George Lloyd (1913-1998)
A Symphonic Mass (1992)
A Litany (1995)
Janice Watson (soprano), Jeremy White (baritone)
Brighton Festival Chorus (Mass), Guildford Choral Society (Litany)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Mass), Philharmonia Orchestra (Litany)/George Lloyd
rec. 1993, The Guildhall, Southampton, UK (Mass); 1996, Watford Town Hall, UK (Litany)
Texts included
Lyrita SRCD2419 [2 CDs: 110]
We really owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Lyrita for once again making available these recordings of two of the principal choral works by George Lloyd in performances conducted by the composer. And that gratitude should be compounded by the fact that the company are also in July publishing study full scores and vocal scores of both the works here and Lloyd’s third major choral work The Vigil of Venus. Rejoicing may perhaps however be tempered by the fact that at a price of £45 per vocal score the sheer cost to any choral society wishing to perform these works is likely to be prohibitive (and the full scores are even more expensive, ranging up to £80 for A Litany). The earliest of the three works, The Vigil of Venus, remains currently available on a Decca mid-price reissue from 2002; the other two, made for the Albany label, are assembled here but derive from studio sessions some years apart following the premières of the two works. One fears however that costs of the scores may prove a deterrent to further live performances, which would be an immense pity.
The performance of The Vigil of Venus apparently led to a rift between Lloyd and his erstwhile champion Sir Edward Downes, who had performed and recorded a number of his symphonies at a time when Lloyd’s reputation in British critical circles was at its lowest ebb. Lloyd had designed his cantata with a large chorus in mind, and was horrified when Downes proposed to give it with a group of less than fifty singers even though these were the superlative professional forces of Welsh National Opera. Ironically enough when Lloyd came to conduct the recording, taking over the baton from Downes, he seemed to work quite amicably with the same chorus he had previously spurned as insufficient in numbers. At all events when he came to write, perform and record his Symphonic Mass, he made no bones about demanding a large body of singers and the Brighton Festival Chorus were drafted into service along with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Three years later for A Litany he again made use of a large chorus in the shape of the Guildford Choral Society and the Philharmonia Orchestra, although here the larger number of singers created their own problems.
The Symphonic Mass evoked a critical response which was certainly an improvement on the somewhat mixed reception given to The Vigil of Venus, and it was hailed by the Penguin Guide as a “masterpiece…on the largest scale.” Listening to the work again a couple of decades later, one is perhaps struck more than at the time by the consideration that the work is definitely more symphonic than a straightforward setting of the mass. Quite apart from the insertion of an orchestral interlude in the shape of the Offertorium (precedents and parallels are to be found in other choral settings) the opening Kyrie extends the text over nearly ten minutes of music which constitute something very similar to the first movement of a symphony. In a moment of revelation, the composer admitted that he chose the text of the mass because it admitted of an infinite amount of repetition, and he certainly takes advantage of that fact here. The narrative elements in the Gloria and Credo obviously limit the opportunities for purely symphonic development, but in the Sanctus and Benedictus a very small amount of liturgical text is employed as the basis for a massive structure lasting over twelve minutes. The result is that what we have here is something much closer to a choral symphony than an oratorio or concert mass, and the lack of solo voices emphasises the less than close engagement with the words. But that is clearly not what Lloyd intends; and once one accepts that this is a symphonic work, then it becomes immediately appreciable.
With the use of English words, albeit in the very elaborate verses of John Donne, A Litany has a more immediately dramatic effect. The result is superlative from the very outset, with an almost barbaric wildness of tone in the declamatory brass and massive choral impact. But there are some problems here with the performance itself. Jeremy White was a late substitute in the baritone role (David Wilson-Johnson, who had sung the première, was unwell at the time of the recording) and on a first hearing I felt uneasily that his sense of engagement with the text did not altogether match that of the superb Janice Watson and the chorus. The reason for that only became apparent when, a couple of weeks after listening to the recording, I was reading Lewis Foreman’s fascinating and indispensable book on his career promoting and recording British music. Apparently White’s voice was dubbed on after the sessions had concluded, and although Foreman remarks that none of the original critics had noticed this, I suspect this might have something to do with the slightly detached and less resonant sound on his contribution. Foreman also revealed that the large choir had experienced considerable difficulties with their intonation during the long unaccompanied seven-minute third movement which had necessitated several stops-and-starts during the recording process and the amalgamation of a number of different takes. That, I must admit, I certainly had not noticed; but it might go some way to explain why such an immediately attractive score might not have been taken up more enthusiastically by other choral societies.
With these minor caveats in the case of the performance of A Litany, however, these two recordings are most welcome in this handsomely presented ‘signature edition’ reissue, complete with excellent booklet notes by Paul Conway. Full texts and translations are also provided, which is welcome in the case of the Donne verses which are considerably abridged from their original form. And the recording quality is also excellently contrived with the composer’s brother William Lloyd credited as executive producer on both sessions. Given the enthusiastic engagement of the performers under the skilful baton of the composer, it is unlikely indeed that any new recordings will surpass the masterful achievements of these.
George Lloyd’s enthusiastic body of supporters will probably already have acquired these on their original release, but if they have failed to do so they will welcome the opportunity to add to their collections. And these works should most assuredly be in the libraries of all those who love the English choral tradition which Lloyd here augments with such mastery.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Previous review: John Quinn (July 2024)
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