British Choral Music at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries: the Phenomenon of the English Musical Renaissance

Abstract

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of the English musical renaissance, little studied in Russian musicology — a movement under which presently the formation of the British national compositional school of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is comprehended. The author turns to the musical heritage of the leading composers of that period — Alexander MacKenzie, Hubert Parry, Charles Stanford and Sir Edward Elgar — with the aim of demonstrating the sources of the English musical renaissance and determining, what significance was exerted by the choral heritage by its main representatives on the subsequent evolution of choral music in Great Britain. Among the chief factors which influenced the English musical renaissance, the following are highlighted: the development of the choral festival movement, the establishment of the Royal College of Music, the directedness of the British professional education on the formation of the national school of composition, as well as Parry’s and Stanford’s active work in musical criticism and research. The peculiarities of the choral writing of each of the aforementioned composers are analyzed on the example of the most well-known works in the genres of the cantata and the oratorio. The author brings to light the general tendencies in the organization of the choral texture and timbre and the unique techniques the discovery of which is capable of making adjustments to the existent perceptions about the evolution of the choral music of the early 20th century. In particular, study of Elgar’s choral works makes it possible to confirm the composer’s interest in the textural and timbral techniques typical for the composers of the first and the second avant-garde in Europe, such as diagonal texture and non-standard unisons. The author’s conclusions make it possible to form a perception of the works by the composers of the “first renaissance trio” (Parry, Stanford, MacKenzie) and their younger contemporary Elgar as the greatest impulse of the formation of 20th century British choral music, which in the second half of the century became among the most on demand in world performance.

Keywords: English musical renaissance, choral music of Great Britain, Hubert Parry, Charles Stanford, Alexander MacKenzie, Edward Elgar, choral textures, vocal timbral writing