GUILDFORD
SATURDAY
24
CIVIC
JUNE
HALL
1989
at 7.30 pm
Acis and Galatea
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR & ORCHESTRA
NEVILLE CREED - Conductor
TRACEY CHADWELL - Soprano
IAN PARTRIDGE - Tenor
RUFUS MULLER - Tenor
MICHAEL PEARCE - Bass
The Guildford Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra acknowledge with thanks
the sponsorship of Laura Ashley for this concert.
Tracey Chadwell, winner of the 1986 English Song
Award and the Soprano Prize of the 1986 Great
Grimsby International Singing Competition, studied
singing with Dorothy Richardson at the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama, Rae Woodland, Silvia
Beamish and Rupert Bruce-Lockhart. Tracey spent
three years with the BBC Singers after graduating from
the Guildhall with honours in 1981, gaining the highest
mark of her year for her Final Recital and being
awarded the Lord Mayor’s Prize. While with the
Singers, Tracey frequently undertook solo work for
radio recordings, and has since that time recorded
regularly for the BBC. She performed for Live Music
Now with Dorothy Linell and was awarded the Holst
Neville Creed began his conducting career whilst a
choral scholar at Cambridge. He then became Director
of Choral Music at Tiffin School in Kingston upon
Thames, providing choirs for several highly acclaimed
recordings on radio, television and disc. The Tiffin
Boys’ recording of Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the
London Philharmonic under Klaus Tennstedt gained a
nomination for a ‘Grammy’ award. During this time,
Neville was also conductor of the Milton Keynes
Chorale. In 1986 he was awarded a scholarship to study
conducting at the Guildhall School of Music where he
won the Ricordi Conducting Prize.
Since completing his studies at the Guildhall in 1987,
he has founded ‘The Tudor Chamber Choir’, gained
the posts of conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony
Chorus and the Guildford Philharmonic Choir as well
as being invited to return to the Guildhall as a
conductor. He has conducted many of the main
London choirs and has recently conducted in Denmark
and Italy. In September 1988 he won the second prize
in
the First
International Choral Conducting
Competition held in Italy. This summer he will be
conducting the Royal Philharmonic “Pops” Orchestra
in an open-air concert at Petworth Park, Sussex.
Prize at the 1984 English Song Award.
Since winning the South East Arts Young Musicians
Platform Scheme and making her Wigmore Hall debut
in 1984, Tracey has sung at the South Bank, the
Barbican and the Royal Albert Hall, and has appeared
at the Edinburgh, Brighton, Greenwich, Windsor and
Aldeburgh Festivals — including a portrayal of Miss
Wordsworth in ‘Albert Herring’ at Aldeburgh in 1986
—as well as at the Proms. With funds from South East
Arts, Tracey commissioned a new song cycle from
Elizabeth Maconchy which was performed in the 1986
Park Lane Group Series. Tracey’s enthusiasm for contemporary music continued with premieres of works by
Nicola
LeFanu
and
Michael
Finnissy.
She
also
appeared in a BBC recording of Henze’s opera ‘“The
English Cat’, staged performances of which were
included in the 1986 Frankfurt Festival and repeated at
the Edinburgh Festival in 1987 and in Lucerne in 1988.
Tracey has given numerous oratorio performances
throughout the country and tours in Europe with the
Deller Consort.
Tracey Chadwell’s engagements during 1990 include a
performance of Handel’s Messiah with the Guildford
Philharmonic forces.
Ian Partridge
Ian Partridge is one of Britain’s leading lyric tenors.
His wide repertoire encompasses the music of
Monteverdi and Bach, the lute songs of Dowland,
German, French and English songs, and first performances of new works. He appears regularly at London
concert halls with major orchestras and conductors and
at international festivals throughout the world.
In recitals he is frequently accompanied by his sister,
Jennifer Partridge — a partnership that has received
great critical acclaim. They are regular broadcasters
for the BBC, give recitals all over the British Isles and
Europe and as far afield as South America, Turkey,
Iceland and Australia. Their recording of Schubert’s
‘Die Schone Mullerin’ was selected as Vocal Record of
the Year by The Sunday Times and recommended as
first choice from all available recordings in the BBC’s
‘Building a Library’ series. He is currently recording
Handel’s ‘Chandos Anthems’ for Chandos Records.
The Thames TV production of Britten’s ‘St Nicholas’
with Ian Partridge in the title role, won the Prix Italia.
He made his operatic debut at Covent Garden singing
the role of Iopas in Berlioz’ ‘Les Troyens’ conducted
by Sir Colin Davis and subsequently recorded by
Philips.
College, Cambridge and subsequently studied with
Otakar Kraus, Rudolf Piernay and Betty Flemming.
He is now well established in this country and abroad
as one of Britain’s most versatile dramatic baritones,
having received much critical acclaim for his performances on the opera stage and concert platform. In
1984 he won the first English Song Award which
provided him with a debut recital at the Wigmore Hall
later in that year. He has also given several broadcast
recitals for the BBC and recorded for Archive with
Simon Preston and Westminster Abbey Choir.
Michael’s
operatic
roles
have
included
Papageno
(Magic Flute) and Don Giovanni with Opera 70;
A one-off performance of ‘An Evening with Queen
Victoria’ at the Old Vic Theatre with actress Prunella
Scales
Michael Pearce was a choral scholar at St John’s
reading
from
the
diaries
of
the
Queen
interspersed with songs of the period performed by Ian
Partridge has proved so successful that it is given not
only at theatres and festivals in Britain but world-wide.
Ian Partridge has recently enjoyed taking Master
Classes on Lieder, English song or Early Music at
venues as diverse as Aldeburgh, Vancouver and
Trondheim. He will return to Guildford in November
when he joins with the Guildford Philharmonic for performances of Elgar’s ‘For The Fallen’ from The Spirit
of England, and Finzi’s ‘Intimations of Immortality’
under Sir Charles Groves.
Ferrando (Il Travatore) with Nonsuch Opera; Eugene
Onegin with Chelmsford Opera; Bartolo (Marriage of
Figaro), The Vicar (Albert Herring), Lt. Col Shard
(The Grace of Todd) and Merlin with Opera East. In
December 1988 he performed the role of Old Sam in
the British premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s ‘A Quiet
Place’ in Cambridge. He is currently working for Kent
Opera on an educational project and will shortly be
performing
for
them
in
Britten’s
‘Burning
Fiery
Furnace’.
His oratorio repertoire is wide-ranging and has taken
him to Canada and throughout Europe. In England he
has sung at most of the major concert halls and he is a
frequent soloist on London’s South Bank.
LAURA
OLD
CLOTH
HALL
ASHLEY
NORTH
STREET
GUILDFORD
(0483) 34152
ALSO
HORSHAM
AT
FARNHAM
WINDSOR
AND
READING
LONDON
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Conductor: NEVILLE CREED
Guest Leader: DAVID GREED
First Violins:
Cellos:
Norman Jones
David Greed
Peter Maslin
Sheila Beckensall
Emer Calthorpe
John Stilwell
John Hursey
Anne Wills
L oRss
Toity
David Willis
Edwin Dodd
S
I Rachel Beckett
e
.
ADnduER g
Dinwoodie
Marion Scott
Philip Augar
Andrew Knights
Stephen
Erica Dearing
:
Violas:
Justin Ward
Oboes:
Janice Knight
Harpsichord:
Angela Bonetti
John Forster
Jean Burt
Kathleen Atkins
Malcolm Williamson
General Manager:
Music Administrator:
Peter Holt
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
Guildford Philharmonic Choir (formerly the Festival
Choir) was formed in order to perform the major
choral repertoire with the Guildford Philharmonic
Orchestra. The choir made its first recording in 1973 of
Finzi’'s “Intimations of Immortality” with the
Guildford Philharmonic, and in 1979 recorded
Hadley’s “The Trees So High” with the Philharmonia
Orchestra, both recordings being conducted by
Vernon Handley.
Rufus Miiller was born in Chatham, Kent, and spent
the years 1977-1981 as a choral scholar at New College,
Oxford. After two years in Germany he went to
London to study singing and the Alexander Technique
with Ron Murdock. In 1984 he sang the role of Bastien
in Mozart’s ‘Bastien und Bastienne’ with Kent Opera,
and in 1985 won first prize in the English Song Award
in Brighton. Rufus has been a member of the Tallis
Scholars for over ten years, and recently left the
Consort of Musicke.
As a specialist in the lute-song repertoire of the 16th
and 17th centuries he has twice given recitals at the
Wigmore Hall in London, as well as on tour
throughout Britain. He is a soloist on John Eliot
Gardiner’s recording of Bach’s ‘St John Passion’ on
Deutsche Gramophon-Archiv, as well as on the
recording by Roger Norrington of Beethoven’s
‘Choral Fantasy’, shortly to be released by EMI. His
solo appearances this year take him to Germany,
France, Holland and Italy.
Neville Creed was appointed Chorus Master to the
Philharmonic Choir in September 1987, when Lynette
Newman, the Choir’'s accompanist, was also
appointed.
The Choir will be joining Goldsmiths Choral Union for
a huge performance of Berlioz Grande Messe des
Morts in the Albert Hall on Saturday 15th July.
On Saturday 23rd September the Philharmonic Choir
will be hosting a Come & Sing The Choral Classics at
the Civic Hall when the works being performed will be
Vivaldi
Gloria
Five Mystical Songs
Vaughan Williams
Works that the Choir will be performing with the
Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1989/90
season are Intimations of Immortality, Messiah and
Missa Solemnis.
For further information of next seasons concerts and
for anyone interested in joining the choir, telephone
the Choir Office on Guildford 444666.
ACIS AND GALATEA
SINFONIA
HANDEL 1685-1759
CHORUS
‘Acis and Galatea’ received more performances during
Oh, the pleasure of the plains!
Handel’s lifetime than any other of his compositions, it
Happy nymphs and happy swains,
was also one of the few works to be published in full
Harmless, merry, free and gay,
before his death in 1759. Why such popularity then and
relative obscurity now? The reason is because both the
Dance and sport the hours away.
story and the idiom were extremely popular in the
For us distills the dew,
eighteenth century aristocratic circles, while nowadays
For us unfolds the rose,
‘pastoral’ subjects are less fashionable. This has led to
a wealth of music being overlooked. Happily there has
And flow’rs display their hue.
been much recent exploration of Handel’s works and
For us the summers shine,
‘Acis and Galatea’ in particular is becoming increas-
The basis of the libretto was the ‘Story of Acis,
Spring swells for us the grain,
And autumn bleeds the vine.
Oh, the pleasure... da capo
Polyphemus and Galatea’ from Ovid’s ‘Metamorph-
ACCOMPAGNATO
ingly popular once again.
oses’, translated by Dryden which appeared in London
in 1717. It is probable that John Gay, Alexander Pope
and John Hughes all had a hand in compiling the words
for this masque. The popularity of the subject is
without question. The story of Acis had previously
been used for operas by Charpentier and Cully, and
Handel had already set the fable in his Italian cantata
‘Aci, Galatea & Polifemo’ in 1708 for a Neopolitan
nobleman. The English masque appeared ten years
later, written for the Duke of Chandos at whose
mansion (‘Cannons’ in Middlesex) Handel stayed in
1717 and 1718.
The classical English masque had flourished in the
seventeenth century with such writers and designers as
Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones. It generally consisted of
music, dancing, mime and dialogue, thus providing a
lavish court entertainment. In the early eighteenth
century, masques were encouraged in England as a
national reaction against the spread of Italian opera.
Most of them were divided into two parts and were
basically short operas on mythological or pastoral
subjects.
In ‘Acis and Galatea’ the first part is devoted to the
expressions of love between the handsome shepherd
and fair nymph. Handel writes a number of exquisite
arias (the most famous being ‘Love in her eyes sits
playing’), closing with the romping ‘Happy we’ chorus.
In part two the idyllic atmosphere is destroyed by the
jealous monster Polyphemus. His entry is announced
in a splendidly dramatic chorus. He then sings a pre-
For us the zephyr blows,
For us the winters rain,
Galatea
Ye verdant plains and woody mountains,
Purling streams and bubbling fountains,
Ye painted glories of the field,
Vain are the pleasures which ye yield;
Too thin the shadow of the grove,
Too faint the gales, to cool my love.
AIR
Galatea
Hush, ye pretty warbling quire!
Your thrilling strains
Awake my pains,
And kindle fierce desire.
Cease your song, and take your flight,
Bring back my Acis to my sight!
Hush... da capo
AIR
Acis
Where shall I seek the charming fair?
Direct the way, kind genius of the mountains!
O tell me, if you saw my dear!
Seeks she the groves, or bathes in crystal fountains?
Where... da capo
RECITATIVE
Damon
Stay, shepherd, stay!
See, how thy flocks in yonder valley stray!
What means this melancholy air?
No more thy tuneful pipe we hear.
posterous love-song ‘O ruddier than the cherry’. The
AIR
tension between the three culminates in a skilfully
worked trio with Acis and Galatea expressing their
Damon
love while Polyphemus frets. Although Polyphemus
Heedless running to thy ruin;
Shepherd, what art thou pursuing?
disposes of Acis, he cannot win as Galatea uses her
Share our joy, our pleasure share!
divine powers to immortalize her lover by transform-
Leave thy passion till to-morrow,
ing him into a fountain so that he can flow joyfully
Let the day be free from sorrow,
through the plains!
Free from love, and free from care!
© Neville Creed
Shepherd... da capo
RECITATIVE
Acis
Lo! here my love! turn, Galatea, hither turn thy eyes;
See, at thy feet the longing Acis lies!
AIR
AIR
Acis
And sheds delicious death;
Love on her lips is straying,
Polyphemus
O ruddier than the cherry,
O sweeter than the berry,
O nymph more bright
And warbling in her breath!
Than moonshine night,
Love on her breast sits panting,
Like kidlings blithe and merry!
Love in her eyes sits playing,
And swells with soft desire;
Ripe as the melting cluster,
No grace, no charm is wanting,
No lily has such lustre;
To set the heart on fire.
Yet hard to tame
Love in her eyes... da capo
As raging flame,
RECITATIVE
Galatea
Oh! didst thou know the pains of absent love,
Acis would ne’er from Galatea rove.
AIR
Galatea
As when the dove
Laments her love,
All on the naked spray;
When he returns,
No more she mourns,
But loves the live-long day.
Billing, cooing,
Panting, wooing,
Melting murmurs fill the grove,
Melting murmurs, lasting love.
As when... da capo
DUET, CHORUS
Galatea, Acis
Happy we!
What joys I feel!
What charms I see!
Of all youths thou dearest boy!
Of all nymphs thou brightest fair!
Thou all my bliss, thou all my joy!
Happy... da capo
And fierce as storms that bluster!
O ruddier... da capo
RECITATIVE
Polyphemus
Whither, fairest, art thou running,
Still my warm embraces shunning?
Galatea
The lion calls not to his prey,
Nor bids the wolf the lambkin stay.
Polyphemus
Thee, Polyphemus, great as Jove,
Calls to empire and to love,
To his palace in the rock,
To his dairy, to his flock,
To the grape of purple hue,
To the plum of glossy blue,
Wildings, which expecting stand,
Proud to be gather’d by thy hand.
Galatea
Of infant limbs to make my food,
And swill full draughts of human blood!
Go, monster! bid some other guest:
I loathe the host, I loathe the feast.
AIR
Polyphemus
Cease to beauty to be suing,
Ever whining love disdaining.
INTERVAL
Let the brave their aims pursuing,
Still be conqu’ring not complaining.
CHORUS
Wretched lovers! fate has past
This sad decree: no joy shall last.
Wretched lovers, quit your dream!
Behold the monster Polypheme!
See what ample strides he takes!
The mountain nods, the forest shakes;
The waves run frighten’d to the shores:
Hark, how the thund’ring giant roars!
ACCOMPAGNATO
Polyphemus
I rage — I melt — I burn!
The feeble god has stabb’d me to the heart.
Thou trusty pine,
Prop of my god-like steps, I lay thee by!
Bring me a hundred reeds of decent growth,
To make a pipe for my capacious mouth;
In soft enchanting accents let me breathe
Sweet Galatea’s beauty, and my love.
Cease... da capo
AIR
Damon
Would you gain the tender creature,
Softly, gently, kindly treat her:
Suff’ring is the lover’s part.
Beauty by constraint possessing,
You enjoy but half the blessing,
Lifeless charms without the heart.
Would you... da capo
RECITATIVE
Acis
His hideous love provokes my rage:
Weak as I am, I must engage!
Inspir’d with thy victorious charms,
The god of love will lend his arms.
AIR
Acis
Love sounds th’alarm,
And fear is a flying!
When beauty’s the prize,
What mortal fears dying?
In defence of my treasure,
I’d bleed at each vein;
Without her no pleasure,
For life is a pain.
Love sounds... da capo
AIR
Damon
Consider, fond shepherd,
How fleeting’s the pleasure,
That flatters our hopes
In pursuit of the fair!
The joys that attend it,
By moments we measure,
But life is too little
To measure our care.
Consider... da capo
RECITATIVE
Galatea
Cease, oh cease, thou gentle youth,
Trust my constancy and truth,
Trust my truth and pow’rs above,
The pow’rs propitious still to love!
TRIO
GALATEA, CHORUS
Galatea
Must I my Acis still bemoan,
Inglorious crush’d beneath that stone?
Chorus
Cease, Galatea, cease to grieve!
Bewail not whom thou canst relieve.
Galatea
Must the lovely charming youth
Die for his constancy and truth?
Chorus
Cease, Galatea, cease to grieve!
Bewail not whom thou canst relieve;
Call forth thy pow’r, employ thy art,
The goddess soon can heal thy smart.
Galatea
Say what comfort can you find?
For dark despair o’erclouds my mind.
Chorus
To kindred gods the youth return,
Through verdant plains to roll his urn.
RECITATIVE
Galatea
"Tis done: thus I exert my pow’r divine;
Be thou immortal, though thou art not mine!
AIR
Galatea
Heart, the seat of soft delight,
Galatea, Acis
Be thou now a fountain bright!
Purple be no more thy blood,
The flocks shall leave the mountains,
Glide thou like a crystal flood.
The woods the turtle dove,
Rock, thy hollow womb disclose!
The nymphs forsake the fountains,
Ere I forsake my love!
The bubbling fountain, lo! it flows;
Through the plains he joys to rove,
Polyphemus
Murm’ring still his gentle love.
Torture! fury! rage! despair!
I cannot, cannot bear!
Galatea, Acis
Not show’rs to larks so pleasing,
Nor sunshine to the bee,
Not sleep to toil so easing,
As these dear smiles to me.
Polyphemus
Fly swift, thou massy ruin, fly!
Die, presumptuous Acis, die!
ACCOMPAGNATO
Acis
Help, Galatea! help, ye parent gods!
And take me dying to your deep abodes.
CHORUS
Mourn, all ye muses! weep, all ye swains!
Tune, tune your reeds to doleful strains!
Groans, cries and howlings fill the neighb’ring shore:
Ah, the gentle Acis is no more!
CHORUS
Galatea, dry thy tears,
Acis now a god appears!
See how he rears him from his bed,
See the wreath that binds his head.
Hail! thou gentle murm’ring stream,
Shepherds’ pleasure, muses’ theme!
Through the plains still joy to rove,
Murm’ring still thy gentle love.
GUILDFORD FESTIVAL
FRIDAY, 14 JULY 1989
WEDNESDAY, 12 JULY 1989
at7.30 p.m.
at12.30 p.m.
LUNCHTIME CONCERT
inthe GUILDHALL
Jennifer Stinton Flute
Aline Brewer Harp
FESTIVAL CONCERT
Holy Trinity Church, Guildford
Warlock
Capriol Suite
Bridge
Suite for Strings
Tickets: £4.00 (includes a glass of wine)
from the Festival box office, Millmead
JOHN FORSTER conductor
HUGH BEAN violin
The Four Seasons
Telephone: (0483) 505050
Vivaldi
Tickets: £6.00 from the
’
Festival box office, Millmead
Telephone: (0483) 505050
COME & SIN G - with the Guildford Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra
Gloria
Vivaldi
Five Mystical Songs
Conductor
Vaughan Williams
NEVILLE CREED
SATURDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 1989 at 7.30 p.m.
(Singers rehearse 2.30-5.30)
Tickets: £5.00 to sing / 0483 444666 & hire music
£5.00 to listen (half price concessions
to OAP’s & Students)
Civic Hall, Guildford (0483) 444555
1989/90 SUBSCRIPTION SERIES
SUBSCRIPTION BOOKING from 26 JUNE 1989
S A V E up to 30% on your tickets by subscribing
to the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra — the
professional orchestra of the South East
— Book by ’phone or post
— Enjoy reserved seats of your choice
— Save time and money by booking in advance
— 12 concerts for as little as £49.50
Contact:
The Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra,
The Lodge,
Allen House Grounds,
Chertsey St., Guildford GU1 4HL
Telephone: (0483) 444666