Hear my prayer

Hear my Prayer DCCA 0605 £6.00

James Lancelot, Director

Keith Wright, Organ

Durham Cathedral Consort of Singers

Click the disk to hear a sample of the CD

Stanford Latin	Magnificat, Opus 164
Brahms	Schaffe in mir, Gott, Opus 29 No. 2
Rheinberger	Abendlied, Opus 69 No. 3
Brahms	Geistliches Lied, Opus 30
Finzi	Lo, the full, final sacrifice
Mendelssohn	Hear my prayer
Grieg	Ave maris stella
Bruckner	Ave Maria
Wood	Nunc dimittis in Bb

CHURCH MUSIC QUARTERLY, SEPT 2007

Among a rich crop of discs, this is just possibly the best of all. The Durham Cathedral Consort of Singers was set up, not only to sing when the Cathedral Choir was away, but also to augment it when the repertoire required – quite a challenge, given how superb the regular choir is. Well, I am sure the boys and gentlemen of the Cathedral Choir give the ladies and gentlemen of the Cathedral Consort of Singers a warm welcome when they collaborate since this is a chamber choir of the first rank. Like the Cathedral Choir, the Cathedral Consort of Singers benefits from the masterly direction of James Lancelot and the peerless organ accompaniment of Keith Wright. Continental repertoire is dominant on this disc, with music by Brahms (Schaffe in mir, Gott; Geistiches Lied), Rheinberger (Abendlied), Grieg (Ave maris stella) and Bruckner (Ave Maria). The programme is framed by Stanford’s Latin Magnificat and Wood’s Nunc Dimittis in B flat, both for double-choir. At the centre of the programme is a stunning performance of Finzi’s Lo, the full, final sacrifice. Sarah Kelly’s soprano solo is exquisite. Following on the heels of the Finzi is Mendelssohn’s Hear my Prayer, with its (in)famous solo, ‘O for the wings of a dove!’ This work can sound monstrous in the wrong hands and, forasmiuch as it has served to exalt Mendelssohn’s reputation, it has done at least as much to damn it. Performed as it is by Durham Cathedral Consort of Singers, with impeccable taste and feeling, Hear my Prayer is a deeply affecting work. Jessica Holmes, the soprano soloist, is simply outstanding; Keith Wright’s accompaniment is perfectly calculated to support and intensify without ever taking away focus from the singers; and James Lancelot’s direction shows a profound understanding of the rhetoric of this anthem and never debases it into a melodrama. A very highly recommended disc.

Christopher Maxim

Below you can find a review of this CD:

This recording features highlights of the Consort’s nineteenth- and twentieth-century repertoire.Some of its is authentically sung by a mixed choir such as this; some of it was conceived for an all-male choir, such as Finzi’s Lo, the full, final sacrifice, a Walter Hussey commission for St Matthew’s, Northampton.

The programme opens and closes with extended and atypically Latin double-choir settings of Magnificat and Nunc dimittis, Stanford’s being composed in memory of Hubert Parry and bearing a sad dedication which is all too eloquent in view of the two composers’ long-standing disagreement. Wood’s Nunc dimittis is less ambitious in scope, but its block-choir eight-part writing gives it an atmosphere of grandeur and splendour (both Holst and Howells would exploit similar textures in setting the same words I the following decaades).

For the rest, the music comes from continental Europe: Brahm’s magnificent setting of part of Psalm 51, scholarly yet passionate, and his serene (but canonically fascinating) Geistliches Lied; Rheinberger’s evocative evening hymn Abendlied, its text imbued with the resonance and emotion of the story of the road to Emmaus; Mendelsshon’s Hear my prayer (sung in its quaint metrical English version) needing neither introduction nor apology; Bruckner’s magisterial Ave Maria, intimate yet grand; and Grieg’s characteristic setting of the Marian hymn Ave maris stella, technically simple yet clearly and immediately permeated by the influence of Nor-wegian folksong. I would make special acknowledgement of Oxford University Press’ anthology European Sacred Music, edited by John Rutter, an invaluable publication which has served as both quarry and signpost.