From the Organist & Choirmaster
At this Sunday’s offering of Choral Evensong, the parish choir will sing Bryan Kelly’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C Major, a bold and rhythmic setting of the biblical texts of Mary and Simeon. Based on Latin-American rhythms found in tango, salsa, and merengue, these canticles took the Anglican choral tradition to a new place in 1965 when they were composed for the Southern Cathedrals Festival at Chichester Cathedral. They premiered at the same time as Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms; one can imagine what a festival that was!
The Magnificat:
Bryan Kelly explained that the work started life a tone higher, in D, but the publishers pointed out that “he was stretching things!;” that would leave the sopranos and tenors holding a high A for upwards of 21 beats! The canticle is a single movement propelled by a rhythmic ostinato. Kelly uses the same music for ‘all generations shall call me blessed’ and ‘and the rich he hath sent empty away’ - one a long distance in time, one a long distance in space. Few settings of the Magnificat joyfully highlight the text ‘He hath filled the hungry’ as a principal moment of reprise, in which Kelly makes a clear message of his political instincts. The final section, ‘he remembering his mercy,’ begins a thrilling build-up which propels us headlong into the Gloria, which recapitulates the music of the beginning of the canticle.
The Nunc Dimittis
The Nunc Dimittis also makes use of a rhythmic ostinato. The canticle starts in the tonic minor key, almost underpinning a funeral march for the old man Simeon. At the end of the movement of the ostinato is given the new function of building tension as we approach the Gloria. The dark shadows of the opening are replaced by major tonality celebrating the hope of "‘to be a light.’ A series of pedal points spanning a major sixth leads us to the final dominant, further heightening the tension whilst leading into a reprise of the Gloria. In the central part of the canticles tripartite musical structure, the choir is liberated from the organ ostinato; Simeon’s soul breaks free to meet God ‘For mine eyes have seen thy salvation.’ Simeon has come face to face with God in the person of Jesus, but Christians believe he will imminently continue to enjoy such proximity after his own death.