Priory Voices began the New Year by going to Durham for a weekend of Epiphany music. It got off to a flying start as three of us found ourselves sat in the same part of the same railway carriage on the way there (despite having reserved our seats separately and on very different dates).
The music was mostly familiar: A Spotless Rose, Lo! star-led chiefs and Cornelius’ Three Kings. We sang Britten’s Hymn to the Virgin at our final service, and because of the big space to fill all the Cantoris singers, including me, became the ‘semi-chorus’, standing in front of the high altar while Decani stayed in the stalls. Singing in the quartet just before Christmas stood me in good stead.
The relative rarity was George Malcolm’s Missa ad Praesepe. I’d quite forgotten that after singing it with the Chantry Singers some years ago, I’d recommended it to the conductor of Priory Voices. It’s a straightforward tuneful piece, which has something of the spirit of Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit, although the Agnus Dei is more Viennese in style and there is the odd 20th-century inflection thrown in.
Despite my fears, Durham was actually warmer than down south. I stayed in the Castle which was definitely convenient for the Cathedral. (Be warned that if you are female and stay there you may be quite a way from the nearest shower! The age and nature of the building is the excuse for this, though if they need suggestions for reordering the bathroom arrangements, I’m happy to supply some. The view from my room over the Wear compensated though.)
I was interested to read this piece is still being performed. I was the lead alto in Westminster Catherdral Choir from 1954 to 1959. I sang the first performance of this work, as well as first recorded performance of Britten’s Missa Brevis in B. Would really love to get a photocopy of the Malcolm score for old times sake if possible I now live in Sydney Australia
I first came across it with the Chantry Singers of Bath, and I believe it was in the repertory of St John’s RC Church in Bath. Priory Voices borrowed their copies from Farnborough Abbey.