I thought readers might enjoy this excellent performance of the “smokey” (think: incense) Gloucester Service by Herbert Howells, and performed by the superb Choir of Trinity College Chapel (Cambridge), part of the established Church of England.

The Choir area of Gloucester Anglican Cathedral:

The canticles are performed for Choral Evensong (Anglican), but on occasion only the Magnificat will be performed for a different liturgy.

I remember sitting in Grace Cathedral (Anglican Communion) in San Francisco for the Festival of Lessons and Carols liturgy and I looked at the service leaflet and saw the Magnificat of the Gloucester Service listed.  I was thinking to myself but said out loud:  “Oh, they’re doing Howells, my favourite.”  Well, the woman sitting next to me said, “He’s too modern for me.”  I began thinking:  I think CV Stanford’s C Major chords of his well-known Anglican Chant, Psalm 150 would have been too “modern” for her, but I didn’t say that. You can hear that below sung by The Choir of  Trinity College, Cambridge:

I had never heard the Gloucester Service before and after hearing the Howells I was thinking that I had never heard a piece like this.  The best part for me — and still is — was the Gloria where the trebles/boys of the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys lifted up to that High A and their voices in perfect intonation soared throughout the Nave.  It was glorious.  I was determined to find a good recording of that, but knew it would likely have to come from the Church of England, if it had been recorded at all.  This was also at a time where more Anglican/Episcopal Churches in the United States of North America with a Choir and Organist capable of performing the music of Howells — as it was intended to be performed — were doing so.

Bottom Line:  If a church does not have an outstanding Choir and Organist, forget it!  Don’t even bother!

The same goes for descants.  If the Choir of a church does not have an outstanding soprano section singing with perfect intonation, don’t even bother with descants.  Only the best choral ensembles should do descants and Howells.  Period.

And the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge (UK) is one of the best.

Howells composed the Gloucester Service in 1946 for the Choir and acoustics of the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity (Gloucester Anglican Cathedral).  I think of the Gloucester Service as smokey, as in High Church incense.  I think Howells was a High Church person.  He did compose an organ piece titled “Siciliano for a High Ceremony.”

The mic’ing for this performance — at least to my ears — sounds closer to the choristers than previous performances of it where the mics seemed farther away from the Choir.   The Organ Scholar accompanying is Augustin Cox, who informally goes by the name Gus.

About the mic’ing:  the Men of the Choir could be louder.  The Women overpower them especially on the sopranos soaring High A in the climax of the Glorias.  It’s the mic’ing.  The same things happens at The Queen’s College Chapel in Oxford.  The Women overpower the Men there too.

I’m not sure where the mics are since none are within camera view, but the Men of the Choir in both Chapels need to be better mic’d.  My choral friend said the same; he was the one who first noticed it.  I’ve noticed it too, but I’m sort of used to it being the way it is.

I do want to make mention of the staggered breathing used in the canticles per Steve Grahl’s direction.  Most Choirs breathe at those places and it’s much nicer with the sound continuing as Trinity did.

In the video immediately above, the Howells begins at approximately:

Magnificat:  52.40

Nunc Dimittis:  1.01.42

As a High Church person and former Organist/Choirmaster in an Anglo-Catholic parish, you’d never know that the High Church Movement began at Oxbridge (the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge) by observing the Low Church congregation and the priest.  The choristers are the most High Church of anyone there.

For example, I only saw two guys bowing for the Glorias in the Howells.  Neither of the priests bowed, but then they are women.  At this point, I’m surprised when women priests bow, on the odd occasion they do.  Most women priests seem to be “bottom basement” Low Church.

And as I have written before, if anyone is going to follow Anglican protocol, it’s always guys — including male priests — who do so.  Why is there this difference between the genders when it comes to following Anglican protocol?  Women (including women priests) seem to think they are above all that, including the two female priests in the Trinity Chapel.

So one would never know that the High Church Movement (Anglo-Catholic) began at Oxbridge by observing this Choral Evensong.

Also, their conductor-less Anglican Chant (for the psalm) was lovely.