Classical Works:
The Lord Is My Shepherd, for treble soloists, chorus & organ, Op. 91/1
- Date: 1975
- Main Performer: Sir Lennox Berkeley
- Genre: Choral
- Period: Modern (1870-)
Review
Anthems such as The Lord Is My Shepherd, Op. 91/1, form an idiosyncratic part of composer Sir Lennox Berkeley's output. Though English by birth, he was more temperamentally inclined toward a French musical style, as his study with Boulanger and close friendships with Poulenc and Ravel testify, and away from the consciously nationalistic English musical renaissance of the early and middle twentieth century. Furthermore, as a Roman Catholic, Berkeley did not often venture into the predominantly Anglican genre of the choral anthem. Finally, his musical language and compositional techniques expanded to include serialism and other atonal practices as he grew older; of these there is no trace in this work.Yet for the 900th anniversary of Chichester Cathedral in 1975, Berkeley, now in his early seventies, produced a haunting setting of Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd," for treble solo, SATB chorus, and organ. Commissioned by and dedicated to the Cathedral's dean, Walter Hussey, The Lord Is My Shepherd, for all its peculiarities, does mark its composer's penchant for the neo-Classic style.
The anthem begins with a quiet introduction from the organ, after which the treble solo enters with a suavely even melody; against this the organ accompaniment undulates softly but with occasional chromatic alteration. The second and third phrases extend the range of the melody and elongate the lengths of the notes, after which the fourth phrase is a modified return of the first. Such balanced structural considerations are often evident in Berkeley's music.
As the treble concludes, the other voices enter; the vocal phrases of this section begin in a melismatic counterpoint that resolves to homophony, and finally unison. After an organ interlude, the original treble melody returns, now harmonized for all four voices. In the following coda, a sudden modulation colors the treble soloist's repeat of the original phrase, but whereas before the resolution of the line led to a new key and the second section, this time it returns the piece to its home key, in which it concludes with soft organ commentary. ~ All Music Guide
