Gerontius - that is a sublime masterpiece

On 29 September 1958 John Barbirolli conducted Part 1 of Gerontius with the Dublin Choir in the presence of Pope Pius XII at Castel Gandolfo, only a few days before the Pope's death. 'I have often wondered', he wrote, 'what the feelings of Newman and Elgar would be if they could know that the last music [the Pope] heard had been Elgar's setting of Newman's words "Go forth upon thy journey, Christian soul". As Barbirolli knelt before him, the Pope said: 'Figlio mio, questo e un capolavoro sublime' ('My son, that is a sublime masterpiece').

The header photo shows Sir John Barbirolli recording The Dream of Gerontius in 1964 in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester. No CD collection is complete without Barbirolli's Manchester account or Benjamin Britten's version which was recorded in Snape Maltings, the latter is now, thankfully, back in the catalogue - grab it while you can. Also noteworthy is the recent first-ever CD release of Barbirolli conducting Gerontius in Rome in 1957 with the RAI Rome Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. This super-budget version from Archipel has come available because the original recording issued on LP is now out of copyright. Despite the poor quality of the RAI sound the Rome recording is an important historical document as it is the only version with the incomparable Jon Vickers in the title role (the Hallé version has Richard Lewis). But Barbirolli's Manchester version is the one to have, as the Holy Father said 'that is a sublime masterpiece'.

Now read about Glorious John in New York.
Quotation from Barbirolli, the Authorised Biography by Michael Kennedy. The Dublin Choir was from Our Lady's Choral Society. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

What price the music of an unsung master?

1968 was a year of upheaval. It was the year of sex and drugs and rock and roll and saw the assasination of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the accidental death of Trappist monk and social activist Thomas Merton, the Tet offensive in Vietnam, the rise of the anti-war movement, the student rebellion that paralysed France, and the growth of the civil rights and women's movements. Stockhausen composed Stimmung, Hair opened on Broadway, the Beatles released their White Album and a Lindsay Anderson film put an African version of the Latin Mass at the top of the UK charts. Finally, as a reminder that history rarely repeats itself, but its echoes never go away, in October 1968 Tommie Smith and John Carlos made their controversial protest in support of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) on the podium at the Mexico Olympics.

While society was in upheaval elsewhere Dom Charles was completing the remarkable work of art seen above in the Abbey church of the Benedictine community at Buckfast in a peaceful Devon valley. The huge east window (judge the size by the altar visible in lower foreground of my photo) is in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at Buckfast Abbey. It uses the technique known as dalles-de-verre in which ‘tiles’ of coloured glass are chipped to shaped and laid mosaic-fashion in a matrix of resin. The window was made by the monks in the Abbey's workshop, and since its completion in 1968 windows have been made by the Brothers for more than 150 other churches using the same technique. One of the most recent commissions has been a window commemorating the New York firefighters who died in 9/11.

We had travelled to Buckfast to hear a concert of choral works by the unsung master Philippe de Monte. The music of this 16th century Flemish composer is very rarely performed today (although it is recorded), which is surprising as he wrote 1,073 secular and 144 spiritual madrigals, 45 chansons, 319 motets and 38 mass settings - eat your heart out Leif Segerstam! The intelligently planned and beautifully delivered concert was given in the Abbey church (Lady Chapel seen in my photo below) by the vocal ensemble Voces directed by Martyn Warren. There may still be many voices to a part in choirs in Devon and the men may still wear suits, ties and white shirts, but in other ways they are right up there with Radiohead. Here is an extract from the free programme book which included texts:

Concerts are normally free, allowing you to make your own decision about the contribution you make to the retiring collection. After expenses this will be split equally between the Abbey and the Voce music fund. Neither singers nor conductor take a fee. As a rough guide, a ticket for a concert like this would normally cost you at least £8, and we hope you will give generously with your money as the performers have given of their time in preparing and performing.


Masses of early music on iPods here.
My wife and I stayed in one of the Buckfast Communities splendid retreat houses on the edge of the monastic domain - recommended. Photos (c) On An Overgrown Path 2008. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

A catholic selection on internet radio

I'm playing John Sheppard's beautiful Western Wind Mass in my Future Radio programme this Sunday, November 18. The CD was recorded by the Tallis Scholars in Salle Church here in Norfolk, and my header photo shows the interior of the magnificent Anglican church.

The music in this Sunday's programme is a catholic selection. Sheppard's Western Wind Mass was probably composed in the reign of Queen Mary who briefly returned England to Catholicism. Edmund Rubbra, whose Fifth Symphony is the second work in the programme, was a mid-life Catholic convert. Like Thomas Merton, he went to explore Buddhism, but unlike Merton he also became interested in Taoism.

My catholic selection is on Future Radio at 5.00pm this Sunday, November 18. And remember, you can help shape the future of internet radio later that evening.

* Listen via the audio stream on Sunday Nov 18 at 5.00pm UK time. Convert Overgrown Path radio on-air times to your local time zone using this link. Windows Media Player doesn't like the audio stream very much and takes ages to buffer. WinAmp or iTunes handle it best. Unfortunately the royalty license doesn't permit on-demand replay, so you have to listen in real time. If you are in the Norwich, UK area tune to 96.9FM. Photograph (c) On An Overgrown Path 2007. Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

How precious this human life is ...

You too must contemplate your own death, meditate upon it, learn to understand and accept it. For only when you understand that life and death are not two opposites but only different sides of one reality, will you have no fear of death. For life is a candle which burns in the wind, its light can be gone in a moment. Death comes to all that lives. We must therefore never forget how precious this human life is, with its wonderful possibility of wisdom, which we should take avantage of before death ~ Tibetan Lama

+ In memory of Frère Ferréol (1959-2007) of the Benedictine Community of L'Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux who has died in a tragic accident. The photo above shows the Requiem Mass held for him in the Abbey. Below is my translation from the newsletter of Les Amis du Monasterie, which also supplied the photos.

Throughout this tragedy the liturgy has been a huge consolation to us. The Requiem Mass is the crowning glory of choral music, and the Gregorian setting, with its economy of gesture and transcedental beauty, is its ultimate expression. Music has never been so noble yet so humble, with the plainchant underpinning the solemn text. The Requiem Mass tells us that although death is a terrible test, there is something better beyond it. The liturgy confirms our faith, and tells us that it is the peace beyond death that is most important.

Now playing - music from a green hill far away.
Lead quote from Touching Tibet by Niema Ash (Eye Books ISBN 190307018). The Liturgie des Défunts in the Gregorian setting sung by the monks of l'Abbaye Notre-Dame de Fontgombault is available on an Arts & Musique CD. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Bach chorale's secret French connection

As the French presidential election approaches On An Overgrown Path travels to the Languedoc region of that fine country, and, totally unexpectedly, uncovers a Bach chorale's French connection. Nîmes has some of the best preserve Roman public buildings in Europe. The jewel in the crown is the 1st-century temple known as the Maison Carrée, shown in my photo above, which has survived virtually intact because it was fortunate enough to stay in use for a remarkable range of activities including a meeting hall, stable, Catholic church and archive.

The miraculous Maison Carrée is mirrored across the central piazza by Sir Norman Foster's remarkable 1993 Musée d'Art Contemporain and Médiathèque (photo below and background of header photo). This inspired building is, as the Lonely Planet guide says, 'everything modern architecture should be: innovative, complementary and beautiful.' The Maison Carrée itself dates from 19 BC and was originally dedicated to Caïus Caesar and Lucius Caesar before being rededicated as a Christian church in the fourth century. The tides of religion have ebbed and flowed over Languedoc across the centuries, including the Manichaean doctrine espoused by the Cathars in the 11th and 12th centuries which resulted in the Albigensian Crusade.


In the 16th century the tide turned once more bringing the new Protestant heresy down the Rhône from Calvin's Geneva. Tolerance was again out of fashion among Catholics, and the rallying call for the persecuted Protestants in their prison cells and wilderness assemblies was the Huguenot Psalter. This remarkable work, which is also known as the Genevan Psalter, appeared in its definitive form in 1562, and became the most successful hymnbook of all time.

The Huguenot Psalter set out to reintegrate laymen back into the liturgy by translating the Psalms into the vernacular, and setting them to simple melodies. Calvin wrote in the preface that the Psalter contained 'songs not merely honest but holy', and that it avoided what was 'in part vain and frivolous, in part stupid and dull, in part foul and vile and consequently evil and harmful'.

As the Calvinists had no musical legacy they created their own drawing on a wide range of sources including French folk-songs. And in a remarkable piece of reverse osmosis some of the resulting chorales were incorporated back into the Lutheran mainstream, one notable example being "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sind" (Bach VII, No. 58). Among the composers who transcribed melodies from the Huguenot Psalter were Samuel Mareschal, Pascal de l'Estocart, Philibert Jambe de Fer and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.

The exciting news is that children's voices of the Maîtrise de Nimes have recently recorded a selection from the Huguenot Psalter titled Resveillez-vous chacun fidèle. (The title is taken from Psalm 33 - Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous). This very beautiful, and desirable, new release (left) is sung in French, and was recorded at the historic Protestant Temple of Le Vigan in the Gard under the direction of Vincent Recolin, and uses the two manual organ in the Temple.

This CD is typical of the cultural melting-pot that is Europe today. It is released by the enterprising K617 label which is run by Le Couvent Centre for baroque music in the north-eastern Moselle region of France close to the German border, and in truly global fashion Le Couvent specialises in baroque music from Latin America.

Resveillez-vous chacun fidèle is much more than a useful exploration of little known early music. The Huguenot Psalter contributed to the development of the chorale form which reached its peak with Bach. This lovingly sung and recorded CD is an important addition to the catalogue, and can be bought online from the FNAC website where short audio samples are also available, or online from K617. As Martin Luther said: 'God preaches the Gospel through music too.'

* Founded in 1990, the Maîtrise de Nîmes brings together young people who are trained in choral singing between the ages of eight and seventeen within the framework of a general school education at the Institut Emmanuel d'Alzon in Nîmes. The Maîtrise provides an artistic education which enables the children to practise a wide range of musical activities. There is an emphasis on baroque music, but the schools activities have also included performing Jacques Loussier's Mass Lumières in 1966 at the inauguration of the inspirational new cathedral at Evry that I wrote about here recently. The photo below shows the choir in front of the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, which features in my header photo. The age of the choristers ranges from 9 to 17.


* The Huguenot Psalter was a product of the Calvinists, and Brother Roger, who founded the Taizé Community which has featured here several times, was also a Calvinist and was born in Switzerland. Music is a central feature of the Taizé liturgy as well.

Top two photographs taken by Pliable and copyright On An Overgrown Path. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Now read how France said no - with help from Father Joe

The Hill of Crosses

The Hill of Crosses, Kryzių Kalnas, located seven miles north of the small industrial city of Siauliai is the Lithuanian national pilgrimage center. The small hill has thousands of crosses, and they represent both Christian devotion and a memorial to Lithuanian national identity.

Siauliai was occupied by Teutonic forces during the 14th century, and the tradition of placing crosses dates from this period, probably starting as a symbol of Lithuanian defiance of foreign invaders. Since the medieval period, the Hill of Crosses has represented the peaceful resistance of Lithuanian Catholicism to oppression. In 1795 Siauliai became part of Russia but was returned to Lithuania in 1918.


The city was captured by Germany in World War II, and suffered heavy damage when it was retaken by Soviet forces. From 1944 until Lithuania's independence in 1991, Siauliai was a part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR, and during this time the Hill of Crosses became an expression of Lithuanian nationalism, despite the Soviets repeatedly removing Christian crosses placed on the hill.

Three times between 1961 and 1975 the hill was levelled and the crosses destroyed. But each time local residents and pilgrims from all over Lithuania replaced them. The arrival of glasnost meant that after 1985 the Hill of Crosses was no longer desecrated, and it has now become both a celebration of Lithuanian nationalism and international pilgrimage.

For more information and photos visit Sacredsites.com (on which the text above is based) and Englishrussia.com (whose photos are used above with thanks), and watch this YouTube video of the Hill of Crosses while ignoring the cheesey opening music.


Now visit another green hill far away.
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

L'Orgue Mystique - the images

Music and the visual arts have inspired each other for centuries.In the 19th century Mussorgsky, Liszt and other Romantics virtually created a separate genre of music inspired by art. In 1909 Rachmaninov's The Isle of the Dead had its origins in Arnold Boecklin's painting of the same name (above), and this was followed by Respighi's Botticelli Tryptich (from The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli) and Martinu's Frescoes of Piero della Francesca (from Piero Della Francesca's Discovery of the True Cross).

Although less common there are also examples of art works inspired by music. The French artist Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) created both a painting (L'Anniversaire. Souvenir de décembre 1875) and a set of fourteen lithographs inspited by Berlioz's musical output. Probably the most famous example of art based on music is the so-called 'Chagall Ceiling' in l'Opéra Garnier in Paris where Marc Chagall's famous paintings are inspired by nine musical works.


And visual art inspired by music is still very much alive today. My recent article 'L'Orgue Mystique' - the music paid homage to Charles Tournemire's extraordinary cycle of fifty-one organ pieces covering the whole Catholic liturgical year. Artist Tom Walker went considerably further in his homage to Tournemire's masterpiece, as he describes in his own words:

'The mystical radiance, tenderness and majesty of this music inspired me to respond visually with The Mystic Image, a corresponding cycle of 51 5-part pastel triptychs (each 100x125 cms) laid out in the order introit, offertory, elevation, communion and postlude. To reflect Tournemire's encompassing theme of light overcoming darkness I worked on black paper, each mark thus representing light. My intention was to evoke the atmosphere of the music within the context of the words of the chants whilst referring to elements of the composer's life and faith. Thus, the sea and rocks of his island retreat, Ouessant; the cathedrals he loved and his belief in the manifestation of God in Nature play essential parts in the image sequences.'


The two images above, and the one below, are from Tom Walker's cycle The Mystic Image. He has worked in almost all the different types of two-dimensional media since the mid 1960s, although he has specialised in pastel work since the mid 1980s. Most of his work between 1985 and 1995 was related to music. As well as the The Mystic Image other works from this period relate to the music of Jehan Alain, and Olivier Messiaen, and between 1991 and 2000, he painted a large mural (120’ x 12’) inspired by Claude Debussy's music.

All fifty-one of Tom Walker's The Mystic Image triptychs can be viewed on his excellent web site. They were created in the late 1980's, and were displayed in Minneapolis in 1989 and 1990 in conjunction with a complete performance of L'Orgue Mystique in its liturgical context. This cycle was played by some 50 different organists at the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis. The organists included Timothy Tikker, Michael Ferguson, Lawrence Archbold and Kathy Handford, the latter was one of the main organisers and responsible for arranging the exhibition of the triptychs there. The Mystic Image has also been exhibited in numerous other churches and cathedrals in the UK, France, Holland, Germany and the USA.


Tom Walker has also created seven large paintings inspired by Tournemire's Sept Chorales-Poèmes pour les Sept Paroles du Christ of 1935. These can be seen at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Islington, London, where they are on permanent loan. They were toured extensively in the UK and across Europe, between 1993 and 1996, in conjunction with performances of the Chorales. This ended with a performance by Mark Brafield in Beauvais Cathedral in France in 1996. This is the cathedral that inspired Tournemire to write the Chorales, but they had never been performed there before.

Now read about L'Orgue Mystique - the music
Picture credits - Boecklin, The Isle of the Dead - Mezzo Mondo
L'Orgue Mystique, No. 28 – The Office for The Sacred Heart, No. 51 – The Office for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost "Te Deum laudamus", and No. 29 – The Office for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost - Tom Walker
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

'L'Orgue Mystique' - the music

Blockbuster is an overworked description, but it can be applied with confidence to the extraordinary L'Orgue Mystique composed by Charles Tournemire. This cycle of organ compositions covers the entire Catholic liturgical year, and took five years to compose (1927-1932), It contains more than twelve hours of music, and is one of the largest compositions in western music - running to 1300 pages in the published edition.

Charles Tournemire (below) was born in Bordeaux, and lived from 1870 to 1939. He is an important link between his teacher César Franck and acknowledged by Messiaen himself who wrote: 'My only organ teacher was Marcel Dupré, for whom I had the greatest admiration and a very great and respectful affection. But I went occasionally to hear the improvisations of Charles Tournemire (a composer of genius, and a marvellous improviser). When Tournemire improvised at a concert, it was good. But the improvisations were much more beautiful during Masses at Sainte-Clotilde, when he had the Blessed Sacrement in front of him. I think I resemble him somewhat in this respect. I improvise much better during a service, on my organ at the Trinité. In a concert my gifts desert me, and my imagination disappears.'

L'Orgue Mystique was composed as functional music. Not all organists are skilled improvisers, and the cycle was composed to provide Roman Catholic organists with suitable music to play during the Sunday Masses and feast days along with the parish choir. All the musical themes are based on Gregorian chants, more than three hundred chants are used in the cycle, with the chants linked to the function of the music (introit, offertory etc).

Although L'Orgue Mystique is functional music, it is also technically brilliant. It shares with Bartok the use of polymodality (Tournemire went on to explore expanded modality, and used techniques from Indian music). The virtuoso writing sounds like genuine improvisations on chant themes despite being contained by a conventional score. The dynamic range suggests Messiaen's monumental organ works from the same period, ranging from the mystical sounds of the quietest stops to resounding Sorties- the postlude played at the end of the service (literally meaning exit music).

Clearly L'Orgue Mystique is inextricably linked to the Catholic offices it was composed to accompany, but this has unfortunately stereotyped it simply as liturgical music. This is unfortunate and the cycle deserves to be heard in a wider context, just as Messiaen's organ music now is. With the current enthusiasm for all things Gregorian the chant origins of L'Orgue Mystique must surely be of interest to a wider audience. There have been examples of the cycle being played in its entirety, including in 1989 and 1990 when some 50 different organists played the pieces in their liturgical context at the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis.

Fortunately Tournemire's blockbuster is well served by recordings. George Delvallee's excellent complete cycle is available on Accord, and the set is also available as individual 2 CD boxes. For anyone wanting to sample this remarkable, and rewarding, 20th century homage to Gregorian chant Marie-Bernadette Duforcet's 2 CD set of extracts recorded on the organs of La Sainte Trinité (photo above) and La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre in Paris is also highly recommended.

PC speakers are not going to do L'Orgue Mystique justice, but here as a taster is the Choral Postlude Dimanche Dans L'octave De Noël (N°4) played by George Delvallee -

Now read about L'Orgue Mystique - the images
Picture credits - the lead image is from artist Tom Walker's cycle of 51 5-part pastel triptychs inspired by L'Orgue Mystique. Charles Tournemire - Classical Composers Database
Organ of La Sainte Trinité - University of Quebec
Music stream - Amazon.fr
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk