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Christ Church Cathedral
December 19, 2015
In 1631, the Royal Printers in London, Robert Barker (no relation, as far as I'm aware) and Martin Lucas published a reprint of the King James Bible, which had originally been published by Barker some two decades earlier.
Unfortunately a minor typographical error made this one of history's most notorious publications: the omission of the word "not" from the Seventh Commandment, which led to this being dubbed the "Wicked Bible". (Barker and Lucas were brought before the Star Chamber and fined the then enormous sum of 300 pounds, effectively condemning both men to lives of poverty and imprisonment. An expensive "typo" to be sure.)
Although the chance of this having influenced Michael Praetorius' setting of the Ten Commandments is vanishingly small - Praetorius died in 1621 - nevertheless, any mention of adultery was notable by its absence.
Perhaps there was something in the air of Northern Europe in the first half of the seventeenth century.
There was definitely something in the air inside Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday evening even before the performance began. EMSI Christmas concerts have, over the years, never failed to impress, satisfy and uplift; and this one promised, if only because of the sheer number of performers - thirteen soloists, eighteen choristers and fifteen instrumentalists - to be a truly memorable one.
As indeed it proved.
The programme opened with the St. Christopher Singers progressing up the nave, singing, a capella, the open stanza of the chorale "Geborn ist Gottes Söhnelein". The second verse was sung by the "congregation", with the assistance of the cathedral's mighty Wolff organ; the third verse brought in the assembled instrumentalists and the sound of choristers, strings and brass was a glorious and indisputably festive one.
Although the majority of the music was by Praetorius, the psalm "Jauchzet dem Herren" was given in a wonderful setting by Heinrich Schütz. There was choral antiphony - although from my (disad)vantage point I could not actually see where the singers were positioned. But that mattered not at all: the sound and setting were simply gorgeous with some outstanding high soprano notes.
The Ten (or perhaps Nine) Commandments followed, then the "Credo" and Lord's Prayer, all beautifully sung and played.
A Pavane d'Espagne, the first of two instrumental interludes, came next; as befits its name, the music veritably danced and was great fun - who said Christmas must be a period of unrelieved solemnity? - although I was hard put to detect any Hispanic influence.
"Quem pastores laudavere" provided one of the highlights of the evening, as two of the three sopranos decamped (each with her own personal theorbo player - and one must surely wonder, parenthetically, how many North German churches in the 17th century actually boasted of three theorbos in their instrumental ensmble) to the gallery. What ensued was indescribably lovely, delicate overlapping antiphonal lines from the singers with the occasionally audible "twang" from the theorbo. Unusual and unforgettable.
A detailed relating of the rest of the evening would probably become tedious with superlatives; suffice it to say that I would not have missed this concert for the world.
In view of the magnificence of the singing and playing, I am taking the unusual step of listing the entire ensemble.
Soloists: Jolle Greenleaf, soprano; Jane Long, soprano; Emma Hannan, soprano; Danielle Sampson, soprano; Laura Pudwell, alto; Liz Hamel, alto; Joshua Haberman, alto; Orrin Doyle, tenor; Jacques-Olivier Chartier, tenor; Sumner Thompson, tenor; Stephen Bélanger, baritone; Paul Grindlay, baritone; Martin Auclair, bass.
Instrumentalists: Linda Melsted, violin; Steve Creswell, viola; Paul Luchkow, viola; Nathan Whitaker, cello; Natalie Mackie, violone; Curtis Daily, double bass; Konstantin Bozhinov, theorbo; Gus Denhard, theorbo; John Lenti, theorbo; Michael Jarvis, organ.
La Rose des Vents cornetto and sackbutt ensemble: Matthew Jennejohn, cornetto; Catherine Motuz, sackbut; Peter Christensen, sackbut; Trevor Dix. sackbut; Katrina Russell, dulcian.
St. Christopher Singers: Laura Altenmueller, Geoff Espin, Zander Felton, Ann Fraser, Bob Fraser, Ben Groom, Brian Groos, Alana Hayes, Madeleine Humer, Margaret Lingas, Sean Quicke, Chris Thackray, Brian Titus, Ansley Tucker, Guy Tyrwhitt-Drake, Zachary Windus, Mary-Jo Wood.
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