The Choir of Buckfast Abbey
Matthew Searles Director
Ad Fontes 014
In his Introduction to this disc the Abbot of Buckfast, Rt. Rev. David Charlesworth OSB, explains the rationale for this recording. The feast of Corpus Christi was instituted in the reign of Pope Urban IV in 1264, and the liturgy was constructed by no less an authority than St Thomas Aquinas.
It is interesting to learn that the majority of the chants for the day were composed by St Thomas, the exception being the Introit Cibavit eos which uses an existing chant from the Monday of Pentecost Octave and includes the three-fold paschal Alleluia at the conclusion of the antiphon.
The music chosen is a beguiling mixture of the familiar and the unfamiliar. The set of organ pieces by Anton Heiller, appropriate for the day, were new to me and very engaging.
Martin Baker’s setting of the Mass which was given its first performance at the Abbey on the day of the feast in 2024, is very attractive, based on two chants O sacrum convivium! and Alleluia: Caro mea. They form the fabric, as it were, of the composition, but without losing the fluid quality of the plainsong or placing it in unidiomatic harmonic dress.
I was also particularly struck by the setting of the responsorial psalm by Peter Stevens, which is an excellent example of contemporary liturgical music for the Roman Catholic rite. It is inventive and designed for congregational participation, but without a trace of condescension. It includes simple, but effective word painting on the word ‘I will raise’, concluding in a final statement with a thrilling descant.
It is refreshing to hear the two examples traditional catholic hymnody, ‘O Godhead hid’ and ‘Sweet Sacrament divine’ sung with such careful attention to detail, at the right pace and without sentimentality. Richard Terry’s tune for ‘O Godhead hid’ is distinguished, although I suspect it is better known in England than elsewhere.
Matthew Searles’ arrangement of Stansfield’s ‘Sweet Sacrament divine’ is inventive and keeps entirely within the spirit of a devotional hymn. Yet the final verse in unison provides an overwhelming climax to the disc, with the Ruffatti organ really making its presence felt without the voices ‘sinking beneath the waves.’
The versatility of the choir is notable as they move effortlessly from one musical style to another. The vocal lines are clean with intonation and tuning being above approach. A most enjoyable disc and a worthy addition to the growing Ad Fontes catalogue.
Review by Martyn Strachan