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Heavenly Harmonies - Three Trebles from Blackburn Cathedral

This CD collection brings together some of the finest music of the 17th & 18th centuries for trebles, composed not just in England, but also in Italy, France and Germany.

We begin in Italy with Claudio Monteverdi, who, having been dismissed from the Mantuan court, moved to Venice in 1613 to become maestro di capella at San Marco. Monteverdi was particularly famous as a composer of madrigals and solo songs, in which he revolutionised various aspects of composition, and particularly word painting. Maledetto sia l’aspetto, a song of unrequited love which was published in a collection entitled Scherzi musicali in 1632, shows Monteverdi’s skill as a composer of such pieces. Elements of this style found their way into his sacred pieces such as Currite Populi, which is preserved in an anthology of music by ‘various of the most excellent composers’ compiled by a soprano in the choir at San Marco, showing the high regard in which Monteverdi’s fellow musicians held him.

Monteverdi took up his position at Venice at a relative low point for music at San Marco after the heady days of the 16th century, and one of the ways in which he revived the music was to bring in younger composers as deputies. One such was Alessandro Grandi, who came to Venice in 1617 having been working at Ferrara Cathedral. His motet O quam tu pulchra es sets words from the Song of Songs, and is very similar in style to Monteverdi’s motets.

Towards the end of the 17th century, the two national schools of music vying for pre-eminence in Europe were the French and Italian. Marc-Antoine Charpentier studied in Rome with Carissimi, and his early music was heavily influenced by Italian style. However on his return to France, a more French tone emerged, and although he never held an appointment at the court of Louis XIV, he was held in very high regard by his contemporaries, and considered by some to be musically superior even to Lully. The work in this collection is a setting of Thomas Aquinas’ eucharistic text, Panis Angelicus.

During the years of the Commonwealth, the future King Charles II of England spent his exile at the French court. His restoration to the monarchy in 1660 was a very significant event for English church music, as shown by the impressive web of connections that link the Chapel Royal and the English composers represented in this collection. Matthew Locke, aged about 38 in 1660, was one of the composers who benefited directly from the Restoration, receiving a number of court appointments. His O Domine Jesu Christe was published by John Playford in 1674 in a collection of hymns and anthems for two voices by leading English composers of the day. Also represented was Richard Dering, composer of Gaudent in coelis, an English catholic composer who worked at the court of King Charles I before the civil war.

To the generation of composers educated at the Chapel Royal in the years following the restoration, Matthew Locke was something of a father figure. The following is from a letter from Locke to Henry Purcell: ‘Dear Harry, some of the gentlemen of His Majesties Musick will honour my poor lodgings with my company this evening, and I would have you come and join them: bring with thee, Harry, thy last anthem, and also the canon we tried over together at our last meeting. Thine in all kindness, M Locke.’ Henry Purcell was of course the most talented of this generation of composers, and he succeeded Matthew Locke as composer to the King’s violins on the latter’s death at the age of only 18. His famed skill as a composer of variations over a ground bass is brilliantly illustrated in his Evening Hymn. His elder contemporary Pelham Humfrey, one of the first group of choristers of the Chapel Royal at the Restoration, was also a very talented composer. He was sent to the French court by the Francophile Charles II, presumably to study music, and according to Pepys returned ‘an absolute monsieur’. A Hymn to God the Father sets a poem by John Donne, and like Purcell’s Evening Hymn was published in the first book of Harmonia Sacra.

Like Humfrey and Purcell, William Croft was a chorister of the Chapel Royal, and he later became organist of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal, as well as Master of the Children at the Chapel Royal. His most famous composition these days is probably the hymn tune St Anne (‘O God our help in ages past’), but he also wrote much fine music for the church. On his death in 1727, he was succeeded as organist of the Chapel Royal by Maurice Greene, who was also organist of St Paul’s Cathedral and was soon to become Professor of Music at Cambridge. Greene wrote a large number of anthems, including 44 verse anthems, and The gentiles shall come and For man walketh in a vain shadow are extracts from these. Croft’s successor as Master of the Children was Bernard Gates, and among his choristers was James Nares, who himself succeeded Gates as Master of the Children after a spell as organist of York Minster. His anthems have an unusual preponderance of writing for solo treble voices, and Rejoice in the Lord comprises the first two movements of a longer solo anthem published in 1778.

It is significant that the two English secular pieces in this collection were written by the only two composers with no connection to the Chapel Royal, as father and son Thomas and Michael Arne were primarily composers for the stage. Thomas Arne is of course most famous as composer of the song Rule Britannia!, part of a masque entitled ‘Alfred’. Where the bee sucks is a setting of Ariel’s song from Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, although Arne does make changes to the text. It was performed by Mrs Arne at Vauxhall Gardens and published in 1746. Michael Arne was brought up by his uncle, Thomas’ sister, and himself became an established writer for the stage.

However, by far the greatest composer of English music in the 18th century was not actually an Englishman. George Frideric Handel was born to a barber-surgeon of some distinction in the German town of Halle, who discouraged his son from taking up a career in music to such an extent that Handel had to smuggle a clavichord into the attic to practise in secret – and incidentally a similar story is also told of Thomas Arne. Handel settled in England in 1712 and became the most dominant figure in English music, whose fame rests primarily on his operas and oratorios. All four pieces on this CD are arias from these works. Art thou troubled comes from the opera ‘Rodalinda’, and Where’er you walk is sung by Jupiter in ‘Semele’. He shall feed his flock and How beautiful are the feet are both from his most famous work, the oratorio ‘Messiah’.

Born in the same year as Handel, J.S. Bach was a very different musical figure to Handel. Far from being discouraged in music, Bach was born into the most incredible of all musical families, which produced more than sixty musicians spread over seven generations. Unlike Handel he did not travel widely, spending virtually his entire life in a small corner of Lutheran Germany. He did not write anything for the theatre, and a large proportion of his works were written for the Lutheran church. And yet Bach’s works assimilate musical techniques and styles from all over Europe just as surely as do those of Handel, though in a quite different way. Et exsultavit is an extract from Bach’s ‘Magnificat’, and Schafe können sicher weiden comes from Cantata no. 208. Bist du bei mir is one of the most famous pieces in the notebook which Bach compiled for his second wife, the soprano Anna Magdalena. Although commonly attributed to Bach, it is more likely to be by G.H. Stölzel, a composer five years Bach’s junior who was a member of the Correspondirenden Societät der Musicalischen Wissenschaften, of which Bach was also a member.

Of the solo organ music on the CD, much of the influence of style can be traced back to Italy. Thomas Tomkins was a Welsh composer who became an organist of the Chapel Royal. Both his Fantasy and Cornet’s Fantasia show the influence of Italian contrapuntal forms. As he worked in Brussels, Cornet would probably have come into close contact with the catholic Englishmen that worked there, among then Richard Dering. By the time of Purcell and Croft, the form of the ‘Voluntary’ had assumed a more specifically English form, although the first half of Purcell’s Voluntary in G displays another interesting link with Italian keyboard music, adapting a method of composition called ‘durezze e ligature’ from Frescobaldi’s toccatas.

Finally, Sweet was the song the virgin sang is an anonymous setting which survives in four different version from the early 17th century. This version survives in the Egerton manuscript in the British Library.

Greg Morris
Blackburn 2006

Music at Blackburn Cathedral

How do we sing the Lord's song in a strange land – the strange land of early twenty-first century society? That's not the question that most people ask me about the music at Blackburn Cathedral, but perhaps it should be. By contrast what they normally ask me is how many times a week the choir sings Evensong.

In answering this rather narrower question, I find myself questioning the assumptions that lie behind it. It's a question that may make some sense when asked amid the context of many other cathedrals – with traditions of music centuries long and choir schools as old – but in post-industrial Blackburn it has, I believe, to be posed in a very different way. For though we have a first rate organ – one of the best in the country – a beautiful and resonant building within which to offer worship, and a gifted staff of musicians – organists, organ scholars, choir directors and singing teachers – we don't possess a traditional infrastructure to carry this forward.

This means that since Blackburn Parish Church was raised to the status of a cathedral in 1926, we have faced the exciting and demanding challenge of creating an educational and musical framework that suits local circumstance.

We could have paralleled the kind of set-up one might find in other cathedrals, but instead we have tailor-made a range of musical opportunities for children (both boys and girls) from 5 to 18 years of age and beyond, and for adults of all ages.

There's a children's choir for 5 to 8 year olds who rehearse weekly and contribute to worship from time to time. There are boy choristers from 8 to 13 years old who meet on four days each week, and sing Evensong on Wednesdays and Sundays, as well as at the weekly Cathedral Eucharist. This is the choir that Daniel Adams, Thomas Croxson and James Holding were members of at the time this recording was made. There are two choirs of girls of a similar age – and into their late teens – who rehearse weekly, often sing Evensongs on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on occasion at the weekends. All of the boys and girls are volunteers – as are the men who sing with them – volunteers, supported by parents who bring them to rehearsals and services.

To encourage girl and boy choristers to continue their singing, there's a Young People's Choir which spans the late teens and early twenties, who provide music for the Parish Eucharist each Sunday. The Renaissance Singers too, an adult chamber choir, also enrich the cathedral's musical life – largely through concerts, but also within worship on annual occasions such as the Ash Wednesday and Ascension Day Eucharists.

Through partnerships with the Local Education Authority’s Music Service, there are opportunities for young instrumentalists to give lunchtime recitals, and there is a programme of musical events that enables local children to experience the splendour of Blackburn Cathedral. Through the same partnership, there are workshops in schools led by members of the music department. We also lead workshops, give concerts and provide music for special services in churches across the Diocese, and undertake recordings, broadcasts, tours, concerts (many with the leading orchestras of the North West) and the commissioning of new music; all of which means that almost 200 people are involved in music making in the cathedral in an average week.

We may not sing Evensong as often as do other cathedrals, but we offer what we believe to be a depth and range of musical and educational opportunity which models common values of commitment, service, excellence and enjoyment for the whole community.

How do we sing the Lord's song in a strange land – the strange land of early twenty-first century society? We get as many people to sing it as possible because we see that in doing so we are advancing the mission and ministry of the church, a church which says to each and every person: your talents and gifts are precious. They are to be used for God's glory.

Richard Tanner

Richard Tanner

Richard Tanner has been Organist and Director of Music at Blackburn Cathedral since June 1998. At Blackburn he has led a music programme which has grown considerably under his leadership.

As well as championing the work of the historic Cathedral Choir of boys and men and supporting the work of the Young People's Choir, Richard has developed singing opportunities for girls, and for children aged 5 to 8. He has founded The Friends of Blackburn Cathedral Music, presided over the restoration of the world class Cathedral Organ and formed many important partnerships in the local community. There have been a number of radio and television broadcasts featuring the choirs of the Cathedral and many commercial recordings have been made in the Cathedral.

As well as leading one of the busiest and most wide ranging musical programmes in any English Cathedral, Richard also enjoys an exciting freelance career. He is in increasing demand as a freelance choral and orchestral conductor. As a record producer he has worked on over twenty five discs with some of the leading organists, choirs and conductors in the UK. As an organist, he is busy as a recitalist and also enjoys giving concerts with his wife, the soprano Philippa Hyde, in the UK and further afield. Richard is a regular Musical Director and Organist on BBC Radio 4’s Daily Service and he has also worked on BBC TV’s Songs of Praise as Conductor, Organist, Arranger and Musical Adviser on a number of occasions.

Future plans include conducting the Northern Chamber Orchestra in the world première recording and performance of a new Organ Concerto written by David Briggs specifically for the recently restored Blackburn Cathedral organ. Requiem, by David Briggs, will also appear on the recording, sung by The Northern Consort of Voices, formed by Richard and featuring some of the best professional singers from the North of England.

Richard was a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral, student at the Royal Academy of Music, and organ scholar of Exeter College, Oxford and St Albans Cathedral. Immediately before moving to Blackburn, he spent five years as Director of Music at All Saints’ Church, Northampton. Further information can be found at his website.

Greg Morris

Born in Manchester, Greg Morris began to study the organ with Andrew Dean at the Manchester Grammar School. He subsequently held organ scholarships at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Jesus College, Cambridge and St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. While at Cambridge, he held a music exhibition as well as directing and accompanying the two chapel choirs. In September 2000 Greg took up the post of Assistant Director of Music at Blackburn Cathedral. He conducts the Young People’s Choir, which under his direction has visited Rome on its first foreign tour and broadcast live on BBC Radio 4. Greg also accompanies the Cathedral Choir and Cathedral Girls’ Choir, and with them has visited Germany, The Czech Republic and USA, and broadcast on BBC Radios 3 & 4, as well as BBC TV’s Songs of Praise. He is a regular organist for Radio 4’s Daily Service.

Greg has studied the organ with Paul Stubbings, John Kitchen and Thomas Trotter. He gained his FRCO diploma in 2000, winning both major prizes. Greg performs regularly as a soloist throughout the UK and abroad. Recent recital venues have included The Queen’s College, Oxford, King’s College, Cambridge, and Westminster Abbey. His first solo CD, Sounds Inspirational, which features music by composers including Bach, Buxtehude, Duruflé and Messiaen, is available on the LAMMAS label, and has received widespread critical acclaim. Future plans include the world première recording and performance of a new Organ Concerto written by David Briggs specifically for the recently restored Blackburn Cathedral organ.