Many choristers will have been
introduced to William Walton’s ‘What Cheer!’ through the first volume of Carols for Choirs edited by Reginald
Jacques and David Willcocks. This book (and its successors) was to
revolutionise the singing of Christmas Carols in ‘choirs and places where they
sing’.
Walton wrote four carols over a
45 year period. The first, in 1931, was ‘Make we Joy Now in this Feast’ which
was commissioned by the Manchester-based newspaper the Daily Despatch. It was
published there on Christmas Eve. The second carol was ‘What Cheer!’ In 1970
‘All this Time’ appeared in Carols for
Choirs 2 to be followed in 1977 by ‘King Herod and the Cock’ in the
succeeding volume.
William Walton was commissioned
to write his idiomatic Christmas carol ‘What Cheer!’ in November 1960 as a
contribution to the first volume of Carols
for Choirs. It was composed shortly
after the first performance of his Second Symphony in Edinburgh on 2 September
1960. Other works dating from 1961 include the revision of the Viola Concerto (performed
January 1962) and the impressive but underrated ‘Gloria’ for the Huddersfield
Choral Society which was first heard on 24 November.
It is not known where or when the
premiere of Walton’s carol ‘What Cheer!’ was performed, however Stewart R. Craggs
has noted 26 April 1961 as the date of completion.
It was published separately by
Oxford University Press in 1962.
The words of the carol are taken
from the London grocer, Richard Hill’s (born before 1490) Commonplace Book with some alterations to the text. The holograph
of Hill’s book is in the possession of Balliol College, Oxford (MS 534) and has
been digitalised.
What cheer? Good
cheer!
Be merry and glad
this good New Year!
Lift up your hearts
and be glad
In Christ’s birth,
the angel bade,
Say each to other, if
any be sad:
What cheer?
Now the King of
heaven his birth hath take,
Joy and mirth we
ought to make;
Say each to other,
for his sake:
What cheer?
I tell you all with
heart so free:
Right welcome,
welcome, ye be to me;
Be glad and merry,
for charity!
What cheer? Good
cheer!
Be merry and glad
this good New Year!
The carol is for unaccompanied
four-part choir (SATB). Carols for Choirs
does not include a ‘practice accompaniment’ so it is essential for singers to
make the correct intonation from an early stage of preparation.
The carol is composed in a bouncy
3/8 metre throughout: the music is signed ‘allegretto’ but this piece could be
sung ‘jubiloso’?
‘What Cheer!’ is infused with
Walton’s ‘jazz-flavoured rhythm’ without descending to a Rutter-esque ‘pop’
sound. There is a dance music mood to this piece that, in spite of its brevity
leaves an impression of profuse rhythmic vitality. The carol is set in A major, however, allowing
for ‘piquant’ dissonances there are relatively few accidentals. There is a
modulation into ‘C major’ in the final exclamations of ‘Be merry and glad’, nevertheless
the work ends on a solid A major tonic chord. The harmony is not overly
dissonant. Considerable use is made of parallel ‘thirds’ between male and
female voices. Much of the striking
effect of this carol is made by contrasting loud and quiet ‘What Cheer[s]!
between voices.
Frank Howes in his study of
Walton’s music (1974) says precious little about this carol. He simply notes
that the melody is ‘harmonized by mild progressive dissonance that would not
have been written by Stanford nor yet by a serialist composer.’
There are currently 14 versions
of ‘What Cheer!’ listed in the Arkiv CD catalogue. One suspects that there be
will a few more that have been deleted or are available as digital downloads.
Well-known choirs that have recorded this work include the Bach Choir, Queen’s
College Cambridge, Polyphony and Christ Church Cathedral Choir. The earliest
commercial recording was ‘Sir Cristemas’ by the Elizabethan Singers with Louis
Halsey in 1965 on ARGO RG446 (mono) and ZRG 5446 (stereo). A cassette was
issued in April 1989 (MCFC164). It has been released on CD and is available in
limited supply on Amazon.
No comments:
Post a Comment