With the coming of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., I thought I would post a Thanksgiving celebration of a different type. It is a service of Thanksgiving to mark the centenary of the Royal College of Music in February 1982.
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| Westminster Abbey |
The service took place in Westminster Abbey, and the musical selections were all written by former students and faculty of the college. All are liturgical, reflecting the strong historic emphasis on church music at the RCM. Four of the composers were alive at the time - Sir Michael Tippett, Herbert Howells, Gordon Jacob and Douglas Guest. The latter had just retired as organist and Master of the Choristers at the Abbey.
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| Sir David Willcocks |
For this occasion, the choir and instrumentalists were conducted by Sir David Willcocks, the RCM Director at the time. The organist was Simon Preston. Both were RCM alumni.
The RCM was founded by the royal family, and one of its members has served since then as its President. At the time of the service, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother held that position. She later was succeeded by the Prince of Wales, who remains in the post. Both attended the service.
The program is well performed (except for one exposed brass mishap) and exceptionally well recorded by the BBC for broadcast live on Radio 3. The RCM later issued this LP of the music.
The service as presented by the BBC actually included several spoken passages that are not included on the LP. One musical selection appears to have been left out - Parry's Fantasia and Fugue in G, performed by organist Jane Watts, then an RCM student.
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| Herbert Howells |
For me, the most affecting passages are those by Herbert Howells and Douglas Guest. Howells contributed two selections: the Te Deum from his Collegium Regale and the hymn "All my hope on God is founded." He wrote the latter in memory of his son Michael, who died young. (The cover ascribes the piece to Michael.)
Guest's selection is a setting of Lawrence Binyon's "They Shall Grow Not Old," from Binyon's 1914 war poem, "For the Fallen."
But all the music is well worth hearing; I hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful holiday!
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| The Royal College of Music |
