baughen
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1969; England
19.
Thy hand, O God, has guided "Thornbury" by Basil Harwood
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1898; England
20.
Hark what a sound "Highwood" by Richard Runciman Terry
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
21.
Preludes (5) on English Hymn Tunes, Op. 60: East Acklam by Francis Jackson
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
22.
Lead, kindly light "Alberta" by William Henry Harris
Performer:
Rupert Gough (Organ)
Conductor:
Malcolm Archer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wells Cathedral Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1924; England
Customer Reviews
Be the first to review this title
Review This Title
