Guildford
Philharmonic
Orchestra
Guildford Corporation Concerts 1973-74
This concert is promoted by Guildford
Borough Council with financial assistance
Fiona Kimm
Fiona Kimm was born in Ipswich in 1952
from the Arts Council of Great Britain.
and was educated at schools in various
naval ports around Britain. In 1970, she
Civic Hall—Guildford
Scholarship to the Royal College of Music
was awarded an Associated Board
SATURDAY 27 APRIL 1974
at 7.45 p.m.
Guildford
Philharmonic
Orchestra
Leader: HUGH BEAN
where she has been studying with Meriel
St Clair. She won the Oratorio Prize in
1972, and an award for Lieder in 1973.
Her performances include many Oratorios,
recitals of English, French and German
Song, and a role in the first production of
‘Thomas Bullen’, an opera by Timothy
Higgs.
Gerald English
Gerald English is an artist who embraces
an extraordinary variety of skills.
Contemporary composers such as
Humphrey Searle, Phyllis Tate, Tom
Eastwood and Ian Hamilton have written
works for him, and by way of contrast,
he is greatly admired for his understanding
of early music, both from Mediaeval times
Philharmonic Chior
and from the great Venetian period. His
recordings of Monteverdi and Cavalli are
outstanding, and his contributions to the
mediaeval discography are equally
distinguished.
Fiona Kimm
Contralto
Mr English speaks perfect French and
often gives recitals of French Melodie, as
well as German Lieder.
He appears regularly all over the British
Isles, and has made major appearances in
Gerald English
Tenor
the United States, Canada, Spain,
Switzerland, Holland and Italy. Last year
Mr English toured extensively in Australia,
giving concerts en route in Tahiti, New
Zealand and Singapore.
Thomas Allen
Thomas Allen
Baritone
Thomas Allen was born in Seaham, County
Durham, and he began his studies in 1964
at the Royal College of Music with Hervey
Alan. He has won a number of important
prizes and competitions including the
coveted Queen’s Prize for United Kingdom
Vernon Handley
Conductor
and Commonwealth Singers, and in 1968
was awarded a Gulbenkian Foundation
Scholarship.
Thomas Allen began a two year contract
as a principal baritone at the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden in 1972. From 1969
until 1972 he was a member of the Welsh
National Opera, with whom he sang a great
variety of roles.
From power of the devil;
Thy servant deliver,
For once and for ever.
By Thy birth, and by Thy Cross,
Rescue him from endless loss;
By Thy death and burial,
Save him from a final fall;
By Thy rising from the tomb,
By Thy mounting up above,
By the Spirit’s gracious love
Save him in the day of doom,
Gerontius
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Parce mihi, Domine.
Firmly I believe and truly
God is Three, and God is One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.
And I trust and hope most fully
In that Manhood crucified;
And each thought and deed unruly
Do to death, as He has died.
Simply to His grace and wholly
Light and life and strength belong.
And I love, supremely, solely,
Him the holy, Him the strong.
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Parce mihi, Domine.
And I hold in veneration,
For the love of Him alone,
Holy Church, as His creation,
And her teachings, as His own.
And I take with joy whatever
Now besets me, pain or fear,
And with a strong will I sever
All the ties which bind me here.
Adoration aye be given,
With and through the angelic host,
To the God of earth and heaven,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Sanctus, fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Mortis in discrimine.
I can no more; for now it comes again,
That sense of ruin, which is worse than pain,
That masterful negation and collapse
Of all that makes me man.
g
And crueller stlll
A fierce and restless fright begms to fill
The mansion of my soul. And, worse and
worse,
Some bodily form of ill
Floats on the wind, with many a loathsome
curse
Tainting the hallowed air, and laughs, and
flaps
Its hideous wings,
And makes me wild with horror and dismay.
O Jesu, help! pray for me, Mary, pray!
Some Angel, Jesu! such as came to Thee
In Thine own agony.
Mary, pray for me. Joseph pray for me.
Mary, pray for me.
Assistants
Rescue him, O Lord, in this his evil hour,
As of old so many by Thy gracious power.—
Nce from the waters in a. saving home;
(Amen.)
Job from all his multiform and fell distress:
(Amen.)
Moses from the land of b(')nda'ge and despair;
(Amen.)
David from Golia and the wrath of Saul;
(Amen.)
—So to show Thy power,
Rescue this Thy servant in his evil hour.
Gerontius
Novissima hora est; and I fain would sleep,
The pain has wearied me.
Into Thy
hands,
O Lord, into Thy hands.
The Priest and Assistants
Profiscicere, anima Christiana, de hoc mundo!
Go forth upon thy journey, Christian soul!
Go from this world! Go, in the Name of God
The Omnipotent Father, Who created thee!
Go, in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
Son of the living God, Who bled for thee!
Go, in the Name of the Holy Soirit, Who
Hath been poured out on thee! Go, in the
name
Of Angels and Archangels; in the name
Of Thrones and Dominations; in the name
Of Princedoms and of Powers; and in the name
Of Cherubim and Seraphim, go forth!
Go, in the name of Patriachs and Proohets;
And of Apostles and Evangelists,
Of Martyrs and Confessors, in the name
Of hcly Monks and Hermits; in the name
Of Holy Virgins; and all Saints of God,
Both men and women, go! Go on thy course;
And may thy place today be found in peace,
And may thy dwelling be the Holy Mount
Of Sion: —through the Same, through Christ
our Lord.
INTERVAL
1I
SOUL OF GERONTIUS
ANGEL
Tenor
Mezzo-Soprano
ANGEL OF THE AGONY
Bass
DEMONS, ANGELICALS,
AND SOULS
Chorus
Soul of Gerontius
I went to sleep; and now I am refreshed.
A strange refreshment: for I feel in me
An inexpressive lightness, and a sense
Of freedcm, as 1 were at length myself,
And ner’er had been before. How still it is!
I hear no more the busy beat of time,
No, nor my fluttering breath, nor struggling
pulse;
Nor does one moment differ from the next.
This silence pours a solitariness
Into the very essence of my soul;
And the deep rest, so soothing and so sweet,
Hath something too of sterness and of pain.
Another marvel:
someone has me fast
ot
Within his ample palm;
A aniferm
e
Ve et
And gentle pressure tells me I am not
Self-moving, but borne forward on my way.
And hark:
[ hear a singing: yet in sooth
I cannot of that music rightly say
Whether I hear, or touch, or taste the tones.
Oh, what a heart-subduing melody!
My work is done,
My task is o’er,
Angel
And so I come,
Taking it home,
For the crown is won,
Alleluia,
For evermore.
My Father gave
In charge to me
Soul
Dear Angel, say,
Why have I now no fear of meeting Him?
Along my eartnly life, the thought of death
And judgement was to me most terrible.
Angel
It is because
Then thou didst fear, that now thou dost not
rear.
Thou hast forestalled the agony, and
lor thee bitterness of death is passed.
Also, because already in thy soul
‘Ine judgement is begun.
so
Angel
A presage falls upon thee, as a ray
Straight rrom the Judge, expressive of thy lot.
'Inat calm and joy uprising in thy soul
Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense,
And heaven begun.
This child of earth
E’en from its birth,
To serve and save,
Alleluia,
And saved is he.
This child of clay
To me was given,
To rear and train
By sorrow and pain
In the narrow way,
Soul
Now that the hour is come, my fear is fled;
And at this balance of my destiny,
Now close upon me, I can forward look
With a serenest joy.
But ha}k! .upo.n m.y sense
Comes a fierce hubbub, which would make me
fear
Could I be frighted.
Angel
Alleluia,
From earth to heaven.
Soul
It is a member of that family
Of wondrous beings, who, ere the worlds were
made,
Millions of ages back, have stood around
The throne of God.
I will address h.im.'Mig,;hty.one', my Lord,
My Guardian Spirit, all hail!
All hail!
Angel
Thou art not let; but with extremest speed
Art hurrying to the Just and Holy Judge.
Angel
my child,
My child and brother, hail! what wouldest
thou?
Soul
I would have nothing but to speak with thee
For speaking’s sake. I wish to hold with thee
Conscious communion; though I fain would
know
A maze of things, were it but meet to ask,
And not a curiousness.
Angel
You cannot now
Cherish a wish which ought not to be wished.
Soul
Then I will speak. I ever had believed
That on the moment when the struggling soul
Quitted its mortal case, forthwith it fell
Under the awful Presence of its God,
There to be judged and sent to its own place.
What lets me now from going to my Lord?
We are now arrived
Close on the judgement-court; that sullen howl
Is from the demons who assemble there,
Hungry and wiid, to claim their property,
And gather souls for hell. Hist to their cry.
ou
How sour and how uncouth a dissonance!
Demons
Low-born clods
Of brute earth,
They aspire
To become gods,
By a new birth,
And an extra grace,
And a score of merits,
As if aught
Could stand in place
Of the high thought,
And the glance of fire
Of the great spirits,
The powers blest,
The lords by right,
The primal owners,
Of the proud dwelling
And realm of light,—
Dispossessed,
Aside thrust,
Chucked down,
By the sheer might
Of a despot’s will,
Of a tyrant’s frown,
Who after expelling
Their hosts, gave,
Triumphant still,
And still unjust,
Each forfeit crown
To psalm-droners,
And canting groaners,
To every slave,
And pious cheat,
And crawling knave,
Who licked the dust
Under his feet.
Angel
It is the restless panting of their being;
Like beasts of prey, who, caged within their
bars,
In a deep hideous purring have their life,
And an incessant pacing to and fro.
Demons
The mind bold
And independent,
The purpose free,
So we are told,
Must not think
To have the ascendant,
What’s a saint?
One whose breath
Doth the air taint
Before his death;
A bundle of bones,
Which fools adore,
Ha! ha!
When life is o’er.
Virtue and vice,
A knave’s pretence.
"Tis all the same: ;
Ha! ha!
Dread of hell-fire,
Of the venomous flame,
A coward’s plea.
Give him his price,
Saint though he be,
Ha! ha!
From shrewd good sense
He’ll slave for hire;
Ha!" ha!
And does but aspire
To the heaven above
With sordid aim,
And not from love.
Ha! ha!
Soul
I see not those false spirits; shall T see
My dearest Master, when I reach His throne?
Angel
Yes,—for one moment thou shalt see thy Lord.
One moment; bht t.hou‘kn(;wes.t not, my child,
What thou dost ask: that sight of the Most
Fair
Will gladden thee, but it will pierce thee too.
Soul
Thou speakest darkly, Angel! and an awe
Falls on me, and a fear lest I be rash.
Angel
There was a mortal, who is now above
In the mid glory: he, when near to die,
Was given communion with the Crucified,—
Such, that the Master’s very wounds were
stamped
Upon his flesh; and, from the agony
Which thrilled through body and soul in that
embrace,
Learn that the flame of the Everlasting Love
Doth burn ere it transform.
&0
Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
Angel
i,
Hark to those sounds!
They come of tender beings angelical,
Least and most childlike of the sons of God.
Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!
To us His elder race He gave
To battle and to win,
Without the chastisement of pain,
Without the soil of sin.
The younger son He willed to be
A marvel in His birth:
Spirit and flesh His parents were;
His home was heaven and earth.
The Eternal blessed His child, and armed,
And sent Him hence afar,
To serve as champion in the field
Of elemental war.
To be His Viceroy in the world
Of matter, and of sense;
Upon the frontier, towards the foe,
A resolute defence.
Angel
We now have passed the gate, and are within
The House of Judgement.
o
Soul
The sound is like the rushing of the wind—
The summer wind—among the lofty pines.
Choir of Angelicals
Glory to Him, Who evermore
By truth and justice reigns;
Who tears the soul from out its case,
And burns away its stains!
Angel
They sing of thy aproaching agony,
Which thou so eagerly didst question of.
Soul
My soul is in my hand:
I have no fear,—
But hark! a gl.'and' m3;ster'ious. harmony:
It floods me, like the deep and solemn sound
Of many waters.
:
.Ang"el .
And now the threshold, as we traverse it,
Utters aloud its glad responsive chant.
Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!
O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.
O wisest love! that flesh and blood
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail;
And that a higher gift than grace
Should flesh and blood refine,
God’s Presence and His very Self,
And Essence all divine.
O generous love! that He Who smote
In man for man the foe,
The double agony in man
For man should undergo;
And in the garden secretly,
And on the cross on high,
Should teach His brethren and inspire
To suffer and to die.
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wondeful;
Most sure in all His ways!
Angel
Thy judgment now is near, for we are come
Into the veiléd presence of our God.
Soul
1 hear the voices that I left on earth.
Angel
It is the voice of friends around thy bed.
Who say the “Subvenite” with the priest.
Hither the echoes come; before the Throne
Stands the great Angel of the Agony,
The same who strengthened Him, what time
He knelt
Lone in the garden shade, bedewed with blood.
That Angel best can plead with Him for all
Tormented souls, the dying and the dead.
Angel of the Agony
Jesu! by that shuddering dread which fell on
O happy, suffering soul! for it is safe,
Consumed, yet quickened, by the glance of
God.
Soul
Take me away, and in the lowest deep
There let me be,
And there in hope the lone night-watches keep,
Told out for me.
There, motionless and happy in my pain,
Lone, not forlorn,—
There will 1 sing my sad perpetual strain,
Until the morn,
There will I sing, and soothe my stricken breast,
Which ne’er can cease
To throb, and pine, and languish, till possest
Of its Sole Peace.
There will I sing my absent Lord and Love: —
Take me away,
That sconer I may rise, and go above,
And see Him in the truth of everlasting day.
Souls in Purgatory
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge; in every
generation;
Before the hills were born, and the world was,
from age to age Thou art God.
Bring us not, Lord, very low: for Thou hast
said, Come back again, ye sons of
Adam.
Come back, O Lord!
how long:
entreated for Thy servants.
and be
Angel
Softly and gently, dearly-ransomed soul,
In my most loving arms I now enfold thee,
And o’er the penal waters, as they roll,
I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee.
And carefully I dip thee in the lake,
And thou, without a sob or a resistance,
Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take,
Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim distance.
Thee!
Angels, to whom the willing task is given,
Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou
Thee;
And Masses on the earth, and prayers in
Thee;
Shall aid thee at the Throne on the Most
Thee;
Farewell, but not for ever! brother dear,
Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;
Jesu!
by that cold dismay which sickened
Jesu! by that pang of heart which thrilled in
Jesu!
by that mount of sins which crippled
Jesu!
Jesu!
Jesu!
Jesu!
by that sense of guilt which stifled Thee;
by that innocence which girdled Thee;
by that sanctity which reigned in Thee;
by that Godhead which was one with
Thee;
Jesu! spare these souls which are so dear to
Thee;
Souls, who in prison, calm and patient, wait
for Thee;
Hasten, Lord, their hour, and bid them come
to Thee,
To that glorious Home, where they shall ever
gaze on Thee.
Soul
I go before my Judge.
Voices on Earth
Be merciful, be gracious; spare him, Lord.
Be merciful, be gracious; Lord, deliver him.
Angel
Praise to His Name!
liest;
heaven,
Highest.
Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,
And I will come and wake thee on the
MOrrow.
Souls
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge.
Amen.
Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest. Amen.
Cardinal Newman
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Director of Music and Conductor:
Leader:
Co-Leader:
First Violins
Hugh Bean
Michael Rennie
Sheila Beckensall
Stefan Brown
Patricia Cassidy
Bradley Creswick
Jean Fletcher
Beatrice Harper
Martin Hughes
Kate Jacobs
Kathleen Malet
Leila Palmer
Robert Trory
VERNON HANDLEY
Hugh Bean
John Ludlow
Cellos
Eldon Fox
Jack Holmes
Laurence Cromwell
Gwen Cassidy
Christina Macrae
Pauline Sadgrove
John Stilwell
Horns
Peter Clack
David Clack
Charles Bloomfield
Frank Hawkins
Basses
Keith Marjoram
John Duffy
Douglas Lees
Trumpets
Clifford Haines
Howard Hawkes
Roland Wilson
Ninian Perry
Flutes
Henry Messent
Jane Parry
Piccolo
Christopher Nicholls
Second Violins
Nicholas Maxted Jones
Rosemary Roberts
Constance Ames
Gillian Bailey
Norbert Blume
Ruth Dawson
Cynthia Dunn
Paul Manley
Claire Renwick
Ian Smith
Oboes
Sara Barrington
Janice Knight
Cor Anglais
John Clementson
Deryck Wareing
Violas
Roger Chase
Luciano Jorio
Margaret Brookes
Neil Gray
Robin Grice
Leonard Lock
Trevor Snoad
Contra Bassoon
Nicholas Reader
Tenor Trombones
Alfred Flaszynski
Jack Pinches
Bass Trombone
Geoffrey Perkins
Tuba
Clifford Bevan
Timpani
Roger Blair
Percussion
Jonathan Bose
Boyd Gilmour
Clarinets
John Denman
Victor Slaymark
Heather Steadman
Bass Clarinet
Gordon Lewin
Fiona Hibbert
Harp
Bassoons
Anthony Brooks
Fritz Berent
Concerts Manager:
Kathleen Atkins
The audience may be interested to know that the violin
sections are listed in alphabetical
order after the first desk, because a rotation of desks is adopted
in this orchestra, so that all
players have the opportunity of playing in all positions in the
section.
SATURDAY 4 MAY at 7.30 p.m.
Methodist Hall—Guildford
String Quartet in D Major K575
—Mozart
Concertgoers’ Scciety Members Evening Haltag Serenafle.Wolt
The Haffner Quartet
String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51 No. 2
—Brahms