Herald AV Publications

HAVPCD360 – The Dedication of the Temple
(Launched Saturday 29th May 2010 at the Temple “Schola Singing Day“)

The Temple Church, built around 1160 and consecrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalam in 1185, has been in the joint care of the Inner and Middle Temples, two of the four legal Inns of Court, for 400 years. It was originally built by the English Knights Templar, to replicate their round mother church on the site of Christ’s Resurrection in Jerusalem. So important was it as a place of spiritual significance that many knights were buried there ( you can see their effigies to this day ) and Thomas a Becket, when Archbishop, granted an indulgence of twenty days to all those who entered it.

The centrality of Jerusalem as the earthly replica of the heavenly kingdom comes through in the Templar liturgy that forms the basis of this recording. It is no coincidence that Jerusalem is the circular city at the centre of the mappa mundi. So to be in London’s Temple Church was, to the mediaeval mind, to be in the actual place for one’s own spiritual enlightenment helped no doubt by the uplifting qualities of singing the daily office, which Bernard of Clairvaux probably helped to compile. The Church retains its special atmosphere to this day and the Chant sounds wonderful in its ancient, round, acoustic – pure, perfect and complete.

Today the Temple Church serves its legal community in many ways. Members of the two Inns may be baptized, married and have their memorial services there. It is justly famous for its own choir of boys and mens voices who sing a high Anglican liturgy every Sunday during the legal terms. Inner Temple calls its students to the Bar there. The organ, the gift of a generous Scottish family, is a four manual Harrison&Harrison from whose loft many recitals are given. It was a popular tourist attraction even before Dan Brown put it on the Da Vinci trail.

The Church has also become a respected venue for the discussion of controversial issues, most notably the compatibility of sharia law with our own secular society. The Templar’s worthy adversaries in the second crusade would probably have approved.

HAVPCD358 – Benjamin Saunders

Benjamin Saunders was born in Warrington and educated at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh. He received his first organ lessons at the age of sixteen at St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral, Edinburgh and two years later won an Organ Scholarship to Downing College, Cambridge, where he studied with Peter Hurford. Upon graduating, he held organist posts at the Cathedrals of St Giles’ Edinburgh, Blackburn, and Chester. In 2002, Saunders was appointed Director of Music for the Diocese of Leeds, leading the department at Leeds Cathedral, which is now the centre of England’s largest choral outreach programme. During this time, he has been privileged to act as consultant and advisor to a number of the UK’s other musically pre-eminent cathedrals and schools.

As an organist, he aims to present a varied and accessible programme to delight audiences both young and old, be they new to organ music or lifelong devotees of the instrument. His solo repertoire includes classical, popular and jazz works, some familiar and others new or recently rediscovered. He has also transcribed many orchestral works for the organ and these arrangements often form a popular part of his concert programmes. Saunders has performed to HM the Queen, Princess Anne and US President Carter and worked with conductor Carl Davis and jazz virtuoso Dick Hyman. Solo tours have led him to give organ recitals in France, Italy, Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, the United States and Russia. Further details of forthcoming concerts can be found on his website at http://www.directorofmusic.org.

HAVPCD357 – 40 Years at Wakefield

The Wakefield Cathedral Choir consists of up to twenty boys, twenty girls and ten lay clerks, and undertakes a full programme of services, concerts, recordings, radio and TV appearances. There are six choral services each week – Parish Eucharist, Cathedral Eucharist and Evensong on Sunday and Evensong on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Yorkshire Three Choirs Festival (boys and men) and the Yorkshire Cathedral Choirs Festival (girls and men) take place in October and March respectively.

The Cathedral has had only four Organists: Joseph Naylor (1888-1930), Newell Wallbank (1930-1946), Percy Saunders (1946-1970) and Jonathan Bielby (1970-2010). The formidable past record of Assistant Organists includes John Scott (organist of St Thomas’ Church, Fifth Avenue, New York), Peter Gould (organist of Derby Cathedral), Keith Wright ( assistant organist of Durham Cathedral), and Louise Marsh (director of the Girls’ Choir at Ely Cathedral).

Famous previous members of the Choir include the composer, Kenneth Leighton, and the former Archbishop of York, David Hope. The Cathedral Choir has done a tremendous job in promoting the city and diocese of Wakefield and the cause of English cathedral music. Besides appearing at many UK venues, the boys and men have visited Germany three times, the United States twice, France, Austria, Italy and Holland; the girls and men have sung in Sweden, the Rhineland and New York; and the men have made an enjoyable trip to Dublin.

Jonathan Bielby’s wonderful work at Wakefield has encompassed many facets. On his upcoming retirement he will leave a legacy in hearts and minds for generations to come. As a composer, he is pre-eminently practical, clear, concise and – perhaps most importantly – comprehensible. His works have often been in the form of personal gifts – and those who receive his Christmas Cards each year will be aware of that – or mindful of a particular Cathedral service or event.

He knows a good melody when he sees one, and many of his compositions contain a reassuring and yet refreshing ambience in which the themes seem inevitable, fluent and memorable. To have recordings of music composed by him will give great and continuing pleasure to us all for many years. As one of his oldest friends, I commend the enterprise to you whole-heartedly and with enthusiastic acclaim!
Dr Simon Lindley
Organist & Master of the Choristers, Leeds Parish Church, and Leeds City Organist

Chichester Cathedral. 15, 16, 17 & 18th July 2010.
Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1PX.
http://www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/
Chichester Cathedral SCF 2010 Page

Southern Cathedrals Festival is a celebration of cathedrals and their music, held in turn at Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester. Cathedral music is truly one of this country’s national treasures. It offers sacred choral and organ music performed to the very highest standard by the three cathedrals’ renowned choirs. The choirs will be performing separately and together and will be complemented by visiting performers. The music is presented in concerts and within worship. The Festival offers a unique opportunity to enjoy music and to take part in worship within the setting of three magnificent cathedrals. The Festival Brochure and list of events and performances can be seen here. The Southern Cathedrals Festival marks its 50th anniversary in 2010 and we look forward to welcoming you to Chichester in this celebration year. The services, which lie at the heart of the Festival, will include a recreation of the 1960 Combined Evensong, which will be recorded for broadcast on Radio 3.