ORATORIO FOR LENT

New Zealand Listener, Volume 14, Issue 355, 12 April 1946, Page 16

ORATORIO FOR LENT

for Lent composed by Martin Shaw, was published in Britain last year, and was _ broadcast during Lent by the BBC. The Wesley Church Choir, Wellington, which is conducted by H. Temple White, is performing the work in Wellington shortly, and on Sunday afternoon, April 14, Part II. of its three parts is to be broadcast by the choir from 2YA, in the session "In Quires and Places Where They bs HE REDEEMER," an oratorio

Sing." It will start at 2.40 p.m. instead of 2.45 p.m. (the.usual time for the session of this name). In his own words (from his autobiography, Up to Now), Martin Shaw was born "in London in the year 1875, being, I believe that rare thing amongst composers, a Cockney. I don’t think I can call to mind a brother-composer in like case." This presumably means that his

brother, the equally well-known composer, Geoffrey Shaw, was born in another part of the country. At all events, his father and mother were both musicians, his father being a Yorkshireman who began his musical career as a choirboy in Leeds Parish Church under S. S. Wesley. In the early years of this Century Martin Shaw did much towards the revival of English music. Like Vaughan Williams and Holst, he made a special study of English folk-song and early church music, both of which have influenced his style as a composer. But apart from his own creative contributions in the form of choral works and solo songs, his influence has been most deeply felt in his work to establish a pure and artistic style of church music. In 1935, he became Director of Church Music for the Diocese of Chelmsford. "Practical and Devotional" When "The Redeemer" was broadcast in its entirety (it takes 50 minutes) by the BBC last year, Ralph Hill wrote of it in the Radio Times, saying that it exhibited Martin Shaw’s "clear and expressive melodic invention and smooth part-writing."’ The work wag later named a masterpiece by W. R. Anderson in the Musical Times: "both practical. and devotional . . .. the music itself is inspired, showing not only pure craftsmanship, but a deep understanding spirituality. and a depth of thought that is rare in these days." The work has three parts, "The Conflict of Good and Evil," "The Agony and the Betrayal" and "The Crucifixion." The words were selected and compiled by Joan Cobbold, from the Scriptures, and from poems by Queen Elizabeth, Synesius, Bishop of Ptolemais, George Herbert, Francis Quarles, F. W. Faber, Christina Rossetti, Bishop Coxe, Cardinal Newman, and an unknown 15th Century poet.