Search - Herbert Howells, Richard Moorhouse :: The Complete Morning and Evening Canticles of Herbert Howells, Vol. 1

A very promising beginning

altoman | Springfield, VA | 03/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, a confession. I am a Howells junkie. That being out of the way, let me sing the praises of the undertaking that begins with this cd, the recording of all the canticles that Howells wrote for Morning Prayer and Evensong. Howells wrote 20 settings of the canticles for Evensong (the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis), and the first three discs of the series are dedicated to recording all of them. The canticles on this disc span from the first he wrote, in 1918, to the York service of the early 1970's. The disc opens with the 1918 set, which shows flashes of the Howells to come, such as in the Gloria Patri of the Magnificat. It is a fine setting in its own right, made more interesting by the developments to come. Just after World War II, Howells began to write a series of canticles for various institutions, King's College, Cambridge, ("Collegium Regale") being the first. The genius of Howells is here fully revealed. This setting is (deservedly) one of the "big three" Howells services, St. Paul's and Gloucester being the others. Outside of those settings, however, there are many that deserve to be better known. What is truly amazing is that these settings never succumb to routine. Howells always finds something new to say, some new emphasis to place on the text, some new melodic idea. Among the less familiar canticles on this disc, I was particularly struck by the York service--a service that was so difficult that York Minster dropped it from its repertoire for over 20 years.The choir is very fine, and it is obvious that the performers have a deep commitment to this music. Plaudits to Priory for embarking on this undertaking."