Lest we forgot by The Choir of Chichester Cathedral

Various composers

The Choir of Chichester Cathedral

Lest we forgot

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Signum Classics
UPC: 0635212056226
Catnr: SIGCD 562
Release date: 02 November 2018
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Label
Signum Classics

UPC
0635212056226

Catalogue number
SIGCD 562

Release date
02 November 2018

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

In the centenary year of the Armistice of 1918, our thoughts turn to the great human cost of the First World War and many subsequent armed conflicts. Combat Stress, founded shortly after the end of the war, was an early pioneer in responding to the profound mental scars sustained by service personnel. As awareness of mental illness grows, and as the extent of the need for treatment becomes ever more apparent, the charity continues to provide invaluable support to those who suffer as a result of traumatic events experienced during their time with the armed services.

Honderd jaar na de wapenstilstand van 1918 gaan onze gedachten uit naar de prijs van de Eerste Wereldoorlog en vele gewapende conflicten die later plaatsvonden. Deze herdenkingsopname, uitgegeven met steun van de liefdadigheidsorganisatie Combat Stress, verkent de thema’s die geassocieerd worden met menselijke conflicten. Het programma omvat teksten en muziek die wijzen op de zwakheid die leidt tot het geweld van de oorlog, maar ook op de triomfen van de menselijke geest die zo vaak voortkomen uit de meest ellendige situaties.

Het Choir of Chichester Cathedral wordt geleid door Charles Harrison in deze opname van werken van componisten die zijn getroffen door de Eerste Wereldoorlog, onder wie Stanford, Bainton, Ireland, Howells, Parry en Elgar.

Combat Stress, opgericht kort na het einde van de Eerste Wereldoorlog, was een pionier in het reageren op de diepe mentale littekens die aanhouden bij militairen. Terwijl het bewustzijn van mentale ziekten groeit en terwijl de mate van de behoefte voor behandeling steeds duidelijker wordt, blijft de liefdadigheidsorganisatie waardevolle steun bieden aan hen die lijden als gevolg van traumatische gebeurtenissen die ze tijdens hun militaire dienst hebben ervaren.

Artist(s)

The Choir of Chichester Cathedral

Chichester has long enjoyed a high reputation for the quality of its music. The choir's broad repertoire encompasses works from the Middle Ages to the present day, including over forty pieces written specifically for Chichester. The daily offering of music, performed in the Cathedral's beautiful acoustics, is at the heart of our pattern of worship. With a total of 18 boy choristers and 6 lay vicars, Chichester has one of the smallest cathedral choirs in Britain. The lay vicars are all professional singers and live in or near the Cathedral Close. The choristers are educated at the Prebendal School where they start as 'Probationers' in Year 3 or 4 (age 7-9), rising to the rank of chorister after about one year. A...

With a total of 18 boy choristers and 6 lay vicars, Chichester has one of the smallest cathedral choirs in Britain. The lay vicars are all professional singers and live in or near the Cathedral Close. The choristers are educated at the Prebendal School where they start as 'Probationers' in Year 3 or 4 (age 7-9), rising to the rank of chorister after about one year.
A highlight of the choir's year is its participation in the Southern Cathedrals Festival, where they join forces with their colleagues from the cathedrals of Winchester and Salisbury for a three-day celebration of choral music which draws its audience from around the world.
Early in December, the choir visits Chichester's famous Festival Theatre, performing in a series of Christmas concerts to a combined audience of several thousand.
Further afield, the choir regularly tours abroad, enjoying particularly close links with Ravenna, Bayreuth, Bamberg and Chartres.

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Charles Harrison (conductor)

Timothy Ravalde (organ)

Composer(s)

Edward Elgar

Eward Elgar was a British composer, who stood on the forefront of the revival of English music around 1900. Many of his works have entered the international concert repertoire, although there are performed more often in Britain than elsewhere.
Although Elgar is often considered as a typically English composer, he has primarily been influenced by composers on the European continent. He was contemptuous of folk music and had little respect for English Renaissance and Baroque composers. Instead he was particularly inspired by Dvorák, Händel and Brahms, and the clarity of 19th-century French composers, which resonates through his orchestrations.
Elgar was autodidact, and learned to play the organ, violin and viola at an early age within the musical family in which he was brought up. He also composed and arranged music for various ensembles. He became somewhat well-known with his overture Froissart, but only gained international recognition after composing his Enigma Variations in 1899. Currently researchers are still trying to find out which melody Elgar has hidden within the variations.
Other famous works by Elgar are the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, the oratorio The Dream of Gerontinus and the Cello Concerto.

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Charles Villiers Stanford

Charles Villiers Stanford was born in Ireland, but rose to fame as a composer, conductor and music teacher in England. While he was still an undergraduate, he was appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambrigde. In 1882 he was one of the founders of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life. Later he also became Professor of Music at Cambridge University. Among his pupils were rising composers who would surpass him later on, such as Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.
Stanford composed about 200 works in almost every genre, amongst others seven symphonies, nine operas, 11 concertos, 40 choral works and 28 chamber works. Throughout his career he was always admired for his technical mastery. On the day of Stanford's death, Gustav Holst said Herbert Howells, “The one man who could get any one of us out of a technical mess is now gone from us.” After his death most of his music was quickly forgotten, with the exception of his choral works for church performance. His music became eclipsed by that of Edward Elgar and his former pupils.

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Gustav Holst

Gustav Holst is a composer nobody seems to know, evne though everyone knows The Planets. This lack of relative fame is a mystery, because the quality of his works for choir and orchestra (including some amazing works for brass orchestra) is often high. Perhaps this can be explained by his aversion to public appearance. After the succes of The Planets he focused on more introvert topics, which resulted among others in his beautiful Hymn of Jesus from 1917. This is typically a work which upon first listening makes you wonder why it's not better known (even though allegedly the work was quite succesful during its own time). There is, however, also something up with the continuity of Holst as a composer, as if technical challenges stimulated...

Gustav Holst is a composer nobody seems to know, evne though everyone knows The Planets. This lack of relative fame is a mystery, because the quality of his works for choir and orchestra (including some amazing works for brass orchestra) is often high. Perhaps this can be explained by his aversion to public appearance. After the succes of The Planets he focused on more introvert topics, which resulted among others in his beautiful Hymn of Jesus from 1917. This is typically a work which upon first listening makes you wonder why it's not better known (even though allegedly the work was quite succesful during its own time). There is, however, also something up with the continuity of Holst as a composer, as if technical challenges stimulated him more than creating a consistent style. Grove music Online quoted Holst's daughter Imogen regarding this remarkable phenomenon: 'As soon as he made his point, he stopped'.

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John Ireland

After his study at the London Royal College, John Ireland developed first into a pianist, but he also studied composition with Stanford from 1897-1901. Equipped with a style founded on Brahms, he gradually changed his vision under influence of Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky. As a result, a series of lyrical piano works originated, followed by chamber music, including two violin sonatas (1909,1917) and two piano trio's (1906, 1917). Meanwhile, he had become an organist at St. Luke's in Chelsea (1904-1926) and he also went to teach at Royal College (1923-1939). After the First World War, he wrote orchestral pieces like the symphonic rhapsody May Dun (1921), based on the English landscape and further the Piano Concerto (1930) and the Legend for piano and orchestra...

After his study at the London Royal College, John Ireland developed first into a pianist, but he also studied composition with Stanford from 1897-1901. Equipped with a style founded on Brahms, he gradually changed his vision under influence of Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky.
As a result, a series of lyrical piano works originated, followed by chamber music, including two violin sonatas (1909,1917) and two piano trio's (1906, 1917). Meanwhile, he had become an organist at St. Luke's in Chelsea (1904-1926) and he also went to teach at Royal College (1923-1939).
After the First World War, he wrote orchestral pieces like the symphonic rhapsody May Dun (1921), based on the English landscape and further the Piano Concerto (1930) and the Legend for piano and orchestra (1933).
(Source: Muzikalifeiten.nl)

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Herbert Howells

Herbert Howells studied at the Royal College of Music, London, with Stanford and Wood and taught there himself from 1920 until 1979. He succeeded Holst at the St. Paul’s Girls School and had a professorship at the London University. His music is clearly in the British diatonic tradition, with connections towards Elgar, Walton and Vaughan Williams. Amongst his early works are two piano concertos and chamber music, but his oeuvre mainly consists of choral works, including 15 anthems, a concert requiem (Hymnus paradisi from 1938, first performed in 1950), masses, motets, and several songs. Deeply rooted in the English choral tradition, Howells’ work demonstrates great, precious craftsmanship and a modest, very eloquent personality. (Source:Musicalifeiten.nl)

Herbert Howells studied at the Royal College of Music, London, with Stanford and Wood and taught there himself from 1920 until 1979. He succeeded Holst at the St. Paul’s Girls School and had a professorship at the London University. His music is clearly in the British diatonic tradition, with connections towards Elgar, Walton and Vaughan Williams.
Amongst his early works are two piano concertos and chamber music, but his oeuvre mainly consists of choral works, including 15 anthems, a concert requiem (Hymnus paradisi from 1938, first performed in 1950), masses, motets, and several songs. Deeply rooted in the English choral tradition, Howells’ work demonstrates great, precious craftsmanship and a modest, very eloquent personality.
(Source:Musicalifeiten.nl)

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