Jubilate Deo

The Chapter House Singers present
Rejoice in the Lamb
Performed on Saturday 8 June 2024 at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh
Imperial March Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Rejoice in the Lamb Benjamin Britten (1913-76)
Give Unto the Lord Edward Elgar
Carol (from Five Bagatelles, Op.23) Gerald Finzi (1901-56), arr. Robert Gower
Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice Gerald Finzi
Jubilate Deo Benjamin Britten
Organist: Andrew Adair
Musical Director: Les Shankland
For most singers who regularly perform Church Music, the Anglican Liturgy, and in particular, the service of Choral Evensong, provides a source of inspiration and succour. This is at least in part due to the large number of exceptional compositions produced by British composers over the last four centuries for specific use in these liturgies. Tonight, you will hear four of the finest examples of Evensong anthems from the 20th century.
Rejoice in the Lamb
Soprano: Diya Eddleston
Counter-tenor: David Coney
Tenor: James Hutchinson
Baritone: Dale McIntyre
Rejoice in the Lamb was composed in 1943, shortly after Britten’s return home following a three-year sojourn in the United States. The work was commissioned by the Rev. Walter Hussey, to be sung at a service to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the consecration of his church, St. Matthew’s in Northampton. The text is drawn from a lengthy and quirkily odd poem by Christopher Smart. Smart was a strange, eccentric, 18th-century character who ended his days in St. Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics in Chelsea, in 1757. Britten selected 10 short sections from Smart’s Jubilate Agno to set to music. The main theme of the poem is the worship of God by all created things, each in its own way. Those featured creatures include the poet’s pet cat, Jeoffry, and the mouse Jeoffry was chasing.
The dramatic seventh section refers to Smart’s own hardship and suffering in the asylum where “the watchman strikes him with his staff”. The ninth section speaks of musical instruments and the praise of God through
music, before the work ends with a quiet yet ecstatic Hallelujah.
Give unto the Lord
Give unto the Lord is a setting of Psalm 29, which Elgar composed in 1914 for a Festival Service for the Sons of Clergy in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Elgar at this time was experimenting with the idea of composing anthems in a quasi sonata-form structure. The exposition, in E flat major, is full of characterful and contrasted ideas. The opening has the character of a slow march, which merges effortlessly with the Schwung of “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”. Other ideas, such as the quicker “the God of Glory thundereth” and the expansive, upward moving “The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation”, provide a dramatic dimension. Although
much of this anthem is confidently loud, the core of the piece is a gentle prayer “In his temple”. The recapitulation returns to E flat major, but in a much more concise form; the work then returns to tranquility before coming to its conclusion.
Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice
Walter Hussey was clearly very impressed with Rejoice in the Lamb - so much so that he went to another leading English composer of the time, Gerald Finzi, and asked him to write a celebratory anthem for the Patronal Festival of St Matthew’s in 1946. Finzi decided to set a conflation of two Richard Crashaw poems from the 1630s, based on two Latin hymns by St. Thomas Aquinas. The piece begins in a mood of quiet contemplation. The recurrent imagery of manna, bread and wine, and redemption focuses the listener’s attention on the power of the Eucharist. The middle section “Rise, Royal Sion!” adds a sense of real joy to the music, and provides a huge contrast. The opening material then returns in the men’s voices,
before the work ends with a radiantly beautiful Amen.
Jubilate Deo in C major
Britten composed this Jubilate at the express wish of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to be performed at Matins in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor in 1961. The Duke asked the composer to write something “simple, and to the point”. Britten duly obliged with a setting that features a lively and spirited organ part, allowing the voices free rein to acknowledge the trouble-free joy of the words.
Les Shankland
Many thanks to everyone at St Mary’s Cathedral for all their support, and to ourfriends and family members who helped with front of house and refreshments. Finally, thank you for coming! We hope you enjoy the concert and we look forward to seeing you again next season.
Chapter House Singers: a registered charity in Scotland, no. SC025545
www.chapterhousesingers.com
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