Passion Sunday Chorale: Gloria and MIC Spring Concert

The last Lenten Sunday began to the temperate treacly tones of broadcaster Tim Thurston as he presented his Sunday morning radio show, Gloria Like a morningtide liturgical Whispering Bob, the LyricFM  presenter shares several  qualities with Bob Harris,  the iconic BBC presenter of the Old Grey Whistle Test. First there is the soothing baritone  voice,  deep and rich like molasses mixed with double cream. Then there is  his zeal for unearthing and eulogising little known  work, in this case sacred choral music with a  particular penchant for Renaissance composers and finally his  good cheer, earnest but in a calm unruffled sort of a way rather than a happy clappy Marty  fashion. Always appropriate to the liturgical calendar, Sunday's playlist included Passion chorales, Allegri's Miserere and Russian Orthodox chants . 

2009 Wexford Festival Choir Excerpts  Theresienmesse. marking 200th anniversary of Haydn's death

In the afternoon I joined the Limerick Baroque Players and the Mary Immaculate Choral Society for their Spring Concert, a performance of Haydn's Theresienmesse at St Mary's Cathedral, Limerick. Not as frequently performed as The Seasons or The Nelson Mass, there is plenty of melodic variety and rhythmic energy, dynamic contrasts to make it a very enjoyable work to play. and comes late in the Classical composer's canon when he was enjoying a degree of notoriety following his London symphonies. The work is apparently a named for the soprano who first sang it rather than for to wife of Haydn's patron for whom it was commissioned.

Soprano Marie Therese ,  1799

The quartet of singers delivered fine singing and there was time for some chat in the green room before the performance. Contralto,  Sarah Ellen Murphy  told me she had enjoyed opening the Kate O Brien weekend recently with a recital of newly composed songs by her friend Fiona Linnane. 

Soprano Carmel Conway 2012

Carmel Conway is a  very versatile performer and she chatted about her experience of touring with American singer Nanci Griffith . Owen Gilhooly has been busy touring with OTC's much lauded  production of The  Magic Flute and can be heard again soon at the Limerick Choral Union's performance of Brahm's Requiem at the end of the month. There was a lot of interest in young Dublin based tenor, Lawrence Thackery a recent prizewinner at the Feis Ceoil . A founder member of  DYOC, I met Lawrence recently in Ennis at a terrific showcase of young operatic talent in Dublin Youth Opera Company's Jukebox Opera , Thicker than Water. (My review here)

 Bass Owen Gilhooly, 

Conductor Michael Murphy

Among the large attendance were Gertie McCabe Secretary of the Irish Church Music Association and Malcolm Green, conductor of Limerick Choral Union.  Great music, splendid singing. elegant venue, the company of musicians . No better way to spend a Lenten Sunday afternoon.

Violin Duo Aine and Karen




Tim Thurston on improvisation and musical sub genres. http://journalofmusic.com/focus/breaking-sound-barriers-why-all-musical-boxes

Gloria; A Wagnerian Sleevenote

from The Stephen Derby Psalter Bodleian Library

I am a fan of Gloria the Sunday morning radio programme dedicated to liturgical music with spoken elements delivered in Tim Thurston's measured tones with the pacing of a high ranking eclesiastical minister. Associated Editions have issued an eponymous companion volume to the radio programme in time for the Christmas market. Subtitled 'An Introduction to 1000 years of European Sacred Music, I expected a bulkier, more intimidating scholarly tome . Actually this is a slim attractive looking volume and is   extended sleeve notes to an accompanying CD of a chronological selection of works, all with a Christmas or Advent theme by the main players of the genre. The recordings from the Hyperion catalogue are predominantly of established English choirs.

Part of spread of stained glass images.

At first glance, the most striking element is the colourful collection of images, reproductions of objets d'art from a variety of predominantly Irish sources spanning the millenium, selected  by art editor Anne Brady. The reproductions of stained glass windows are particularly vivid in sharp contrast to the black and white images of carvings.  A succint overview of each musical period,  in layman's, terms, is given interspersed with pen pictures of the 20 selected composers featured on the accompanying CD. In the foreword, the author maps the evolution of the programme from its origins as a segment on Crosscurrents in 1996 to the two hour long mainstay of the Sunday schedule on RTE LyricFM.,  Throughout the text is infused with the author's own passion for his subject. A timeline and a short glossary complete this appealing volume.

A sleevenote of Wagnerian proportions or an Ernie Wise of a book (to quote Morecombe's gag about his comedy partner  'small and perfectly formed'),  it is terrific  value at €20. Worth it for any one  of the three elements, CD, images or text, it will surely appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in choral singing.

Exeter Cathedral Choir at Christchurch Waterford