Howells • Ian Venables: Requiem etc

Howells • Ian Venables
Howells: Anthems; Ian Venables: Requiem; God be merciful; Rhapsody ‘In memoriam Herbert Howells’
Choir of Merton College, Oxford; Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia/Benjamin Nicholas
Delphian DCD34252   77:30 mins

New and old choral examples of the conservative English pastoral tradition are collected on this album. The opening tracks are not particularly encouraging. Three anthems by Herbert Howells glide past the ears, their ever-shifting harmonies now sugar-coated with orchestral accompaniments, one contributed in 1954 by Howells himself (‘The House of the Mind’), the others the recent work of worshipful scholars. To Howells champion Christopher Palmer, the composer’s prominent use of shining strings led to a precious ‘lit-from-behind’ feeling. I would argue instead for negative results: the blurring of the choral lines that comfortably dip and soar even when brushing against dissonance; the clouding, too, of the words sung, no matter how eloquently and beautifully delivered by the mixed forces of the Merton College choir.

The clouds and fuzz fortunately clear the moment Ian Venables’s Requiem of 2018 begins. Written for the choir of Gloucester Cathedral (performers on its previous recording), this too arrives in an orchestral version, newly commissioned from the composer for this release. Venables’s orchestra, however, knows when and how to keep out of the way, imposing itself only when the force of the words in the ‘Libera me’ sparks something dramatic: drum rolls. Otherwise gentle rumination is the key, with Fauré and Duruflé’s requiems never far away in mood, though the substance, as always with Venables’s vocal output, is always utterly English. This isn’t music to shake mountains, but its craftsmanship, sincerity and ability to stir the more tender emotions – well reflected in this performance – remains undeniably appealing.

Geoff Brown