Miserere - Martin Baker, Choir Of Westminster Cathedral (2013)

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Miserere - Martin Baker, Choir Of Westminster Cathedral (2013)

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This release from the admired Westminster Cathedral Choir demonstrates the splendours of the liturgy in the at-once solemn and joyful period of Lent. Masterworks from the Renaissance—familiar from Westminster Cathedral Choir’s previous award-winning recordings—alternate with works by former organists of the Cathedral (all themselves masters of liturgical composition) and are linked by the plainchant which is at the spiritual heart of the music. Hearing the music like this in context—and recorded in the unique acoustic of the Cathedral—perfectly replicates the live experience for the listener.

Composer: Anonymous, George Malcolm, Giovanni Croce, William Byrd, …
Performer: Peter Stevens, William Gaunt
Conductor: Martin Baker
Orchestra/Ensemble: Westminster Cathedral Choir

Reviews: The subtitle is “A sequence of music for Lent, St. Joseph, and the Annunciation.” St. Joseph (March 19) and the Annunciation (March 25) are feast days that usually occur during Lent, hence the unexpected juxtaposition. The mix of Renaissance and contemporary composers gives exposure to two former choirmasters at the cathedral, George Malcolm (1947-59) and his pupil Colin Mawby (1961-76), and Mawby’s assistant David Bevan; the latter two began as choirboys there.


William Byrd’s Ash Wednesday anthem Emendemus in melius is followed by the first recording of Palestrina’s Mass using the same text on an unidentified cantus firmus (it is not based on Byrd’s piece). The program ends with the Compline canticle Nunc dimittis by George Malcolm, framed by the proper chant antiphon, Salva nos . It is preceded by Thomas Tallis’s first setting of the Compline hymn, Te lucis ante terminum. Salva nos is one of nine chants on the program, including the complete Mass IX; added is Credo IV, one of the less-familiar settings. A Magnificat by David Bevan is framed by another chant antiphon for the First Sunday in Lent in its first recording, Evigila super nos . The program begins with the chant motet for Lent, Attende Domine , followed by George Malcolm’s psalm Miserere mei in a setting reminiscent of Gregorio Allegri’s setting of the same text.


While the polyphony is appropriately a cappella , the chants are accompanied lightly on the organ. Baker appeals to the late 19th-century construction of the cathedral as justification for a practice common at that time. The music for the Annunciation includes, besides Mass IX, two Marian motets by Robert Parsons and Francesco Guerrero. The only nod to St. Joseph are anthems by Mawby and Malcolm on texts for the introit and offertory of his Mass, sung at the appropriate places during Mass IX. Of these, Mawby’s Justus ut palma is the most individual piece on the program, a macaronic (mixed Latin and English) setting for baritone solo, choir, and organ.


I have always admired this marvelous choir, but the uniformly placid flow of this music displays their tonal qualities to outstanding advantage. This is particularly effective in the opening Attende Domine , where the boys and men take alternate verses, joining on the last. The organ only steals in after a couple of verses, gradually increasing its presence while still remaining discreet enough. Mass IX, one of the most virtuosic chant settings of the Ordinary, is also gratifying as the boys and men alternate.


The choir was in Rome last November giving concerts (one included music of Mawby conducted by the composer) and joint appearances with the Sistine Choir at St. Peter’s. This is interesting because the Westminster Abbey Choir (directed by James O’Donnell, Martin Baker’s predecessor with the cathedral choir) had a similar encounter in Rome five months earlier. The new director of the Sistine Choir, Msgr. Massimo Palombella, wanted two of London’s finest church choirs to model their singing for his boys and men. The results could be heard last Christmas as Midnight Mass was televised on NBC, an improvement over the past even if he is still not finished with the effort to improve his choir. As miscellaneous collections go, this disc is unusually rewarding, worthy of your attention.