Our anthem in church this week is "O Sacrum Convivium" by Grayston Ives.
Born in 1948 Ives is a modern British composer. Composing as "Grayston", he prefers to be known as Bill - a nickname given him by his brother. Ives has spent his life in choral music, and until 2009 was Director of Music at Magdalen College, Oxford. In this role he also directed the choir in recordings on the Harmonia Mundi label; "With a Merrie Noyse", made with the viol consort Fretwork and featuring the works of the English composer Orlando Gibbons, was nominated for a Grammy in 2004. Paul McCartney's "Ecce Cor Meum" was written especially for Magdalen College Choir and the subsequent EMI recording won the Classical BRIT Award for Album of the Year in 2007. For his contribution to church music, Ives was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal School of Church Music (May 2008) and a Lambeth DMus (July 2008), conferred by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. He is also an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Bill has spent his life in choral music – as a singer, conductor, teacher and composer (writing as Grayston Ives). A chorister at Ely Cathedral he later studied music at Selwyn College, Cambridge where he held a choral scholarship; taking composition lessons with Richard Rodney Bennett. After Cambridge he sang in Guildford Cathedral Choir before joining The King’s Singers, with whom he recorded and performed worldwide.
(A few years back my youngest son was fortunate enough to perform in a post-workshop concert with The Kings Singers. This was my first exposure to the group, now a household name following their "Carols from Kings" performance with the choristers of Kings College, Cambridge this Christmas.)
"O sacrum convivium" is a Latin text honouring the Blessed Sacrament. It is included as an antiphon to the Magnificat in the vespers of the liturgical office on the feast of Corpus Christi. (The text is likely attributable to Saint Thomas Aquinas.) It expresses the profound affinity of the Eucharistic celebration, to the Paschal mystery : "O sacred banquet at which Christ is consumed, the memory of his Passion is recalled, our souls are filled with grace, and the pledge of future glory is given to us."
Edward Elgar is a fine example of social mobility in later Victorian society. Born the son of a piano tuner who owned a music shop in June 1857, the young Elgar was largely self-taught. He benefitted from growing up in a musical household and took full advantage of the resources available in his father's shop in Broadheath, nr Worcester in the West Midlands. He struggled for many years to establish himself as a prominent composer fighting both class and religious bigotry common at the time. Born a Roman Catholic among a Protestant majority, the cards were stacked against him. During the last two decades of the eighteenth century he persevered, taught music and played the organ at a Roman Catholic church in Worcester and conducted and composed for local musical organisations. His compositional ability and style matured, and by the turn of the century it was clear his talent had surpassed that of the leading composers of his day.
In 1901 came the first two "Pomp and Circumstance" marches, the first in D major containing the famous trio section that was later to become Land of Hope and Glory. Elgar appreciated its worth; he had prophesied: "I've got a tune that will knock 'em - knock 'em flat! … a tune like that comes once in a lifetime …". In July 1904 he was knighted by the new king, Edward VII.
In 1906, Elgar was busy working on his great oratorio, The Kingdom, the sequel to The Apostles of 1903. (Elgar originally intended that there should be a cycle of three oratorios but the third part of the trilogy was never completed.) You can read more about The Apostles below.
Edward Elgar, c. 1900
Aged 29, Elgar took on a new pupil, Caroline Alice Roberts, daughter of the late Major-General Sir Henry Roberts, and published author of verse and prose fiction. Eight years older than Elgar, Alice became his wife three years later. Elgar's biographer Michael Kennedy writes, "Alice's family was horrified by her intention to marry an unknown musician who worked in a shop and was a Roman Catholic. She was disinherited."
A prolific composer, the First World War depressed him significantly, and despite the support of his much-loved wife his output slowed significantly during this time. He was devoted to Alice and when she died in 1920 much of his inspiration and motivation disappeared. He died of a malignant tumour in 1934.
Elgar has been described as the first composer to take the gramophone seriously. Between 1914 and 1925, he conducted a series of acoustic recordings of his works. The introduction of the moving-coil microphone in 1923 made far more accurate sound reproduction possible, and Elgar made new recordings of most of his major orchestral works and excerpts from The Dream of Gerontius.
"For thirty years after his death in 1934, his music was considered to be 'out of fashion'. It was said to epitomise the Edwardian era and to have no relevance to a later age. I believe, however, that it is far too great to be tied to one short period of history and that, in any case, it is music of so personal a nature that it can be described accurately not as 'Edwardian' but only as 'Elgarian'."
Michael Kennedy - 'Portrait of Elgar'
(Oxford University Press -1968)
Edward Elgar (2nd June 1857 - 23rd February 1934) - "Those years had seen change accelerate as never before in human history. His response had been to seek the illumination of time remembered. For all those of his generation and the future who would feel the insight of retrospection, he had made of that evanescence his music."
Jerrold Northrop Moore - 'Edward Elgar - A Creative Life'
(Oxford University Press - 1984)
Baptism of Christ
This Sunday is the first Sunday of Epiphany, and marks the Baptism of the Lord. It is a time of new beginnings, and indeed Mark's Gospel opens at this point, where Jesus "goes public" and begins his Ministry.
Elgar's oratorio "The Apostles" is a narrative work, dealing with the calling of the Apostles and their experiences of Jesus' preaching, miracles, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. The work is in two parts and seven sections, each played without a break. Elgar claimed it had been a project he had first conceived in boyhood, and selected the words from the Bible and Apocrypha.
Part 1 is the "The Calling of the Apostles" and fits well with Jesus' Baptism. The music begins just before dawn; the sun rises, and one by one the Apostles are chosen. The prologue is the well-known "The Spirit of the Lord" with the words from Isaiah 61 vv. 1–3, 11 :-
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor;
He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord;
to give unto them that mourn
a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness;
That they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord that He might be glorified.
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud,
and as the garden causeth the
things that are sown in it to spring forth;
So the Lord God will cause
righteousness and praise to
spring forth before all nations.
"When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Epiphany is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast marks the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus' physical manifestation to the Gentiles. Epiphany is celebrated 12 days after Christmas on 6th January (or January 19th for some Orthodox Church who have Christmas on 7th January) and is the time when Christians remember the Wise Men (also sometimes called the Three Kings) who visited Jesus.
Epiphany is also when some Churches remember when Jesus was Baptised, when he was about 30, and began his teaching. Epiphany means 'revelation' and both the visit of the Wise Men and his Baptism are important times when Jesus was 'revealed' to be very important.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." Isaiah 60:1
A central question posed throughout the Epiphany season is therefore "Who is Jesus?". Matthew's account of the visit of the Magi with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh reveals him as a King, High Priest and Saviour of all. Isaiah speaks prophetically of the promise for God's glory. Paul continues with Isaiah's theme of unification around a central light which is Jesus Christ, reminding the Ephesians that Gentiles now share in God's promise. Paul is an ambassador for Christ to those who are no longer excluded and this central theme of unity and access for all to the love and teachings of Jesus is particularly pertinent today.
"Bethlehem Down" is a choral anthem or carol composed in 1927 by Anglo-Welsh composer Peter Warlock (1894–1930) set to a poem written by journalist and poet Bruce Blunt. It is a popular anthem used in the Anglican church during the liturgical seasons of Christmastide and Epiphany. (Warlock wrote it to finance a heavy bout of drinking on Christmas Eve 1927 for himself and Blunt, who were experiencing financial difficulty. The pair submitted the carol to The Daily Telegraph's annual Christmas carol contest and won. It was first performed in a Lancaster parish church on December 12th 1930. It was to be the last song Warlock wrote and the manuscript was said to be on his piano when he is believed to have committed suicide days later.
A composer and music critic, Peter Warlock was born Philip Arnold Heseltine on 30 October 1894. (The Warlock name reflects Heseltine's interest in occult practices and was used for all his published musical works.) He is best known as a composer of songs and other vocal music with a distinctive, original style.
When He is King we will give him the King's gifts,
Myrrh for its sweetness, and gold for a crown,
"Beautiful robes", said the young girl to Joseph
Fair with her first-born on Bethlehem Down.
Bethlehem Down is full of the starlight
Winds for the spices, and stars for the gold,
Mary for sleep, and for lullaby music
Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold.
When He is King they will clothe Him in grave-sheets,
Myrrh for embalming, and wood for a crown,
He that lies now in the white arms of Mary
Sleeping so lightly on Bethlehem Down.
Here He has peace and a short while for dreaming,
Close-huddled oxen to keep Him from cold,
Mary for love, and for lullaby music
Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold.
The boy choristers at King's, Ely performed a different version in December, prompting much discussion on a certain Choral Evensong forum! Here is the version performed, much dark and with a stronger sense of suspense. Hugely atmospheric but quite sad. It is published in "Nöel 2".
This is in fact Warlock's first version, written for piano and voice. Warlock wrote "organ" at the start but as one commentator observes "it looks as though he intended it for organ and then forgot, writing a very pianistic accompaniment that demands more than usual editing by an organist." The original manuscript is here and was auctioned at Christie's, with the following text to accompany the listing:-
"His version for solo voice and organ, written for Arnold Dowbiggin's Christmas recital at Lancaster Parish Church, where it had its first performance on 12 December 1930, brings into starker relief the melancholy import of Blunt's text, with a more adventurous approach to the harmony, and an ending in deepest desolation with dying repetitions of the harmony's falling motif. On 17 December, sixteen days after completing the present manuscript, Warlock committed suicide in his flat in Chelsea, at the age of 36."
A film was made about Warlock's life, released in 2005. ""Some Little Joy" is a drama with music about Philip Heseltine, known as Peter Warlock, who by his death in 1930 at the age of thirty six had composed some of the most perfect gems of English songwriting and elevated hedonism to an art form." You can watch a trailer here:- (Warning, there is some adult content in the trailer.)
Warlock was perhaps not a conventional composer of church anthems, but produced some of the most beautiful music. I feel his work is a reminder that we must avoid assumptions about individuals and their capabilities, and avoid dismissing those with whom we struggle to connect, making this anthem doubly appropriate for Epiphany.
