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Hail Mary   LINCOLN CATHEDRAL CHOIR conducted by ARIC PRENTICE and CHARLES HARRISON (tracks 2-4, 12 and 14) Charles Harrison organ Boy choristers Nicholas Crossland, Karl Dudman, Oliver Herring, Edward Hewes, Kieren Hill, Joshua Jackson, James King, Jonathan Line, Benedict Martin, Christopher Mitchell, Thomas Mitchell, Benjamin Rawsthorn, James Wafer, Frederick Wright, William Wright              Girl choristers Philippa Atkinson, Kayleigh Conway-Jarrett, Samantha Conway-Jarrett, Rachael Cox, Keziah Dalton, Eleanor Doughty, Alexandra Dring, Charlotte Harding-Price, Phoebe Kirrage, Esther Lallemant, Lydia Lallemant, Lucy McClaran, Eleanor Perry, Emily Reith, Joanna Rickart, Pippa Roblin, Nadège Serna, Avalon Summerfield, Claudia Vickers, Olivia Warburton Altos Karl Gietzmann, William Harrison, Stephen Hearn, Richard Lindsay Tenors Marc Finer, John Gull, Keith Halliday, Nicholas Perry Basses Michael Belcher, Nicholas Bennett, William Burn, Edward Chaddock, Derek Wellman

Contents:

§ organ solos
 

DDD 64:22 Recorded: Lincoln Cathedral, 31 January, 1 & 3 February 2005  

TLLincoln Cathedral has been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary since the late eleventh century, when the original Norman building arose on its magnificent hilltop site.  Dominating the landscape for miles around, the Cathedral serves as a mother church to its diocese, reflecting in its purpose the Mother of God, Our Lady of Lincoln herself.

Devotion to Mary, the Queen of Heaven and chief of all the saints, became woven into the rich tapestry of the daily round of prayer and praise offered up by the medieval foundation.  By the fourteenth century, polyphony was being used at the daily Lady Mass, and every night the votive antiphon Mater ora filium was sung after Compline.  The same devotion is true today: the Magnificat is sung at every Evensong and Marian anthems can be heard on many occasions throughout the Church’s year.  The collection presented on this disc provides a sample of the music sung by the cathedral choir of today as it continues and develops this long tradition of service in honour of Mary, the Mother of God.

Hymn to the Mother of God
John Tavener (b.1944)

This setting of a hymn from the Liturgy of St Basil demonstrates Tavener’s fascination for the worship of the Greek Orthodox Church.  The opening and closing sections embody a paean of praise from the heavenly choirs and all of God’s creation, while a more reflective central passage meditates on the mystery of the Virgin Mother, ‘sanctified temple, mystical Paradise’.

Virgo Prudentissima
Plainchant Antiphon

As the liturgy of the Church developed, it became the custom to sing an antiphon - a short sentence from scripture - before and after psalms and canticles.  This custom is observed on solemn festivals at Lincoln Cathedral today, where at evensong the singing of the Magnificat is preceded and followed by a plainchant antiphon.  The antiphon Virgo Prudentissima is set for the First Evensong of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the evening before 15 August.

Magnificat: Tone V à 8
Hieronymus Praetorius (1560-1629)

The Magnificat is Mary’s song, in which she pours out her joy and wonder that she, a humble girl, should have been chosen to be the Mother of God.  The text, from St Luke’s Gospel, very early became a central feature of the Church’s liturgy as a key element of the daily service of Vespers.  On major feasts, its importance is highlighted by the singing of an accompanying antiphon and by the censing of the altar.  Praetorius, the Organist of the church of St Jacobi in Hamburg,  composed a series of eight-voice Magnificat settings, one in each of the eight plainchant tones.  They are remarkable for their wide vocal range and rhythmic and textural contrasts.

The Angel Gabriel
arr. Edgar Pettman (1866-1943)

This carol, of Basque origin, narrates the opening of Mary’s story, the Annunciation, where the Archangel Gabriel came to tell her that she was to be the Mother of God.  The words combine the angelic salutation, ‘Hail, Mary!’, with phrases from the Magnificat.  The English translation is by Sabine Baring-Gould.  The tune, with its insistent 6/8 rhythm, conveys something of the trance-like quality of Mary’s vision.  Edgar Pettman played a major part in reviving interest in traditional carols, especially through the publication of the University Carol Book with Sir Richard Terry.

Mary’s Magnificat
Andrew Carter (b. 1939)

Published in 1986, this carol was written for Hereford Cathedral Choir.  It forms a meditation on the next stage of Mary’s journey, the Nativity.  Andrew Carter brings to the writing of church music many years of experience singing in York Minster Choir.  He imagines Mary watching over the Christ Child, singing a lullaby in which the words of her own Magnificat recur as she glorifies her Son, God Incarnate.

Ave Maria
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

The Ave Maria, combining the words with which Gabriel and Elizabeth greeted Mary, has been widely used by Christians since medieval times as an element in their personal devotion.  The ringing of the Angelus bell at noon in Lincoln Cathedral provides a daily opportunity to honour Our Lady.  The words of the prayer have inspired many composers.  This setting by Saint-Saëns was composed around 1860 for use in the church of the Madeleine in Paris, where he was organist.

Ave Maris Stella
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

This hymn to Mary (‘Hail, Star of the Sea’) first appears in a ninth-century manuscript and was probably written by Paul the Deacon.  It has remained deservedly popular ever since.  Grieg’s setting retains the chorale form appropriate to a hymn, varied by the use of lower or higher voices only as an ‘echo’ at the end of each verse.

Stabat Mater Dolorosa
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)

At the heart of the Christian faith stands the Cross, and at the foot of the Cross stood Our Lady, grieving for the death of her Son.  The sequence Stabat Mater Dolorosa, dating from the later middle ages, has inspired many musicians, notably Palestrina.  The setting by Pergolesi is especially poignant, in that it was written not long before the composer’s early death from tuberculosis.  Of its twelve sections, the opening movement is sung here.

Rosa Mystica
Jean Langlais (1907-1991)

The image of the Virgin Mary as the rose, deriving ultimately from Ecclesiasticus 24:18 (‘quasi plantation rosa in Jericho’) was widespread during the middle ages.  Langlais’ organ meditation on this theme forms part of his Gregorian Triptych, written in 1978.

Magnificat in C
Wayne Marshall (b. 1961)

The second setting of the Magnificat on this disc is for treble voices and organ.  It was written for the choristers of St George’s Chapel, Windsor, where Wayne Marshall was one of a distinguished line of organ scholars.

 Ave Maria
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

Bruckner’s setting of this text is full of drama, contrasting hushed meditation with joyful triumph.  Like all his choral works, it is tightly constructed, revealing in this heartfelt prayer to the Virgin an intense spirituality.

Tota Pulchra Es, Maria
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

A Professor at the Paris Conservatoire, Duruflé was steeped in the music of the Church from an early age, when he attended the Choir School of Rouen Cathedral.  As a composer he was a perfectionist and destroyed much of what he wrote.  His highly effective use of themes from Gregorian chant can be seen both in his Requiem and in the group of four motets which includes this setting of the antiphon for Vespers on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8 December).

There is no Rose of Such Virtue
Medieval Carol (Anonymous)

This beautiful English carol is preserved in a manuscript at Trinity College, Cambridge.  Sung here by altos and tenors, it consists of a burden and five verses elaborating once again on the image of Mary as the rose.  Each verse ends with a Latin refrain, the first three of which are taken from the prose Laetabundus, attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux.

Hodie Maria Virgo
Plainchant Antiphon

Like the text Virgo Prudentissima, this antiphon is set for the Feast of the Assumption (15 August), when the Church celebrates Mary’s entry into heaven and her reunion with her Son, Jesus Christ.  In this case, the antiphon is sung before and after the Magnificat at the Second Vespers of the Festival, on the day itself.

Magnificat: Collegium Regale
John Tavener (b. 1944)

Like the Hymn to the Mother of God, this work is strongly influenced by Tavener’s fascination with the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox Church.  Written for the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, it was first performed in 1987.  The text of the Magnificat is interwoven with the refrain, ‘Greater in honour than the cherubim’, giving honour to Mary herself as ‘indeed the Mother of God’.  The words of the canticle are sung to a chant fully in the Byzantine tradition, with its distinctive microtone ‘breaks’.

 Toccata, Fugue et Hymne sur Ave Maris Stella (op. 28)
Flor Peeters (1903-1986)

Organist titulaire of Mechlin Cathedral for 63 years, Flor Peeters was celebrated internationally as a teacher, performer and composer.  Of his many organ pieces, this work based on the Latin hymn Ave Maris Stella is among the best-known.© Dr Nicholas Bennett, Cathedral Librarian and Vice-Chancellor

The organ of Lincoln Cathedral

The organ of Lincoln Cathedral was built by ‘Father’ Henry Willis, and completed in 1898. It was the last cathedral organ that Willis finished himself, and, during the twentieth century, escaped the radical tonal changes undergone by many other instruments of its period, being one of only two to retain its original tonal scheme. A rebuild in 1960 involved the addition of a few new registers, but no changes to the existing ones. In its centenary year, 1998, the organ was comprehensively overhauled, but again, all the original material was left unchanged.

A testament to Willis’s genius and perfectionism, this magnificent organ is in daily use, enriching the liturgy through its role as an accompanying instrument. Some of the world’s finest players perform each year in the international recital series, attracted by the organ’s beauty, quality, and timeless musical integrity.   

Page revised 14.10.05