Ireland: Church Music

Featuring

Aric Prentice
Charles Harrison
Lincoln Cathedral Choir
John Ireland

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Composer Biography

John Ireland, an Anglo-Catholic, felt most spiritually at home in the liturgy of 'High Church' Anglicanism, which offered many musical opportunities.

Composition History

John Ireland's Te Deum in F, dating from 1907, was dedicated to Martin Shaw and its structure was influenced by Stanford's Te Deum in B flat Op. 10.

Composition History

The anthem "Greater love hath no man" was commissioned in 1912 for Charles Macpherson, the sub-organist of St Paul's Cathedral.

Composer Biography

As a first-study organist at the Royal College of Music, John Ireland began undertaking services at London churches for small fees.

Cultural Impact

During the First World War, with mounting casualties, the anthem "Greater love hath no man" became particularly affecting at memorial services.

Instruments

Lincoln Cathedral's organ, completed in 1898, was the last large instrument personally supervised and finished by 'Father' Henry Willis, and it survives with only minor alterations.

Composition History

The hymn tune "Sampford" was commissioned by Sir Sydney Nicholson for the revised version of Hymns Ancient & Modern and named after the village where Ireland stayed during WWII.