“This is the fourth Regent CD to feature music by David Bednall (b1979), one of Britain’s leading choral composers. The first disc, ‘Hail, Gladdening Light’ (5/07), was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice, and I feel that this new release – featuring an entirely Marian-themed programme – will also prove to be a decisive milestone in his compositional development. The centrepiece is a new setting of the Stabat mater, first heard in New York last year, which received its UK premiere in June with the artists featured here.
Nearly an hour in duration, the 13th-century sequence is cast in 11 movements, including an important prelude for violin and organ, which identifies several leading motifs. The violin takes a central role: Bednall associates it directly with Mary’s sorrow. The work’s idiom is immediate and easily digested. Although Bednall specifically refers to Howells’s influence in his excellent booklet-note, it is very subtly assimilated and is more obvious in the organ accompaniment, with its scrunchy meanderings over long pedal notes. There is also a strong French flavour (for example in the exquisite ‘Eia mater’) and the violin’s sense of rhapsodic lament – played with passionate intensity by the superb Jennifer Pike – points more to Hebraic chant. The young choristers clearly relish the vividness of Bednall’s word-painting. This significant addition will surely be taken up by many of our other crack upper-voice choirs.
Congratulations to the parents of Benenden School’s Chapel Choir, who provided funds towards the commission and to Edward Whiting for producing such a polished, vibrant and unforced tonal blend. With the composer at Tonbridge School Chapel’s Marcussen, this can be said to be an authoritative account.
Both the Marian Suite for violin and organ and the serene Ave Maria were composed especially for this recording. The former is a deftly contrasted triptych and will make a useful addition to the limited violin-and-organ repertory. Strongly recommended.”
Malcolm Riley, Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Magazine Awards Edition, September 2016
“David Bednall’s new Stabat Mater is written for the relatively unusual combination of upper voiced choir, violin and organ. On this disc from Regent Records the work gets its first recording by the group which commissioned it, Edward Whiting and Benenden Chapel Choir, and they are joined by David https://davidbednall.com/reviews.html 1/8 28/08/2025, 19:44 David Bednall – Composer, Organist and Pianist Bednall, organ, and Jennifer Pike, violin. David Bednall and Jennifer Pike also perform Bednall’s Marian Suite and all performers come together for his Ave Maria.
The Stabat Mater is substantial, nearly an hour long. It is the second major work which Bednall has written for Edward Whiting and his choir, Bednall’s Requiem was written for them in 2008. In his article in the CD booklet, David Bednall cites Herbert Howells’ Stabat Mater as one of his influences (along with the settings by Palestrina, Pergolesi and Szymanowski). The music of Ernst Bloch and James MacMillan was also an influence, and MacMillan’s own Stabat Mater will be premiered by The Sixteen this autumn.
After a lyrically intense prelude for violin and organ, where the influence of Bloch can really be felt, it is the music of Herbert Howells which really springs to mind. Bednall uses Howells familiar texture of richly harmonised organ part with a choir singing a line which is starts from a unison melody. Here Bednall’s lyrical vocal writing also reminds me of Durufle in works like the Messe cum jubilo where the vocal line is super-charged plainchant. Bednall’s vocal writing seems here to constantly have the idea of plainchant running behind it.
Jennifer Pike’s violin is used sometimes as obbligato, to comment and punctuate, and sometimes to provide interludes. There is a highly relaxed, spacious feel to the structure of the piece. David Bednall certainly does not give the impression of being pressured by the sheer length of the poem (20 verses in all) and there are many incidental felicities for solo organ, or organ and violin. Though Bednall has conceptually grouped the verses into sections the piece plays virtually continuously, though it has been helpfully divided into 11 tracks.
The choir numbers 28 girls aged between 13 and 18 and, directed by Edward Whiting, they sing with an admirably firm and flexible tone, bringing a lovely suppleness to Bednall’s long chant-inspired vocal lines. Jennifer Pike’s violin playing has the same lyrical intensity, though I did think she was placed too far forward in the aural mix. And of course Bednall brings the sense of the composer a ideal interpreter on the organ.
David Bednall’s Marian Suite for violin and organ was written for the recording and feels like an extension of the Stabat Mater. The disc concludes with the lovely Ave Maria for choir, violin and organ, written specially for the recording and given a glowing warm performance.
This not the most gut-wrenching of music, instead Bednall brings a lyrical intensity to the setting, given a poised performance by the choir and supported by some luxuriant harmonies in the organ. If Herbert Howells later liturgical music or the music of Durufle appeals to you then you should have no hesitation at listening to this disc.”
www.planethugill.com, September 2016
“Despite David Bednall’s acknowledged debt to past composers who have made settings of the Stabat Mater, it is clear that Herbert Howells’s version is the one to which he feels closest. This is not to suggest that Bednall is backward–looking in his outlook – to be sure, he is firmly embedded in the Anglican choral tradition – but, despite his adherence to a musical language rooted in tonality, he manages to offer fresh perspectives without always losing some Howellsian harmony. His Stabat Mater is an engrossing and substantial composition (it plays for almost an hour), conceived for the modest forces of girls’ upper voices, organ and violin (often representing Mary’s sorrow) from which Bednall extracts maximum emotional and dramatic effect. His 12–minute Marian Suite (conceived for Pike) and brief Ave Maria obviously complement the theme of the Stabat Mater. Regent’s open–spaced recording enhances the excellent Kent–based Benenden Chapel Choir, whose contribution is to be loudly applauded. They offer consistently natural, clear–voiced singing that brings credit to themselves and their director Edward Whiting. Bednall’s own organ playing adds further authority to a welcome release.”
Philip Reed, Choir and Organ, September/October 2016
“For a choral work just premièred in 2015, David Bednall’s setting of the Stabat Mater certainly seems to reach back through many centuries for its inspiration, conception and character. The text dates back to the 13th century and is full of powerfully dramatic and passionate meaning and imagery. Bednall sets the tone immediately with an emotionally charged Prelude, scored only for violin and organ. But don’t let that fool you. It’s impact is profound enough to leave scars and haunt your soul. Violinist Jennifer Pike plays a crucial role in its effect, with a reading that is passionate, emotive and highly evocative. Add the fact that recording engineer Gary Cole achieves perfect balance between the violin and the pipe organ, even when it is going full stops, and the sound alone is enough to grab your full attention. And when the 30 girls voices of the Benenden Chapel Choir make their entrance during the Stabat mater dolorosa that follows, is when you feel the power of the writing pull you back over many centuries, and evoke ancient times and the hallowed sanctity of it all. The music is at times simply beautiful (Eia, Mater, fons amoris), can transcend time (Fac me tecum), or can touch the sublime in its final movement (Christe, cum sit hinc exire). The combination of girls choir, violin and pipe organ is unusual, but does it ever work. The music itself is infused with an innate gentleness that unites this combination into one, while still being fuelled by an underlying powerful force. Those of you who may believe that today’s music has lost its way, need only listen to this recording to realize that some composers, like David Bednall, are still journeying down the main highway.”
Jean-Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel, August 2016
“David Bednall’s Stabat mater is in eleven parts. The solo violin of Jennifer Pike opens the ‘Prelude’ with a long theme that evokes the feel of anguish, bringing a rather Jewish inflection. The organ joins with gentle chords before the violin rises through some passionate passages. Soon the organ introduces a more resolute theme which the violin takes ahead over the organ, rising to a peak for both instruments in an impressive moment before the violinist finds a penetrating hush over the organ to lead into the next section.
The organ moves quietly and gently into the ‘Stabat mater dolorosa’ with a remote, isolated quality. The Benenden Chapel Choir enter with the words ‘Stabat mater dolorosa juxta crucem lacrimosa’ (The grieving mother stood beside the cross) never disturbing the atmosphere of mournful isolation. These fine young female voices are excellent, so appropriate to this theme of a mother’s suffering. The organ suddenly rises up dramatically to lead the voices ahead in a passionate section. The music moves through moments that bring a real tension, the organ and choir weaving lovely sonorities yet with an underlying strength before leading to the coda over soft pulsating organ phrases.
With ‘O quam tristis’ the organ brings a gentle theme over which the violin adds an exquisite line. The choir join in a gentle, sad ‘O quam tristis et afflicta’ (O how sad and afflicted) with the violin weaving a lovely line over the organ. The violin adds some sudden shimmering chords before the music rises up for choir, organ and violin. The violin leads forward over the organ with choir joining in a quite lovely conclusion.
The organ brings an anxious opening to ‘Quis est homo’ to which the choir joins, bringing a sense of gently urgency. Later the violin joins to bring richer phrases, adding to the tension, rising to a fine climax before falling as the violin plays a mournful melody over the organ as we are led into ‘Vidit suum dulcem’ where the violin holds a hushed note as the choir sing a quiet and gentle ‘Vidit suum dulcem Natum’ (She saw her sweet Son).
The mood lightens as the organ introduces ‘Eia, Mater, fons amoris’ the choir soon enters, bringing a lovely flow, finely phrased. The violin adds occasionally wistful moments before the solo voice of Olivia Wollaston appears, bringing a lovely purity. The choir continues, rising to a peak before some quite lovely choral singing finds the coda.
The organ introduces ‘Sancta Mater’ with a sense of gravitas and drama, rising slowly and speeding to a dramatic passage where the choir enters, full of strength and drama with ‘Sancta Mater, istud agas, crucifixi fige plagas cordi meo valide’ (Holy Mother, grant that the wounds of the Crucified drive deep into my heart) through a section that is in the finest tradition of English choral writing, moving through moments of intense passion and drama before falling as the organ plods to a conclusion.
In ‘Fac me tecum’ Jennifer Pike’s violin enters alone with a slow, rather mournful theme that is developed through some lovely passages. The organ joins, quickly joined by the choir who bring ‘Fac me tecum pie flere’ (Let me sincerely weep with you) over a held organ note. The violin returns to weave its sad tune over the organ line before the choir continues over a deep organ chord. The choir and organ find some lovely choral harmonies, expertly sung by this fine choir before the violin is heard over a stronger organ line, leading to the end.
The choir alone bring ‘Virgo virginum’, finding a lovely pace, wonderfully phrased, developing some very fine part writing to which this choir brings a lovely clarity before a finely controlled conclusion.
The organ leaps in with a tremendously energetic and dramatic opening to ‘Fac me plagis vulnerari’. The choir enters on the words ‘Fac me plagis vulnerari’ (Let me be wounded) providing a fine rise and fall. The organ continues to bring moments of drama and tension, wonderfully played by the composer. Soon the solo violin joins immediately followed by the choir as all three develop the tension, rising to a peak. There are many moments of drama in this fast moving sequence before suddenly reducing to a slow mournful solo violin, a moment of stunning contrast. The solo voice of Flo Rivington enters to which the choir joins, then violin. In a most affecting moment a hushed single violin note leads to a hushed organ passage. Bednall, as both composer and organist finds such poetry and feeling here before leading to the conclusion and into the final section.
The organ quietly continues with a gentle pulse to go into ‘Christe, cum sit hinc exire’ with the choir gently entering in a quite lovely ‘Christe, cum sit hinc exire da per Matrem me venire ad palman victoriae’ (Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, may I through your attain the palm of victory). The violin brings a rich sonorous, melancholy line to lead ahead over the organ. The choir re-joins, rising a little before an extended Amen leads with violin and organ to the lovely gentle coda.
All in all this is a remarkably fine work full of poetry, passion and deep feeling. It is most wonderfully sung by the Benenden Chapel Choir under their director Edward Whiting with very fine playing indeed from both Jennifer Pike and David Bednall.
The Marian Suite for violin and organ was written for the soloist here, Jennifer Pike who is joined by David Bednall (organ). The first and last movements are paraphrases on the Gregorian chants Ave Maria and Ave maris stella. The organ brings a gentle opening to ‘Ave Maria’ over which the solo violin lays a gently flowing melody, bringing a rather contemplative quality. It later increases in passion before the organ and violin find an exquisitely gentle end. The organ introduces a lovely ‘Mary’s Lullaby’ with the violin soon joining to add a timeless, very English sounding melody with a lovely, subtle rocking pulse. The music moves through stronger, richer moments before finding a lovely hushed coda. In ‘Ave maris stella’ the solo violin finds a more dynamic, faster moving theme with the organ bringing some lovely passages as this section all but dances ahead, full of vigour. There is some excellent playing from Jennifer Pike and David Bednall as we are taken through some impressive passages. Towards the end there is a terrific organ passage, before the violin and organ find a vibrant coda.
Ave Maria was composed for the Benenden Chapel Choir for this recording. The organ opens gently, soon joined by the violin to weave a lovely melody. The choir joins in this rather lovely setting, in many ways an encapsulation of Bednall’s choral style and a lovely way to conclude this fine disc.
There is music of strength, beauty and passion here showing that the English choral tradition is alive and well, yet with such originality.
The choir and soloists are beautifully recorded in the fine acoustic of the Chapel of St. Augustine, Tonbridge School, UK. There are excellent booklet notes from the composer as well as full Latin texts and English translations. The booklet is nicely illustrated.”
Bruce Reader, The Classical Reviewer
