Veni Creator Spiritus
Second Vespers of the Solemnity of Pentecost
Gregorian chant, Palestrina, Malcolm, Tallis, de Victoria, Jackson, Howells, Duruflé
Peter Stevens (organ)
Westminster Cathedral Choir/Simon Johnson
rec. 2024, Westminster Cathedral, London
Text and translations included
Ad Fontes AF015 [73]
This sumptuous issue of Pentecostal sacred music comes in a fifty-page, CD-sized book containing notes, photographs, biographies, the Latin texts and English translations, with the disc slipped into the inside back cover.
Director Simon Johnson’s note first outlines the biblical, historical, liturgical and spiritual significance of this great feast of the Catholic Church, telling us that the Second Vespers of Pentecost are “[p]resented here in a version that closely follows the pre-conciliar Roman Rite.” The brief invocation “Deus in adiutorium” is followed by a psalmody consisting of a sequence of five psalms “[s]ung here to the Gregorian melodies that have been part of the Church’s tradition for centuries” and whose texture is varied by the use of “fauxbourdon”, whereby the chant is set in simple three-voice harmony instead of plainchant: two of those are of 16C origin and one is newly composed by Peter Stevens, the organist here. A choral setting of a short reading from the Acts of the Apostles follows, its six vocal lines woven into a magical sonic tapestry instantly recognisable as Palestrina’s. The big, open acoustic of the Abbey is ideally suited to its glorious polyphony and the engineers have done a fine job capturing it.
The Office Hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus” dates back to the ninth century but its sixth and final verse is set to music “in a freely composed version” composed by George Malcolm, Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral 1947-1959. Probably the most familiar piece here is Tallis’ “Loquebantur in variis linguis” – and one again, the dense style, replete with dissonant “false relations” and complex counterpoint, is unmistakably his. It is beautifully performed, the trebles soaring and the tenors remarkably homogeneous. A trio of works by what are perhaps the most famous composers of the era is completed with the lesser-known Magnificat primi toni by de Victoria. It is the longest piece here, sitting at the heart of the Vespers; we are told that “the altar is incensed whilst the choir sings” and we may at least hear that action in aural form. After a chanted Collect, we hear Gabriel Jackson’s motet, first performed in 2014. It is an engaging, melodic work, in which I hear more than a hint of Morten Lauridsen – and it is none the worse for that.
We go back to the early 20C for Herbert Howells’ “Regina cæli” and finish with a showpiece by Duruflé for Peter Stevens on the organ which, as the notes say, concludes with “a whirlwind of notes that then merge into a truly mesmerising cadence”.
This is as much an adjunct to spiritual elevation as a musical experience which will appeal to practising Catholics and lovers of liturgical music alike.
Ralph Moore
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Contents
1. Gregorian Chant: Deus in adiutorium
2. Gregorian Chant, Psalm 109 – with fauxbourdon verses by Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (1560-1627)
3. Gregorian Chant, Psalm 110 – with fauxbourdon verses by Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (1560-1627)
4. Gregorian Chant: Psalm 111
5. Gregorian Chant: Psalm 112 – with fauxbourdon verses by Peter Stevens (b. 1987)
6. Gregorian Chant, Psalm 113
7. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594): Dum complerentur
8. Gregorian Chant/George Malcolm (1917-1997): Veni Creator Spiritus
9. Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585): Loquebantur variis linguis
10. Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611): Magnificat Primi Toni
11. Gregorian Chant: Collect
12. Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962): Factus est repente
13. Gregorian Chant: Benedicamus Domino
14. Herbert Howells (1892-1983): Four Anthems to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Op. 9 – excerpt: Regina cæli
15. Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986): Prélude, Adagio & Choral varié sur le theme du ‘Veni Creator’,
Op. 4
