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Stanfordian Thoughts - Six Bible Songs with Hymns op.113
Posted by Woland on June 25, 2024, 9:25 pm
A tiny, unworthy polemic regarding this (personally) frustrating uncertainty about Stanford's sixth Bible Song and Hymn: I'd like to point out that Dr. Jeremy Dibble, in those booklets Dr. Howell so zealously listed (1998; then, after his "Man and Musician”’s first edition, again in 2010 and 2014, all those three containing pretty much the same exact text about Op. 113), simply addressed Stanford’s Bible Songs as "first performed by his fellow Irishman and future biographer, Harry Plunket Greene", making no distinction between "high" or "low" settings; Dr. Dibble didn't even mention Agnes Nicholls as the dedicatee or first interpreter of "A Song of Peace", but at the same time described "A Song of Wisdom" specifically referring to its "high" ( E flat ) setting, evidently unsuitable for the aforementioned Greene; furthermore, in a different, more recent booklet ( this time from a "Hyperion" recording containing the sole Numbers “6a” and “6b”, dated 2019 : https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/68259-B.pdf ) Dr. Dibble ended up claiming that “the last of the Six Bible Songs, Op 113, dates from 1909 and was written for the soprano Agnes Nicholls"; lastly, on the latest issue of "Cathedral Music", published online on May 1, 2024 ( page 34: https://issuu.com/cathedralmusic/docs/cmm_spring_2024 ) he writes: "...though it is clear from the dedications that they were intended for prominent soloists - Harry Plunket Greene ( nos. 1-3, 5 and 6 ), Britain's leading baritone, and Agnes Nicholls ( no. 4 )…"; I also want to stress how, in his 2004 edition of the “Six Hymns” contained in "A Stanford Anthology”, Dr. Dibble presented Hymns 1-3 and 5 in their “low”, original ( no editorial additions ) settings, while both hymns 4 and 6 appear in their "high" setting ( a side note: Richard Barnes, writing his comments to the 1977 Bevan/Rose recording’s backside as well as contributing to Dr. Knapp's paper from 2003, seems to have always suggested that Songs 1-3, 5 and 6 were originally published as “low” and that only the fourth was formerly presented in its "high" setting). I realize, of course, that booklets are not meant to be regarded as academic publications and understand how the lacunous publishing history of these works lead to the present fragmentary sources; I do not understand, though, despite the substantial marginality of the subject matter, this puzzling "back and forth", in place of a plainly dignified “crux desperations”. All said and done, I completely and humbly agree with Dr. Howell’s both technical and conceptual observations, and also share the same “plausible assumptions", ultimately hoping to present a decent rendition of Stanford Op. 113 within the end of this year; forgive my tedious pedantry and poor choice of words.
Re: Stanfordian Thoughts - Six Bible Songs with Hymns op.113
I hesitated to answer this for fear of confusing an already confused situation. However, setting aside the contradictory statements in various LP and CD sleeve/booklet notes, the situation is not so complex:
1, 2, 3, and 5 were sung by the baritone Harry Plunket Greene (so says the score), hence the low key would be the original and the low keys of the following chorales are convincing in their voice ranges
4 was sung by the soprano Agnes Nicholls (so says the score) and the high voice version of the chorale is convincing in its voice range
No copy that I have seen of no. 6 names a singer. I have stated in my article the reasons for which I believe the high voice version is the original. One point among many, the organ writing in the low version of the chorale goes off the bottom of a normal pedal board.
These notes on the score are the only evidence we have that at least the first five were sung in Stanford's time at all. So far as I know, nobody has actually traced a performance of any of them by Greene, Nicholls or anyone else until fairly modern times.
Going by this, I presume that a performance that comes as close as possible to Stanford's intentions would:
- use adult solo singers for the songs (baritone in 1-3 & 5, soprano in 4 & 6) - sing the chorales in the same key as the preceding songs
Put that way, it doesn't seem so very complicated or so very difficult to organize, though if Mr. Woland intends to perform it that way later this year he may be the first to do so.
I thank Mr. Woland for his elevating me to the dizzy heights of a doctorate, but I fear that a Bachelor's Degree with Honours (from Edinburgh University) is the height of my academic achievement.