AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER CHOIR DOUGLAS LAWRENCE (Music Director) GORDON ATKINSON (Organ)

Transcription

1 AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER CHOIR DOUGLAS LAWRENCE (Music Director) GORDON ATKINSON (Organ) St Mary s Star of the Sea, West Melbourne Saturday 22 November 2008 at 8 p.m. * * * * * 1. A Hymn for St Cecilia Howells HERBERT HOWELLS : Born 17 October 1892, Lydney, Gloucestershire; died 23 February 1983, London. Herbert Howells is known now mainly as a composer of church and organ music: anthems, motets and settings of the canticles, many of them composed for specific English cathedrals. For a time he was Sub-Organist at Salisbury Cathedral, and during World War II he was temporary organist at St John s College, Cambridge. He first started composing in about 1910 and was still active nearly 70 years later, in his 80s, and some of the late unaccompanied motets are among his finest works. A considerable quantity of secular music, both instrumental and vocal, is rarely encountered in Australia but has become increasingly available via recordings on Chandos, Hyperion and other labels. Cecilia, the patron saint of music and musicians even though her connection with music is obscure, was a Christian martyr reportedly killed in Sicily in about 176. The tradition of celebrating her feast day on 22 November with music possibly began in France and has surfaced in other countries, with its richest expression starting in England in Many composers, including Purcell (Odes Welcome to all pleasures and Hail, bright Cecilia), Handel (Alexander s Feast and Ode for St Cecilia s Day) and Britten (Hymn to St Cecilia), using texts by a variety of poets, have contributed to the celebrations. In 1959 Howells was installed as Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians for the coming year, and A Hymn for St Cecilia was the result. A poem by Ursula Vaughan Williams ( ), a writer and the second wife of the famous British composer ( ), was set as a three-verse hymn which leaves an impression of being a piece much bigger than its constituent parts. The poem beautifully captures the spirit of the Cecilia story. It speaks of the singing (especially how music connects to a celestial joy ), the springtime of youth, and the marriage of heart and dreams. But it also speaks of a martyr s death and the fear that precedes it. The overriding theme is how music lifts us up above both life s joys and life s despair. Ultimately, music has the power to connect us to the eternal. (Bob Bailey) Sing for the morning s joy, Cecilia, sing, in words of youth and phrases of the Spring, walk the bright colonnades by fountains spray, and sing as sunlight fills the waking day; till angels, voyaging in upper air, pause on a wing and gather the clear sound into celestial joy, wound and unwound, a silver chain, or golden as your hair. Sing for your loves of heaven and of earth, in words of music, and each word a truth; marriage of heart and longings that aspire, a bond of roses, and a ring of fire. Your summertime grows short and fades away, terror must gather to a martyr s death; but never tremble, the last indrawn breath remembers music as an echo may. Through the cold aftermath of centuries, Cecilia s music dances in the skies; lend us a fragment of the immortal air, that with your choiring angels we may share, a word to light us thro time-fettered night, water of life, or rose of paradise, so from the earth another song shall rise to meet your own in heaven s long delight. 2. Soliloquy No 2 Atkinson GORDON ATKINSON : Born 6 November 1928, Melbourne; now living there. Although he was born in Melbourne and returned there in 2005, Gordon Atkinson spent much of his life in England and North America. Following study in Melbourne with A.E.H. Nickson, he attended the Royal College of Music in London from 1950 to 1953, where Harold Darke and William Lloyd Webber were among his teachers. He moved to Canada in 1958, and his various activities there included

2 teaching at the University of Western Ontario and Brock University, serving as National President of the Royal Canadian College of Organists ( ), and being Director of Music at St Catherine's Cathedral in St Catharines, Ontario ( ). In 1978 he was a Consultant for the Catholic Book of Worship II, the hymn and mass book for Canadian English-speaking Catholics. Several of his responses and psalm tones are included. Following completion of a Master's degree at the University of Michigan, where his organ teacher was Marilyn Mason, he held appointments in Florida and Virginia until his permanent return to Melbourne. He has performed numerous recitals in Australia, Denmark, England and North America, including several in Melbourne and Sydney since his return. He has composed a number of organ works as well as vocal works ranging from anthems for various combinations of voices and a set of songs for soprano and oboe to Immensity One - with sounds of exultation (1995) for choir, organ, brass quintet and timpani. Soliloquy No 2 was written for inclusion in Te Deum Laudamus (2004), a collection of organ works by Canadian composers and published by the Royal Canadian College of Organists in memory of Gerald Bales ( ), a Canadian composer and organist and past President of the RCCO. The melody (played on a warm 8 flute) provides a filigree to the underlying harmony. The accompaniment of the melody consists mainly of dominant 7ths which do not resolve in the normal way. The work was first performed, along with the other nine pieces in the collection, in September 2004 in Toronto by the Melbourne-born Canadian organist Barrie Cabena. In Australia it has been played in Melbourne at least once (by Christopher Trikilis last May) and in Sydney (by the composer yesterday). 3. (a) Mass for Five Voices Byrd (b) In Nomine (Gloria Tibi Trinitas) Byrd WILLIAM BYRD : Born 1543, London; died 4 July 1623, Stondon Massey, Essex. SOLOISTS : Lenore Stephens, Amelia Ballard, Timothy Reynolds, Brian Johnson, Nicolas Dinopoulos William Byrd was England's foremost composer during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. From 1563 to 1572 he served as organist and choirmaster of Lincoln Cathedral, for which much of his church music with English texts was composed. He moved to London and contributed significantly to most musical genres of his day. He was appointed (in 1572) joint organist of the Chapel Royal with Tallis, with whom he shared the exclusive right (granted in 1575 by Queen Elizabeth) to print music. In later years he became increasingly involved with Latin church music for the Roman rite, and after 1591 he turned to the patronage and protection of the Catholic nobility. Three settings of the Ordinary of the mass were published between 1593 and 1595, one each for three, four and five voices, while music for the Proper of the mass was composed over a period of some twenty years. These masses stand at a turning point in Byrd s career, and he must have placed great importance on them as publication took place when anti-catholic feeling was high. Intended for clandestine services, the masses were published without a title page. Yet the composer s name appeared at the top of every page! The Mass for Five Voices demonstrates Byrd s mature style at its most refined. Unlike its continental counterparts or its English predecessors, it was freely composed without reference either to plainchant or to any polyphonic model, its development being determined solely by the words. The setting is considered by some to be the most gratifying of the three. Certainly the voicing provides a sonorous grandeur and the architecture is never more assured. Of greater interest though is the setting of the Latin texts. Whatever Byrd had learned about setting English for comprehensibility as a result of Henry s edicts, he transferred in spades to these Masses. Words overlap in a torrent of persistent and emotionally-charged counterpoint, yet, they are never obscured lest the central message of worship be lost. As a measure of his victory over this lifelong adversity, each section ends with an unmistakable sense of triumph, nowhere bolder than in the section from Et resurrexit to the conclusion of the Credo. One of the few moments of unison declamation, and a particularly poignant one, occurs here at in one holy Catholic church.... Byrd unifies the chorus in a gesture that is madrigalian on the surface but with much deeper political animus. (Peter Rutenberg) 2

3 Kyrie Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison. Gloria Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus pater omnipotens. Domine fili unigenite Jesu Christe. Domine Deus, agnus Dei, filius patris. Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram patris, miserere nobis. Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei patris. Amen. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we worship you, we glorify you. We give thanks to you for your great glory. O Lord God, Heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten Son Jesus Christ. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. You who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. You who take away the sins of the world, hear our prayer. You who sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone are holy, you alone are Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen. Byrd s keyboard music (127 works occupying 7 CDs in the acclaimed Hyperion recording) includes fancies, variations on popular melodies, pavans and galliards, and sundry other pieces. Tonight a short organ piece is played between the Gloria and the Credo of the Mass. Credo Credo in unum Deum, patrem omnipotentem, factorem I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, filium Dei and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son unigenitum, et ex patre natum ante omnia saecula. of God, born of the Father before all worlds. God from Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, vero, genitum non factum, consubstantialem patri, not made, of one substance with the Father, by whom all per quem omnia facta sunt, qui propter nos homines all things were made; who for us men and for our et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis. Et salvation descended from heaven and became flesh of the incarnatus est de Spiritu sancto ex Maria Virgine, et Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis, sub Pontio Pilato passus He was crucified for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate and et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die secundum was buried. And he rose again on the third day, in scripturas, et ascendit in coelum, sedet ad dexteram accordance with the scriptures, and ascended to heaven, patris. and sits at the right hand of the Father. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria iudicare vivos et And he will return again in glory to judge the living and mortuos, cuius regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum the dead, and his kingdom will know no end. And (I sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre believe) in the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life, who Filioque procedit, qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the et conglorificatur, qui locutus est per prophetas. Et Father and Son together is worshipped and glorified, unam sanctam catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam. and who spoke through the Prophets. And (I believe) in Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum, one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam one baptism for the remission of sins, and I await the venturi saeculi. Amen. resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. Sanctus Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Agnus Dei Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem. have mercy on us. O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace. 3

4 I N T E R V A L The audience is invited to a glass of wine or fruit juice in the room situated behind the church. 4. Missa Ecclesiae Carnotensis Johnson BRIAN JOHNSON : Born 14 May 1976, Melbourne; now living there. FIRST PERFORMANCE Brian Johnson is a Melbourne-based pianist, chorister and composer. On entering the Faculty of Music at the University of Melbourne in 1994, he received the Faculty Entrance Exhibition, awarded to the student with the highest tertiary entrance score. He graduated from his Bachelor of Music with firstclass honours in As a composer, his interest lies principally in unaccompanied choral music. His main inspiration is 20th century English cathedral music, drawing particularly on the works of composers such as Vaughan Williams, Howells and Leighton. His Antiphon (1999) set the defining characteristics of much of his music: a favouring of joyous settings, and the employment of rich chromatic harmonies and double choir arrangements. Still maturing as a choral composer, recent works have tended to darker harmonies, and a greater use of polyphonic techniques. Brian is also a keen chorister, singing variously over the years with Schola Cantorum, the Choir of Ormond College and Gloriana chamber choir, among others. In addition to his musical pursuits, he works as a Senior Analyst at the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance. Brian Johnson writes: Missa Ecclesiae Carnotensis (Carnotense is the Latin word for Chartres) was inspired by La Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres (The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres), south of Paris. This cathedral church is an extraordinary example of Gothic architecture, and in composing this mass setting, I attempted to capture three things in particular about the cathedral: the remarkable longevity of the current edifice (the structure seen today is an essentially unscathed survivor of the late 12th/early 13th centuries), the wonderful interplay of darkness and colour that imbues the interior, and the sheer size of the place, with its cavernous length and depth, and seemingly unattainable vaulting. Aside from these broad notions, the piece was worked out mostly in reference to musical considerations such as coherence of musical structure, fluency in voice-leading, textural variety, harmonic felicity. I sought to reflect the concept of the building s longevity by using musical forms that have also survived the test of time. Variously, the music imitates late Renaissance polyphony (in the Kyrie), Baroque fugato (in the Pleni sunt caeli), canon (in the Benedictus), and middle Renaissance polyphony (in the Agnus Dei). 20th century influences are also evident, for example the rich harmonic progression of Miserere nobis/dona nobis pacem in the Agnus Dei. I don t see myself as someone with a strong sense of synesthesia; but music does often come across to me as coloured (actual colours, as opposed to the metaphorical colour used to describe the effects of instrumentation, say). In this work, I attempted to represent the ubiquitous blue of the cathedral windows with a single note, G, and you ll hear an awful lot of it over the course of the twenty minute setting. As in all of my sacred music, I have tried to compose a work suitable for both liturgical and concert use. Since the mass often sits high for the sopranos, at pitch, in the middle of a substantial concert, the work is sung tonight one semitone below the written pitch (which is still a good colour for the piece anyway). The Benedictus section is not being sung tonight, and the texts are those for Byrd. Although not so-named, the work is a Missa brevis, a title used by Britten, Leighton and Walton (but not by Haydn and Mozart) for a setting in which the Credo is not set. 5. Motet, Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir, BWV 228 Bach JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH : Born 21 March 1685, Eisenach; died 28 July 1750, Leipzig. The word motet has been used over the centuries for widely differing purposes. Bach applied it to works for choir alone (i.e. without solo voices) in which the writing is predominantly contrapuntal (meaning that each part carries its own melodic strength). The six works normally called motets rank 4

5 among his finest vocal works. It is likely that they were sung on numerous occasions, either at specific services or during the weekly ones instead of a cantata, but now they are featured mainly in concerts as a musical tour de force, for that is what they are for the singer. The eight-part Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir is the least frequently performed of the six motets. It was apparently written for a funeral service in February 1726 of an important Leipzig widow. The text consists of two verses from Isaiah, followed by two verses from the hymn Warum sollt ich mich denn grämen by Paul Garhardt ( ). The references to justice and strength in the first part of the text may have been included to refer to the deceased s associations with the keepers and makers of local laws. The emphasis then changes from judgement to the loving care of the Good Shepherd. These sentiments are all conveyed directly in the first person. Bach cleverly turns them into a dialogue between God and the Soul, although he uses his two choirs effectively to represent either party or both at any one time. Although the text falls easily into four clear sections, Bach chose to set it in two, and to locate the division within the second quotation from Isaiah. (Stephen Daw) Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir; Fear not, for I am with thee; weiche nicht, denn ich bin dein Gott! be not dismayed, for I am thy God. Ich stärke dich, ich helfe I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee; dir auch, ich erhalte dich yea I will uphold thee durch die rechte Hand meiner Gerechtigkeit. with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isaiah 41: 10) Fürchte dich nicht, denn ich habe dich erlöset, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; ich habe dich bei deinem Namen gerufen, du bist mein. I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. (Isaiah 43:1) Herr, mein Hirt, Brunn aller Freuden, du bist mein, ich bin dein, niemand kann uns scheiden. Ich bin dein, weil du dein Leben und dein Blut mir zu gut in den Tod gegeben. Du bist mein, weil ich dich fasse und dich nicht, O mein Licht, aus dem Herzen lasse. Lass mich hingelangen, da du mich und ich dich lieblich werd umfangen. Lord my shepherd, source of all joys, Thou art mine, I am thine, no one can part us. I am thine, because thou hast given thy life and thy blood for my sake unto death. Thou art mine, because I cleave to thee and never let thee, oh my light, out of my heart. Let me reach the place where in love I shall embrace thee and thou me. * * * * * The program notes were compiled by Michael Edgeloe; German translation by Nic Witton. The AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER CHOIR is a choir of eighteen voices (six sopranos, four altos, four tenors and four basses) formed in March Following two preliminary performances in the Southern Grampians Promenade of Sacred Music in Hamilton and nearby towns in April, the choir undertook a highly successful tour of Europe, with some 20 concerts in Denmark, Germany and Poland. Europeans are fascinated by Australian music, Douglas Lawrence says. "The music Australians are writing is different. I can't say how, but there's a freedom about the way Australians write. They are not really constrained by European models. The choir s first concert as an independent entity took place in Central Hall, Australian Catholic University, on St Cecilia s Day last November. Since then, the Choir has sung for the ABC, University of Melbourne Early Music Festival and the Bach Cantata series at St John s, Southgate. A second European tour in July 2009 takes in concerts in the following venues: Georgskirche, Nördlingen Dietrich-Bonhöffer-Kirche, Tübingen Pauluskirche, Darmstadt Münster, Bonn Epiphanienkirche, Berlin-Charlottenburg Trinitatis Church, Berlin Ludgerikirche, Norden Evangelischekirche, Nordeney Soroe International Music Festival Trinitatis Church, Copenhagen Hamburg venue tbc Martinskirche, Wangen Münster, Konstanz 5

6 Between now and then, the Choir has return invitations to sing in the Promenade of Sacred Music and the St John s Bach series. They will also perform in the celebrity series at St Michael s, Collins St, the Scots Church Holy Week Series and for the Peninsula Music Society in Mornington. The choir will sing in St Mary s Star of the Sea next year on May 11 and November 21. We would like to thank you for your support in our preparation for our 2009 Concert Tour. We would particularly like to thank our Diamond Donor: Bob Henderson, Silver Donor: Thorry Gunnersen and Donors, Nola Rogers, Mel Waters, Peter and Sarah Martin, David Beauchamp and Lyn Howden. We would like to thank our sponsors, particularly SAL Shipping, Counterpoint Wines, Emma and Tom fruit juices, St Mary s Star of the Sea Church, Michael Edgeloe, IT Consulting Management and Support, Lodge of the Golden Fleece, Scots Church, 3MBS FM and the Australian Catholic University. The singers tonight are Sopranos : Felicity Bolitho, Madeleine Gardam, Leonie Millard, Nicole Spicer, Lenore Stephens, Ailsa Webb Altos : Elizabeth Anderson, Taya Annable, Amelia Ballard, Myfanwy McIndoe Tenors : Brian Johnson, Thomas Kristof, Peter McInness, Timothy Reynolds Basses : Rhys Boak, Nicolas Dinopoulos, Nick Howden, Julien Robertson Director: Douglas Lawrence OAM Chairman: Dr Robin Batterham, AO Treasurer: Richard Bolitho Public Officer: Elizabeth Anderson Patrons: Barry Jones, AO: Prof John Griffiths, Oficial de la Orden de Isabel la Católica DOUGLAS LAWRENCE OAM, Director of Music at Scots' Church since 1984, has performed widely as organist or conductor in Australia, many European countries, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and North America. Educated at the University of Melbourne and the Musikhochschule in Vienna (studying with Anton Heiller), he founded the renowned Choir of Ormond College and has given, with that choir and as organist, more than 100 first performances of works by Australian composers. For 16 years he was Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Festival of Organ and Harpsichord and he now directs the Southern Grampians Promenade of Sacred Music. He was responsible for the tonal design of the Rieger organ (1999) in Scots' Church as well as for several other Melbourne organs. MUSIC LIST : If you would like to receive occasional announcements about classical concerts (you would have received these notes several days in advance, for example), please send your address to <medge@ics.mq.edu.au>. There are separate lists for Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, and you can join any or all of these lists. Australian Chamber Choir Inc. No.A Y IT Consulting, Management and Support 6