Gary Higginson (b.1952): Messages of Hope op.87

Messages of Hope op.87 is a setting of a composite text derived from Christopher Wordsworth (1807-85). The ‘Wordsworth’ we are talking about was the nephew of the poet William. For several years he was Vicar of Stanford-in-the-Vale in Oxfordshire and latterly Bishop of Lincoln (not Salisbury as stated in the liner notes), as well as being a respected man of letters. In theology, his big achievement are the editions of the Greek New Testament texts and commentaries on the entire Bible. These latter are still important sources for High Church Anglicans. The local Stanford poet Colin Pedley (d.1990) produced a short compendium of Wordsworth’s poems and included some of his own lines.  I would be interested in the exact sources of Wordsworth’s texts and the later interpolations.

Gary Higginson suggests that the raison d’être of the cycle is to present ‘all the joys and sorrows that harsh country life had to offer.’ The seven songs are set for soprano, tenor, baritone and piano. The various parts of this cycle are called ‘Scenes.’ 

Scene 1, ‘Entry into Stanford’ is all about village life and has allusions to Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem on an ass. This is followed by ‘Homes’, which highlights the disparity between rich and poor folks’ living conditions in Victorian times. It is a pastiche music hall ballad featuring a middle section that is violent in effect. ‘Scene 3’, for soprano only, considers the diseases that are caused by extreme poverty. It concludes with a short, powerful piano postlude. I am not sure what that rationale is for the fourth song. The liner notes suggest that it reflects on the effects of the arrival of the ‘expensive’ railways. Would poet, literary arranger and composer have wished the rail network had not been developed, at least in Oxfordshire? It is a dramatic song, with a vibrant accompaniment exploiting dissonance and rhythmic vitality and a commanding vocal declamation. The ‘Scene 5’ ‘Death at Scutari’ is a ‘desolate’ anti-Crimean war song.  This is the most challenging song in this cycle. The penultimate song, again by soprano solo, mourns the tragic death of a husband and five children in the village of Stanford.  I am not sure that the ‘Epilogue’ is not tongue-in-cheek. Although the final line is ‘Come blessed Jesu come’ the entire cycle could well suggest God’s indifference to his creation.  ‘Messages of Despair’ could be a better title. 

A clue to the interpretation is given in the final paragraph of the liner notes for this song-cycle: ‘There is a socio-political message which also applied at the time of [Mrs. Margaret] Thatcher’s Britain…’ The work was premiered in 1987. Blame for all the sadness and trouble in the village and the world at large, is put at the feet of the wicked land-owner, the greedy industrialist, the unthinking general and the spiteful politician. In 1987 I was not aware of the grinding poverty and lack of general medical care in town or country that features in these poems. The Falklands War was the only military ‘adventure’ of the Thatcher years (and the ongoing ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland).

Messages of Hope is not an easy work to come to terms with but repays the effort. Reviewers have noted the influence of Benjamin Britten (Winter Words?) but this is to minimise the original impact of Higginson’s music.

Gary Higginson, Messages of Hope op.87 can be heard on the SHEVA Label (SH209).