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Track(s) taken from CDA67853

Jubilate Deo 'St Peter ad Vincula'

composer
April 1967; composed for John Williams and the choir of the Chapel Royal (St Peter ad Vincula), HM Tower of London; SATB + organ
author of text
Psalm 100

Winchester Cathedral Choir, Andrew Lumsden (conductor)
Recording details: March 2010
Winchester Cathedral, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: June 2011
Total duration: 4 minutes 29 seconds

Cover artwork: Golden Days. Lee Campbell (b1951)
Private Collection / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘The performances of Winchester Cathedral Choir are so good you hardly register the need to 'assess' them—exactly as it should be in devotional music. That's a huge tribute to the state of the singing at the cathedral, and to Andrew Lumsden, who directs it. A marvellous CD, beautifully planned and executed’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Howells's later works have failed to find their way into the regular repertoire but this recording by a radiant Winchester Cathedral Choir urges a thorough reappraisal. The long, fluid lines, startling cadences and massive chords which are so unique to Howells are all here in 'their' service’ (The Observer)

‘These are uniformly excellent performances and the recording quality is detailed yet superbly spacious. It's the first release from a renewed relationship between Winchester and Hyperion and, although I will hope for more rare Howells, I look forward to whatever else is on the cards. I highly commend this disc’ (International Record Review)
The Jubilate Deo—for the Chapel Royal (St Peter ad Vincula), H M Tower of London—is a setting of Psalm 100 (O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands). It was composed in 1967 for the distinguished organist and choirmaster John Williams and his choir at the splendid Tudor Chapel in the Tower of London. The psalm is a song of unrestrained joy, and all that is required of a composer is to rise to the mood of celebration. What is required of a really great composer, of course, is to avoid producing a work that merely shouts its head off in a series of musical clichés. Within the compass of this short work, Howells masterfully varies tonality and texture, building tension through the use of pedal points. The organ makes its own contribution in music that is joyful and extrovert. The pace broadens out slightly for the dramatic entry of the trebles on a high G flat at the opening of the Gloria, and the tension is maintained to the joyful conclusion.

from notes by Paul Andrews © 2011

Le Jubilate Deo—pour la Chapel Royal (St Peter ad Vincula), Tour de Londres—met en musique le psaume 100 (O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands). Il fut composé en 1967 pour l’éminent organiste John Williams, maître du chœur de la splendide Tudor Chapel de la Tour de Londres. Ce psaume est un chant de joie débridée et le compositeur n’a qu’à se montrer à la hauteur de cette atmosphère de célébration. Ce qu’on attend d’un compositeur authentiquement grand c’est, bien sûr, qu’il évite de produire une œuvre qui se contente de crier à tue-tête en enfilant les clichés musicaux. Dans cette pièce brève, Howells varie magistralement la tonalité et la texture, élaborant la tension via l’usage de pédales. L’orgue contribue à cette musique joyeuse et extravertie. Le tempo s’amplifie légèrement pour l’entrée théâtrale des trebles sur un sol bémol aigu, au début du Gloria, et jamais la tension ne faiblit jusqu’à la conclusion enjouée.

extrait des notes rédigées par Paul Andrews © 2011
Français: Hypérion

Das Jubilate Deo—für die Chapel Royal (St Peter ad Vincula) des Tower of London—ist eine Vertonung von Psalm 100 (Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt). Sie entstand 1967 für den renommierten Organisten und Chorleiter John Williams und seinen Chor an der großartigen Tudor Chapel im Tower of London. Der Psalm ist ein Lied uneingeschränkter Freude und von dem Komponisten wird lediglich gefordert, dass er sich zu der feierlichen Stimmung emporschwingt. Von einem wirklich großen Komponisten wird jedoch gefordert, dass er nicht ein Werk schreibt, in dem die Freude in einer Reihe von musikalischen Klischees herausgeschrieen wird. Innerhalb des Umfangs dieses kurzen Werks variiert Howells in meisterlicher Weise Tonalität und Textur, und baut durch den Einsatz von Orgelpunkten Spannung auf. Die Orgel trägt ebenfalls zu der Freude und Extravertiertheit dieser Musik bei. Die Gangart weitet sich bei dem dramatischen Einsatz der Soprane auf einem hohen Ges zu Beginn des Gloria etwas aus und die Spannung wird bis zum freudigen Abschluss beibehalten.

aus dem Begleittext von Paul Andrews © 2011
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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