The Complete Organ Works of Herbert Sumsion -Volume 2

The proceedings open with a tantalising work. The ‘Prelude and Aria’ (1940) began life as an orchestral overture ‘In the Cotswolds’ which received its first performance at the Hereford Three Choirs Festival in 1930. The liner notes suggest that this work had some considerable personal significance for the composer as he frequently mentioned it as being part of his oeuvre. A number of the overture’s themes were worked into the organ piece.  Curiously, although the title suggests two divisions, the work is actually in ternary form.  It was edited by Basil Ramsey for inclusion in a proposed ‘Book of Organ Pieces’: it was never published.  This is a restrained work that, like much of Sumsion, makes an ideal entry voluntary.  However, the thought of the ‘forgotten’ overture still teases me…

The ‘Cradle Song’ was composed in 1954 and explores a restrained mood that is less of a ‘lullaby’ than an ‘elegy’. It is one of the loveliest pieces on this CD.

Looking at the ‘works list’ in Wikipedia, which was created by Diane Nolan Cooke, reveals that Sumsion wrote a number of pieces in genres other than the organ and liturgical choral music. There is the above mentioned overture. Also for orchestra is an Idyll: At Valley Green, a tone-poem (?) Lerryn and a Romance for string orchestra.  There are two Piano Trios, a Sonata in C minor for Cello and Piano, one for Violin and Piano in E minor as well as a string quartet.  Two works were issued for cello and piano, By the Lake and A Mountain Tune: the latter being also arranged for string orchestra (1946).  Both pieces were dedicated to the composer’s wife, Alice. In 1955 Sumsion transcribed them for organ.  They are well-wrought pieces that have considerable depth and sometimes a restrained passion.  

The ‘Sarabande and Interlude’ were composed for inclusion in Oxford University Press’s A Second Easy Album for Organ. (Not that easy I hasten to add, at least for me) These two pieces cleverly combine old English dance forms with the influence of Herbert Howells. They are a pleasure to listen to: restraint and introspection are the basic moods here.

It is good that this second CD of the Complete Works of Herbert Sumsion included his arrangements of Vaughan Williams and J.S. Bach.  The ‘Carol’ and ‘Musette’ were extracted from RVW’s rarely heard Suite of Viola and Small Orchestra which was composed in 1934. Sumsion made the organ arrangements four years later.  Both pieces transcribe well for organ and represent a synthesis of the two composer’s moods and styles. It is no secret that the older composer was a major influence on Sumsion.  One of Vaughan William’s loveliest minor works is the Two Hymn-Tune Preludes for small orchestra, premiered at the Three Choirs’ Festival in 1936.  A good version of the original work can be heard on EMI CZS5739862 with Richard Hickox and the Northern Sinfonia of England. Herbert Sumsion has faithfully presented the mood of these works in spite of some technical difficulties presented to the organist.

The transcription of Bach’s aria ‘Komm, Süsser Tod’ is virtually note for note the original. Cooke suggests that the only additions are the two-bar introduction and a few passing notes in the pedals. It was originally intended for the above-mentioned book of organ pieces by Basil Ramsey.

Herbert Brewer was a major influence on Sumsion’s career. For one thing, he studied with Brewer for a number of years and he succeeded him as director of the Three Choirs Festival in 1928. It could be argued that the two Brewer arrangements included on this disc are merely makeweights. However, the world would be a worse place without these two realisations of Elgar’s music. The first is the deeply introspective and highly emotional ‘Prelude and Angel’s Farewell’ from The Dream of Gerontius. This is a difficult piece for the organ as the original scoring does not transfer easily to instrument.  The second is the charming, ‘light’ Chanson de Matin which works ideally for organ. Originally devised for violin and piano this piece has been arranged for just about every combination of instruments imaginable. It is perfect here on the organ of St. David’s Cathedral.

The final work on this excellent CD is the ‘Air, Berceuse and Procession’ composed in 1960. Diane Nolan Cooke suggests that this is the nearest that Sumsion came to writing an Organ Sonata.  It is the longest piece for the instrument in the composer’s catalogue.  The opening ‘Air’ is quite airy in its mood and almost dance-like in character.  The following ‘Berceuse’ is, as its French title implies, a Lullaby. I am not sure that that this music implies a baby being sung to sleep: it is more of Sumsion’s ‘landscape’ music reflecting on the Cotswolds.  The finale of this ‘sonata’ is a ‘Procession’ which is really a good example of a recessional march. This ‘Procession’ was played at Herbert Howells’ funeral in 1983, ‘serving as an appropriate testament to the lifelong friendship between the two men.’  Stylistically the ‘Air, Berceuse and Procession’ does not really belong to the late ‘fifties’/early ‘sixties’: there is no suggestion of sharp dissonance, tone rows or other contemporary devices in Sumsion’s music.

Organ enthusiasts will be delighted with the notes detailing the complex and intriguing history and specification of the St David’s Cathedral instrument. This Father Willis organ has been subject to a number of rebuilds and partial relocations within the building since it was built in 1883.  The original case was criticised as being ‘a poor exhibition of woodwork and paint.’ Subsequent work included a new case, the addition of a 32ft Open Wood pipes in the South Transept and electro-pneumatic action. The organ now has four manuals and fifty-four stops.  Thirty-one of the original Willis stops have survived as the basis of the present instrument. The latest rebuild was carried out by Harrison & Harrison: it was dedicated on Sunday 15 October, 2000. 

The sound of this splendid instrument is well-captured by the Priory recording engineer Neil Collier. The liner notes by Diane Nolan Cooke are a model of their kind. She is clearly the leading authority on Sumsion currently writing.

Daniel Cook was until recently Organist and Master of the Choristers at St David’s Cathedral. He had a significant involvement there with the Cathedral Festival. In September 2013 he was appointed to the post of Sub-organist at Westminster Abbey. He is also currently artistic director of Mousai Singers who have lately released a fine album of British music with a ‘Welsh Connection’.  Cook has recorded a number of CDs for Priory Records, including the complete works of Herbert Brewer, Charles Villiers Stanford (on-going) and a selection of music by Walter Alcock.

Herbert Sumsion’s music is basically melodic, conservative and always pleasing to the ear. The musical impact of his musical teachers, friends and fellow composers such as Elgar, Parry, Brewer, Stanford and Howells can be heard in these work. Sumsion’s great contribution to British organ music is that he has managed combine influences from these sources into a credible and often moving language of his own.  Daniel Cook has brilliantly and creatively reflected this fusion in his playing. Combined with Volume 1 of Herbert Sumsion’s organ music this set makes a splendid tribute to a fine, but sometimes neglected British composer. 

Track Listing:
Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995)

Prelude and Aria (1940) 

Cradle Song (1954) 

Allegretto (1954) 

Intermezzo (1955) 

Saraband and Interlude (pub.1975)

Carol (Ralph Vaughan Williams) arranged by Sumsion (1934/38) 

Musette (Ralph Vaughan Williams) arranged by Sumsion (1934/38) 

Eventide (Ralph Vaughan Williams) arranged by Sumsion (1936/38) 

Dominus Regit Me (Ralph Vaughan Williams) arranged by Sumsion (1936/38) 

Aria ‘Komm Süsser Tod’ (Johann Sebastian Bach) arranged by Sumsion

Prelude and Angel’s Farewell from ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ (Edward Elgar) arranged by Herbert BREWER (1865-1928) (1900/03) 

Chanson de Matin (Edward Elgar) arranged by Herbert BREWER (1889/1904)

Air, Berceuse and Procession (1960) 

Daniel Cook (organist)

PRIORY PRCD1093 

The Complete Organ Works of Herbert Sumsion -Volume 1

I first came across the music of Herbert Sumsion in the organ loft (actually a pit) at St. Andrew’s Church, Stepps, Glasgow. Someone had left a copy of A Book of Simple Organ Voluntaries published by Oxford University Press originally published in 1949, but then still in print. This album was in the distinctive blue and white cover that graced so much organ music from that publisher in the late ‘sixties/early seventies.  I remember that I could just about play Sumsion’s contribution which was a ‘Pastoral.’  Other pieces in this volume included ‘Le prie-dieu’ by George Oldroyd, an ‘Adagio’ from Henry G. Ley and an ‘Alla Marcia’ by Henry Coleman.  I looked at this music the other day and still reckon I could play it - pedals an’ all.  It was a few years later that I heard some of Sumsion’s liturgical music as I began to visit various Anglican churches and cathedrals.  He is certainly a composer I can do business with.

Currently, there is no biography of Herbert Whitton Sumsion. Any information needs to be pieced together from the relatively few sources that are available in libraries or online.  Even Stanley Webb’s entry in the current Grove runs to only just over 200 words. 

Sumsion was born in Gloucester on 19 January 1899.  As a boy he was a chorister at the Cathedral at the time when Herbert Brewer was the organist there and was musical director of the Gloucester Three Choirs Festivals.  He studied organ with Brewer, completed war service in Flanders and eventually succeeded him to the post in 1928.  For nearly forty years Sumsion was director of the Festival and introduced many new works by composers such as Kodaly, Sibelius, Howells and Finzi.  Sumsion found time between playing, conducting, organising and teaching to compose a sizeable body of choral and organ music. There were a few chamber and orchestral works but these have largely stayed below the musical horizon. Sumsion died in 11 August 1995 at the age of 96.

It would be true to say that there is little that is challenging in the pages of his organ and choral music. Yet, that is to miss the point. I imagine that virtually all the pieces presented on this CD were composed with a congregation in mind rather than the cognoscenti of the organ loft. Where Sumsion truly weaves his magic is in the craftsmanship of his writing and registration and in his personal adaptation of the lingua franca (mixing metaphors) of the English organ music ‘school.’  The influence of Elgar, Parry, Brewer and Stanford can be heard in these pages. Yet Sumsion has managed to fuse these Victorian and Edwardian exemplars with a more contemporary sound as engendered by Howells and other mid-century organ composers. It is a stylistic synthesis that is stunningly and competently reflected in Daniel Cook’s playing.

I do not want to analyse or describe each of the pieces presented on this CD. However, a few highlights will not be amiss.  The proceedings get off to a dramatic and impressive start with the fine Toccata on ‘University’.  It is a little unusual for this ‘form’ in that the hymn tune (attributed to Charles Collignon,) is presented in full in alternation with more ‘traditional’ toccata like figurations derived from ‘melodic fragments’ of the tune. 

Writing in early January, I cannot help but mention the ‘Four Preludes on Well-Known Carols’ written for Christmastide. These are varied in style with a toccata-like treatment of ‘Adestes Fideles’ to a more reflective, but not slow, meditation on the ‘Coventry Carol’.  ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ is restrained rather than boisterous. The set concludes with a Postlude on ‘Unto us is born a Son’ which is a powerful and ‘joyful’ conclusion to these Yuletide celebrations.

Some of the most attractive music on this disc is the three chorale preludes on ‘Dundee’, ‘Liebster Immanuel’ and ‘Down Ampney.’  The second of these is a bit of a surprise. The tempo of this piece fairly romps along: Bach’s ‘take’ is a lot slower. Sumsion varies the metre of the piece between the tune and the interludes.  The ‘Down Ampney’ Prelude is as lovely as one might come to expect from this well-known tune by Vaughan Williams. The liner notes rightly suggest that there is a structural resemblance to RVW’s exquisite ‘Rhosymedre’.

The work that surprised me most is the ‘Introduction and Theme in B minor’. The liner notes point out this work is one of Sumsion’s ‘most substantial pieces in terms of artistic achievement’ as well as being his earliest composition for organ.  What is startling is the sheer competence and confidence that this work exhibits. To be fair, he was not a youngster at the time: he was 37 years old (assuming it was written near to its publication date).  This long, complex work is a major recital piece rather than a ‘mere’ voluntary. Diane Nolan Cooke is correct in wishing that Sumsion had composed more works of this magnitude.

Finally, it was good to hear the ‘Pastoral’ that I had engaged with some 40 years ago.  It was only the second of Sumsion’s pieces to be published and nods rather belatedly to the so-called ‘English Pastoral’ school of composition. It is an attractive little number that is well-crafted: I can see how it must have appealed to a teenager who had just come to appreciate the Lark Ascending.

Daniel Cook was until recently Organist and Master of the Choristers at St David’s Cathedral. He had a significant involvement there with the Cathedral Festival. In September 2013 he was appointed to the post of Sub-organist at Westminster Abbey. He is also currently artistic director of Mousai Singers who have lately released a fine album of British music with a ‘Welsh Connection’.  Cook has recorded a number of CDs for Priory Records, including the complete works (on-going) of Herbert Brewer, Charles Villiers Stanford and a selection or music by Walter Alcock. He recently released an excellent and enjoyable recital on the organ at St Mary’s, Cullercoats in Northumberland.  

It is hard not to be impressed with the acoustical properties of this disc. Like Daniel Cook’s previous disc of music by Stanford it has passed my ‘recorded organ music test.’ I am once again given the impression of sitting in the nave of Salisbury Cathedral.

The excellent CD liner notes have been written Diane Nolan Cooke who is an expert on Herbert Sumsion. She has contributed the composer’s Wikipedia entry and has recently edited the important Volume 12 ‘Sacred Music’ of the Elgar Complete Edition (due for release in 2015, I understand). The present notes are wide-ranging and informative. I look forward to reading more from her pen about Herbert Sumsion.  Included in the booklet is the essential specification of the ‘Father’ Henry Willis organ which was installed in the cathedral in 1877.  In spite of a series of rebuilds, cleans and restorations, this organ is reputed to sound exactly as it did the day it was built.  John Stainer believed that this was ‘even finer than the organ Father Willis had designed for St Paul’s in 1872.  The organ builder himself considered that it was his finest creation.

As I noted above, Herbert Sumsion’s music is not challenging. All of it is immediately approachable. The listener will soon realise that here is a composer who is steeped in the Anglican Cathedral Tradition, has a deep sympathy with the liturgy and ceremonial of the church and has made a significant contribution to music that reflects the beauty, the dignity and the holiness of worship. I look forward to reviewing the next volume of Daniel Cook stunningly executed survey of Sumsion’s music in the near future.

Track Listing:

Herbert SUMSION (1899-1995)

Toccata on ‘University’ (1987), Variations on a Folk Tune (pub.1989), Quiet Postlude (1957), Four Preludes on Well-Known Carols (1955): Prelude on 'Adeste Fideles',  Prelude on 'The Coventry Carol', Prelude on 'The Holly and the Ivy', Prelude on 'Unto Us is Born a Son', Canzona for Organ (1957), Elegy (1955), Ceremonial March (posth. 1998), Prelude (1977), Chorale Prelude on 'Dundee' (1977). Pastoral (1949), Chorale Prelude 'Liebster Immanuel' (1977), Chorale Prelude on ' Down Ampney’ (posth. 2000), Introduction and Theme (1936)

Daniel Cook (organist)

PRIORY PRCD1075 

Herbert Sumsion: A Mountain Tune

Herbert Sumsion is most often associated with the organ loft at Gloucester Cathedral than with secular instrumental music. He held the post of organist there from 1928 to 1967 and was heavily involved in the Three Choirs Festivals over that period. His choral and organ music is widely known amongst those who “sing in quires and places.” Of course the cognoscenti will know that he wrote a number of chamber works including two Piano Trios and a String Quartet. Yet a look at his catalogue shews a small but select group of orchestral works. These include an Idyll, At Valley Green for orchestra, Lerryn, for orchestra, an Overture, In the Cotswolds, for full orchestra and the present piece.

A Mountain Tune was originally composed for cello and piano in 1940 and was dedicated ‘To Alice’. Philip Lane writes that this dedication gives “some clue to their original inspiration some 14 years earlier when he and his bride spent a ‘composing’ honeymoon in the White Mountains in New Hampshire.”

In many ways this piece epitomises the English Pastoral tradition. Of course there are echoes of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Edward Elgar and Fred. Delius. However, there is an originality which denies any suggestion that somehow this work is pastiche or parody. The simplicity of the main theme perhaps belies the complexity of this string writing.

Kenneth Avery in Music & Letters (July 1947) writes that “this is a peaceful little work.” He notes that it is “of simple construction; its tunes are very charming, and the harmony is smooth and appropriate, being rather reminiscent of John Ireland at times.” He concludes his short notice by suggesting that “there should be no hesitation about including it in programmes, as both professional and amateur orchestras will find it congenial – to say nothing of the audiences.”

In spite of the fact that dedication alludes to a New England stimulus for this piece, it would seem that something more local is the true inspiration. Perhaps the title would be better called A Hill Tune rather than A Mountain Tune – but that had already been used by Arnold Bax. I would plump for Chosen Hill as a suitable candidate.

A Mountain Tune is available on ASV CD WHL 2121