How beautiful upon the mountains – Sir John Stainer (Choir and Organ Tutorial)

Ralph Allwood explains in his introduction to this tutorial that his grandmother used to sing Stainer’s Crucifixion every night of Holy Week, so popular was it at the time. Stainer’s well-judged Victorian harmonies and talent for tugging at the heart strings give rise to a surprising musical beauty and crowd-pleasing effect. Stainer lived from 1840–1901 and was knighted in 1888 by Queen Victoria for his services to church music. He started out early as an organist, holding playing positions while still a youth. He went on to become organist at Magdalen College, Oxford, and from there to St Paul’s Cathedral, succeeding John Goss. The piece in question here is Stainer’s anthem “How beautiful upon the mountains”, based on a text from Isaiah 52:7, and first published around 1880. The words are these: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! The voice parts enter in stages, one by one, building up the layers of the musical texture beautifully. The highest harmonic tension is reserved for the last line of the text, and the work ends very quietly on the repeated words “that publisheth peace”. Ralph comments about Stainer’s tempo marking (the quaintly Victorian Andante religioso) wondering what is meant by the second word — does it mean “slow”, he asks? Not in his book — surely it should be joyful! It’s like adding espressivo, he suggests. “Don’t we always sing espressivo?” So he proposes that the choir crosses out religioso and just sings the piece Andante. This is a piece that might speak liturgically of the Advent season, announcing the coming of Christ, but could be suitable as a short anthem for almost any time of year. Find out more about this tutorial here: https://viscountorgans.net/how-beauti... About the Choir & Organ tutorial series: This choir and organ tutorial series emphasises the partnership between director and organist, showing how the roles complement each other when creating excellent church music. The organist for this series is Jonathan Eyre, and the series is illustrated with a number of classic examples from the repertoire. The works include the mass movements, Gloria and Sanctus, classic anthems such as Elgar’s monumental “Give unto the Lord”, and a section from Fauré’s Requiem. Each episode brings out a different aspect of choral performance and organ accompaniment, in most cases including a detailed rehearsal during which Ralph Allwood leads the choir through to a full rendition. There is a well-established production team for these tutorial sessions, and it was a pleasure once again to bring it together for a recording session at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich on a bright day in January. James Atkinson, with his assistant Andy Heathcote, was responsible for the excellent camera work, this time employing a full six cameras to capture every detail of the action from a variety of angles. Adrian Lucas masterminded the sound recording, while Francis Rumsey acted as session director. The organ used during these recordings is a Viscount Regent 356, a physical modelling digital instrument, which was installed in the chapel a few years ago to stand in for its ailing but historically significant pipe organ. The location of the console near to the choir at the front of the chapel makes for relatively easy interaction between conductor and organist. Find out more about the choir and organ tutorial series here: https://viscountorgans.net/choir-and-...