GUILDFORD
HILHARMONIC
1996/ 1997 SEASON
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GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC
The Guildford Philharmonic, a professional orchestra of
75 players, is at the heart of music-making in the south east,
with a huge repertoire extending from the 17th century to the
present day. Its main concert season runs from September to
May in two venues: the Civic Hall, Guildford, and Guildford
Cathedral; and as well as this it gives concerts throughout
London and the south of England in a number of venues
which include Kenwood Park, Royal Festival Hall,
King’s College Cambridge, St George’s Chapel Windsor, and
the cathedrals of Winchester, Chichester, and Canterbury.
As well as the more mainstream orchestral concerts, the
orchestra is involved in a wide range of educational projects,
both in schools and concert halls, involving young composers,
instrumentalists and singers.
The young Chinese conductor En Shao was appointed Principal
Conductor in 1995, following in the illustrious footsteps of
Crossley Clitheroe (who founded the orchestra in 1944),
Vernon Handley, Sir Charles Groves and Sir Alexander Gibson.
With En Shao, the orchestra continues its work of attracting
new audiences for all types of classical music, and of blending
the traditional and familiar with the new and challenging.
The orchestra is funded and promoted by Guildford Borough,
with assistance from the South East Arts Board,
South East Music Trust, the Musicians’ Union, and the
Friends of the Philharmonic. It is grateful to corporate
sponsors, both local and national, and looks forward to many
more such mutually beneficial relationships in the future.
CIVIC HALL, GUILDFORD
SATURDAY 9 NOVEMBER 1996 at 7.30pm
VISIONS OF PARADISE
This concert marks the
50th ANNIVERSARY of the GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
Poulenc
Choral Scenes from Les Dialogues des Carmelites
Szymanowski
Stabat Mater
INTERVAL
Howells
Hymnus Paradisi
KATHERINE TANSEY (soprano)
TERESA SHAW (mezzo-soprano)
ANDREW MURGATROYD (tenor)
COLIN CAMPBELL (bass)
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
JEREMY BACKHOUSE (conductor)
All concerts in the current season are funded by
Guildford Borough
The orchestra is grateful to the following for financial assistance:
B§
South East Arts Board
The Friends of Guildford Philharmonic
South East Music Trust
K
Musicians’ Union
The definitive biography of Herbert Howells, by Christopher Palmer, will be on sale tonight in the foyer.
Sir David Willcocks, President of the Herbert Howells Society, and the composer’s daughter, Ursula
Howells,
will be signing copies before the concert and in the interval.
KATHERINE TANSEY
JEREMY BACKHOUSE
Jeremy
Backhouse was
Canterbury
Cathedral
Head
and
Katherine Tansey was born in
Chorister at
later
studied
music at Liverpool University. He spent five
years as Music Editor at the Royal National
Institute
for the
music into
Blind,
Braille,
transcribing
before
moving to
EMI
Classics to work as a Literary Editor. Since
1990 he has been a Consultant Editor for EMI
and
other
musician.
companies,
In
1981
he
and
a
became
freelance
the
first
Conductor of the Vasari Singers, the chamber
choir which won the prestigious Sainsbury’s
Choir of the Year competition in 1988, and
which
has
recently
recorded
Herbert
Howells’s Requiem. From 1991 to 1995 he
was
Music
Director
of
Streatham
Choral
Society and the BBC Club Choir, conducting
many
of the
major works
of the
choral
repertoire.
In January 1995 he was appointed Chorus
Director of the Guildford Philharmonic Choir.
He works
regularly with
the
Kent Youth
Choir and Kent Youth Chamber Choir, with
whom he has recently toured in Italy. In April
1995 he conducted the BBC Singers for the
first time
in
a
programme
of
music
by
Lennox Berkeley broadcast on Radio 3, and
has
since
conducted
them
in
broadcast
programmes of Holst, Rubbra, Massenet and
Delibes.
Epsom and
grew up in Wimbledon. She read Music at
Selwyn
College,
leaving
has
Cambridge,
returned
concerts
there
Baroque
Soloists
to
with
and
and
since
perform
many
the
Cambridge
Cambridge
Classical
Orchestra.
She
performs
regularly
with
the
New
Chamber Opera and Bloomsbury Opera, and
she
has
just
understudied
the
role
of
Marzelline in Beethoven’s Leonore for John
Eliot Gardiner.
She
made
her debut as a
soloist at St John’s Smith Square in Fauré’s
Requiem and returned there this year to sing
in Mozart’s C Minor Mass. Recent concert
repertoire
Britten’s
War
Requiem, John Tavener’s Folksongs,
has
Bach’s
Magnificat,
included
Berlioz’s
Nuits
d’Eté
and
Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
Katherine Tansey studies with David Pollard
and has participated in Masterclasses given
by
James
Future
Bowman
Harmoniemesse
Bach’s
and
engagements
St
with
Matthew
Edmunds Bach Choir.
lan
Partridge.
include
York
Passion
Haydn’s
University
with
and
Bury
St
Teresa Shaw was born in London and studied
at
Manchester
Academy
of
University
Music,
and
winning
the
Royal
many
major
awards. Since completing her studies she has
developed a career in opera, oratorio and
recitals. During 1996 she made her debut
with English National Opera as Hope (Orfeo)
and at the BBC Proms (Stravinsky’s Cantata).
She appeared in John Woolrich’s opera The
House of Crossed Desires in Stuttgart, and in
Ariadne
auf
Shaw
premieres
has
and
Phoenix,
The
has
sung
Matrix
with
Electric
Ensemble,
Music
Contemporary
Music
Festival.
Her operatic repertoire is wideranging, and she has appeared with many
British opera companies including ENO,
Opera North, Opera Factory and Pimlico
She
Radio
3
Sorceress
broadcasts
and
recordings,
has
regularly
made
including
(Dido
Halifax,
music
at
Lancaster University he spent two years as a
Lay-Clerk
during
at
this
Christ
period
Church,
Oxford,
attended
and
masterclasses
His concert engagements have taken him
across the UK and Europe, and have included
Huddersfield
Opera.
in
reading
performed several world
Composer)
repertoire, and this autumn she will appear
the
After
given by Sir Peter Pears and furthered his
vocal studies with Rudolf Piernay.
(The
Projects London and Vocem in contemporary
at
Yorkshire.
at
Naxos
Castleward Opera.
Teresa
Andrew Murgatroyd was born
West
&
the
a
for
number
role
BBC
of
of
the
Aeneas) and
the
Liebeslieder Waltzes for John Eliot Gardiner.
The Dream of Gerontius, Mozart's Requiem,
Haydn’s The Seasons, Sir Michael Tippett's A
Child of Our Time, and the Evangelist in
Bach’s
St
John
frequently
at
Passion.
the
He
has
appeared
BBC Proms,
including
works by John Tavener, Teixeira and Weill.
Recordings
include
Beethoven’s
Missa
Solemnis
and
Ninth
Symphony
and
Monteverdi’'s Vespers with The Sixteen Choir
and Orchestra.
Forthcoming
Christmas
engagements
Oratorio
in
Mozart’s
Coronation
Flanders
Philharmonic
include
Oslo
Mass with
Bach’s
Cathedral,
the
Orchestra,
Royal
Elgar’s
Dream of Gerontius in Wells Cathedral,
concerts of music by Bach in Israel with the
Gabrieli Consort, and a Christmas Gala
concert in the Royal Festival Hall.
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
The Guildford Philharmonic Choir is delighted
to announce that Sir David Willcocks, this
country’s most distinguished choral conductor,
has agreed to be its new President, and is
particularly
evening,
pleased
giving
the
that
he
is
here
pre-concert
this
talk
as
President of the Herbert Howells Society.
The
Guildford
Philharmonic
Choir
was
formed by Guildford Borough in order to
perform the major choral repertoire with the
Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra. As well as
performing well-known
choral works,
the
choir specialises in 20th-century, particularly
British, music. It has recorded Gerald Finzi's
Intimations
of
Immortality
with
the
Guildford Philharmonic and Patrick Hadley’s
The Trees So High with the Philharmonia
Orchestra,
both
recordings
conducted
by
Vernon Handley.
The choir has worked with many eminent
conductors, and as well as giving concerts in
Guildford,
Colin
Campbell was born
studied at the Royal
in
London and
Northern College of
it
visits
other
British
cities.
Guildford is twinned with Freiburg, and in
1990
the
choir
joined
forces
with
the
Music. He has appeared as a soloist through-
Freiburger
Bachchor
out the UK and also in numerous festivals on
continent and in the Far East. His
operatic repertoire is extensive, having sung
principal roles with English Touring Opera,
Pavilion Opera and The English Bach Festival.
He has
broadcast on RTE Television, BBC
TV and Radios 2 and 3. His discography
includes recordings on the Hyperion, Decca,
Naxos and Philips labels.
and
in
Tonight’s performance is conducted by the
Recent concert engagements have included
Guildford
the
the Messiah with Christopher Hogwood and
the
Academy
Musgrave’s
of
Ancient
Music,
Thea
Wild Winter with viol consort
Fretwork, and appearances with the King'’s
Consort at the Wigmore Hall and the BBC
Proms — the latter in Handel's Deborah. He
has
sung the
bass solos
in
Monteverdi’s
Vespers in Cremona and Milan with John
Eliot Gardiner and The Voice of Christ in
John
Tavener's
The
World
is
Burning,
recorded by Philips Classics. Recent projects
have
included
Amsterdam,
engagements
New
Compostela and Lille.
York,
in
Salzburg,
Santiago
de
then
in
Freiburg
November
1993
Munster,
gave
an
outstanding performance of Britten’s War
Requiem with them under Neville Creed.
choir’'s Chorus Director, Jeremy Backhouse,
who was appointed to the post in January
1995.
The
choir’s
next
major concert with
Philharmonic
is
on
the
Saturday 8
March 1997 in Guildford Cathedral in a
performance of Rachmaninov’s The Bells. If
you would like more details about singing in
the choir, please telephone: 01932 221918.
VISIONS OF PARADISE
As the title of this concert implies, the music
we are to hear tonight is concerned with
Paradise. In each case, the hope of Paradise,
of a heavenly life after the earthly, is the
succour to violent or tragic death. A personal
tragedy
in the life of each composer has
contributed to a greater or lesser extent to
the
powerful
impact of the three works.
Poulenc portrays a group of Carmelite nuns
going
to
France,
the
guillotine
singing
in
gloriously
Revolutionary
of
the
divine
rewards soon to be enjoyed; Szymanowski
uses the familiar Stabat Mater text, telling of
the Virgin Mary weeping at the foot of the
Cross, to create an image of celestial peace
after death; and Howells reacts to the loss of
his nine-year-old son by creating a highly
personal
musical
document
depicting
the
eternal light of heaven.
FRANCIS POULENC
(1899-1963)
Born of wealthy parents, Poulenc was largely self-taught as a composer. He had
received piano
lessons from his mother from the age of five and in 1915 studied piano
with Ricardo Vines,
the friend and champion of the music of Debussy and Ravel; beyond that, he had
little formal
musical education. Two years later he achieved notoriety with his first
published work
Rapsodie Négre, influenced strongly by the aesthetic and music
of Eric Satie. In 1920 he
attached himself to the avant-garde group of young composers known
as Les Six, and soon
gained entry to the elite of Parisian cultural society. He produced a number
of witty and
acerbic works, including in 1923 the ballet Les Biches for Diaghilev, the Concert
Champétre
for Harpsichord and Orchestra (1928), the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra
a great number of masterly songs.
(1932), and
The death in a motor accident of his close friend Pierre-Octave Ferroud in 1935
prompted a
personal crisis, a return to the Catholic Faith and the composition of many
sacred pieces or
works on a religious theme. Although he continued to write high-spirit
ed and witty secular
music, the sacred compositions that followed were highly-charged and
successfully combined
a new-found profundity with the popular style of his earlier works.
A large number of a
cappella choral works, the Mass in G (1937), the Stabat Mater (1950),
and the Gloria (1959) are
amongst the sacred music that Poulenc himself considered to be
his most lasting musical
achievement.
Choral Scenes from ‘Dialogues des Carmélites’
In 1953 the publishers Ricordi suggested to Poulenc that he write a ballet
for La Scala, Milan
on the subject of St Margaret of Cortona. His response was less than enthusiastic;
however, his
request for an opera libretto brought the suggestion back that the play by Georges Bernanos,
Dialogues des Carmélites, might be suitable. Poulenc had read and seen the play twice, and
began composition in August 1953. He became almost obsessed with the work and suffered
a number of crises throughout its composition: there were difficulties over the rights for the
Carmélites libretto; the power of the story, in particular the death of the elderly Prioress who
agonisingly loses faith at the point of death, profoundly affected Poulenc, and ultimately, his
health suffered. Depression followed and work on the opera came to a halt. He returned to
it early in 1955, after a spell in a clinic, completed the orchestration in 1956 and it was given
its first performance in La Scala on 26 January 1957.
The
action
is
set
in
Paris
1789,
during
revolutionary times. Although the opera is
ostensibly
concerned
Carmelite
nuns
revolutionary
with
who,
the
group
of
the
face
of
persecution,
martyrdom
rather
faith,
underlying
the
in
than
accept
renounce
message
their
is
the
conquering of fear and the attainment of
grace,
as
portrayed
in
particular
by
one
nun, Sister Blanche. Born of a noble family,
she spends her life in fear of fear. At the
outset,
she
informs
her
father
of
her
decision to join the order of Carmelite nuns
in
order
streets.
to
She
escape
the
is warned
violence
by the
interview that the convent should
regarded
as
a
withdrawal
on
the
Prioress at
not be
from
an
aggressive world, that with membership of
the order come responsibilities to God and
the family of nuns.
In the suite that has been assembled for this performance, a brief orchestral fanfare, taken
from the second scene of Act |, introduces us to the convent and the nuns. We then move to
Act Il: the nuns have assembled in their chapel to pay obedience to the new Prioress. She has
addressed them and stressed the importance of prayer. We join the action as Mére Marie
suggests to the other nuns, following the wishes of their new Prioress, that they should kneel
and pray. Together they sing the Ave Maria. Later in the same act, the chaplain tells the nuns
that he has been forbidden by the Legislative Assembly to celebrate Mass. The Mass they have
just received will have been their last. They kneel and sing the Ave verum corpus. Following
this extract, the story proceeds with the nuns deciding to accept martyrdom in preference to
renouncing God. At this Blanche flees in fright, leaving her colleagues to certain arrest and
death. We rejoin the action in the final scene of the opera. The nuns are brought to the Place
de la Révolution for public execution, watched by a large crowd. Singing the Salve Regina,
they are guillotined one by one. Their fear of death is conquered by their expectation of
paradisiacal grace. As the last of the nuns prepares for the guillotine, Blanche pushes through
the crowd and joins her, going fearlessly to her death.
i)
Prelude (Acte |, Tableau Il)
ii)
Ave Maria (Acte ll, Tableau Il)
Mere Marie
Mother Marie
Mes soeurs, Sa Révérence vient de nous dire
My Sisters, Her Reverence has explained to
gue notre premier devoir est la priere.
us that our most important duty is to pray.
Conformons-nous donc, non seulement
Let us obey, not only with our tongues but
de bouche, mais de coeur, aux volontés de
with our hearts, the noble precepts of
Sa Révérence.
our Reverend Mother.
Meére Marie, La priére, Les carmélites
Mother Marie, Prioress, Carmelites
Ave Maria. Gratia plena.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
Dominus tecum.
the Lord is with thee.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Blessed art thou amongst women,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesu.
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Sancta Maria. Mater Dei.
Holy Mary, Mother of God
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus nunc
pray for us sinners, now
et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
and at the hour of our death. Amen.
iii) Prelude - Ave verum corpus (Acte Il, Tableau 1V)
L’aumoénier
Mes cheres filles, ce que j'ai a vous dire
n’est plus un secret pour certaines d’entre vous.
Je suis relevé de mes fonctions et proscrit.
Cette messe que je viens de dire est la dernieére.
Le tabernacle est vide.
&
Maria of Agreda
Je répéete aujourd’hui le geste
| partake today of the grief
de nos premiers péres chrétiens.
of our early Christian fathers.
Ce jour est un grand jour pour le Carmel.
Today is a great day for Carmel.
Adieu, je vous bénis.
Goodbye; | give you my blessing.
Nous allons chanter ensemble.
We will now sing together.
L’aumoénier, Les carmélites
The Chaplain, Carmelites
Ave verum corpus natum
Hail true body born
Ex Maria Virgine.
Of the Virgin Mary.
Vere passum immolatum
which truly suffered and was sacrificed
In cruce pro homine.
on the cross for man.
Cujus latus perforatum
Whose pierced side
Unda fluxit et sanguine.
flowed with a wave of blood.
Esto nobis praegustatum
May we have tasted of you
Mortis in examine.
when we come to the hour of death.
O clemens! O pie!
O Merciful One! O Pure One!
O Jesu Fili Mariae. Amen.
O Jesu, Son of Mary. Amen.
iv) Prelude - Finale (Acte lll, Tableau IV)
La foule
The crowd
Oh! Oh!
Oh! Oh!
Les carmélites
Carmelites
Salve Regina,
Hail, O Queen,
Mater misericordiae,
Merciful Mother
vita dulcedo
Our life, our sweetness
et spes nostra, salve.
Our hope, hail!
Ad te clamamus,
To you we cry out
exsules fili Hevae.
We children of Eve in exile.
To you we sigh
Moaning and weeping
Ad te suspiramus
gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.
In this vale of tears.
Eia ergo Advocata nostra,
O you, our advocate
illos tuos misericordes oculos
Turn towards us
ad nos converte.
Your merciful gaze.
Et Jesum benedictum
And let us see Jesus, the blessed
fructum ventris tui
Fruit of your womb
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende,
When our exile is over,
O clemens, O pia,
O dulcis Virgo Maria.
O Merciful One, O Pure One,
O Sweet Virgin Mary.
Constance
Constance
O clemens, O pia,
O Merciful One, O Pure One,
O dulcis Virgo Ma ...
O Sweet Virgin Ma ...
Blanche
Blanche
Deo Patri sit gloria
To God the Father be glory
Et Filio qui a mortuis
And to the Son who rose
Surrexit ac Paraclito
From the dead to the Holy Ghost,
In saeculorum saecula,
World without end,
In saeculorum ...
World without ...
KAROL SZYMANOWSKI
(1882-1937)
Born in the Ukraine of wealthy landow
ner
parents,
Szymanowski
is
regarded
as
the
greatest Polish composer since Chopin
. Both
his parents were musical and he studje
d
piano privately from an early age, entering
the Warsaw Conservatoire in 1901: twenty
six
years later, he was to be appointed
Principal, a post he held for only two years.
After
the
First
World
War,
the
Russian
Revolution brought financial hardship
from
which he never recovered. During the last
years of his life he suffered seriously
from
tuberculosis; he died in Lausanne aged fifty-
four.
Perhaps understandably, his early works
show strong influence of Chopin, but
his
output also declares a debt to Beetho
ven,
Wagner,
Richard
Stravinsky.
He
songs and
a
Strauss
wrote
cappella
and,
later,
piano
music,
choral works,
but is
much
perhaps best known today for his sympho
nic
repertoire and large-scale choral output
first of his two Violin Concertos and the
. The
third
of his three Symphonies - ‘Song of the Night’
- have found particular favour recently.
Karol Szymanowski (centre)
STABAT MATER
In 1924, while in Paris, Szymanowski receiv
ed a commission from the Princesse de
Polignac for
a work for chorus and orchestra with
soloists. He had wanted to write a work
with a
distinctive Polish flavour and began by lookin
g at poets such as Kochanowski and Miecie
wicz.
Research on the project continued apace,
focusing on the idea of “some kind of
‘Peasants’
Requiem’ - something peasant and ecclesi
astical ... a sort of prayer for souls”.
Two deaths
finally concentrated his mind on the work:
the first was the tragic passing of his young
niece Alusia Bartoszewicz, the second
the demise of the wife of a leadin
g Polish
industrialist, Dr Bronislaw Krystall. The text
on which Szymanowski eventually decide
d was the
mediev
al Latin Stabat Mater poem by Jacopo
ne da Todi: for performances within Poland
however, the composer was insistent that
the Polish translation by Czeslaw Janows
ki should
be used. In translating the Latin into Polish,
Szymanowski set out to make the grief
of the
Virgin Mary symbolic of the suffering of
the people of his native country. Indeed
much of the
tonality of the melodic material is strong
ly reminiscent of the modal character
of Polish
folk song.
The work was finished in March 1926 and
given its first performance in January 1929
with the
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and
chorus conducted by Grzegorz Fitelbe
rg. One of the
soloists at that first performance was the
mother of the niece, Alusia. Szymanowsk
i divides the
poem into six parts, each with its own distinc
tive mood and culminating in a sublime
musical
vision
at the words (in translation): “When this
earthly frame is riven, grant that to my
soul
be given all the joys of Paradise”.
l.
Stabat Mater dolorosa
Juxta crucem lacrimosa,
Dum pendebat filius.
Mother bowed with grief appalling
must thou watch, with tears slow falling,
on the cross Thy dying Son!
Cuius animam gementem,
Contristatam et dolentem,
Pertransivit gladius.
Through her soul, of joy bereaved,
Bowed with anguish, deeply grieved,
Now at length the sword hath passed.
O quam tristis et afflicta
Fuit illa benedicta
Mater Unigeniti.
Oh, how mournful and oppressed
was that Mother ever-blessed,
Mother of the Spotless One:
Quae moerebat et dolebat,
Pia Mater, dum videbat
Nati poenas incliti.
She, whose grieving was perceiving,
contemplating, unabating,
all the anguish of her Son!
Quis est homo, qui non fleret,
Matrem Christi si videret
Is there any, tears withholding,
Christ’s dear Mother thus beholding,
In tanto supplicio?
in woe - like no other woe?
Quis non posset contristari,
Christi Matrem contemplari
Dolentem cum filio?
Who that would not grief be feeling
for that Holy Mother kneeling what suffering was ever so?
Pro peccatis suae gentis
Vidit Jesum in tormentis
Et flagellis subditum.
For the sins of every nation
she beheld his tribulation,
given to scourgers for a prey:
Vidit suum dulcem Natum
Moriendo desolatum,
Dum emisit spiritum.
saw her Jesus foully taken,
languishing, by all forsaken,
when his spirit passed away.
L.
Eja, Mater, fons amoris.
Me sentire vim doloris
Fac, ut tecum lugeam.
Love's sweet fountain, Mother tender,
haste this hard heart, soft to render,
make me sharer in Thy pain.
Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
In amando Christum Deum,
Ut sibi complaceam.
Fire me now with zeal so glowing,
love so rich to Jesus flowing,
that | favour may obtain.
Sancta Mater, istud agas,
Crucifixi fige plagas,
Cordi meo valide.
Holy Mother, | implore Thee,
Crucify this heart before Thee Guilty it is verily!
Tui Nati vulnerati,
Tam dignati pro me pati,
By Thy glorious Death and Passion,
Saving me in wondrous fashion,
Saviour, turn my heart to Thee.
Poenas mecum divide.
V.
Fac me vere tecum flere,
Crucifixo condolere,
Donec ego vixero.
In Thy keeping, watching, weeping,
by the cross may | unsleeping
live and sorrow for His sake.
Juxta crucem tecum stare,
Te libenter sociare
In planctu desidero.
Close to Jesus, with Thee kneeling,
all Thy dolours with Thee feeling,
oh grant this - the prayer | make.
V.
Virgo virginum praeclara,
Mihi jam non sis amara,
Maid immaculate, excelling,
peerless one, in heaven high dwelling,
Fac me tecum plangere.
make me truly mourn with Thee.
Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,
Passionis fac consortem
Make me of Thy death the bearer,
In Thy Passion be a sharer,
Et plagas recolere.
Fac me plagis vulnerari,
Cruce hac inebriari
Taking to myself Thy pain.
Let me with Thy stripes be stricken!
Let Thy Cross with hope me quicken,
Ob amorem Filii.
That | thus Thy love may gain.
Inflammatus et accensus,
Thus inspired and affected
Pet te, Virgo, sim defensus
In die judicii.
let me, Virgin, be protected
when sounds forth the call for me!
VI.
Fac me cruce custodiri,
Morte Christi praemuniri,
May his sacred cross defend me,
he who died there so befriend me,
Confoveri gratia.
that His pardon shall suffice.
Quando corpus morietur,
When this earthly frame is riven,
Fac, ut animae donetur
Paradisi gloria.
Amen.
grant that to my soul be given
all the joys of Paradise!
Amen.
HERBERT HOWELLS
(1892-1983)
Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucestershire
of humble but musical parents. The young
Herbert
very
soon
showed
aptitude
an
for
music
and
the
by
unusual
age of
thirteen was receiving piano lessons from
the revered Herbert Brewer, Organist of
Gloucester Cathedral. By 1911 he had tired
of Brewer and decided he would move to
London to study with C.V. Stanford. By now
he was composing avidly and absorbing
the cathedral choral tradition that was to
shape so much of his music and career. In
1912
he
won
a
scholarship
to
the
he
continued
Royal
College of Music and by 1920 was teaching
composition
there
-
a
task
into his eightieth year. In 1936 he succeeded
Holst as Director of Music at St Paul’s Girls’
School in London, a post he held until 1962.
In 1950 he became the King Edward VI
Professor of Music at London University. He was made a CBE in 1953 and a Companion of
Honour in 1972.
Howells will be remembered principally for his unparalleled contribution to the music of the
Anglican choral tradition. Many are the settings of the Evening Service, each composed with
a specific building and choir in mind; equally numerous are the anthems, motets and carols
that are the mainstay of most cathedral, church and chamber choirs. More recently we have
come to know, through the foresight of recording companies (one in particular), much of his
output for chorus and orchestra (Stabat Mater, Missa Sabrinensis), his orchestral work
(especially fine is the Elegy for solo Viola, String Quartet and Strings, written in memory of a
friend fallen in the First World War), and his not inconsiderable contribution to the solo song
and chamber repertoire. His music is suffused throughout with honesty and craftsmanship, yet
through his strong harmonic and polyphonic style, he attains immediacy and luminosity.
HYMNUS PARADISI
The words of the composer himself on his masterpiece serve better than most. | quote
extensively and without apology. In a talk broadcast on the BBC on 5 December 1968 Howells
described Hymnus Paradisi:
“It's none too easy to speak objectively and with appropriate reticence about a work of one’s
own, if and when its origin is of a very personal nature. The Requiem | call Hymnus Paradisi
for two soloists, chorus and orchestra is of that kind.
The sudden loss, in 1935, of an only son - a
loss essentially profound and, in its very
nature, beyond argument - might at any
time be of such impact as to impel a
composer, after a time, to seek release and
consolation in language and terms nearest
and most personal to him. Music might well
have power beyond any other medium to
offer that release and comfort. It did so in my
case.
From the first, what | then composed became
a personal, private document. For text |
sought immemorial prose. At the outset, and
at the end, | used only two sentences from
the Latin Requiem Mass, knowing that one
of them - ‘et lux perpetua luceat eis’ - would
govern the work: especially that one word
‘lux’ - light. Light, indeed, touches all but one
of the six movements. ‘Blessed are the dead’
alone stands outside, and yet is in sight of,
that same light; and even the gravest verse
Michael Howells
of the 23rd Psalm reflects it. And the
movement in which | combine ‘Sanctus’ with
‘I will lift up mine eyes’ blazes with it. For an
ending | had still to summon, if | could, an
even more intense degree of the work’s pervasive radiance. | searched a long time for a verbal
text that would serve that purpose - and for a long time | was baffled. Then my friend Sir
Thomas Armstrong found what | had been looking for. Gratefully, I still read the letter in
which Sir Thomas, in his beautiful handwriting, wrote out the text of ‘Holy is the true light’,
found in the Salisbury Diurnal and again at the end of Robert Bridges’ The Spirit of Man.
Hymnus Paradisi was finished
twelve
years
originally
more
wished
it
in
1938.
it
remained
to
be
-
a
For
what
|
personal,
almost secret document. But in 1950 Ralph
Vaughan Williams asked to see the work,
and he insisted upon my releasing it. So, in
that
same vyear,
| conducted
its first
performance at the Gloucester Three Choirs
Festival:
on
the
death
of
whose
memory
15th
Michael
Anniversary
Kendrick
it was composed,
whom it is dedicated.”
Recent
research
shows
of
Howells
that
the
-
in
and to
on
two
points from the above, more light can be
cast.
Firstly,
it
is
now
known
that
substantial parts of the work were written
before the death of his son, being based
on the Short Requiem by Walford Davies,
drawn together in his a cappella
Requiem (not released for performance or
publication by the composer until 1980).
and
Secondly,
the
the
Hymnus
Vaughan
initiative for the
release
Paradisi
not
came
of
from
Williams
but
from
Herbert
Sumsion and Gerald Finzi. (For a full discussion of the
composition of this work and a
thoroughly
fascinating study of the composer, his work, writings
and much more
besides, refer to Christopher Palmer’s excellent “Herbert Howells - A
Celebration”, published
by Thames).
A more analytical note by the composer appeared in the
programme for the concert (the first
performance) in Gloucester Cathedral on 7 September 1950,
from which the following is
extracted:
“Hymnus Paradisi is a setting of Latin and English texts,
most of them well known, and all
appropriate to the mood of a Requiem. It began in a setting
of a Medieval Latin poem by
Prudentius (348-c.405) - the ‘Hymnus circa exseqgiuas defuncti’.
In the present work that poem
has no place, except that its first two lines form the dedicatio
n to one whose early death was
the origin of the composition.
The Prudentius setting was the first part of a five-movement
Sequence for unaccompanied
voices: a Requiem by nature, but not ritualistic. Out of that
Sequence has grown the present
choral-orchestral version. The actual lines of Prudentius are excluded.
Much of the music, and
their temper and mood, are retained. A setting of Psalm 23 (Moveme
nt Ill) is also here. To its
accompaniment is added one of the three or four themes
that have place in all but the fifth
movement. Movements IV and V are also derived
directly and extensively from the earlier
Sequence. Movement VI was from the first, essentially choral-orc
hestral. Its scope and style
required a similar medium for the work as a whole. There
were added essential parts for two
soloists (Soprano and Tenor). But the chorus itself is the predomin
ant factor.
Hymnus Paradisi comprises two parts. Part One (Movemen
ts |, Il and Ill) is unbroken, and is
contemplative. Part Two (Movements IV, V and VI) is
built of three separate
mainly
movements. It ends with a briefly restored initial mood
(‘Requiem aeternam’) and is at a more
active level, despite the tranquillity of Movement V and the
ultimate quietude in the last
pages.”
These personal thoughts on his work are of course uniquely fascinating, but what they
modestly fail to say is that the work is a masterpiece of the twentieth-century choralorchestral repertoire, that his personal vision of paradise radiates light and wonder, and,
although a memorial to his son, exudes a matchless optimism. In the words of Christopher
Palmer, it is a “song of joy, of victory, of celebration, of Life”.
I
Preludio -
Il
Requiem aeternam -
Requiem aeternam
Et lux perpetua luceat eis
Il
Grant unto them eternal rest,
and may perpetual light shine upon them.
The Lord is my Shepherd
The Lord is my Shepherd: therefore can | lack nothing.
He shall feed me in a green pasture: and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.
He shall convert my soul: and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness.
Yea, though | walk through the valley of the shadow of death, | will fear no evil:
thy rod and staff comfort me.
Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me:
thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
But thy loving kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and | will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
IV
Sanctus - | will lift up mine eyes
Sanctus, santus, sanctus,
Holy, holy, holy,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Lord God of Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.
| will lift up mine eyes unto the hills: from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh even from the Lord: who hath made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: and he that keepeth thee will not sleep.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel: shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord himself is thy keeper: the Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand;
So that the sun shall not burn thee by day: neither the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in: from this time forth for evermore.
V
| heard a voice from heaven
| heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, write.
From henceforth blessed are the dead which die in the Lord:
even so saith the Spirit; for they rest from their labours.
VI
Holy is the true light
Holy is the true light, and passing wonderful, lending radiance to them that endured in the
heat of the conflict: from Christ they inherit a home of unfading splendour, wherein they
rejoice with gladness evermore. Alleluia.
Requiem aeternam,
Rest eternal,
Requiem dona eis sempiternam.
Grant them everlasting rest.
Notes © Jeremy Backhouse, 1996
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
EN SHAO - Principal Conductor
First Violins
Violas
Hugh Bean
Piccolo
John Meek
Horns
Simon Hunt
Kevin Elliott
Emma Ramsdale
Jane Hanna
Manon Morris
John Ludlow
Justin Ward
Sheila Beckensall
Prunella Sedgwick
Alex Suttie
Peter Newman
Anne Rycroft
Oboes
Jean Burt
Vicky Walpole
Paul Appleyard
Neil Black
Richard Hoad
Alison Taylor
Piano
Karen Demmel
Martin Palmer
Harps
John Forster
Avril Maclennan
Fiona McNaught*
Ellen Jackson
Cor Anglais
Wendy Andrews
Trumpets
Caroline Marwood
Percussion
Gareth Bimson
Rosemary Van Der Werff
Cellos
Clarinets
Christopher Nall
Nigel Shipway
Martin Robinson
Hale Hambleton
Phillip Augar
Ginny Wray
Second Violins
Nicholas Maxted Jones
Rosemary Roberts
John Stilwell
Michael Ronayne
Victor Slaymark
John Hursey
Bass Clarinet
John Kirby
Duncan Moulton**
Peter Hembrough
Andy Hendrie
Bill Stokes
Trombones
Jeremy Gough
Stephen Pierce
Bassoons
Ruth Dawson
Ruth Knell
Basses
Brent Snell
Peter Hamilton Box
Richard Skinner
Maurice Neal
Catherine Belton
Stephen Bentley-Klein
Anna Meadows
Matthew Coman
Cathy Ricketts
Anthony Short
Tim Wilford
Nicola Goold
Bass Trombone
Music
Martin Nicholls
Administrator
Peter Holt
Tuba
Contra Bassoon
Rebecca Menday
General Manager
David Hissey
Stephen Wick
Secretary
Shirley Ewen
Timpani
Roger Blair
Flutes
South East Music
Trust
Kate Hill
* Friends’ Sponsored Player 96/97
** Friends’ Sponsored Player 95/96
Nick Bomford
Anna Pyne
If you would like further information about the work of the Guildford
Philharmonic or if you are
interested in sponsorship opportunities please contact the Guildford
Philharmonic office on 01483 444666.
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
Sopranos
Joan Robinson
Jacqueline Alderton
Dawn Smith*
Kathleen Aldridge
Olivia Ames-Lewis*
Judy Smith
Noreen Ayton*
Carol Terry
Louise Barnfield
Kathy Stickland
Sally Wallington
Mary Clayton
Valerie Edwards
Celia Embleton
Jana Stepankova
~
Mandy Freeman
Rebecca Greenwood
Liz Hamilton
Hilary Trigg*
June Windle
Maralyn Wong
Beatrice Wood
Penny Baxter
Enid Weston
Sally Bayton*
Ingrid Hardiman
Tessa Wilkinson*
Christine Wilks
Tenors
Jo Harman
Pamela Harman
Douglas Cook
Elaine Chapman
Susan Hinton*
Barbara Williams
Elisabeth Willis*
Carol Hobbs
Lucinda Wilson
Nora Kennea
Sheila Hodson
Frances Worpe*
Bob Cowell
Leslie Harfield*
Andrew Reid
Chris Robinson
Helen Lavin
John Trigg
Sandra Docker
Rachel Edmondson*
Barbara Lack
Lucy Hatcher
Kay McManus
Maggie van Koetsveld
Michael Dawe
Michael Dudley
Terence Ellis
Geoffrey Forster
Michael Golden
Nick Gough*
Peter Herbert
Laurie James*
Michael Jeffery
Stephen Jepson
Don Kennedy
Tony Macklow-Smith
Neil Martin
Maxwell New*
Judith Lewy
Altos
Margaret Mackie
Marion Arbuckle
Jacqueline Norman
Sally Bailey*
Susan Norton*
Brenda Moore
Iris Ball
Basses
Jean Munro
Peter Allen
David Ross*
Peter Andrews
John Schlotel
Charlotte Onslow
Robin Onslow
Penny Overton
Margaret Parry
Jessica Pires
Evelyn Beastall
Iris Bennett
Tamsin Bennetts
Christine Medlow*
Mary Moon
Sue Oldroyd
Nikki Paige
Anne Philps*
Jane Brooks
Lesley Scordellis
Jean Brown
Catherine Shacklady
Rosalind Plowright*
Susan Ranft
Barbara Buck
Juliet Butler
Gillian Sharpe
Gillian Rix
Amanda Clayton*
Rosemary Smith
Prue Smith*
Jeni Young*
Barry Norman
John Parry
Roger Barrett
Roger Penny
Philip Stanford
John Britten
Keith Torbet
Norman Carpenter
Ralph Whitehouse
Walter Chattaway
Neil Clayton*
Rodney Cuff*
Philip Davies
(*Semi-chorus)
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS by the GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC
Sunday 24 November 1996
Saturday 14 December 1996
at 3.00pm
at 7.30pm
Civic Hall, Guildford
Civic Hall, Guildford
East Meets West
The Crossley Clitheroe
Concert
Duo Ye Chen Yi
Violin Concerto
He Zhan Hao
(Butterfly Lovers)
& Chen Gang
Egmont Overture Beethoven
Violin Concerto Beethoven
Enigma Variations Elgar
Symphony No. 2 Brahms
Siquing Lu Violin
Mirijam Contzen Violin
En Shao Conductor
James Lockhart Conductor
Tickets from £7.00 available from the
Civic Hall Box Office (01483 444555)
FRIENDS OF
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC
Join the Friends of Guildford Philharmonic and help to support
young orchestral players at the outset of their careers.
Each year, for the past six years, the Friends have sponsored a
new string player in the orchestra for a whole season, giving
him or her the opportunity to gain valuable experience working
with a professional orchestra. The Friends would be delighted to
hear from anyone who would like to contribute towards the
scholarship, and to find cut more about this, and other aspects
of the work of the Friends, please contact:
Norman Carpenter, Chairman,
Friends of Guildford Philharmonic
01483 714634
Secielly
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bouquets to this seasons soloists
Secretts Flower Shop for stunningly orchestrated flower arrangements
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Secretts — on the Milford to Godalming Road just outside Milford
Telephone: 01483 427971
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Telephone: 01463 422459
Mon—Fri 9.15-5.15, Sat 9-5.30
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC
University of Surrey
r—%;\ @47
Promoting Excellence in Education and Research
The Department promotes regular concerts,
celebrity recitals, masterclasses and workshops,
all of which are open to the public.
Major diary dates for the 1996-97 academic year:
IN THE ARTS
& HUMANITIES
3 October, 19 January, 11 July (with Jack Brymer)
Medici String Quartet
24 October, 4 May
can now be pursued at
university level through
Nikolai Demidenko, piano
the University of Surrey’s
24 November, 15 February (Guildford Cathedral)
open-access, part-time and
occasional courses
University Symphony Orchestra & Choir
13 December (Holy Trinity Church)
University Chamber Orchestra
Wednesday Lunchtime Recitals
weekly student performances during semesters,
starting at 1.15 pm (admission free).
Please call the Department for further details
or if you would like to be placed on our mailing list:
‘.(";V’v
For details please ring the
S, N} ;.‘ 5
Centre for Continuing Education
N3
N
4
01483-259752
11y xS
Promoting excellence in teaching and research
01483 259317
BURCHATTS
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AWARD WINNING RESTORED
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mail ordering service.
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= 300 different types of
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= Instrument repair service.
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*Helpful customer service is our speciality*
For full details on Burchatts Farm Barn contact
Miss] Boothroyde
Guildford Borough Council, Millmead House, Millmead,
Guildford, Surrey GU2 5BB. Telephone 01483 — 444701
Tel: 01932 351165 (24 Hrs) / 351614
G
Mail Order Music: 3 Claremont Road, West Byfleet, Surrey KT14 6DY
=
and 136 George Lane, South Woodford, London E18 1AY Tel: 0181 530 6432
Tel: 01932 354898 (24 Hrs)
CUILDFORD
B
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UG
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Borax Europe, which has recently transposed its operations
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solicitors
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