It's that time of year again, folks, when all the big choirs are singing a Bach Passion of one flavour or another, and all the choirs that can't quite cope with that are doing Stainer's Crucifixion. And this year, for the first time, I was in the choir stalls instead of the audience.
Actually, I should apologise for the post title, because we didn't crucify it at all: in fact, apart from a couple of slightly wobbly moments, it went very well. And that's the beauty of the Stainer: it was specifically written to be singable by an ordinary parish choir and accessible to an ordinary parish congregation, and it succeeds admirably in those aims. Yes, it's very much of its time, fairly dripping with syrup in places; yes, the libretto is, umm, not exactly the finest poetry the world has ever seen; and yes, it does drag terribly in places, at least at the speed Richard Hickox takes it in the HMV Classics recording. But God So Loved The World is an incomparably beautiful setting of a verse (John 3:16) that expresses the very essence of the Christian faith; the hymn tunes (particularly Cross of Jesus) have stood the test of time; and the all-male-voice setting of Jesus' final words is remarkably effective.
Tallis it ain't. But it does what it set out to do very well, and I for one am glad that it's still going strong.
Actually, I should apologise for the post title, because we didn't crucify it at all: in fact, apart from a couple of slightly wobbly moments, it went very well. And that's the beauty of the Stainer: it was specifically written to be singable by an ordinary parish choir and accessible to an ordinary parish congregation, and it succeeds admirably in those aims. Yes, it's very much of its time, fairly dripping with syrup in places; yes, the libretto is, umm, not exactly the finest poetry the world has ever seen; and yes, it does drag terribly in places, at least at the speed Richard Hickox takes it in the HMV Classics recording. But God So Loved The World is an incomparably beautiful setting of a verse (John 3:16) that expresses the very essence of the Christian faith; the hymn tunes (particularly Cross of Jesus) have stood the test of time; and the all-male-voice setting of Jesus' final words is remarkably effective.
Tallis it ain't. But it does what it set out to do very well, and I for one am glad that it's still going strong.
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