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Saturday, August 17, 2019

Herbert Howells - Cello Concerto; An English Mass (Guy Johnston; Stephen Cleobury)


Information

Composer: Herbert Howells

CD1:
  • (01) Te Deum (Collegium Regale)
  • (02) An English Mass
  • (09) Magnificat (Collegium Regale)

Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
King’s Voices
Britten Sinfonia
Ben Parry, assistant conductor
Stephen Cleobury, conductor

CD2:
  • (01) Cello Concerto
  • (04) Paean
  • (14) Master Tallis's Testament
  • (15) Rhapsody No. 3 for Organ

Guy Johnston, cello
Britten Sinfonia
Christopher Seaman, conductor
Stephen Cleobury, organ (13-15)

Date: 2019
Label: King's College Recordings
https://www.kingscollegerecordings.com/product/howells-cello-concerto-english-mass/

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Review

Commissioned for the 1977 Leith Hill Festival, Howells’s orchestration of the towering Te Deum that he wrote in 1944 for the Chapel Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, launches this handsome anthology in swaggering fashion, with Stephen Cleobury (who retires this coming September after 37 years as Head of Music at King’s) eliciting some fabulously opulent sounds from his combined forces. Both it and John Rutter’s no less effective orchestration (here given its premiere recording) of the sublime Collegium Regale Magnificat frame a much darker offering, namely An English Mass, which followed hard on the heels of the huge Missa Sabrinensis (1954), and which Howells wrote for Harold Darke and his St Michael’s Singers to mark his 40th anniversary as organist of St Michael’s Church, Cornhill, London. The Credo (conducted by Ben Parry) in particular runs the gamut of emotions, the ambiguous mood overall reflecting Howells’s own lifelong grapplings with insecurity, while at the same time tapping into his inimitable, intensely human vein of spirituality.

Disc 2 brings an exciting find in the shape of the Cello Concerto that Howells worked on alongside the large-scale Hymnus Paradisi following the sudden death from polio of his nine-year-old son, Michael, in September 1935 – although in fact the origins of both its absorbing opening Fantasia (which he discreetly submitted for his Oxford DMus) and piercingly poignant central Threnody (orchestrated from the short score by Christopher Palmer and first heard in November 1992 at a centenary concert in Westminster Abbey) preceded that traumatic loss. Jonathan Clinch’s compelling elaboration of the Allegro vigoroso finale (conceived from the composer’s sketches, some 34 pages in all) acts as a satisfying foil to its more consolatory companion movements to reveal a work of strong personality, keen ambition and considerable expressive scope thoroughly deserving of widespread circulation. It’s superbly championed by Guy Johnston, who in turn receives sterling support from the Britten Sinfonia under Christopher Seaman.

Rounding off proceedings are sympathetic readings from Cleobury of three of Howells’s finest works for solo organ. While there’s no denying that the euphoric Paean (1940) and meaty Rhapsody No 3 (1918) make their mark (the latter composed in a single night during a Zeppelin raid on York), it’s the subtly resourceful Master Tallis’s Testament from 1939 that leaves the most enduring impression – one is not surprised to learn that it was one of Howells’s own personal favourites.

Impeccably judged sound and balance throughout; authoritative annotations, too, from Paul Spicer and Jonathan Clinch. All told, a hugely rewarding issue, and absolutely not be missed.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Jun/Howells_mass_KGS0032.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jun/13/howells-an-english-mass-cello-concerto-te-deum-etc-review-cleoburys-distinctive-final-offering
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=16588
https://www.allmusic.com/album/howells-cello-concerto-an-english-mass-mw0003273370
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Howells-Cello-Concerto-English-Mass/dp/B07QBDMYDZ

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Herbert Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher. Howells studied at the Royal College of Music, where his teachers included Charles Villiers Stanford, Hubert Parry and Charles Wood. In 1920 he joined the staff of the RCM, and remained there until 1979. From the late 1930s, after the death of his son because of polio, Howells turned increasingly to choral and organ music. Though not an orthodox Christian, Howells was chiefly identified with the composition of religious music. His most famous works includes Hymnus ParadisiStabat Mater and Requiem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Howells

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Guy Johnston (born 1981) is a British cellist. He attended Chetham's School of Music and studied under acclaimed cellist Steven Doane before going to the Eastman School of Music in the US. Johnston came to prominence after winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2000. He has subsequently enjoyed a successful international career as a soloist and chamber musician and currently teaches at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Johnston's performances and recordings are regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. His instrument is a 1714 David Tecchler cello.

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Stephen Cleobury (born 31 December 1948) is an English organist and Director of Music. He was organ scholar at St John's College, Cambridge, and sub-organist of Westminster Abbey before becoming Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral in 1979. In 1982 he took up the position of Director of Music for the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, where he also teaches music. Cleobury was conductor of Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS) from 1983 to 2009, and made many recordings with that group. He was also Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers from 1995 to 2007.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Cleobury
https://www.stephencleobury.com/

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