'Carols of Today' from Distinguished British Composers

In 1965, the Oxford University Press commissioned new carols from 17 of Britain's best composers, publishing the works in a volume called Carols of Today. The following year, the Argo record label recorded 14 of the works for an LP given the same name.

Today's post is devoted to that very good album and the delightful or at least impressive compositions it contains. The composers and their carols follow:

• William Mathias (1934-92) - Wassail Carol, Op. 26, No. 1
• Benjamin Britten (1913-76) - Jesu, as Thou art our Saviour
• John Joubert (1927-2019) - A Little Child there is yborn, op. 48
• Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012) - The Sorrows of Mary
• Alun Hoddinott (1929-2008) - What Tidings, Op. 38
• Peter Racine Fricker (1920-90) - In Excelsis Gloria
• Nicholas Maw - (1935-2009) Balulalow
• Peter Wishart (1921-84) - Alleluya, A New Work is come on Hand
• John McCabe (1939-2015) - Coventry Carol
• Alan Rawsthorne (1905-1971) - The Oxen
• Gordon Crosse (1927-2021) - Laetabundus
• Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016) - Ave Plena Gracia
• Phyllis Tate (1911-87) - The Virgin and Child
• John Gardner (1917-2011) - The Shout - An Easter Carol

The performers were the Elizabethan Singers, a group formed and conducted by Louis Halsey. This was the third seasonal recording that the ensemble had recorded for Argo, following Sing Nowell in 1963 and Sir Cristemas in 1965. The Singers also produced a number of other LPs with Halsey and other conductors into the 1972. Halsey went on to form the Louis Halsey Singers, also active in the studios.

The soloists on this recording were soprano Susan Longfield, tenor Ian Partridge and bass Christopher Keyte, all highly accomplished, as was Simon Preston, one of Britain's best known organists.

Simon Preston, Louis Halsey, Susan Longfield

While all the composers represented have passed on, Halsey, Partridge and Keyte are still with us. The sadly short-lived Susan Longfield died at age 35, and Simon Preston passed away earlier this year.

The music represents a few generations of composers from Alan Rawsthorne, Phyllis Tate and Benjamin Britten to John McCabe, Richard Rodney Bennett and others born in the 1930s. Those who have heard my recent posts of Britten and William Mathias will know of the expressive quality of their choral music; the others are of a similar standard. The three composers who contributed to the Oxford book of carols but who were not represented on the record are Imogen Holst, David Blake and Adrian Cruft.

Not all these compositions are Christmas carols: those of Richard Rodney Bennett and John Gardner were written for Easter. The settings are of generally of texts from the 11th to 16th centuries, with the exception of a Thomas Hardy setting and a 20th century text by Adam Fox, onetime Oxford professor of poetry and later Canon of Westminster Abbey.

The download includes scans and texts, as usual. The excellent recording comes from Holy Trinity Church in Kensington.

The cover above is one of the many that Arthur Wragg executed for Argo. Another cover for a Christmas disc, from the Choristers of Ely Cathedral, can be found on this blog. There are several other designs for choral music LPs and an extensive series for Shakespeare's plays. I'll post a link to my collection of these soon. The Carols of Today cover would seem to have been more influenced by the art of the French painter Georges Rouault than Wragg's other covers.

William Mathias' 'This World's Joie'

This is another in a series of choral-orchestral recordings from vintage EMI pressings that so far has been mainly devoted to Vaughan Williams. I will return to VW, but first here is a transfer of a favorite work of mine. It is This World's Joie, by the Welsh composer William Mathias (1932-92), in a particularly good performance and recording.

The piece is a setting of seasonal texts  from early medieval times to the 16th century. Mathias works his way through the cycle of seasons, ending with a celebration of rebirth.

William Mathias

As Mathias writes in his notably clear sleeve note, the work's four sections "are designed to reflect both the seasons of the year and the span of human life." He adds that, "This World's Joie is ultimately meant to be enjoyed by both listeners and performers... It is throughout an Act of Celebration."

The work is highly successful in meeting its aims, aided by Mathias' careful choice of texts and his brilliant orchestration. This all is underlined by a superb late analog recording from Abbey Road Studio No. 1 - and of course the excellent performers.

David Willcocks

Leading the work is David Willcocks, who has figured in most of the Vaughan Williams recordings I have posted. Here he conducts his Bach Choir, the Choristers of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and the New Philharmonia Orchestra.

Kenneth Bowen, Janet Price, Michael Rippon

The soloists are among the finest then active in the UK - soprano Janet Price, tenor Kenneth Bowen and baritone Michael Rippon.

The download includes the usual scans, plus the text booklet and a Gramophone review.

I believe Mathias' work to an extent was inspired by Britten's Spring Symphony (and perhaps certain of Vaughan Williams' compositions). I have the excellent 1979 Previn recording of the Britten work in the queue for posting.

Gramophone ad, December 1976