Map of Ferrara c1600
Ecce… Peter Philips!
VOICES
Tutor: Peter Syrus
Location: Didsbury Baptist Church, Manchester
Reviewer: Jill Mitchell
Ecce, Peter! Peter Syrus presents Peter Philips!
Somewhat preoccupied by a recent bereavement, I might easily not have gone to Didsbury on June 16th. Mercifully I did: it was a great day. Thirty singers came from all over the North-West and beyond and, once fledged, produced a warm, well-balanced sound. In the course of an action-packed day we explored nine pieces, seven by Peter Philips and two others for purposes of comparison.
In his early twenties, Philips left England for good (‘pour la foy Catholique’), working first in Rome, then travelling around Europe for five years, serving a Catholic patron before settling in the Spanish Netherlands in prestigious employments, in Antwerp and, latterly, in Brussels. He was described by a contemporary as ‘now one of the greatest masters in Europe. He has sent us over many excellent songs, as well as motets and madrigals.’ His output for keyboard, for organ and for voices was formidable.
In an ideal world, I should hear every word Peter utters; as it is, of the coruscating waterfall of his delivery I am frustrated by missing a great deal. I know that my octogenarian ears (and macula-degenerating eyes, I might add) are not at their sharpest but I am not alone in finding difficulty. Our tutor is such an enthusiast, such an excellent scholar and practitioner that one strains to catch every illuminating observation; ‘miserere nostri’ one cries internally, ‘Lente, lente!’
After limbering up with the Simple-tone Alma Redemptoris and the more elaborate ‘Solemn’ version, we moved on to the Philips’ 5-voiced polyphony. In retrospect I wonder where the first sopranos’ problem lay but at this point we were tinny, tentative and rhythmically wild until Anna (as charmingly capable in her singing as in her ministration of refreshments) joined us, stiffening our collective sinews, stopping the rot. Thereafter we flew, with occasional arguments between D and Db! The Alma is thoughtful and lyrical in its initial invocation but at the nub of the sentence – the imperatives succurre and surgere – it mutates into momentary, urgent triple-measure. Then I loved the way the composer insouciantly tosses from part to part that most delicious of Ablative Absolutes, natura mirante (“all nature agog”, at the wonder of the Incarnation) before the calmer, more reflective coda ‘Virgo prius . .’.
My knowledge of Peter Philips had hitherto been slight: I think I’d only ever sung Ascendit Deus. But what struck me about this programme was his prevailing confidence: he writes with flair and authority, whether setting a lush passage from The Song of Songs – as in Ecce, Tu Pulchra es, which we tried next, or in the more directly sacred texts or Marian antiphons. Media Vita was a fittingly solemn and expansive 5-part setting of this sobering ‘memento mori’; it has great presence and a most telling use of accidentals to highlight the urgency of the plea for forgiveness.
It was interesting to compare Philips’ setting of the classic Eucharistic meditation Ave Verum with that of Richard Dering, a next-generation Catholic convert, for the two are often associated in people’s minds: each is for five voices but whereas Philips has two Cantus lines Dering has two Tenors.
The 8-part Ecce Vicit Leo begins with explosive éclat and proceeds to trumpet the attributes of the Lamb ‘worthy to be slain’, climaxing in a triumphant blaze of Alleluias. In tandem with this we had looked at Ruggiero’s Jubilate Deo, a similarly extrovert and celebratory piece for double choir, by which Philips may well have been influenced.
The remaining pieces were two settings – one for five voices, one for double choir – of Salve Regina, that much-loved text which has inspired innumerable composers across the centuries. There are three clear stages here: the five titled address to the Virgin; the description of our needful human state; and the urgent plea for her advocacy. Peter pointed out what a lovely winding-down, a sweet casting-off of voices, Philips contrives at the last description of her as ‘spes nostra’, our hope. Then comes the body of the prayer and there is a wistfulness (of the Catholic exile?) in the reiterated ‘exsules filii Hevae’. The piece gradually builds up the voices as they implore the Mother-Advocate to action on our behalf. There are gorgeous cadences here, telling introductions of A natural and D flat to be relished! The glorious 8-part realisation makes full use of the dialogue opportunity, one choir reinforcing, embellishing the other’s utterance with exhilarating and dramatic effect.
It had been a joy to sing this beautiful, wonderfully accomplished music and we are as indebted to Peter as ever for his thoroughness in the provision of splendid handout material, his infectious delight, and not least for the delectable cake he provided for tea – the “icing”, indeed, on a superlative workshop. My synapses buzzed for hours afterwards!
Jill Mitchell
First published in September 2018 Newsletter
