Westminster Cathedral Choir: Commissions
With the recent premiere of a new commission from Jean-Baptiste Robin, Messe Solennelle pour Choeur et Deux Orgues, for the Choir of Westminster Cathedral, I was reminded of the great tradition of commissions by this great choral institution, and how influential it is in the wider musical, cultural fabric of the UK in the last century and a quarter. Masses commissioned from Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Sir Lennox Berkeley, Judith Bingham, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (x2), Roxanna Panufnik and Sir James Macmillan all form part of this great tradition that Maestro Robin now joins. Other choral commissions, not Masses, have come from Wood, Howells and Holst, and from Masters of Music George Malcolm, Colin Mawby and Martin Baker, and David Bevan (a former chorister and later Assistant Master of Music at the Drome under Colin Mawby). Works by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford were also commissioned, but most have regrettably since been lost, including an 8-part Mass:
"Stanford produced a large-scale orchestral mass for Thomas Wingham’s choir at the London Oratory and is reputed to have written an unaccompanied eight-part setting in Latin for Westminster – although it is referred to in the music lists for 1920 neither parts nor sketches have ever been found."
I have a vague recollection that in the last few years, the Drome Choir sang one of the Standford pieces that may have been recently unearthed. But don't quote me on that!
Of the RWV Mass in G Minor (Hyperion notes to the later Abbey recording of the Mass in G Minor):
"Terry [First Master of Music of Westminster Cathedral Choir) commissioned [RVW] to write a Mass for the choir. The resulting Mass in G minor was completed in 1921 and dedicated to the composer’s closest friend Gustav Holst ‘and his Whitsuntide Singers’ in Thaxted, Essex. Before it was sung at Westminster [Cathedral], however, it was first performed as a concert piece by the City of Birmingham Choir on 6 December 1922. After its first hearing at Westminster, it soon became an accepted pillar of the repertoire."
Here is the Martin Baker recording of the RVW with the Choir for which it was written. Both it (2005) and the more recent O'Donnell recording (2022, also on Hyperion) are absolutely first-rate, even if I personally favour the Baker recording slightly due to the greater shades of contrast that he elicits from the choir (Gloria below):
And Bingham's Mass for Ascension Day (Gloria again):
In fact it was the Sir Peter Maxwell Davies Mass for full choir that I was reminded of most when reading about the new Robin Messe Solennelle, as the former is also a double organ Mass (he also wrote a boys' voices Mass for the Drome trebles). Extract below:
According to Hyperion:
"This new recording from Westminster Cathedral presents two of the most important new Mass settings of recent times. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, recently confirmed by Buckingham Palace as the new Master of The Queen’s Music, has throughout his long composing career contributed several miniature sacred choral pieces to the repertory, but these new works represent his first foray into the heart of the liturgy. The Mass for full choir and two organs is based on two plainchants for Whitsun, and is very much a contemporary successor to those great works of the Renaissance with which this choir has cemented so enviable a reputation around the world. Missa parvula, by contrast, is in the mould of Britten’s Missa brevis and is for unison upper voices. Upfront simplicity recalls the world of Duruflé, even of Solesmes, and we are reminded of Maxwell Davies’ long commitment to composing music suitable for children. Both Masses were composed for, and first performed by, The Choir of Westminster Cathedral."
The Panufnik Mass (scored for treble solo, SSAATTBB, Tubular Bells, 2 Harps and Strings - with separate versions for strings only, or organ only) was a commission for Westminster Cathedral by the fledgling Genesis Foundation to commemorate Cardinal Basil Hume's 75th birthday. Here the composer (in 2023) reflects on the importance the Mass has in her own career, and the press-interest at the time.
Here is the Gloria (unusually recorded for Teldec rather than Hyperion), accompanied by the City of London Sinfonia. Note that it uses the (now superseded) English text of the Mass. I am not aware that it has been adapted for the new English text of the Mass (unlike the superb Macmillan Mass, also for the Drome - see below).
Here is the Macmillan Mass (Gloria again) (first performed on the Feast of
Corpus Christi in 2000):
I was at the premiere a few years ago (2022!) of his Mass in Latin commissioned for Westminster Abbey (slightly bizzare that for the Catholics the Mass was set in English, for the Anglicans in Latin). Subsequently recorded in what is James O'Donnell's final recording with the Abbey Choir (indeed, the Panufnik was one of the last recording he made as Master of Music of Westminster Cathedral - possibly only the fabulous disc of Janáček & Kodály Masses back with Hyperion was recorded later). Though composed for the feast of St Edward the Confessor, I can see no reason why it should not be programmed any given Sunday or feast:
The Berkeley Mass for Five Voices (Op. 64), commissioned by Cardinal Heenan and dedicated to Colin Mawby and the Choir of Westminster Cathedral doesn't seem to have been recorded by the Drome Choir yet ... a gap in the Catalogue! St John’s College Cambridge have however:
His Missa Brevis (Op. 57), dedicated to his sons (Lord) Michael Berkeley and Julian Berkeley and he Westminster Cathedral trebles, ditto:
Although commissioned by Buckfast Abbey, here is Martin's Baker's new setting of the Mass for Corpus Christi:
By the way, this is a liturgical representation of the Corpus Christi Mass, so we have the Sequence and proper Alleuia ... in that order ... i.e. not following the instructions (and older tradition) in the Graduale Romanum of 1974. Does it matter? Most assuredly not (the singing of it as gloriously as this is what matters) ... but good to know who does what, where.
Finally, three more works. One of the David Bevan Magnificats (here alternatim with mode 8 chant and improvised organ versets), a live performance of Colin Mawby's sensational Ave Verum Corpus in Rome, Sistine Chapel, conducted by the composer himself (how lovely that Martin Baker gave over the conducting duties for this piece to the compose and erstwhile predecessor as Master of Music of this great choir), and George Malcolm's fabulous Missa ad praesepe:
