Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Te Deum, Op 66 (1898)
Elegiac Ode, Op 21 (1884)
Rhian Lois (soprano), Samantha Price (mezzo-soprano, Te Deum), Alessandro Fisher (tenor, Te Deum), Morgan Pearse (baritone), BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales/Adrian Partington
rec. 2023, Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, Wales
Lyrita SRCD 435 12 [73]
God Bless Lyrita. Once again, they have produced a first recording of neglected British music, this time two of Charles Villiers Stanford’s choral/orchestral works.
Oratorios and cantatas were all the rage in Victorian England. Local choirs flourished, and composers who wanted to make a mark may have felt obliged to cater for the demand, as did Parry, Elgar and Stanford. The latter is probably better remembered for his Anglican Church anthems and canticles than any other compositions. I believe that it is quite common for those involved in Anglican liturgical singing to refer to “Stanford in B-flat” when one discusses the items to be performed. Never mind seven symphonies, many concertos and sundry other orchestral works, not to mention no fewer than nine operas.
Stanford wrote the secular cantata Elegiac Ode as a commission from the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. Unusually, he chose verses by Walt Whitman, the controversial ultra-modernist American poet whose work was regarded as mad, bad or a product of genius – depending upon one’s viewpoint. Whitman was a favourite of Vaughan Williams, who used his poetry in several works, notably A Sea Symphony and the cantata Toward the Unknown Region.
Stanford set a seven-verse burial hymn, part of Whitman’s elegy When Lilacs in the Dooryard Bloom’d, written in the aftermath of the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865. This is my first acquaintance with the piece. As I write this, I am listening to it in growing admiration and appreciation of Stanford’s beautiful, flowing music. He matches words with fitting music. For example, at the end of the second movement, scored for baritone and orchestra, the soloist reaches a climactic high F on “Oh Death!”, and the orchestra reiterates the “Death” theme in Tristanesque fashion. Who said that Stanford just imitated Brahms?
Morgan Pearce sings his part with suitable power and gravity. I just wish for a mite less all-pervasive vibrato. The third movement is analogous to a scherzo movement in a symphony. It starts out with a trumpet theme used throughout the movement to some notable effect. I am dissatisfied with soprano Rhian Lois. Her voice, as captured here, is shrill and vibrato-ridden, and that negatively affects my enjoyment of the movement. The excellent chorus is heard to poetic effect in the opening, and later in fugal moments of the last movement.
Te Deum, almost twice as long as the Elegiac Ode, is scored for huge forces. Jeremy Dibble, the author of an exhaustive biography of Stanford, wrote the admirably informative booklet. He writes that Te Deum was first performed at the Leeds Festival in 1898 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Victoria the previous year; the 350-strong Leeds chorus sang the first performance. The grandeur of the choral writing, a particular asset of the work, demands full-throated choral vigour. The Welsh Chorus here sounds, I think, not large enough, except when split into smaller groups. Their website notes over 150 members. The recording, though finely balanced, might have given them more prominence for greater effect. This is not to denigrate their performance. They sing accurately. The male and female arms both work hard and with excellent tone. When they are all singing in unison, as for example in parts of the highly impactive opening, the effect is appropriately powerful. I admire Lyrita’s gumption and commitment in recording these out-of-the-way works; the disc deserves to succeed. Let me note that I did not find the chorus undersized in the Ode.
Te Deum opens with a powerful evocation of God’s majesty and glory of the saints, martyrs and the Church. The organ adds to the power of the orchestra, and it is a very impressive opening indeed. The second movement, Tu rex gloriae, is set for the solo quartet and orchestra. Tenor Alessandro Fisher has a fine voice. So does Samantha Price, although she can sound a bit squally at times. My comments on Rhian Lois and Morgan Pearse hold for this work as well. The voices blend quite well when they are all singing together, but Lois’s warble comes through. The movement itself is quite contemplative, as befits the subject of the Virgin birth, and its praise of the Kingdom of Heaven open to all believers.
The third movement, set for solo quartet, chorus and orchestra, gives a striking contrast. Judex crederis esse venturus opens with the orchestra playing a mildly martial motif, there to express the coming of the Kingdom of God, with the accompanying judgement of sinners. The individual singers’ voices come through to a greater degree than in the preceding movement. It is a pity about the squally soprano and mezzo-soprano. In the concluding Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris, Stanford pulls out all the stops. Soloists and chorus sing together, and the effect is very fine and, dare I say it, uplifting (even if the soprano soars above everyone else, which is not as exquisite as it might seem).
The next movement, Per singulos dies benedictimus te, marked Larghetto – Andante, is appropriately gentle. The choir is silent. The soloists sing mostly in unison, with occasional short solos. The fine singing of the tenor stands out here. Occasional short, beautiful passages are assigned to the orchestra.
The Adagio fifth movement, Miserere nostri, Domine, the shortest at just under five minutes, is for the solo quarter and chorus. Once again, the voice of the soprano is frequently too prominent. The movement is mainly uneventful until the final few seconds, as the hope for redemption supersedes the plea for mercy. The music transitions into the sixth and final movement, In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum. It is set to a fugue until the movement ends with a truly uplifting restatement of the phrase In te Domine.
To be frank, I am surprised how well I responded to this work. Clearly, Stanford was inspired to create a combination of the devotional with the triumphant affirmation of faith. The recording is excellent, the singing is fine, the chorus and orchestra are obviously well-prepared. The accompanying booklet is immensely detailed.
Jim Westhead
Previous review: John Quinn (July 2024)
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