Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986)
Crucifixus pro Nobis: Choral Music
Benjamin Hulett (tenor)
Members of Britten Sinfonia
François Cloete & Owen Chan (organ)
Choir of Merton College, Oxford / Benjamin Nicholas
rec. 2024, Chapel of Merton College, Oxford, UK
Texts & English translations included
Delphian DCD34332 [58]
The release of this new disc from Benjamin Nicholas and the Choir of Merton College, Oxford is timely, coming early in the year that marks the fortieth anniversary of Edmund Rubbra’s death. I wonder how widely this anniversary will be marked; not all that widely, I fear, though I am looking forward to hearing a performance of his Symphony No 10 at the Three Choirs Festival in July.
I’ve grown greatly to admire Rubbra’s very sincere and thoughtful music over the years, not least his eleven completed symphonies; several of them were recorded individually by Lyrita and then Richard Hickox made a fine complete cycle for Chandos with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. It was Hickox who provided me with my first encounter with the composer’s music, getting on for fifty years ago. This was through an LP with his St Margaret’s Westminster Singers, released by RCA, which included Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici and the earlier Missa Cantuariensis, Op 59 (1946). The recording was subsequently reissued on CD by Chandos (review). My recollection is that when I first heard the RCA LP I found Missa Cantuariensis the more appealing work, probably because the nature of the music is a little more outgoing than its more reserved companion. I was delighted to be able to renew acquaintance with Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici through this new recording.
I learned a good deal from Alexandra Coghlan’s excellent booklet essay and I will draw on it in the course of this review. Anyone acquiring this disc will find her a perceptive guide to the music. However, I’d also like to commend an essay on Rubbra by Francis Routh, which was published on Musicweb; you can find it here. In the course of his essay, one of many important points made by Routh is this: “it is in works for unaccompanied choir that Rubbra achieves his most characteristic results; the religious fervour, the free movement of modal tonality, the growth of harmony from the contrapuntal lines, the full development of his polyphonic style.” This CD demonstrates Routh’s point admirably.
It seems to me that Benjamin Nicholas’s programme could be said to have three pillars. The first of these is an important work which here receives its first recording. The Cantata di Camera: Crucifixus pro Nobis (1961) is scored for solo tenor, SATB choir and a small ensemble of flute, violin, cello, harp and organ. It’s a fairly short piece – though by no means lacking in substance – which here plays for 13:29. It is cast in four movements, the first three of which play continuously. Most of the work sets poetry by the English Catholic poet, Patrick Carey (c 1624-1657); the fourth movement, ‘Most Glorious Lord of Life’ is a setting of lines by Edmund Spenser (1552-1599). The solo tenor part is very important; indeed, the choir doesn’t make an appearance until the third movement. This recording benefits hugely from the outstanding singing of Benjamin Hulett. He sings with a clear, plangent tone, which suits both words and music, and his performance is very expressive. The work is all about Christ’s Passion and (in the last movement) his Resurrection. Consequently, even the first movement, ‘Christ in the Cradle’ has no warm, comforting child-in-the manger imagery; Carey’s text anticipates Christ’s future suffering. Rubbra’s music perfectly mirrors the sentiments in the words. The next two movements, ‘Christ in the Garden’ and Christ in his Passion’ follow attacca. Inevitably, given the subject matter, the music is inward-looking and sorrowful to the point of anguish – though the tone is always restrained. Only in the concluding ‘Most Glorious Lord of Life’ is there any respite, as Christ’s resurrection is celebrated; even here, though, Rubbra is restrained and thoughtful.Crucifixus pro Nobis is a work of great integrity and sincerity. It was new to me and I admired it very much. Every aspect of the performance is very fine indeed. This is a significant addition to Rubbra’s discography.
The second programme pillar is the Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici. Alexandra Coghlan reminded me that there’s a very important and personal reason why Rubbra wrote this Mass for a cappella choir in honour of St Dominic: it was on the Feast of St Dominic – 4 August, 1948 – that Rubbra was received into the Catholic Church. This Mass setting, therefore, must surely be regarded as an expression of personal faith. Indeed, when I took down from the shelves, for the first time in quite a while, the Hickox recorking of the work, I found in the booklet a note, written by the composer in 1976, in which he specifically states that the Mass owes its origin “purely to an inner compulsion to express my beliefs in music to be used within the framework of the liturgy”. It’s worth remembering, too, that the Mass, which is in Latin, was designed for liturgical use; at the time that Rubbra wrote it, the Mass was still always celebrated in Latin. Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici offers a rather different experience compared to the earlier Missa Cantuariensis. The latter work was composed for the Anglican rite – notwithstanding the Latin title, the setting is in English. In addition, that Canterbury setting, being for the Anglican Eucharist, placed the Gloria last. Another point of differentiation is that in his English Mass setting, Rubbra used an organ in one movement: the expansive and dignified setting of the Credo.
Alexandra Coghlan makes a telling point when she says of the St Dominic Mass that it is “rooted in the musical past but with its harmonic gaze fixed to the future”. It’s a succinct setting, as befits a work composed for liturgical use. The Kyrie is short but intense. Though the text of the Gloria is a hymn of praise, Rubbra’s music has a surprisingly inward feel to it, though at the very end there’s a brief passage of extrovert music. In the Credo we hear strong expressions of faith interspersed with inward music – not least at ‘Et incarnatus est’. From ‘Et resurrexit’ onwards I hear dignified joy rather than conventional exuberance; here and elsewhere, I gain the impression that Rubbra’s faith was not only very personal but also shot through with humility. The Sanctus begins with quiet adoration; that makes the explosion at ‘Pleni sunt caeli’ all the more effective. The Agnus Dei is hushed and prayerful throughout. There isn’t a wasted note in Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici. In discussing Crucifixus pro Nobis I drew attention to the integrity of Rubbra’s music; that observation is just as applicable to this very fine, eloquent Mass setting. Benjamin Nicholas and his choir are splendid advocates for the work.
The programme concludes with the third pillar: the setting in A flat of the Evening Canticles. Like the Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici, these date from 1948; the works have adjacent opus numbers. Rubbra is original in his approach to these frequently-set texts. The Magnificat is surprisingly assertive in tone, at least at the start; there’s little suggestion of Mary’s femininity. That said, as Alexandra Coghlan notes, a more lyrical touch becomes evident at ‘And his mercy’. It’s a succinct setting of the canticle (here, it plays for 4:08); the organ part, which is striking and important, is very well played by François Cloete. The ‘Glory be’ is extrovert and exciting. Some composers make what is, in effect, a little break between the canticle and the music for the ‘Glory be’ but in this Rubbra setting there’s a seamless flow. The Nunc dimittis is more pensive. I don’t think anyone could better Alexandra Coghlan’s description when she refers to the canticle’s “unison melody [which] stretches yearningly across the bar lines, reaching inexorably towards the pealing outpourings of the Gloria”. The only thing which I can add to that is that Rubbra gives us another, welcome chance to hear the ‘Glory be’ from the Magnificat.
Benjamin Nicholas offers four short choral works besides the three main items. One of these, The Revival here receives its first recording. All four pieces are well worth hearing. The most obviously appealing is The Virgin’s Cradle Hymn which was the composer’s first published work. My only regret is that Nicholas did not include the other three of the Op 37 Motets; there would have been ample room on the disc but maybe those pieces did not entirely fit with the design of the programme.
There are also three short works for organ on the programme though, in fact, only one of them was composed specifically for the instrument. The piece in question is Meditation, a short piece which is mainly serene and thoughtful. Owen Chan plays it with great sensitivity. Chan is also at the console to give the first recording of Symphonic Prelude. This is in fact an arrangement for organ by Michael Dawney, a Rubbra pupil, and Robert Matthew-Walker of the two surviving pages of short score of a Twelfth Symphony on which Rubbra was working when he died. The piece is very short (1:44) but within that brief timescale we hear what Alexandra Coghlan aptly describes as “a brooding musical premonition”. I’m glad this fragment was rescued from oblivion; it sounds entirely convincing as an organ piece. The Prelude and Fugue (on a theme by Cyril Scott) was composed as a piano piece which Rubbra wrote as a seventieth birthday present for his teacher. I learned from the notes that the theme comes from Scott’s Piano Sonata No 1. I’ve never heard the piano original but I have previously heard the organ arrangement by Bernard Rose (review). It seems to me that Rose’s arrangement is entirely successful; the music transfers to the organ very convincingly and here François Cloete plays it very well.
I’ve heard virtually all the discs which Benjamin Nicholas and the Choir of Merton College have made for Delphian over the years. I’ve never been disappointed, either in the chosen repertoire or in the standard of performance. That’s very much the case here, too. The singing is flawless throughout – as is the playing of the quartet of players from the Britten Sinfonia in Crucifixus pro Nobis. Rubbra has been exceptionally well served by this disc.
I’ve also come to expect the highest standards of documentation and engineering from Delphian; that’s certainly the case here. The number of times I’ve cited Alexandra Coghlan’s essay about the music attests to the value I’ve extracted from it. Engineer/producer Paul Baxter is now a seasoned veteran of recording in Merton College Chapel; that shows in the clear, truthful recorded sound.
Admirers of the reserved but very fine music of Edmund Rubbra should not hesitate to acquire this recording. Equally, though, I hope it may win new friends for this excellent composer.
John Quinn
Other review: Gary Higginson
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Contents
Cantata di Camera: Crucifixus pro Nobis, Op 111 (1961)
The Revival, Op 58 (1944)
Eternitie (Five Motets for Unaccompanied Choir), Op 37, No 1(1934)
Prelude and Fugue (on a theme by Cyril Scott), Op 69 (1950)
(arr. for organ by Bernard Rose (1916-1996))
The Virgin’s Cradle Hymn, Op 3 (1924)
Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici, Op 66 (1948)
Meditation, Op 79 (1953)
A Hymn to God the Father (Five Motets for Unaccompanied Choir), Op 37, No 3 (1934)
Symphonic Prelude, Op 164a (publ. 1990)
(arr. for organ by Michael Dawney (b 1942) & Robert Matthew-Walker (b 1939)
Evening Service in A flat, Op 65 (1948)
