The French Album
Miriam Allan (soprano); Nick Pritchard (tenor)
James Orford (organ)
London Choral Sinfonia/Michael Waldron
rec. 2024, Notre Dame de France, Leicester Place, London
Orchid Classics ORC100317 [82]

A couple of previous CDs by London Choral Sinfonia and Michael Waldron have come my way; in each case the repertoire was English. I admired their accomplished singing in music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, even if the repertoire was a bit uneven (review). Subsequently, they released an admirable album of choral music by Sir Stephen Hough (review). For this latest album they’ve crossed the Channel (though not physically) to give us a fascinating programme of French choral music, amongst which they blend the familiar and the less well-known.

Both of the LCS’s previous recordings that I’ve heard were made in the same venue: St John’s Church, Islington. For this latest venture the location has shifted to Notre Dame de France, Leicester Place, London, the French Catholic Church in London, run by the Marist Order. There’s an important reason for using this location; the church boasts if not quite a Cavaillé-Coll organ then an organ that has strong links with the great French organ builder. In a booklet note explaining this project, Michael Waldron tells us that it began when he first heard of an instrument “alleged to have Cavaillé-Coll bones”. Intrigued, I turned to the internet where I found a site, Organists Online, where I learned that the organ in question was built in 1868 by August Gern in the newly opened church of Notre Dame de France in Leicester Square. Gern (1837-1907) was a former employee of Aristide Cavaille-Coll and this instrument was the first which he built after leaving that employment. The organ went through a number of rebuilds and expansions until in 1986-87 the Edgware firm of B. C. Shepherd & Son did major work on it. As part of this “The original Gern stops were identified and other second-hand French stops were added, including some by Cavaille-Coll… Most reed ranks were revoiced in the French style”. I’ve gone into a bit of detail about this because the Notre Dame de France organ is one of the cornerstones of this recording project; the other is the music of Jean Langlais. A very full specification is included in the booklet. Those who want to learn a little more can access the article on which I’ve drawn for this paragraph here. To my ears, the instrument is highly impressive and speaks with a definite French accent.

With such an organ at his disposal, Michael Waldron decided to build a programme around the Messe Solennelle of Jean Langlais, a work which he has loved ever since hearing the recording made in 1987 for Hyperion by David Hill and the Choir of Westminster Cathedral (CDA 66270, reissued as Helios CDH55444). I bought that disc years ago, though I confess I haven’t listened to it for a long time. The Mass was conceived, as was Vierne’s magnificent Messe Solennelle, for SATB choir accompanied by two organs: a Grande Orgue and a Petit Orgue, a disposition common in French churches of the time. Nowadays it’s by no means unusual to hear Langlais’ work (and the Vierne, for that matter) performed in a version for one organ; judging by the wording in the notes accompanying the David Hill recording, that version may have been used for his performance. However, as George Hall explains in his notes about the music, for this Orchid release James Orford plays both organ parts as written, helped by multi-tracking.

Let’s not beat about the bush: this new recording is stunning in its impact. The singing of the London Choral Sinfonia is wonderful but a considerable amount of credit is also due to Orford’s playing. The Kyrie starts off in a way that is subdued by comparison with what is to come, but at 1:58, after the choir has sung ‘Christe eleison’, Langlais unleashes the full power of the Grand Orgue; the sound of the Notre Dame de France instrument is breathtaking. Thereafter, the Grand Orgue supplies potent interjections between the choir’s increasingly urgent supplications. The Gloria features a good deal of exultant choral writing and once again the Grand Orgue is a powerful presence. There is no setting of the Credo. The music to which the Sanctus is set is explosive and culminates in a thrilling ‘Hosanna’. This includes top Cs for the sopranos and Michael Waldron explains that these notes were not in the original score. Apparently, they was added as an ad lib gesture by George Guest when the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge gave the UK premiere of the Mass. It seems that Langlais heartily approved and the notes were subsequently included in the printed score. Here, Michael Waldron also introduces an ad lib of his own in the form of top C at the same point in the Benedictus: my view is that it would have been rude not to do so! Prior to the ‘Hosanna’, reprised from the Sanctus, the Benedictus charts much calmer waters than the previous movements of the Mass. The LCS sing it beautifully and the organ part is beguiling. The Agnus Dei is unsettled, slow and tense from the start, though initially the tension is a little less overt than was the case in the Kyrie. In the linking passages between the choral episodes James Orford’s registrations ensure that there’s a wonderfully Gallic sound from the organ. As the movement nears its end, the words ‘Dona nobis pacem’ are set to impassioned music; this is a big plea – almost a demand – for peace. Once again, the Grand Orgue makes a tremendous contribution.

Out of interest, I dug out my copy of the aforementioned David Hill recording. It’s a very fine one, but if you have that in your collection, you should note some important differences between the Hill and Waldron performances. Hill has an all-male choir with trebles on the top line whereas Waldron has female sopranos and altos. Both the all-male and mixed choirs are excellent and show the music in fascinatingly contrasted lights. The main differences lie in the recorded sound and the respective organs. David Hill has at his disposal the might of the Westminster Cathedral organ (played by James O’Donnell, no less). However, his recording was made in the very spacious acoustic of Westminster Cathedral which I feel blunts the impact of the organ by comparison with the new LCS disc. Furthermore, the Notre Dame de France instrument speaks with a definite French accent. If you have the Hill recording in your collection you should add this new version as well, especially since there is no other overlap of repertoire. Pressed to make a choice, though, I’d unhesitatingly vote for this new recording on which the sound just bowls the listener over.

For the rest of this extremely generous disc Michael Waldron offers a programme that includes more Langlais and works by five of his compatriots. The Langlais pieces include Fête for solo organ. George Hall points out that the piece celebrated two events: the Liberation of France and Langlais’ appointment as Organist of the church of Saint-Clothilde in which there was a Cavaillé-Coll organ. So, its safe to assume that the piece was conceived with an organ in mind which had at least some similarities to the instrument in Notre Dame de France. It’s a jubilant piece and on this London organ, and as played by James Orford, it sounds spectacular. Admirers of the music of Langlais will be more than intrigued to hear the first recordings of four much more intimate pieces. There’s a story behind the inclusion of these four songs. Few who saw on television the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh during the Covid lockdown will forget the sight of just four singers and their conductor – the maximum that the rules would then allow – standing in the otherwise empty nave of St George’s Chapel, Windsor to sing various items of choral music. One of the singers was the Australian soprano, Miriam Allan. She and George Hall relate in the booklet that Jean Langlais’ widow heard her singing and determined that her voice would be ideally suited to these four songs for solo voice with organ; she sent copies to Ms Allan. At least some of them have not been published. All four are lovely and present a fine contrast to the much more public pieces by Langlais elsewhere on this programme. I was especially intrigued by O Salutaris. Apparently, this is marked to be sung ‘Like a Gregorian chant’. Whereas the other three songs have essentially syllabic vocal lines this one is melismatic. The music seems to float, untethered by the constraints of time signatures. These four pieces are real discoveries and Miriam Allan amply vindicates Mme. Langlais’ decision to entrust the songs to her. She sings all four pieces expressively and with fine tonal purity while James Orford supports her with sensitive accompaniments.

We also hear the Four Motets which Marcel Dupré composed in 1916. These pieces, for choir with organ accompaniment, are not very well known; I have heard only one other recording – though there may be others – namely, the 2001 recording by the Vasari Singers (Guild GMCD7220). The third and fourth of the set were designed for two organs but, as in the Langlais Mass, James Orford is able to play both parts. Three of the motets are for SATB choir but pace George Hall’s notes, the lovely setting of Ave Maria is for unison sopranos. All four pieces are impressive, as are the present performances. As in the Langlais Mass, the French sound of the organ adds a welcome touch of authenticity.

I don’t recall that I’ve previously heard the a cappella Tantum Ergo by Déodat de Séverac. It’s a modest, sincere and rather lovely piece; here, it’s sung sensitively. Nick Pritchard is the soloist in Franck’s well-known Panis Angelicus; he sings it very well. What will be less familiar is the new arrangement of the piece for tenor, choir, solo cello and string orchestra by Owain Park; it works very well. Pritchard also does the honours in Fauré’s Tantum Ergo which he sings elegantly. The same composer’s much better-known Cantique de Jean Racine is here performed in the pleasing orchestration by John Rutter which uses harp and a string orchestra without violins. It’s a little gem of a piece and I enjoyed the LCS performance very much.

The disc ends with a second piece by Frank, his setting in French of Psalm 150. I’d not heard this before. It starts in a surprisingly subdued vein but the music soon gets cracking and the piece ends triumphantly. Franck wrote it for choir, organ and large orchestra; it’s presented here in a reduced orchestration by Armin Landgraf, which seems to work perfectly well.

This is a very fine disc. The standard of singing is consistently extremely high. The small orchestra features on several tracks and plays very well indeed. James Orford’s contributions from the organ console are superb; I suspect he had a lot of fun exploring the capabilities of this organ and then exploiting them to the full. A few of the pieces on Michael Waldron’s discerningly chosen programme will be familiar but many are less well-known; it’s a delight to hear the unfamiliar pieces performed with such distinction and commitment.

The technical side of things was in the extremely experienced hands of producer Adrian Peacock and engineer David Hinitt. They’ve recorded the music superbly. The choir is clearly balanced while the only word to describe the recording of the organ is spectacular. I have one reservation about the documentation: no texts or translations are provided. That’s unfortunate since several of the texts that have been set will not be familiar. Otherwise, the documentation is excellent.

As I said, this is a very fine disc; in fact, c’est magnifique!

John Quinn

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Contents
Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
Messe Solennelle (1949)
Déodat de Séverac (1872-1921)
Tantum Ergo (1920)
César Franck (1822-1890)
Panis Angelicus (1872) (arr. Owain Park)*
Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Ave Verum (1871)
Jean Langlais
Ave maria*
Pie Jesu (1943)*
Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)
Quatre Motets (1916)
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Tantum Ergo (c 1890)
Pavane (1887) (arr. Owain Park)*
Jean Langlais
À la Vierge Marie*
O Salutaris (1943)*
Fête (1946)
Gabriel Fauré
Cantique de Jean Racine (1865)
César Franck
Psalm 150 (1883)
*Premiere recording