Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens
Elgar: Sea Rictures, The Music Makers
Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music,
The Lark Ascending
Vivace
Chorus
2
4
Saturday
e1UN\"F-1{d WrTeley
7.30pm Guildford Cathedral
Vivace Chorus was formerly Guildford Philharmonic Choir
ANNA ARTHUR & ASSOCIATES
SOLICITORS
EVERY SUCCESS FOR THIS EVENING
FIERI FACIAS HOUSE, HIGH STREET
RIPLEY, SURREY GU23 6AF
TEL: 01483 222499 — FAX: 01483 222766
- Vivace
Chorus
'The Music Makers'
Parry
Blest Pair of Sirens
Elgar
Sea Pictures
Vaughan Williams
Serenade to Music
Vaughan Williams
The Lark Ascending
Elgar
The Music Makers
Susanna Spicer
Mezzo-soprano
Mihkel Kerem
Violin
Brandenburg Sinfonia
conductor
Jeremy Backhouse
Vivace Chorus
PRE-CONCERT TALK
Parry, Elgar, Vaughan Williams and the
English Musical Renaissance
This will start at 6.30pm in the Chapter House of the Cathedral. The
speaker will be Martin Hall. Martin received his musical training at the
Royal Academy of Music and New College, Oxford. His musical career
has included the positions of Director of Music at Truro Cathedral
School and chorus master to Richard Hickox. Martin is active as a
continuo player and, last year, his academic career took him back to
New College. This included directing the famous chapel choir. Among
his musical passions is that for 20th century English music.
Please note: Members of the audience who wish to attend can reserve
their seats for the concert beforehand, in the Cathedral. The talk should
finish at 7.10pm, allowing time to order refreshments etc.
Charles Hubert Hastmgs Parry (1848— 1918)
Born into a wealthy Victorian family, Parry first
took music lessons while a student at Eton. His
talent was such that he was awarded a Bachelor
of Music degree from Oxford aged 18. He
published his first orchestral work in 1878 (Piano
Concerto in F# Minor), and went on to compose
a wide variety of works: oratorios, librettos,
chamber pieces, cantatas, odes, choral works
and solo songs. Among the most famous of his
works, in addition to tonight's piece, are the
anthem [ was glad, the Songs of Farewell and
especially Jerusalem.
In 1883, Parry became a teacher at the Royal College of Music; he rose
to be its second director, 1894 — 1918. During this period, he published
several books, including The Art of Music (1893 & 1896) and The Music
of the Seventeenth Century (1902). As scholar, teacher and composer,
Parry had a great influence on the English musical renaissance of the
late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially as, in his teaching role, he
came into contact with so many of the next generation of composers.
4
Vivace Chorus
He was regarded as a kindly man, beloved of his students and respected
for his integrity by his colleagues and contemporaries.
Parry was knighted in 1898 and made a baronet in 1903, but despite his
achievements, much of his music remains sadly neglected, being
overshadowed by works of better-known contemporaries and successors
such as Elgar and Vaughan Williams.
Blest Pair of Sirens
Blest Pair of Sirens is a setting of At a Solemn Music by the English poet
John Milton (1608
— 1674), which exalts the twin muses of Voice and
Verse. Parry wrote the piece in 1887 and dedicated it to Stanford.
At a Solemn Music (1633 — 34)
Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heaven's joy,
Sphere-born harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse,
Wed your divine sounds, and mixt pow'r employ,
Dead things with inbreathed sense able to pierce;
And to our high-raised phantasy present
That undisturbed song of pure concent,
Aye sung before the sapphire-coloured throne
To him that sits thereon,
With saintly shout and solemn jubilee;
Where the bright Seraphim, in burning row,
Their loud, uplifted angel-trumpets blow,
And the Cherubic host in thousand quires
Touch their immortal harps of golden wires,
With those just spirits, that wear victorious palms,
Hymns devout and holy psalms
Singing everlastingly.
That we on Earth with undiscording voice,
May
rightly answer that melodious noise;
As once we did, till disproportioned sin
Jarr'd against Nature's chime, and with harsh din
Broke the fair music that all creatures made
To their great Lord, whose love their motion swayed
In perfect diapason, whilst they stood
In first obedience, and their state of good.
O may we soon again renew that song
And keep in tune with Heaven, till God ere long
To his celestial consort us unite,
To live with him and sing in endless morn of light!
Vivace Chorus
5
Edward Elgar (1857 — 1934)
.
?
Elgar was arguably the leading English composer
of his generation and a significant figure among
late Romantic European musicians. Born in
Worcester in 1857, the son of a piano-tuner and
owner of a music shop, he earned his earlier
living as an organist, violinist and teacher in his
own part of the country. After his marriage in
1889, Elgar moved to London to be closer to the
centre of British musical life, and started
composing in earnest. However, success only
came later, after his return to Great Malvern,
where he could earn a living by teaching.
During the 1890s Elgar gradually built up a reputation as a composer,
chiefly of works for the great choral festivals of the Midlands, and he
obtained a long-standing publisher in Novello and Company. His first
major orchestral work, the Enigma Variations, Op. 36, was premiered in
London in 1899 under the baton of the eminent German conductor
Hans Richter. It was received with general acclaim, establishing Elgar as
the pre-eminent British composer of his generation. His next opus was
the song-cycle Sea Pictures, and the following year saw the production
of The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38, Elgar's choral setting of a poem by
Cardinal Newman and now regarded as one of the finest examples of
English choral music from any era.
From the beginning of the century until the outbreak of war in 1914, Elgar
produced the major compositions on which his reputation became firmly
established, but after the war, his music began to fall out of fashion in the
new world of the 1920s, and Elgar wrote relatively little after the death of
his beloved wife Alice in 1920. His position at the centre of national
musical life was acccorded formal recognition, including a knighthood
(1904), the Order of Merit (1911), Master of the King's Musick (1924) and
a baronetcy (1931).
Sea Pictures, Op. 37
Elgar wrote Sea Pictures, a setting of five poems for contralto and
orchestra, during the summer of 1899, and Dame Clara Butt gave the
first performance at a Norwich Festival concert in October, with the
composer conducting. The performance was repeated in London two
days later, followed by a special command performance at Balmoral
Castle for Queen Victoria.
6
Vivace Chorus
Sea Pictures is probably Elgar's most successful solo vocal composition,
showing real sensitivity to the words and the awareness of atmosphere
that he found to splendid effect in his oratorios. The nocturnal mood of
Sea Slumber-Song, with the swell of the ocean so atmospherically
captured in the orchestra, is followed by the delicate In Haven, written
2 years earlier as a song with piano accompaniment. Here Elgar scales
down the orchestra to match the more intimate scale of the poem written
by his wife Alice. The imagery is that of lovers watching a storm at sea,
while they feel the enduring strength of their love.
By contrast, in Sabbath Morning at Sea, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's
eloquent words are set with a wholly characteristic Elgarian grandeur.
Where Corals Lie has always been the most popular of the songs, its
direct and delicate simplicity conveying the imagery of far-away places.
In the final song, The Swimmer, a man struggles against the inexorable
force of the sea. A peaceful haven is reached in the central section,
during which Elgar skilfully recalls several previous themes. But the
storm returns, and the suggestion of triumph in the final bars is surely
inspired by the swimmer's vision of his lonely fate.
1. Sea Slumber-Song
Roden Noel (1834 — 1894)
2. In Haven (Capri)
Caroline Alice Elgar (1848 — 1920)
3. Sabbath Morning at Sea
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 — 1861)
4. Where Corals Lie
Richard Garnett (1835 — 1906)
5. The Swimmer
Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833 — 1870)
Sea Slumber-Song
Sea-birds are asleep,
The world forgets to weep,
Sea murmurs her soft slumber-song
On the shadowy sand
Of this elfin land;
I, the Mother mild,
Hush thee, oh my child,
Forget the voices wild!
Hush thee, oh my child,
Hush thee.
Isles in elfin light
Dream, the rocks and caves,
Vivace Chorus
T
Lulled by whispering waves,
Veil their marbles bright.
Foam glimmers faintly white
Upon the shelly sand
Of this elfin land;
Sea-sound, like violins,
To slumber woos and wins,
| murmur my soft slumber-song,
Leave woes, and wails, and sins.
Ocean's shadowy might
Breathes good night, good night...
Leave woes, and wails, and sins.
Good night...Good night...Good night...
In Haven (Capri)
Closely let me hold thy hand,
Storms are sweeping sea and land;
Love alone will stand.
Closely cling, for waves beat fast,
Foam-flakes cloud the hurrying blast;
Love alone will last.
Kiss my lips, and softly say:
Joy, sea-swept, may fade today;
Love alone will stay.
Sabbath Morning at Sea
The ship went on with solemn face;
To meet the darkness on the deep,
The solemn ship went onward.
| bowed down weary in the place;
For parting tears and present sleep
Had weighed mine eyelids downward.
The new sight, the new wondrous sight!
The waters around me, turbulent,
The skies, impassive o'er me,
Calm in a moonless, sunless light,
As glorified by even the intent
Of holding the day glory!
Vivace Chorus
Love me, sweet friends, this Sabbath day.
The sea sings round me while ye roll afar
The hymn, unaltered,
And kneel, where once [ knelt to pray,
And bless me deeper in your soul
Because your voice has faltered.
And though this Sabbath comes to me
Without the stoled minister,
And chanting congregation,
God's Spirit shall give comfort.
He who brooded soft on waters drear,
Creator on creation.
He shall assist me to look higher,
Where keep the saints, with harp and song,
An endless, endless Sabbath morning,
And on that sea commixed with fire,
Oft drop their eyelids raised too long
To the full Godhead's burning.
Where Corals Lie
The deeps have music soft and low
When winds awake the airy spry,
It lures me, lures me on to go
And see the land where corals lie.
By mount and mead, by lawn and rill,
When night is deep, and moon is high,
That music seeks and finds me still,
And tells me where the corals lie.
Yes, press my eyelids close, 'tis well,
But far the rapid fancies fly
The rolling worlds of wave and shell,
And all the lands where corals lie.
Thy lips are like a sunset glow,
Thy smile is like a morning sky,
Yet leave me, leave me, let me go
And see the land where corals lie.
Vivace Chorus
The Swimmer
With short, sharp violent lights made vivid,
To southward far as the sight can roam,
Only the swirl of the surges livid,
The seas that climb and the surfs that comb.
Only the crag and the cliff to nor'ward,
The rocks receding, and reefs flung forward,
Waifs wreck'd seaward and wasted shoreward,
On shallows sheeted with flaming foam.
A grim, grey coast and a seaboard ghastly,
And shores trod seldom by feet of men —
Where the batter'd hull and the broken mast lie,
They have lain embedded these long years ten.
Love! Love! when we wandered here together,
Hand in hand through the sparkling weather,
From the heights and hollows of fern and heather,
God surely loved us a little then.
The skies were fairer, the shores were firmer —
The blue sea over the bright sand roll'd;
Babble and prattle, and ripple and murmur,
Sheen of silver and glamour of gold.
So, girt with tempest and wing'd with thunder
And clad with lightning and shod with sleet,
And strong winds treading the swift waves under
The flying rollers with frothy feet.
One gleam like a bloodshot sword-blade swims on
The sky line, staining the green gulf crimson,
A death-stroke fiercely dealt by a dim sun
That strikes through his stormy winding sheet.
O brave white horses! you gather and gallop,
The storm sprite loosens the gusty rains;
Now the stoutest ship were the frailest shallop
In your hollow backs, on your high-arched manes.
| would ride as never man has ridden
In your sleepy, swirling surges hidden;
To gulfs foreshadow'd through strifes forbidden,
Where no light wearies and no love wanes.
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Vivace Chorus
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872
— 1958)
Ralph Vaughan Wiliams was born in Down
Ampney, Gloucestershire, the son of a vicar. After
his initial education at the Charterhouse School in
Surrey, he studied with Parry, Wood and Stanford
at the Royal College of Music and Cambridge.
During 1897 Vaughan Williams went to Berlin to
study with Bruch, who greatly influenced his views
on the importance of folk music. His early
successes depended very much on his work with
folksong, which he began to collect in 1903. In
1908 he studied with Ravel in Paris, and it was
only after this period that he began to write with
sureness in the larger genre.
Vaughan Williams' style is thus a synthesis of Germanic discipline,
French Impressionism and elements of English folk-song. His work in
transforming traditional sources into modern settings led the way for later
British composers such as Benjamin Britten and William Walton.
Despite the disparate influences on his style, Vaughan Williams' music is
unique. He was a master of all genres, and was able to write in a rich
post-Romantic vein tinged with modal harmonies (particularly in the
Tallis Fantasia and the Serenade to Music), as well as create intricate
symphonic structures to equal anything produced by the Modernists in
terms of complexity (such as the fourth, fifth and sixth symphonies). His
work represents something rarely found in 20th century art — music that
appeals at both the emotional and intellectual level.
Serenade to Music
The Serenade to Music was written in Vaughan Williams' more Romantic
style as a tribute to the conductor Sir Henry Wood for his Golden Jubilee
concert, and first performed at the Royal Albert Hall on 05 October 1938,
with Wood himself conducting. The piece is unique in Western music in
that the solo vocal parts were specifically written for 16 eminent British
singers of the time. The piece brought Rachmaninov, who also took part
in that concert, to the verge of tears (he later remarked to Wood that he
had "never heard such beautiful music").
Vaughan Williams, realising the difficulty of assembling 16 soloists for
future performances, subsequently made arrangements for four soloists
plus choir and orchestra and for orchestra alone. The composer also
Vivace Chorus
11
authorised performance of the solo parts by sections of the chorus, and
this is the arrangement being used tonight.
The composer drew the text from the discussion about music and the
Music of the Spheres in Act V, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Merchant of
Venice. In arranging Shakespeare's text, Vaughan Williams followed the
word order but cut words, phrases and whole lines and, at the end,
repeated text from the third and fourth lines.
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
Here will we sit and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
Look how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold:
There's not the smallest orb that thou behold'st
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins;
Such harmony is in immortal souls;
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.
Come, ho! and wake Diana with a hymn!
With sweetest touches pierce your mistress’ ear,
And draw her home with music.
| am never merry when | hear sweet music.
The reason is, your spirits are attentive —
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no such man be trusted. Music! hark!
It is your music of the house.
Methinks it sounds much sweeter than by day.
Silence bestows that virtue on it.
How many things by season season'd are
To their right praise and true perfection!
Peace, ho! the moon sleeps with Endymion
And would not be awak'd. Soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
~INTERVAL ~
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Vivace Chorus
Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
In The Lark Ascending, Vaughan Williams found inspiration not only in
English folk themes but in a poem by George Meredith (1828
— 1909).
This haunting evocation of the lark's song and of the English countryside
is one of the most memorable works for the violin, supported by, but
soaring over, the restrained orchestration. It was written in 1914 for
violinist Marie Hall, but revised in 1920. We can only speculate on what
sort of changes were wrought by the intervening years [Vaughan
Williams volunteered to serve in the Field Ambulance Service in Flanders
during 1914
— 1918, and was deeply affected by the carnage and the
loss of close friends such as the composer George Butterworth].
The revised work was first performed in a violin-piano arrangement in
December 1920, while the orchestral version received its premiere in
June 1921. The composer included this portion of Meredith's poem on
the flyleaf of the published work:
He rises and begins to round,
He drops the silver chain of sound,
Of many links without a break,
In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake.
For singing 'til his heaven fills,
'Tis love of earth that he instils,
And ever winging up and up,
Our valley is his golden cup
And he the wine which overflows
To lift us with him as he goes:
'Til lost on his aerial rings
In light, and then the fancy sings.
Elgar: The Music Makers, Op. 69
The Music Makers, for chorus and contralto soloist, is the setting of an
Ode by Arthur O'Shaughnessy (1844 — 1881), the opening line of which
gave Elgar the title of his work. It was inspired by a dream fantasy, which
was mainly concerned with exploring the symbolism of dreams, and
combines heroic optimism with nostalgia, melancholy and regret, traits
which run throughout much of Elgar's output.
Written in 1912, the year after the completion of his second symphony,
Elgar quotes from many of his earlier works; listen carefully and you may
well spot snatches of the Enigma Variations, The Dream of Gerontius,
Sea Pictures, the violin concerto, the two symphonies, and even
Rule Britannia!
Vivace Chorus
13
Ode
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams.
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up the world's great cities,
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion an empire's glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song's measure
Can trample a kingdom down.
We, in the ages lying
In the buried past of the earth,
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself with our mirth;
And o'erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world's worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth.
A breath of our inspiration
Is the life of each generation;
A wondrous thing of our dreaming,
Unearthly, impossible seeming —
The soldier, the king, and the peasant
Are working together in one,
Till our dream shall become their present,
And their work in the world be done.
They had no vision amazing
Of the goodly house they are raising;
They had no divine foreshowing
Of the land to which they are going:
14
But on one man'’s soul it hath broken,
A light that doth not depart;
And his look, or a word he hath spoken,
Wrought flame in another man's heart.
And therefore today
is thrilling
With a past day's late fulfilling;
And the multitudes are enlisted
In the faith that their fathers resisted
And, scorning the dream of tomorrow,
Are bringing to pass, as they may,
In the world, for its joy or its sorrow,
The dream that was scorned yesterday.
But we, with our dreaming and singing,
Ceaseless and sorrow-less we,
The glory about us clinging
Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing:
O men! It must ever be
That we dwell, in our dreaming and singing,
A little apart from ye.
For we are afar with the dawning
And the suns that are not yet high,
And out of the infinite morning
Intrepid you hear us cry —
How, spite of your human scorning,
Once more God's future draws nigh,
And already goes forth the warning
That ye of the past must die.
Great hail! we cry to the corners
From the dazzling unknown shore;
Bring us hither your sun and your summers,
And renew our world as of yore;
You shall teach us your song's new numbers,
And things that we dreamed not before:
Yea, in spite of a dreamer who slumbers,
And a singer who sings no more.
Vivace Chorus
Poets' Corner
John
Milton
St. Paul's
(1608 — 1674):
School
and
son
received
of a wealthy notary,
a
Masters
degree from
educated
at
Cambridge
University. In 1638, he undertook a European tour, where he met many
of the major thinkers of the day. On his return to England, Milton became
a Puritan and an opponent of both the Catholics and the Stuarts. He was
also an ardent polemicist, a follower of Cromwell, and the latter's foreign
language secretary. After the restoration of the Stuarts in 1660, Milton,
now completely blind, suffered considerable persecution. He withdrew
from active participation in politics and concentrated on his poetry. His
famous epic work Paradise Lost was published in 1667, followed by
Paradise Regained in 1671.
Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel (1834 — 1894): English poet, son of
Noel, Lord Barham, afterwards Earl of Gainsborough. Roden Noel had a
genuine feeling for nature, and his work is permeated by philosophic
thought. The latter part of his life was spent by the coast, at Brighton.
Caroline Alice Elgar (1848 — 1920): a Major-General's daughter and an
author of verse and prose fiction. She was Elgar's mainstay and staunch
supporter throughout their married life.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806
— 1861): famous English poet, the
wife of Robert Browning and the most respected and successful woman
poet of the Victorian era.
Richard Garnett (1835 — 1906): writer and poet, librarian and Keeper of
Printed Books at the British Museum.
Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833 — 1870): wayward son of a retired army
captain from an old Scottish family, sent to Australia in 1853. His chief
interest was in horses; he became the best steeplechase rider in
Australia, later living by writing and horse-training. He is now regarded as
the national poet of Australia.
William Shakespeare (1564 — 1616): sufficient to say almost universally
recognised as one of the greatest influences on literature of all time, as
both playwright and poet.
George Meredith (1828 — 1909): English poet and novelist who, while a
reader for the publishers Chapman and Hall ‘discovered’ and
encouraged Thomas Hardy, and included Swinburne and Robert Louis
Stevenson among his large circle of literary friends. He came to be
regarded as one of the major literary figures of his age, being elected
President of The Society of Authors (a position that Tennyson had held
before him) and awarded the Order of Merit.
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Vivace Chorus
—T
Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy (1844 —1881): Irish-English
poet, transcriber in the Library of the British Museum and later
transferred to the Department of Natural History, where he specialised in
ichthyology (physiology, history etc. of fishes). He published his first
collection of poetry, Epic of Women, in 1870, followed by two more
collections, in 1872 and 1874. O'Shaughnessy's poetry was relatively
unknown in his own era, but its popularity has grown substantially in the
20th century. By far the most noted of any of his works is his muchanthologised Ode from Music and Moonlight (1874), set to music by
Elgar as The Music Makers.
‘Bouquets' after our 18 Nov 2006 concert of
music by Wolf, Brahms & Bruckner:
Vivace Chorus lived up to their name - brisk,
lively. Judging by your performance of the rarely
heard Wolf Choral Pieces and Brahms'
Schicksalslied, these works deserve fo be played
more frequently. Brahms' Violin Concerto with
Simon Fischer was outstanding. I'm really looking
forward to the jazz concert!
Jeremy's training and masterful conducting
ensured a choral sound which evoked the
contrasting moods of Hugo Wolf's delightful
songs, while with Brahms' Schicksalslied, it was
“ the power and fullness of the sombre tones and
the beautiful phrasing that came across so well.
What a wonderful wall of sound the Vivace
Chorus makes - a real delight fo listen to.
What a wonderful concert! I knew I'd enjoy the
Brahms pieces (& did) & the Bruckner was a "tour
de force'. But what really impressed & stayed with
me was music that had been entirely unknown to
me - the Wolf choral pieces. They were all
beautifully sung, despite being so varied in style from the ethereal to real fire & brimstone.
Vivace Chorus
17
Susanna Spicer: Mezzo-soprano
One of the first female choral scholars
at
Cambridge,
Susanna
subsequently
Trinity,
studied
at
London’s
Guildhall
at
Britten-Pears
and
the
School in Snape. A highly experienced
concert singer, her solo engagements
have
included
appearances
at
the
Royal Festival Hall with Simon Rattle
and
the
London
Philharmonic
Orchestra
in Stravinsky’'s Mass and
with
Masur
and
Le
Martyre
Kurt
Debussy’'s
the
LPO
de
in
Saint
Sebastien (both for Radio 3), at the
Royal Albert Hall with David Willcocks
in Messiah and Elijjah, at the Queen
:
:
Elizabeth Hall in Vaughan Williams’
Serenade to Music with the English Chamber Orchestra and at the BBC
Promsin Schubert’s Die Verschworenen with the Orchestra of the Age of
Enlightenment and Nicholas McGegan.
She sang in Trevor Pinnock’s performances of Bach's St John and
St Matthew Passions in Europe, Japan and Turkey and has performed
all the major works of the oratorio repertoire in the UK’s principal concert
halls and cathedrals. These include Mahler's Eighth Symphony in
Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, Verdi's Requiem in the Barbican, Elgar's
The Apostles in Winchester Cathedral, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in
The Maltings, Snape and Mozart's Requiem at the Three Choirs Festival.
Susanna has also sung for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Kent Opera
and Opera de Lyon, and her recordings include Paul Patterson’s
Missa Brevis with the LPO, Poulenc’'s Le Dialogue des Carmelites with
Kent Nagano, works by Britten with The Finzi Singers, Beethoven’'s
Choral Fantasia, works by Percy Grainger with John Eliot Gardiner and
Biber's Missa Christi resurgentis for Andrew Manze and The
English Concert.
Forthcoming performances include Verdi's Requiem in Romsey Abbey,
Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music at the 2007 Three Choirs Festival
in Gloucester Cathedral, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Bach's
St John Passion and Elgar’s The Kingdom.
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Vivace Chorus
Mihkel Kerem was born in
1981
in
Tallinn
into
a
family of musicians. At the
age
of
six
he
began
studying
at
the
Tallinn
Music High School with his
mother Mirjam Kerem.
1992
and
1993
In
he
won
from
the
diplomas
both
Dvarionas
competition
in
Lithuania and the Kocian
competition
in the Czech
Republic.
Two years later he won first prize at the First National Competition for
Young String Players in Estonia. As a soloist, Mihkel has appeared with
many orchestras,
including the Tallinn
Chamber Orchestra
and the
Estonia Opera Orchestra, performing concertos by Beethoven, Brahms,
Tchaikovsky, Bruch, Saint-Saéns, Vieuxtemps and Mozart.
As a recitalist he has performed in Estonia, Finland, Austria, Germany
Latvia and England. In 2001-2002 he held a post of co-leader in the
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, in 2006 the leader of Southbank
Sinfonia and is the leader of Charities Philharmonia. Since autumn 2006
he also is a member of Camerata Nordica (Sweden).
Mihkel began his composition studies at the age of twelve with Estonian
composer Mati Kuulberg and continued at the Estonian Academy of
Music with Jaan Raats. In addition to composing for more conventional
combinations of instruments, Mihkel enjoys the challenge of writing for
more
unorthodox
90 works,
ensembles.
including
His
compositions
three symphonies,
to
date
total
over
Concerto for two Cellos and
Orchestra, eight String Quartets and three Sonatas for Violin and Piano.
Amongst others, his music has been played by The Estonian National
Symphony
Orchestra,
Tallinn
Chamber
Orchestra,
Oulu
Sinfonia
(Finland) and The Chilingirian String Quartet. His music has also been
played
in the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival.
Mihkel gained his
Masters degree in 2006 from the Royal College of Music, studying violin
with
Levon
summer
Chilingirian
2003
he
has
and
composition
been
with
committed
to
William
the
Mival.
Since
recently-formed
Kerem String Quartet, which has given numerous concerts throughout
England, Finland and Ireland.
Vivace Chorus
19
Jeremy Backhouse
Jeremy Backhouse began his musical career in Canterbury Cathedral,
where he was Head Chorister, and later studied music at Liverpool
University. He spent 5 years as Music Editor at the Royal National
Institute for the Blind, where he was responsible for the transcription of
print music into Braille. In 1986 he joined EMI Records as a Literary
Editor and from April 1990 he combined work as a Consultant Editor for
EMI Classics with a career as a freelance conductor. In November 2004,
he took the post of Music Editor at Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers.
In January 1995, Jeremy was appointed Chorus Master and
subsequently Music Director of the Guildford Philharmonic Choir (now
Vivace Chorus). Major works performed in Guildford Cathedral include
Mahler's Symphony No. 2 and Symphony No. 8, Prokofiev's Alexander
Nevsky, Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man
and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 (Lobgesang).
Jeremy is also the conductor of the Vasari Singers, widely acknowledged
as one of the finest chamber choirs in the country, performing choral
music from the Renaissance right up to contemporary commissions. In
2005, the choir and Jeremy celebrated their 25th anniversary together.
Jeremy has also worked with a number of the leading choirs in the
country, including the Philharmonia Chorus (preparing for Sir Colin
Davis), the London Choral Society (for Ronald Corp) and the Brighton
Festival Chorus (for Carl Davies). From September 1998 to the end of
2004, Jeremy was the Music Director of the Wooburn Singers, only the
third conductor in the distinguished history of the choir, following
Sir Richard Hickox (who founded the choir in 1967) and most recently,
Stephen Jackson.
20
Vivace Chorus
e Director - Robert Porter
ANEMIENDUNS
Associate Music Director — Sarah Tenant-Flowers
¥ sinfonia
The Brandenburg Sinfonia is one of the most dynamically versatile
musical organisations in the country. It is renowned for its special quality
of sound and poised vivacity in performance. The orchestra performs
regularly in the majority of the major venues across the country, and in
London
at
the
Barbican,
Royal
Albert
Hall,
Queen
Elizabeth
Hall,
Fairfield Halls and St John's, Smith Square. The Brandenburg Sinfonia is
also in great demand abroad and has visited France, USA, Bermuda, the
Channel Islands, Barbados, Russia, Germany, Japan and Hong Kong. In
1999 the orchestra established major concert series at both St. Martin-inthe-Fields and Crystal Palace Bowl.
A large number of artists of international standing have worked with the
orchestra including Emmanuel Hurwitz, Lesley Garrett, John Georgiadis,
John
Wallace,
ranges from
Michael
Thompson
Bach to Lloyd
and
Gordon
Webber and
its
Hunt.
Its
repertoire
members give around
100 performances of orchestral, chamber, choral and operatic music
during the year. The orchestras for a number of touring companies are
formed from members of the Brandenburg Sinfonia including First Act
Opera, London City Opera, Opera Holland Park, London Opera Players
and Central Festival Opera.
Violin 1
Viola
Oboe
Mihkel Kerem
Stephen Wright
Ruth Contractor
Trumpet
David Hilton
Hannah Smith
Stephen Giles
Helen Barker
Gillian Hicks
Helen Davies
Henrietta Ridgeon
Cor Anglais
Miles Maguire
JUI'an SaXI
Sarah Chapman
James Beatty
Trombone
Dominika Rosiek
Amy Cardigan
Pedro Meireles
Cello
Adrian Bradbury
Katherine Jenkinson
Clarinet
Becky Smith
Elaine Cox
Ed Jones
Karen Fotherby ~ Andrew Lester
Charlotte Scott
P
Dominic O'Dell
.
Z
Bass Clarinet
Katy Wright
Sheila Law
Catrina Hepburn
p
- Durrant
Alice
Bassoon
G
raham
Hobbs
£
Felicity
Bronme Skelon
- i David
Kzzgul(sell;w son
Contra Bassoon
Rachel Simms
[im Palmer
Janne Metsapelto
Horn
Harp
Miranda Playfair
Helena Roques
Jo Allen
Bass
Pamela Scanlon
Flut
£
Fioclio
Claire Robson
Peter Sparks
Tuba
Violin 2
Connie Tanner
David Lee
Terry Shew
Richard Halliday
Timpani
es Fry
Tristan
.
Percussion
:
Helen Cole
Neil Shewan
Susie Walker
Vivace Chorus
21
Vivace Chorus (formerly the Guildford Philharmonic Choir)
The Guildford
Guildford in
Philharmonic Choir was founded
by the
Borough
of
1947 to perform major choral works with the Guildford
Philharmonic Orchestra. Since this time,
under the
batons of such
eminent British musicians as Sir Charles Groves, Vernon Handley and its
current President, Sir David Willcocks, the Choir has grown both in
stature and reputation to become one of the foremost choruses in the
country.
For some time, the Choir had
been
independent from the
Borough of Guildford, and to reflect its independent status and everincreasing and varied undertakings, decided to 'rebrand' itself, changing
its name to Vivace Chorus in May 2005.
Vivace
Chorus
enjoys
a
challenging
and
varied
concert
repertoire,
performing works spanning the last five centuries — some well-known,
but also many rarities deserving to be heard by a wider audience. By
way
of demonstration:
the
2004/05
season
began
with
a
glowing
performance of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, followed by the unusual
and
much-appreciated
[talian
Inspirations —
non-operatic
works
by
famous composers of Italian opera. This was followed by the first in our
Contemporary Choral
Classics Cycle,
a
projected 4-year innovative
series of choral works from the late 20th and 21st century — classics of
the future paired with established masterpieces. The chosen pairing was
Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem (1936) and Karl Jenkins’
The
Armed Man (2000). During the summer break, we were invited to sing a
‘Last Night of the Proms' charity concert for the children's hospice
CHASE at a packed Fairfield Halls, Croydon. This was a big success as
well as great fun, so we were delighted to be invited back to sing operatic
highlights at the 2006 concert — and we've been asked again this year!
The 2005/6 season began with another piece rarely heard in its entirely
in the UK — Mendelssohn’s epic choral Symphony No. 2 (Lobgesang). As
a complete contrast, our next concert was devoted entirely to works of
Bach and Handel. In addition to Brahms' Schicksalslied and Bruckner's
Te Deum, our first concert of the 2006/7 season included three delightful
choral works by Hugo Wolf, virtually unknown repertoire in the UK.
Vivace Chorus is always searching for new members to maintain its high
standard. For further details about joining, please contact Jane Sweaney,
membership@yvivacechorus.org.
Rehearsals
evenings throughout term time in
central
are
held
Guildford
on
and
Monday
prospective
members are most welcome to attend rehearsals on an informal basis
before committing to an audition. For more information, see our website
at www.vivacechorus.org.
22
Vivace Chorus
Vivace Chorus
FIRST SOPRANOS
FIRST ALTOS
Joanna Andrews
Marion Adderley
Bob Cowell
Noreen Ayton
Penny Baxter
Tim Hardyment
Helen Beevers
Monika Boothby
Chris Robinson
Mary Broughton
Jane Brooks
John Trigg
Miranda Champion
Jane Crane
FIRST TENORS
Elaine Chapman
Liz Durning
SECOND TENORS
Sara Dann
Celia Embleton
John Bawden
Rachel Edmondson
Ingrid Hardiman
Bob Bromham
Lorna Mann
Kay McManus
Tony Chantler
Hilary Minor
Christine Medlow
Stephen Linton
Susan Norton
Rosalind Milton
Robin Onslow
Mary Moon
FIRST BASSES
Rachel Owen
Penny Muray
John Britten
Sarah Palmer
Jacqueline Norman
Geoffrey Forster
Margaret Parry
Marjory Rollo
Michael Golden
Margaret Perkins
Isobel Rooth
Chris Newbery
Emma Purvis
Lesley Scordellis
Robin Privett
Judy Smith
Catherine Shacklady
David Ross
Carol Terry
Nikki Vale
Jane Sweaney
Philip Stanford
Hilary Trigg
Barry Sterndale-Bennett
Frances Worpe
Pamela Woodroffe
Kieron Walsh
SECOND SOPRANOS
SECOND ALTOS
SECOND BASSES
Jacqueline Alderton
Marion Arbuckle
Dan Adderley
Anna Arthur
Sally Bailey
Peter Andrews
Josephine Field
Evelyn Beastall
Roger Barrett
Mandy Freeman
Mary Clayton
Alan Batterbury
Jane Kenney
Andrea Dombrowe
Norman Carpenter
Judith Lewy
Carolyn Edis
James Garrow
Krystyna Marsden
Valerie Edwards
Nick Gough
Catherine McAulay
Valerie Garrow
Michael Jeffery
Lois McCabe
Barbara Hilder
Neil Martin
Alison Newbery
Susan Hinton
Maxwell New
Alison Palmer
Carol Hobbs
Roger Penny
Lucy Percy
Sheila Hodson
Michael Taylor
Rosalind Plowright
Yvonne Hungerford
Susannah Priede
Brenda Moore
Vivien Rieden
Beryl Northam
Kathy Stickland
Prue Smith
Paula Sutton
Elisabeth Yates
Christine Wilks
Vivace Chorus
23
Choir Functionaries
Jeremy Backhouse
Chorus Director
Jeremy Filsell
Accompanist
The Committee
John Trigg
Chairman
email: chairman@yvivacechorus.org
Bob Cowell
Hon. Treasurer
email: treasurer@vivacechorus.org
Hon. Secretary
email: secretary@yvivacechorus.org
Jane Sweaney
Membership Secretary
email: membership@vivacechorus.org
Jackie Alderton
Ladies’ uniforms
Mailings Coordinator
Tel. 01932 343625
email: mailing@vivacechorus.org
Rosey Storey
Hilary Trigg
Minutes Secretary
Publicity
email: publicity@vivacechorus.org
Michael Taylor
Ticket Sales
Tel. 07958 519741
email: tickets@yvivacechorus.org
Noreen Ayton
Methodist Church liaison
James Garrow
Fund-raising/Social events
Miranda Champion
Other responsibilities
Christine Medlow
Helen Beevers
Music Librarian
Patrons Liaison
email: patrons@vivacechorus.org
Chris Peters
Website coordinator
Chris Alderton
Front of House
Brenda Moore
Programme notes, soloists’ liaison & advertising
24
Vivace Chorus
Patrons and Friends of
Vivace Chorus
Vivace Chorus is extremely grateful to all Patrons and Friends
for their financial support.
Patrons
Dr. J.B.R. Arbuckle
Mr. & Mrs. G. Dombrowe
Dr. Roger Barrett
Golden and Associates
Mrs. E.A. Batterbury
Mr. Peter Herbert
Mrs. Elizabeth-Claire Bazin
Mrs. Carol Hobbs
Mr. Bill Bellerby MBE
Mr. Laurie James
Mrs. Doreen Bellerby MBE
Mrs. M. van Koetsveld
Mr. & Mrs. Peter Bennett
Mrs. Christine Medlow
Mr. G.S. Blacker
Mr. Ron Medlow
Mrs. J. G. Blacker
Dr. Roger Muray
Mrs. Ingrid Brockdorff
Mr. & Mrs. Maxwell S. New
Mr. & Mrs. R.H.R. Broughton
Mr. & Mrs. John Parry
Mr. H.J.C. Browne
Mrs. Jean Radley
Mrs. Maryel Cowell
Mr. & Mrs. B. Reed
Mr. & Mrs. Philip Davies
Mr. Michael Shortland
Mr. Michael Dawe
Dr. & Mrs. M.G.M. Smith
Mrs. Margaret Dentskevich
Miss Enid Weston
Friends
Dega Broadcast Systems
Mrs. Jean Shail
Mrs. K.C. Stickland
As a Patron and in return for donating £25 or more per annum, you will
be kept informed of future concerts and given priority booking at our own
concerts. You may book an unlimited number of reserved seats at the
Cathedral where the concert is sponsored by Vivace Chorus.
New Patrons and Friends are always welcome. If you are interested in
participating,
please contact Helen Beevers,
Tel.
01252
313963, or
email: patrons@vivacechorus.org
Vivace Chorus
25
For Complete
Family Eyecare
Extensive range offrames
with many designer names
1 Wolsey Walk, Woking GU21 1XU
Tel: 01483 766800
Richard Broughton FCOptom DipCLP
Resident Partner
Branches also at:
Camberley, Fleet and Guildford
Harwood
TM
Music Lovers...
You'll find what you want at the
Record Corner
VAST SELECTION OF CDs & DVDs
OPEN 9.00am - 5.30pm
Chris Alderton
Decorator
MONDAY - SATURDAY
Classical Music Specialists
eRock - Jazz - Pop - Folk
+Spoken Word Tapes
Why not let me ‘orchestrate’ your
decorating?
Interior and exterior work
Tel: 01932 343625
eSeparate Pop - Classical Departments
sListening Facilities
*Music Accessories - Sheet Music
FOR ENQUIRIES OR OUR MAIL ORDER SERVICE
®01483 422006
CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
\POUND LANE, GODALMING, SURREY GU7 1BX}
26
Vivace Chorus
A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY
Contemporary Choral Classics Cycle: Year 3
Saturday 19 May 2007: Guildford Cathedral
"...and all that JAZZ”
Vivace Chorus ~ Bethany Halliday (soprano) ~ Will Todd (piano)
Will Todd Jazz Band ~ conductor Jeremy Backhouse
Jazz meets the choral tradition in this scintillating mixture of styles. Both
Bob Chilcott and Will Todd (now a local Guildford composer) have
created fantastically innovative Masses for choir and jazz band. Also in
the musical mix is John Rutter's ever-popular Gloria. The programme
also includes three of Will Todd's highly appealing church anthems plus
his special set for jazz trio. It should be a superb evening!
Some of the printed music for this evening's concert has been hired from
SCC Performing Arts Library and from the Hire Libraries of
Oxford University Press and Novello & Co. Ltd.
Vivace Chorus
Registered Charity No 1026337
The staging for this concert is owned by
the Association of Surrey Choirs. To
hire, please contact Penny Peters,
Fia“‘?'{'%“;”g‘;"(‘)’%})
Guildford Cathedral Office (tel: 01403 | (@f GULLPFO!
547860). It was purchased with financial
assistance
from
the
Foundation
Sport and Arts, PO Box 20, Liverpool.
for
'
For more inform at]i;‘us
see the next prospe
or our website.
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