A Christmas Fantasia
Carols and Fantasias
Ashley Riches (bass-baritone), Jamie Andrews (organ)
Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea/William Vann
rec. 2024, Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square, London, UK
Albion Records ALBCD063 [64]
This is the third Albion Records album of Christmas music performed by the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea and William Vann. I greatly enjoyed their two previous seasonal offerings (review ~ review) so I was delighted when this latest Christmas CD arrived. The earlier discs featured just the choir but, on this occasion, they’re joined by a guest soloist, Ashley Riches. There’s another departure from the format of the previous discs, both of which focussed entirely on original pieces and arrangements of traditional carols by Vaughan Williams. This time, the net has been cast more widely to include music by a number of VW’s friends and pupils.
There is a modest amount of duplication here. Three of the VW items are also included on another recent Albion album, Carols from Herefordshire (review ~ review). These are ‘Christmas Now is Drawing Near at Hand’, ‘God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen’ and ‘On Christmas Day’. I don’t think this duplication matters very much; the items all justify their inclusion here. ‘Christmas Now is Drawing Near at Hand’ has a lovely melody, even if it doesn’t quite match the unforgettable ‘This is the Truth Sent from Above’. ‘God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen’ is not sung to the oh-so familiar tune; I think this Herefordshire traditional melody makes a refreshing change. Be warned: the story that is related in ‘On Christmas Day’ is not exactly full of Christmas cheer!
I’m glad that the two a cappella choruses from Hodie have been included. That Christmas cantata was unjustly neglected even before the Covid-19 pandemic badly disrupted the activities – and finances – of choirs. Now, with most choral societies watching the pennies, the lavish orchestration of Hodie probably means that full performances will become even rarer. These two excerpts are lovey pieces in their own right and here receive polished performances. The Christmas Hymn may be unknown to many people; I don’t recall hearing it before. The setting contains flowing music and I found it very interesting. The fine Fantasia on Christmas Carols closes William Vann’s programme. I’ve sung in several performances of this work down the years and I like it very much, Ashley Riches is an expressive soloist, especially in the haunting ‘This is the Truth Sent from Above’. It’s more usual, in my experience, to hear the Fantasia sung by a large choir, but the clarity achieved by William Vann’s team of fourteen professional singers pays significant dividends.
I suppose it could be argued that Holst’s Christmas Day is his equivalent of VW’s Fantasia; though Holst’s piece is significantly shorter he, like his great friend, bases his score on traditional English carols, four in all. At Christmas 2023 I got the chance to take part in a performance of Christmas Day. Prior to that, I’d heard it a few times on disc, but it hadn’t impressed me all that much. However, rehearsing for and then taking part in the performance made me appreciate that it’s skilfully constructed and rather fun. The present performance makes a very good case for it.
There were quite a few discoveries for me in this programme. The obvious one is the new piece by William Vann. Carol may seem an unadventurous title, but it’s entirely appropriate since that’s the title of the poem by Ivor Gurney which Vann has set for choir and organ; actually, the choir sings unaccompanied while the organ introduces each stanza of poetry. Vann himself says that the piece is “[d]eliberately written as pastiche, with its use of modality, simple text declamation and contrasts between homophony and quasi-Renaissance polyphony, interfaced with echoes of Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols”. He adds that it’s a tribute to composers such as VW, Finzi, Howells and Gurney. I think it’s a worthy tribute; Vann has made a fluent and attractive setting of Gurney’s expression of Christmas joy.
Gurney isn’t represented musically here, but Howells and Finzi are. The former’s Here Is the Little Door is a super piece and the Royal Hospital, Chelsea choir make a fine job of it. I can’t be sure, but I think Finzi’s The Brightness of this Day may be one of my discoveries; if it’s not, it must be a long time since I heard it. The booklet essay explains the very interesting link with VW. Apparently, Finzi wrote to the senior composer in 1923, asking permission to use ‘The Truth from Above’ in one of his own works. This turned out to be The Brightness of this Day in which Finzi set a poem by Henry Vaughan (1621-1695) for baritone, solo (Ashley Riches) double SATB choir and organ. It’s touching to hear Finzi weaving that wonderful Herefordshire tune into a very interesting work. If I’m unsure whether I’ve heard that Finzi piece before, I am certain that the two Rebecca Clarke pieces are new to me. Clarke’s music is becoming much better known these days and we are the better for it. There Is No Rose is a setting for baritone solo – Riches does the honours again – and a choir of ATBB voices. The music for each verse of the medieval poem is a bit more fervent than its predecessor. It’s a well-crafted piece which deserves to be heard more often. That’s true also of Ave Maria, which is for SSA choir. The setting features beautifully constructed three-part writing.
Of the other two pieces I’ve not previously encountered, one is by another female composer, Elizabeth Maconchy. She was a VW pupil, so the inclusion of her short piece Nowell, Nowell, Nowell is apt. It’s well described in the booklet as “light, joyful and elegant”. Just the other day I looked in my slightly battered copy of Carols for Choirs 1 and was rather alarmed to find that I acquired it in 1976. In all those years I’ve never really taken note of the very last item (number 50) in the book: ‘While the Shepherds Were Watching’ by Armstrong Gibbs, a sometime pupil of VW. It’s from his cantata A Saviour Born (1952) which was for SSA voices. In Carols for Choirs it appears in a version for unaccompanied SATB choir; since no arranger is credited, I presume the composer made that arrangement, which William Vann uses here. The music bears the marking Gaily and Vann’s lively performance observes that injunction.
I enjoyed this Christmas collection very much indeed. The music is delightful and full of interest; the selections have been made discerningly. The standard of performance is unfailingly high, as we’ve come to expect from William Vann and the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. Ashley Riches is a fine soloist and Jamie Andrews provides excellent contributions from the organ loft in the accompanied pieces.
The recording has been produced by Andrew Walton and engineered by Deborah Spanton; they’ve ensured that the performances are conveyed in excellent, clear sound with just the right amount of acoustic ambience. Albion Records are, in my experience, the providers of some of the best booklet notes around. The documentation accompanying this disc is right up to that standard; John Francis, with contributions from William Vann, has provided an essay on the music which is a mine of interesting information and perceptive comment.
This disc will delight you if you should find it under the tree on Christmas morning.
John Quinn
Previous reviews: John France (September 2024) ~ Nick Barnard (November 2024)
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Contents
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Christmas Now is Drawing Near at Hand from Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire (1920)
Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
Here Is the Little Door from Three Carol Anthems (1918)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
The Blessed Son of God from Hodie (1954)
John Ireland (1879-1962)
The Holy Boy (1913)
Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979)
There Is No Rose (1928)
Ave Maria (c.1937; publ.1998)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Christmas Hymn from Three Choral Hymns (1929)
William Vann (?)
Carol
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960)
While the Shepherds Were Watching from the cantata A Saviour Born (1952)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Wassail Song from Five English Folk Songs (1913)
Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)
The Brightness of this Day (1922/1923)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
No Sad Thought from Hodie (1954)
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Christmas Day: A Choral Fantasy on Old Carols (1910)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen from Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire
Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994)
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell (1967)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
On Christmas Day from Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire
Fantasia on Christmas Carols (1912)
