From the Organist & Choirmaster

This Sunday the Parish Choir will sing one of my personal favorite anthems of Anglican Choral music, Herbert Howells’ Jubilate Deo. This setting of the canticle traditionally associated with the office of Morning Prayer was composed by Howells in 1944 for King’s College, Cambridge making it Collegium Regale (For the King’s College) and was debuted by the King’s College Chapel Choir and its director Boris Ord. It was part of Howells’ “decadal bet” referring to a famous challenge that began in 1941 with the Te Deum of which the Jubilate Deo is now published alongside. The bet was made between Howells and Eric Milner-White who was the Dean of King’s College and resulted in a glorious collection of ten works all denoted Collegium Regale and include parts of the Ordinary of the Mass (Gloria, Sanctus, etc.), the Evening Canticles (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis), and two Morning Prayer Canticles.

The Jubilate is rich in its harmony and is very recognizably Howells’ work, with luscious harmonies, profound dynamics, and special attention given to the text. The choir sings unison phrases accompanied by a lively organ accompaniment and then into an a cappella phrase that mimics the organ part almost exactly. The stunning Gloria Patri at the end sends the sopranos and tenors into the reaches of their voice parts while the alto and bass parts move in opposite direction as the upper voices make their way down to join the lower voices on an unexpected ending that makes the piece seem as though it ends in a completely different one as to which it began (hint…it does!).

Please make plans to join us at our 10:30 am Mass as well as Evensong to hear this wonderful piece of Anglican Church music!