Perhaps more beautiful than the better-known “Veni Emmanuel” is the 17th-century French chant “Rorate caeli”. The antiphon melody shoots up to the heavens before a broad, majestic fall. It is the opening track of From the Vaults of Westminster Cathedral (Hyperion, 2009), a liturgical journey from Advent to Epiphany. With expressive shaping, an ever-increasing intensity, and directness of delivery, this chanting is matchless.
Sir James Macmillan is the preeminent British Catholic composer of our time and no stranger to the Catholic Herald. Both accessible and rewarding, his “O Radiant Dawn” uses Tallis’ motet for the Transfiguration, “O nata lux”, as its musical basis. The world’s longing becomes increasingly adamant with the suspension-adorned and repeated Advent invocations, each one higher and louder than the last.
As well as watching and waiting for the coming of Our Lord, Advent is a time to hail His Blessed Mother. A few years ago the Gabrieli Consort released A Rose Magnificat (Signum, 2017), featuring works in honour of Our Lady. This disc is notable as much for the quality of the performances as for the choice of repertoire, none of it “mainstream”. While the whole collection is a treasure trove, the work that stands out for me is the final (title) track. Written by Matthew Martin, it combines to great effect the texts of the Magnificat and the 15th-century carol “There is No Rose”. Martin’s distinct and engaging compositional voice is peppered here with flavours of Poulenc and Stravinsky.
My final Advent choice is by one of England’s greatest: William Byrd. Like the chant, the opening phrases of Byrd’s “Rorate caeli” leap to the heavens followed by a scalic fall, although Byrd’s descent is more forthright. As the piece progresses, the ear is especially drawn to the displaced accents, and the end of the Gloria Patri radiates joy. This introit can be heard on Stile Antico’s CD Puer natus est (Harmonia Mundi, 2010). Listen out also for Stile’s disc released this year to mark 400 years since Byrd’s death – singing that is ethereal and yet rich in character; understated yet profound; perfectly paced and balanced. During Advent, we will once more pray for the heavens to drop down; Byrd’s writing can make the heavens feel that bit closer already.
This year, Stephen Layton left Trinity College, Cambridge, to pursue his international conducting career. During his 17-year tenure as director of music the choir released over 20 CDs, including Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (Hyperion, 2013) with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and four of the country’s most sought-after soloists. From the very first beat of the drum, both the joy and the magnitude of the Christmas story is projected. The choir’s percussive German consonants add an additional layer of spark to the texture. Iestyn Davies sings Mary’s lullaby, “Schlafe, mein Liebster”, with sensitivity and tenderness.
Each year, King’s College, Cambridge, commissions a carol, a tradition established in 1983 by the late Sir Stephen Cleobury. In 2005, King’s recorded the (at the time 22) commissions for a disc entitled On Christmas Day (EMI). Several of the pieces have found a place in the wider canon, not least works by Arvo Pärt, Judith Weir and John Rutter.
In his “Shepherd’s Carol” (text by Clive Samson), Bob Chilcott tells of the shepherds, drawn from their evening rest by the light of a star to Christ’s side at the manger. The melody has a charming, folk-like naivety, accompanied by a luminous harmony that portrays the night sky aflame.
Thomas Adès offers an alternative perspective in the “Fayrfax Carol” (1997), a setting of the 155h-century text. Here, nativity joy is overshadowed by the anguish of this child’s earthly vocation. Mary gently rocks her beloved babe, singing “A, my dere Son”, a refrain that alternates firstly with an anxious Joseph and then Christ himself. The final lullaby refrain is heartbreaking: Mary is desolate as she comes to understand her infant’s fate. Her rocking is slower, and the thick vocal texture of earlier refrains has withered to a husk.
For my final choice, we return to Westminster Cathedral Choir and their Christmas Vespers disc (Hyperion, 2006), an expanded Office for the Eve of Christmas, directed by Martin Baker. The chanted psalms are bejewelled by organ improvisations in the great Catholic tradition. Victoria’s Marian antiphon “Alma redeptoris mater” is broad and grandiose, while Schütz’s “Hodie Christus natus est” fizzes with excitement. Langlais’s “Fête”concludes the rite with lashings of bonhomie. Joyeux Noël!
Alex Hodgkinson is director of music at St Theresa’s Church, Trumbull, Connecticut.
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