Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752)
Chandos Anthems
Rejoice in the Lord
Magnificat
Concerto per il Oboe Solo in B-flat
O Praise the Lord, laud ye the name of the Lord
Ciara Hendrick (soprano), Alex Potter, Hugh Cutting (alto), Nicholas Mulroy, Nicholas Todd (tenor), Vitali Rozynko, Edward Grint (bass)
The Girl Choristers of Canterbury Cathedral
The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen/Robert Rawson
rec. 2023, St Mary the Virgin, Bishopsbourne, UK
Texts included
Accent ACC24397 [64]

Search on the internet for “Chandos Anthems” and you will find many references to Handel’s anthems with that title, which are available in quite a number of recordings. They belong among his most beloved sacred works. However, he was not the only composer who wrote such anthems, as the disc under review proves. Chandos Anthems were written before and after Handel composed his.

James Brydges, Earl of Carnarvon, who later acquired the title of Duke of Chandos, built a mansion on the estate at Cannons, near Edgware. There he established his own ensemble, which he called Cannons Concert, consisting of singers and players, a mixture of household servants and professionals. The first composer who wrote music for this ensemble was Nicola Haym; he composed six anthems for one to three voices and a few instruments. The scoring was according to the small size of the ensemble at the time. The Cannons Concert comprised only three singers: a treble, a tenor and a bass. The instrumental ensemble was rather small as well: oboe, bassoon, up to three violins, cello, double bass and organ. This was also the ensemble for which Handel wrote his Chandos Anthems. He later reworked them to anthems with a full choir.

It is not known when exactly Johann Christoph Pepusch became involved in the performances at Cannons. His presence there is documented from as early as December 1717; in April 1718 both he and Handel were at Cannons. He was appointed director of music in 1719 and acted as such until some time in the mid-1720s. Pepusch was born in Berlin and was employed at the Prussian court in Dresden from age fourteen. Little is known for sure about his musical education, but as later in England he directed performances from the harpsichord it is likely that he was educated as a keyboard player, probably by an organist from Saxony. There are conflicting reports about the time he arrived in England. According to Charles Burney it was “soon after the [1688] revolution”, others mention 1697.

At the time Pepusch became director of music, the Duke extended the Cannons Concert to a small orchestra, consisting of around six violins, viola, one or two cellos, double bass, keyboard, trumpet, bassoon and oboe (alternating with the recorder), and a choir of at least seven adult singers and an unknown number of trebles. This allowed for anthems in a larger scoring, modelled after the music written in Venice, which Pepusch greatly admired, especially the oeuvre of Vivaldi. The three vocal works included here show this influence in that the text is divided into tutti and solo sections; the latter are in the form of arias, as one find them in the sacred music of Vivaldi, and which show the influence of opera.

Rejoice in the Lord is a setting of a text based on verses from the Psalms 33 and 45 and Luke 2. According to the manuscript score it was performed at Christmas Day 1719. The scoring is for five solo voices, four-part choir and an orchestra which includes recorder, oboe and trumpet. The work opens with a sinfonia of a pastoral character. The verses for solo voices are duets, for soprano and tenor, two tenors and soprano and bass respectively. In addition there is a recitative for tenor. However, the choral movements also include episodes for solo voices. Robert Rawson, in his liner-notes, characterises them as “veritable concertos for solo voices, chorus and instruments”. Notable is the way the words “the swelling floods” (track 7) are illustrated: it starts with one voice and one instrument, playing colla voce, and then the other voices and instruments enter one after the other to create a crescendo.

When the Duke decided to build a mansion, a chapel was to be included, but when Handel wrote his anthems, that chapel had not yet been completed, and they were performed at the nearby parish church of St Lawrence, where Pepusch’s motet might also have been performed. It was completed in 1720 and opened late that year and Rawson suggests that the Magnificat may have been written for the occasion. It is the first setting of this text in England in the manner of a motet, with an alternation of tutti and solo sections. It is scored for four voices – soli and tutti – and an orchestra which includes parts for trumpet, oboe and bassoon. Again, the work opens with a sinfonia. There are two arias for soprano and alto respectively, and two duets, for soprano/tenor and soprano/bass. As far as the instrumental parts are concerned, notable are the obbligato parts for two violins in the soprano aria, and the use of two cellos in the duet of soprano and tenor. The cello was not very common at the time in England, and its use is another token of Pepusch’s preference for the Italian style.

He used two cellos again in the last work on this disc, O praise the Lord, a setting of verses from Psalm 135. The scoring is very limited: two altos, bass, four-part choir, two cellos (with bassoons as alternatives) and basso continuo. The alto has two solo arias and a recitative; in addition, there is a trio of two altos and bass. The work opens and closes with a chorus.

Pepusch’s oeuvre includes a number of concerti grossi and solo concertos, which bear witness to his Italian leanings. This disc is devoted to his sacred music, but Rawson decided to insert a concerto in a single movement for oboe, strings and basso continuo. It may well have been written at about the same time as the Chandos Anthems.

This disc is interesting in that it is the first recording of any of Pepusch’s Chandos Anthems. As he composed almost twenty of them (some of which have been lost), this makes us curious about the rest, especially as these pieces are excellent. Pepusch was undoubtedly a very good composer, and Rawson, with his ensemble The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen, is obviously very interested in his oeuvre. In 2012, Ramée released a disc with concertos and overtures and it would be great if he could continue his exploration of the Chandos anthems.

The performances could hardly be any better. Rawson selected seven excellent soloists, among them such seasoned performers in the early music scene as Alex Potter, Nicholas Mulroy and Edward Grint. Ciara Hendrick and Hugh Cutting are young singers making their way in the early music scene. The former uses a little too much vibrato here and there, but it is not really an issue. As far as the solo parts are concerned, one of the highlights is the duet of the two tenors in Rejoice in the Lord (track 5). The tutti are sung by the Girl Choristers of Canterbury Cathedral, who sing very well. However, given that in Pepusch’s time in Cannons the ensemble included trebles, I wonder why Rawson opted for girls’ voices, whereas Canterbury Cathedral has boy choristers as well (as have several other cathedrals). The male soloists sing the lower parts in the tutti sections. The performances of the orchestra and the obbligato parts are excellent.

Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen

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