Don't miss...

[Martin Cooke]

... yesterday's (Sunday 16th May) superb Evensong from York Minster - Wood in E flat No 1, but, more importantly, a wonderful rendition of Finzi's 'God is gone up' with choir and organ in top top form. It's here.

And... the last of Sam Bristow's all-Mendelssohn recitals from St Paul's. He includes the splendid Allegro, Chorale and Fugue as the finale. Here. And I think I am going to bring Mendelssohn's Trio in F major into my repertoire as well.

If you missed Simon Johnson's recital last Sunday (6th May) which included Reger's big BACH piece, it's here. What a piece! What a player! I fear my copy is in the loft - (the water tank sort of loft, not an organ loft) - but I juggled between reading the score on imslp and watching Mr Johnson in action and I was agog. The St Paul's organists have done brilliantly with their online recital series celebrating 150 years since the 1872 Willis. I am lucky to have on my phone, close up pictures of the stop jambs from a visit there a few years ago - and so although one can't read the stop heads in the recital recordings, from their position on the jambs one can work out what's in use - especially on the right hand jamb. Less easy on the left where the camera is but you can guess and some of the dome pedal reeds are easy to discern. Sorry, a bit geeky, that! I could post the pics, I suppose, and then everyone could play the game!

[S_L]

2 hours ago, Martin Cooke said:

... yesterday's (Sunday 16th May) superb Evensong from York Minster - Wood in E flat No 1, but, more importantly, a wonderful rendition of Finzi's 'God is gone up' with choir and organ in top top form. It's here.

Sorry Martin - but, in the spirit of the board, always willing to correct - it was Wood in E flat No. 2!!!

 

I've been hugely impressed with some of the broadcasts from York Minster. Beautiful, sensitive singing and splendid organ playing.

[Robert Bowles]

Wood's Eb Services are a nightmare for Music Boys and Choir Librarians.  He chose 2 different publishers, neither of whom admits to the existence of the other, so there are no numbers on either!  They have to be added by hand - or by a John Bull Printing  rubber stamp.... 

[Martin Cooke]

3 hours ago, S_L said:

Sorry Martin - but, in the spirit of the board, always willing to correct - it was Wood in E flat No. 2!!!

 

I've been hugely impressed with some of the broadcasts from York Minster. Beautiful, sensitive singing and splendid organ playing.

Thanks for that S_L - I fear I was guessing!

[S_L]

The 1st E flat Service was, it appears, published, I think, in 1918 by Novello, Ewer & Co. The 2nd E flat Service was published posthumously, sixteen years later and eight years after Wood's death, originally by Sternhold & Hopkins although I have just found a copy which gives a copyright date of 1927.. 

It looks as if Robert Bowles is right - they are a nightmare - but the setting on the broadcast was the setting published posthumously.

Incidentally Wood wrote, as far as I'm aware, seven string quartets with an eighth incomplete. I had a score of No.4 - the 'Harrogate' (also in E flat!) but I can't find it. They were published by OUP.  

I'll now wait to be corrected!!!

[Martin Cooke]

41 minutes ago, Robert Bowles said:

Wood's Eb Services are a nightmare for Music Boys and Choir Librarians.  He chose 2 different publishers, neither of whom admits to the existence of the other, so there are no numbers on either!  They have to be added by hand - or by a John Bull Printing  rubber stamp.... 

Were you i/c the choir school music library at SPCCS, by any chance, Robert? 

[Robert Bowles]

33 minutes ago, Martin Cooke said:

Were you i/c the choir school music library at SPCCS, by any chance, Robert? 

Yes - and I still remember an occasion when my  assistant (it was all about delegation) produced the wrong one and I made a mad dash up the stairs to get the right one, with minutes to spare.  

 

[Martin Cooke]

It was a considerable responsibility for a 12/13yr old. I discovered, after processing in for evensong one weekday, that the copies of the anthem had not been put out from the cathedral stock by Taffy - and so with not that much time to resolve this problem which was not of my making, and unable to communicate mid-service with Taffy, the Vicar Choral in charge of the music library in the cathedral, I had to go and find the Head Boy's key to the 'back door' of the cathedral, let myself out, race back to the school to collect the choir school copies, and get back to the cathedral and distribute both sides of the choir in time for the anthem. This was all around the time when Christopher Dearnley was new - his second year, perhaps. Lots of the music was new and thus we had to look some way ahead to make sure copies of new music were ready for use in the Choir School. CHD once gave me a list of things to collect from the cathedral librarian. On it was something we couldn't read. 'Seiber Man' was all we could make of it. Who or what was Seiber Man? On seeking clarification it turned out we were going to be singing Matyas Seiber's Missa Brevis - so it was 'Seiber Mass!' Great times!

[S_L]

1 hour ago, Martin Cooke said:

Who or what was Seiber Man? On seeking clarification it turned out we were going to be singing Matyas Seiber's Missa Brevis - so it was 'Seiber Mass!' Great times!

 

A really good little piece! I remember sending David Drinkell one of my copies as he wanted to do it with his choir, I think, at St. John's Newfoundland.

[Vox Humana]

On 17/05/2021 at 17:01, S_L said:

A really good little piece!

It's great!  I used to look forward to that when it appeared in the music lists of my youth.  Does anyone still do it?  As I recall, it's not difficult and the ascetic texture (basically two-part, S+T, A+B ) makes for a pleasant change.

[S_L]

9 hours ago, Vox Humana said:

It's great!  I used to look forward to that when it appeared in the music lists of my youth.  Does anyone still do it?  As I recall, it's not difficult and the ascetic texture (basically two-part, S+T, A+B ) makes for a pleasant change.

I don't know whether anyone still does it - I haven't seen it on a Music List for quite some time. I know David Drinkell, after seeing my copy, bought a set of copies and I remember him saying that his choir, I think at St. john's, Newfoundland, enjoyed singing it. We used to sing it regularly during Lent or Advent because, of course, Seiber didn't set the Gloria. If I remember rightly, and I can't find my copy now, the tessitura was quite high, the ST parts were sent up to top A on a number of occasions and I remember something about the barring too which could be a little confusing. But it was a good piece, made a change. as Vox says, and was an enjoyable sing. If I can find my copy I'll comment further!

Postscript: I can't find my copy anywhere but I looked Matyas Seiber up and was interested to see that the Missa Brevis was written in 1924 and revised in 1950. It was published by Curwen. There is a wealth of music by Seiber including chamber music - three String Quartets and two comic operas as well as orchestral music, instrumental music and a number of songs. He even made it into the Top Twenty, in 1956, with his 'By the Fountains of Rome' which won him an Ivor Novello award!

He started his life as a 'cellist!! 

[sjf1967]

We have it in the library at All Saints Margaret Street, and it was certainly in the repertoire a few years back (before I took over). I'll dig it out and have a look....