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One year ago (28 Jan 2009) 12 inches of snow fell and I live-blogged a triple chant.

One year later, I can hear the chant and remember how much fun shoveling the driveway was. I also have a composer to go with that delightful triple chant: Jonathan Bielby.

It's sung on this webcast

Labels: Anglican chant, St Thomas (New York), weather

Once again, St. Thomas, New York will conduct their veneration of the most blessed variations on "Veni Creator" by Maurice Duruflé on Pentecost Sunday.

This week's service leaflet will only be available for a limited time.

Labels: Duruflé, liturgy, Pentecost, St Thomas (New York)

Yesterday at St. Thomas Church in New York was sung the Evening Service in F by George Dyson. (As always, you can listen to this service online for the next two weeks or so).

This service is refined and reserved, a perfect foil to the boisterous "Star-Warsy" Evening Service in D (YouTube). Both canticles are marked by a preponderance of writing for solo voice: treble in the Magnificat and bass in the Nunc Dimittis.

The chorus winds its way into some ambiguous harmonies at the end of the Magnificat with the bass moving from the supertonic to subdominant. The ensuing plagal-flavored resolution melts into the Gloria, the new treble solo entering heart-rendingly on high F.

It is a tender, understated service that is very effectively accompanied entirely at 8' pitch.

The hackneyed prose of Wikipedia's George Dyson article claims that Dyson is indebted to Sibelius. At least I think that's what this article is trying to say.

His compositions include a symphony in G major (1937), a violin concerto, and a number of other works, many of them for choir. Ernest John Moeran's symphony of the same decade (and completed the same year) has some similarities of style and ambition with Dyson's. Both are among the longest works of each at about 45 minutes, and both show some influence, harmonically and in instrumental use, from Jean Sibelius.

Labels: Dyson, Evensong, Jean Sibelius, St Thomas (New York)

20:15 An angry reader informs me that the hastily written paragraph from 18:18 is in need of editing. Editing is accomplished.

18:18 A lovely Evensong overall and only about 45 minutes in length from the choir's perspective. The boys sounded excellent. It was the singing of the men, especially their verse sections in the Purcell, that I wanted to hear a bit more preparation. It sounded as though the men singing the verses all managed their parts well but were unaware of what the other parts were doing (i.e., in the manner of true lay clerks). Maybe with an additional fifteen minutes in the schedule there would have been an opportunity to tune a few of those surprisingly hairy Purcell chords a bit more. But then again, with more time, perfection always seems that much closer. The Psalm was a highlight for me. I will be listening to that again soon.

18:17 A fuller registration.

18:14 verse 3, after which Organ Postlude begins. Also on the 8' principal, I believe. These must be Italian pieces. This seems to have a few durezze moments.

18:13 verse 2

18:12 verse 1

18:11 The Grace. The Hymn is surely No. 444. "Blessed be the God of Israel" sung to THORNBURY

18:09 The familiar tune WESTMINSTER ABBEY is "hallelujaed" to end the work.

18:08 Listening to "O God, thou art my God". I love this anthem. Exciting accelerando into "as long as I live".

18:03 Greetings from the rector and a brief homily, I suspect? Was that an errant organ note?

18:00 It's 6:00. The bells finish tolling the hour during the first collect.

17:54 Um, somehow I suspect they are not reading from this public domain edition.

17:53 John is beheaded and the Nunc begins.

17:52 Oops. The Purcell score is also available. I guess I should have checked this before the webcast began.

17:48 A considerable amount of intricate verse work for the men. You can hear that 4' principal come on for the Gloria. Not exactly "as it was in the beginning", if you get my drift.

17:46 Lovely ascending can & dec treble parts there.

17:45 Ishmael is born in the first lesson. The Purcell begins. The organ held that first chord, rather than pitch the choir, I think.

17:43 I checked on this page. The Coverdale version of Psalm 136 does have 27 verses.

17:41 There was an apocryphal verse 27 in the psalm to make the triple chant turn out right. I'm almost okay with that. The altered chant in the Gloria was pretty suave. Who wrote this one?

17:39 I'm totally diggin this chant. What was that pronunciation of "Bashan"? Bay-san?

17:37 The organ could be even bigger for the division of the Red Sea, yes?

17:35 That's not how I thought the chant would end. Ah! A triple chant!!! How exciting!

17:33 A lovely little piece of 20 bars. The Smith responses begin.

17:32 Improv ends in E minor. Batten starts right away. Score

17:30 Improvisation begins on the chancel organ.

17:29 Prelude ends.

17:27 The Organ Prelude begins on the Taylor and Boody. Something nice with a few lombard rhythms on the 8' Principal. Could be French?

17:23 Choir has left. New York traffic noise. How exciting!

17:22 One of the boys can be heard practicing his "Prrrrraise" from the Introit as he wanders out of the church. Excellent

17:21 "A bit of the introit as well". Not happy with the first note of the Batten, Scott asks for just the senior boys to sing it.

17:19 The stream is live. I can hear a bit of the rehearsal. The Purcell Nunc. At the Gloria John Scott says "The four-foot prinicpal as well".

There's 12.5 inches of snow here in the Midwest, which means I'm at home, which means I'll be live blogging the webcast of Evensong from St. Thomas, New York at 5:30 p.m. EST today.

Here's the music list:

5:30 Choral Evensong
  Introit: O praise the Lord - Batten
  Responses: Smith
  Psalm: 136
  Service: Purcell in B flat
  Anthem: O God, thou art my God - Purcell

Labels: Evensong, St Thomas (New York)

Parishioners at St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue heard a movement form Three Pieces for Organ (2000) by Aaron Travers as part of the prelude this past Sunday.

Aaron Travers (b. 1975) holds degrees from Oberlin and Eastman and is on the faculty of Northwestern University.

The structure of the movement performed at St. Thomas, "Here and There", could be likened to a Howells Psalm Prelude or Christopher Rousse's "Elegy" from the Flute Concerto. Soft, crescendo to apocalyptically full, then soft again.

The 11:00 a.m. service from January 18 is still available from St. Thomas webcasting.

Labels: organ music, St Thomas (New York), Travers

Many astute organists (Stephen Cleobury and his minions at King's College, Cambridge, England; John Scott and his assistants at St. Thomas, New York; and Rob Lehman at St. Michael and St. George, St. Louis . . . surely there are others . . .) have remembered to play Howells's marvelous "Sarabande for the Twelfth of any October" today.

Howells included this movement in his Partita for organ as a tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams, who was born on this day.

Alas, alack, I do not play this piece as of yet, though it is my life's goal to perform all of the organ music of Howells.

Sunday, October 12, 2014 here I come.

Update 14 Oct 2008: Osbert Parsley does the math and finds that 2183 is the next Vaughan Williams anniversary year where the Twelfth of October falls on a Sunday

Labels: Howells, King's College (Cambridge), St Thomas (New York)