The Brande'nbmg Smfoma
ConiuctorJeremy Backhous//
‘
Saturday
19'" May 2018
7.30 pm
Pre-concert talk 6.30pm
in the Chapter House
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Vivace
Chorus
Symphony of Psalms
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Symphony No. 9 'Choral’
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Clare Tunney
Hannah Poulsom
Soprano
Mezzo-soprano
Kieran Carrel
Tenor
Nicholas Mogg
Bass
The Brandenburg Sinfonia
Conductor: Jeremy Backhouse
PRE-CONCERT TALK
For tonight's pre-concert talk, which takes place in the Chapter
House at 6.30pm, we are delighted to welcome back Dr Steven
Berryman, whose knowledge and enthusiasm have seen him give
pre-concert talks to a full house several times for us.
Among his many roles are Director of Music at City of London School
for Girls and Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Education,
Communication & Society at King's College, London.
Steven also contributes to education projects with the Learning
Departments of the Royal Opera House, London Philharmonic
Orchestra and NMC Recordings. You can read more about his work
at www.steven-berryman.com.
BRAVO!
Baroque Treasures - March 2018
"What a wonderfully uplifting concert that was last night! We
loved the programme - it certainly was Treasures of the
Baroque..with an excellent balance between the instrumental
pieces and the choral works.'
commitment!"
"We so enjoyed the concert. The double bass player really
worked his socks off! What a splendid programme. Such
wonderful music is a real tonic!’
Flash photography, audio and video recording are not permitted
without the prior written consent of the Vivace Chorus. Please
also kindly switch off all mobile phones and alarms on digital
watches. Thank you.
2
Vivace Chorus
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the performance. Thank you.
Vivace Chorus
3
Igor Stravinsky : Symphony of Psalms
Chorus, Orchestra, 2 pianos
“This symphony, composed to the glory
God, is dedicated to the Boston
of
Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of
the
fiftieth
anniversary
of
their
foundation”, Stravinsky wrote at the head
of the
score.
His
words
have
a
characteristic precision, and establish a
hierarchy that is crucial for this great
religious work, created for God and
dedicated to the musicians who can
bring it to life as a worthy offering of
praise.
He had renewed his Orthodox Faith in 1926, four years before the
commission from Boston, and his devotional purpose was profound
and uncompromising: ‘My publisher had requested an orchestral
piece without chorus," he said, “but | had had the psalm symphony
idea in mind for some time, and that is what | intended to write." Like
the Beethoven of the Choral Symphony, Stravinsky would give his
audience a masterpiece shaped only by his own energetically
radical creative impulse.
The composition and performance of the Symphony were spiritual
acts for Stravinsky, and this had important implications for the
structure and detail of the work. This is most obviously true of the
unusual ensemble for which he composed it. Commenting on a
passage in The Rite of Spring in which he had omitted strings, he
explained that these instruments were 'much too evocative and
representative of the human voice - and | have placed in the
foreground the woodwind: drier, clearer, less prone to facile
expressiveness, by that token still more moving to my taste.’
There are no violins or violas in the Symphony of Psalms, and the
brisk, agile clarity of the woodwind is prominent, especially at the
beginning of Parts | and Il (the first fugue subject in the latter is
developed, extraordinarily, for 28 bars by oboes, four flutes and a
piccolo). Voices must sing the psalms, of course, but Stravinsky
criticised composers who used the sacred texts to "emote’, or, as he
4
Vivace Chorus
put it, who “abused these magisterial verses as pegs for their own
lyrico-sentimental ‘feelings” (note the sceptical speech-marks). In
fact he said that he had deliberately chosen the jubilant Psalm 150
as part of the work so that he could counter this weakness that
he
perceived in the choral tradition. He extended the same austere
discipline to himself: "God must not be praised in fast, forte music,’
he said, explaining a change of mind in establishing a tempo at one
point, "no matter how often the text specifies ‘loud"
His rigorous approach produces some surprising but intensely
moving effects: the word Alleluia, which occurs at the beginning
,
middle and end of Part Il (and which Stravinsky pointed out actually
is the “new song" referred to at the end of the previous Part) appears
only once each time, marked to be sung piano on a four-note phrase
that moves in each vocal part by single tones or half-tones and
Creates a delicate, trance-like ‘image' of religious awe and tender
love for God. Effects like this carry total emotional conviction and
perhaps help to explain Stravinsky's enigmatic comment that ‘It is
not a symphony in which | have included psalms to be sung. On the
contrary, it is the singing of the psalms that | am symphonising”
Artistic and religious integrity are at the heart of the music.
Stravinsky would not have liked the word 'image’ in this context.
He
said that the "hymn of praise at the end of the work must be thought
of as issuing from the skies; agitation is followed by the calm of
praise,” then immediately caught himself up by adding “.. but such
statements embarrass me." Music must not aim to ‘illustrate’ the text
- so, for example, in Psalm 150's verses about praising God “in the
sound of the trumpet.timbrels.cymbals” and so on, the instruments
named are either absent from the ensembile, silent or minimised.
Stravinsky also favoured Latin for the text because he thought the
language ‘monumental and inaccessible to all triviality”, and he
introduced pauses in words that disrupted their semantic value and
exploited phonic value: “When Stravinsky is fascinated by word and
syllable, it is the sound of language that captures his interest: when
he rejects language as an untoward influence on his way
of
composing, it is the content of language to which he refers! (Per
Dahl).
How then did this neo-classical astringency produce a work which
audiences have found overwhelmingly moving and emotionally
satisfying? One answer is that Stravinsky sometimes breaks his own
rule
against
expressiveness.
Discussing
Part
|,
Tom
Service
comments on the “severe yet keening line" sung by the altos, the
‘cries of desperation” of the full chorus and the “vivid emotional
power" of the final G major cadence. At the beginning of Part Il the
wistful woodwind
theme
is
answered
by
yearning,
passionate
phrases from the chorus as they develop the second theme of the
double fugue to the words Expectans expectavi, ‘| waited patiently
for the Lord, and he inclined unto me”.
The
voices
then
move
towards
a
homophonic
texture
(the
harmonies changing regularly together) as God rescues the Psalmist
from the "mire and clay’, sets his feet on the firm rock and puts “a
new song" in his mouth. The climax is a unison passage sung
suddenly softly at
et sperabunt in Domino “They shall trust in the
Lord" - a gradual clarification of texture that Stravinsky himself
called his "most overt use of musical symbolism.”
In Part lll the pulsing, rhythmically challenging central section on
Laudate Dominum,
laudate Eum,
with
its
characteristic wit and
athleticism, suggests the energy of praise, and it is difficult not to
hear the great bells of an Orthodox basilica tolling through the final
pages of the work, despite Stravinsky's comments on another of his
compositions: ‘I do not wish the listener any luck in discovering any
musical descriptions or illustrations: to my knowledge none were
composed, and as | see it the notes themselves are the end of the
road.”
Finally,
then,
instrumental
it
is
the
textures,
endlessly
the
surprising
extraordinary
combinations
rhythmical vitality
of
and
melodic inventiveness of the piece, its fascinating balance between
restraint and opulence, wit and gravity, the sense throughout of
powerful
feeling
purposeful
controlled
intelligence,
that
and
make
shaped
by
an
austere
and
the Symphony of Psalms
a
masterpiece of devotional music.
6
Vivace Chorus
Part | : Psalm 38, verses 13 and 14
Exaudi orationem meam, Domine,
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my
Et deprecationem meam:
supplication:
Auribus percipe
lacrimas
meas.
Ne sileas, ne sileas.
Hear my tears,
and keep not silent.
Quoniam advena ego sum apud
For | am a stranger in Thy house
te et peregrinus,
and a pilgrim
sicut omnes patres mei.
as were all my fathers
Remitte mihi ut refrigerer,
Forgive me that | may recover
my strength,
Prius quam abeam et amplius
before | go hence and be
non ero.
seen no more,
Part Il : Psalm 39, verses 2, 3 and 4
Expectans expectavi Dominum,
| waited patiently for the Lord
et intendit mihi.
and He inclined to me.
Et exaudivit preces meas;
And He heard my prayers; and
et exudit me de lacu miseriae,
brought me out of the pit and out
et de lato faecis.
of the mire.
Et statuit super petram pedes
And He set my feet upon the
meos:
rock;
et direxit gressus meos.
and He directed my steps.
Et immisit in os meum canticum
And He put a new song in my
novum,
mouth,
carmen Deo nostro.
a song to our God.
Videbunt multi, et timebunt,
Many shall see, and shall fear,
et sperabunt in Domino.
and they shall trust in the Lord.
Vivace Chorus
Part Il : Psalm 150
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Laudate Dominum in sanctis Ejus;
Praise ye the Lord in His holy
places:
Laudate Eum in firmamento
Praise Him in the firmament of
virtutis Ejus.
His power.
Laudate Eum in virtutibus Ejus,
Praise Him for His mighty acts:
Laudate Eum secundum
Praise Him for the the might of
multitudinem magnitudinis Ejus.
His greatness.
Laudate Eum in tympano et choro;
Praise Him with the timbrel and
choir;
Laudate Eum in cordis et organo;
Praise Him with strings and pipes;
Laudate Eum in cymbalis
Praise Him on well-tuned
benesonantibus;
cymbals;
Laudate Eum in cymbalis
Praise Him on cymbals of joy:
Jubilationibus.
Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum!
Let every spirit praise the Lord!
Omnis spiritus laudet Eum!
Let every spirit praise Him!
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Interval
(20 minutes)
Vivace Chorus
When
Beethoven
agreed to write a
symphony for the Philharmonic Society of
London in 1822, two long-held ambitions
dovetailed
in
his mind: to write a
symphony in D minor and to produce a
setting of Friedrich Schiller's famous ode
An die Freude - “To Joy" - a poem which
had already been set at least forty times
since
its
first
revolutionary
choral
publication
decision
finale
symphony
-
in
or
a
rather
to
in
1786.
His
compose
a
four-movement
to
write
three
traditional (though in many ways unconventionall movements and
then sweep them aside at the beginning of the last movement as
the work took off into a new musical dimension altogether - meant
that he could explore and articulate social, moral and even political
ideas that had absorbed him ever since he first studied the poem,
and began to sketch material for it, in the 1790s.
While he was writing An die Freude in 1785, Schiller was also working
on his sprawling drama Don Carlos, a passionate analysis and
denunciation of political tyranny and religious oppression, and their
devastating consequences for the emotional life of the individuals
caught in their power. He had recently joined the household of
Christian Gottfried Kérner, legal theorist, philosopher and musical
enthusiast, whose cultural circle at different times included Goethe
and Mozart and who encouraged the open discussion and testing of
such radical ideas. Schiller's Ode has been called “an Enlightenment
document .. giving expression to a utopian ideal" of friendship, joy
and sociability, “leading to moral freedom, presided over by a loving
father” The father here is not specifically the Christian God, rather it
is Joy, personified, who is the “spark of godhead" manifest on earth,
a female power who comes from the Classical Elysium rather than
the Christian Heaven; the poem makes no mention of Jesus.
The salvation-through-liberation of mankind, for the young Schiller,
comes from a surrender to the power of Joy, or rather from an active
engagement with it through the ardent pursuit of brotherhood and
Vivace Chorus
9
friendship. The forcefulness and intensity for which Beethoven was
famous,
perfectly matched this theme
in
the
poem,
and
it is
significant that he chose to set the original version of an important
line, Laufet, bruder, eure bahne, "Run, brothers, on your course”
rather than the weaker Wandelt, “Travel’, that Schiller substituted
later. For both Beethoven and the younger Schiller the power of
convention (die Mode) is a formidable enemy, and resolute courage
and stamina will be needed to defeat it. If this can be done, if what
has been “strongly divided" can be "bound together again’, then
harmony will be restored in both the individual and society.
Beethoven
challenges
convention
in
the
very
design
and
performance of his symphony. When the bass soloist launches his
great recitative (an unprecedented intervention that must have had
an even more stunning impact in the 1820s than it has today) he
sings a text that Beethoven wrote himself to introduce the Ode. In a
wonderfully direct and inclusive gesture he calls on the orchestra,
his fellow-soloists, the chorus, the conductor and the audience to
join him as friends in praise of Joy. The opening words O Freunde,
‘Oh friends!”, are a reminder that the Ode belongs to a specific
eighteenth-century genre, the geselliges lied or ‘“social song’,
intended to be sung by a group of friends while drinking and
enjoying each other's company. Beethoven did not set the most
direct references to wine in the text, but Joy still offers “Kisses and
the fruit of the vine" as well as “a friend tested in the face of death”.
The initially very 'masculine’ character of the choral music shows its
real-life origins (though in fact women had an honoured place in
Korner's circle and it was actually in his house that his sister-in-law,
the
artist
silverpoint
Dora
Stock,
drew
her well-known
of
Mozart),
but
it
becomes
profile
more
portrait
inclusive
as
in
it
progresses. Basses alone respond to the recitative, then the bass
soloist's first stanza is answered by basses, tenors, and altos singing
in the lower part of their stave. The soprano soloist joins in the
second stanza with words that Beethoven had already set at the end
of Fidelio, his idealising portrayal of a woman who proves her heroic
love by rescuing her husband from tyranny and death. This time the
refrain is sung by the whole chorus. By the end of the symphony the
men's and women's voices are joined in a social song that calls on
everyone present, on equal terms, to face and conquer together not
10
Vivace Chorus
only the staggering vocal and instrumental demands of the finale,
but the moral challenge of renewing their society by working for
truth and freedom.
1st movement: Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
The opening movement, in sonata form, establishes its key of D
minor after a famously indeterminate opening that evokes a sense of
immense space and profound mystery - it has been compared both
to the quiet humming of an engine that had been running before the
symphony began and to the sound of an orchestra tuning up, as if
Beethoven wanted to incorporate every aspect of the creative
moment in his work. The great plunging chords of the first theme
establish a sense of power and grandeur that is sustained
throughout the movement, marked by many harmonic conflicts that
include a sensational return of the opening theme in D major at the
recapitulation. The tempestuous mood comes to a close in the final
bars of the coda with a strange figure in the bassoon and lower
strings parts, descending and then rising chromatically while brass
and woodwind above play a solemn funeral march, as if for a fallen
hero, and some commentators have heard this as Beethoven's last
farewell to the ideal of a single great man as a shaper of history.
2nd movement: Scherzo & Trio: molto vivace - presto - molto vivace
Uniquely in this symphony, Beethoven places the Scherzo as the
second rather than the third movement, producing a strong contrast
with the solemn ending of the first movement. At the second
Viennese performance in 1824, the critic F. A. Kanne was reminded
by this movement of the commedia dell'arte; "One sees in the
runs of oboe, flute, bassoon etc. the little Columbine
tripping with her Harlequin, who springs in bold leaps from one
staccato
modulation point to another, and changes at every moment” The
movement begins in D minor, with octave jumps and quicksilver
upward runs in 3/4 time - every instrument is required to be nimble,
including the timpani (tuned to an unorthodox octave F) who have
an unusually prominent role as if they too want to contribute to the
melody (when he first heard the symphony Berlioz is said to have
shouted “Bravo!" at one of their fortissimo entries). The first theme
evolves into an exciting fugal texture, then a transition to C major
brings an irresistible new theme, surging upward while the athletic
upward leaps accompany it. After extended development and
Vivace Chorus
11
recapitulation of this material the Trio section has the character of a
rustic dance, with at one point an imitation of the musette or
countryman's
bagpipe,
a sustained
horn
note
representing
the
drone - a passage of pastoral delicacy and good humour at the
heart of the boisterous movement. After the reprise of the Scherzo
Beethoven plays a trick on the listener. seven bars of the Trio
opening suggest he is going to repeat it, then with a quick cluster of
dismissive chords the movement abruptly ends.
3rd movement: Adagio molto e cantabile
The Adagio begins with the distinctive colouring of bassoons and
clarinets, tender and plangent as if coming from far away, then the
strings introduce the noble first theme, in B flat, developed in
dialogue
with
the
woodwind,
who
have
an
important
role
throughout. Its long phrases are serene and nostalgic, suggesting (in
Richard
Wigmore's
words)
inwardness”. A glorious
“profound
key change to
eloquent andante theme,
its uplifting
D
contemplation
and
major introduces the
melody and
purposefully
flowing rhythms underpinned by gentle pizzicato support from the
double basses that continues as the movement pulses on to an
elegant series of variations on each theme in turn. A remarkable
passage in E flat major, scored for two clarinets, bassoon and horn,
again supported by pizzicato strings, has been compared in its
sonority
to
the
wind
serenades
of
the
eighteenth
century:
‘Beethoven seems to have retreated into a world where time has
stopped and eternity begun.” (Robert Winter). Then the music moves
on through an especially challenging sequence for the horn and
beautiful semi-quaver decorations in the violins, until it reaches two
fanfares, subtly anticipating the drama to come, and a leisurely,
gently assertive conclusion.
4th movement: Finale
The Finale begins with a shattering dissonance as the B flat major of
the previous movement clashes with D minor at the beginning of
what Wagner called the Schreckensfanfare,
the
‘terror fanfare’,
banishing the gentle beauty of the Adagio. Cellos and double
basses
respond
‘in
the
nature
of a
recitative,
but
in
tempo”
(Beethoven's note), as a second fanfare and reminiscences of the
first three movements are quickly swept aside - it is as if the lower
strings are longing to use words themselves as they anticipate the
12
Vivace Chorus
bass soloist's dramatic entry later. The first phrase of the Freude
melody begins to be heard, growing out of the first theme of the
third movement, then two firm chords, and a great moment has
arrived: the full tune - heart-warming, touching and full of latent
power - is modestly stated, then repeated in a series of variations,
Beethoven adding a playful bassoon part, radiant upper strings, and
finally brilliant brass, woodwind and timpani in a grand tutti, followed
by a foreshadowing of the elegant little codetta that will separate
the sung stanzas of the Ode.
After the bass soloist has commanded the whole company to join
him in rejoicing, and soloists and chorus have elaborated on the first
three stanzas, the drama climaxes in a famous “harmonic coup de
theatre” (David B. Levy) in the shift from D major to F major as the
Cherub stands before God. What follows is in the style of a '"Turkish
March' complete with the Yjanissary' instruments of cymbals, triangle
and bass drum and a cheerful line for the piccolo as the brothers,
led by the tenor solo, set off to fight for liberty and justice: the
massive double fugue that follows, traversing a dazzling range of
keys, could be taken as a passage of stirring battle-music with the
chorus emerging victorious to sing a triumphant reprise of the Ode's
first stanza.
After a dramatic pause, Beethoven prepares for the end of the
symphony by introducing a new theme at Seid umschlungen,
millionen, "Be embraced, ye millions!", as the kiss of universal love is
offered to the whole world under a dear father who “must’ (muss -
the word is emphasised) dwell above the canopy of stars. This
theme is then combined contrapuntally with the Freude theme and
developed
by the chorus into a superb double fugue. After a
breathless passage urging the “millions” for a last time to rise and
seek their God, the pace quickens as the soloists return to celebrate
the magical reconciliation that Joy brings to the world. Their last
contribution is a beautiful poco adagio section in which each voice
has an elaborate cadenza to evoke the flourishing of brotherhood
under the waving wings of Joy, and it is left to the chorus, then the
orchestra
alone, to complete Beethoven's great affirmation of
humanity and love as the magnificent work rushes to its sudden
conclusion.
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5
Symphony No. 9 - Final movement
O Freunde, nicht diese Tone!
Oh friends, not these sounds!
Sondern laBt uns angenehmere
Let us instead strike up more
anstimmen, und freudenvollere.
pleasing and more joyful ones!
Freude!
Joy!
Freude!
Joy!
Freude, schoner Gotterfunken
Joy, beautiful spark of divinity,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Daughter from Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Burning with fervour,we enter,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
heavenly being, your sanctuary!
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Your magic brings together
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
what custom has sternly divided.
Alle Menschen werden Brtider,
All men shall become brothers,
Wo dein sanfter Flugel weilt.
wherever your gentle wings
hover.
Wem der groBe Wurf gelungen,
Whoever has been lucky enough
Eines Freundes Freund zu sein;
to become a friend to a friend,
Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
Whoever has found a beloved
wife,
Mische seinen Jubel ein!
let him join our songs of praise!
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
Yes, and anyone who can call
Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
one soul his own on this earth!
Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle
Any who cannot, let them slink
Weinend sich aus diesem Bund!
away from this gathering in tears!
Freude trinken alle Wesen
Every creature drinks in joy
An den Brusten der Natur;
at nature's breast;
Alle Guten, alle Bosen
Good and Evil alike
Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
follow her trail of roses.
Kusse gab sie uns und Reben,
She gives us kisses and wine,
Einen Freund, geprdft im Tod,
a true friend, even in death;
Wollust ward dem Wurm
Even the worm was given desire,
gegeben,
Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.
and the cherub stands before
God.
Vivace Chorus
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Gladly, just as His suns hurtle
Durch des Himmels pracht'gen
through the glorious universe,
Plan,
Laufet, Bruder, eure Bahn,
So you, brothers, should run your
course,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.
joyfully, like a conquering hero.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Be embraced, you millions!
Diesen KuB der ganzen Welt!
This kiss is for the whole world!
Bruder, uber'm Sternenzelt
Brothers, above the canopy of
stars
MuB ein lieber Vater wohnen.
must dwell a loving father.
lhr sturzt nieder, Millionen?
Do you bow down before Him,
you millions?
Ahnest du den Schoépfer, Welt?
Do you sense your Creator,
O world?
Such'ihn tber'm Sternenzelt!
Seek Him above the canopy of
stars!
Uber Sternen muB er wohnen.
He must dwell beyond the stars.
All programme notes by Jon Long
Printed music for this evening's concert has been obtained from
Surrey Performing Arts Library
Leeds Festival Chorus
n
We are most grateful to these organisations.
Acknowledgement is made to use of 'The New Novello Choral Edition'
choral scores of Beethoven's gth Symphony in tonight's performance.
Vivace Chorus
Clare Tunney - Soprano
North-East born soprano, Clare Tunney
is the 'Sir Elton John' and ‘Toni V Fell
scholar at the Royal Academy of Music
where
she
trains
with
Kathleen
Livingstone and Christopher Glynn and
sings with the Academy's prestigious
'Song Circle’. From September 2018,
Clare will become a member of Royal
Academy
Opera,
where
she
will
perform fully-staged operas for the next
2 years.
Her solo oratorio work includes Verdi
Requiem
(Guildford
Cathedral
and
Romsey Abbey), Poulenc Stabat Mater (St. John's, Smith Square),
Haydn Creation (Durham Cathedral), Dvorak Stabat Mater, Brahms
Requiem and Mendelssohn Eljjah.
Her operatic roles to date include ‘Arminda’ La finta giardinera
(Ryedale Festival Opera), 'Valencienne' The Merry Widow, 'Lady
Billows' Albert Herring, ‘Smith’ in Die Dreigroschenoper (Royal
Academy Opera), '‘Cherubino’ The Marriage of Figaro, 'Dido’ Dido and
Aeneas and this summer, she will make her debut as ‘Fiordiligi’ in
Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.
In 2017, Clare was awarded first place in the prestigious ‘National
Mozart Competition’, where she also won the Art Song category.
Other achievements include placing 3rd in London Song Festival's
English Song Masterclass with Sir Thomas Allen, placing 2nd in the
Isabel Jay Operatic Prize at RAM (2016 and 2017), a finalist in the
Richard Lewis Competition, Arthur Burcher Memorial Prize, the John
McAslan Prize and Academy's representative in the 'Kathleen Ferrier
Bursary Competition.
Clare is generously supported by Help Musicians UK, The Royal
Society of Musicians and The Josephine Baker Trust.
18
Vivace Chorus
Hannah Poulsom - Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano Hannah Poulsom is the
recipient
of
the
Stroma
Sutherland
Award at RAM, where she is currently in
her second year with Royal Academy
Opera.
Here, she studies with
Nuccia
Focile, Raymond Connell and Jonathan
Papp. Prior to joining RAO, she received
a
Masters
with
Distinction
from
the
Academy.
Her
recent
and
performances
upcoming
with
operatic
RAO
include:
Carmen (La Tragédie de Carmen - Peter
Brook),
Minskwoman
(Flight
-
Dove),
Frau Peachum (Die Dreigroschenoper - Weill), Junon (Orphée aux
Enfers - Offenbach) performed at Hackney Empire, and Bradamante
(Alcina - Handel).
In the autumn of 2017, Hannah created the role of Verily Romily for
Surrey Opera's World Premiere Tour of The Life to Come, based on
the E.M.Forster story of the same title, by Louis Mander and with
libretto by Stephen Fry.
Her recent and future concert repertoire comprises Verdi's Requiem
at Guildford Cathedral, Mendelssohn's Eljjah, Berlioz's Enfance du
Christ at King's College London Chapel, and a concert performance
of Handel's Teseo,
in which she enjoyed exploring the role of
Medea, with the London Handel Festival, under the baton of David
Yates.
Hannah is also the recipient of the Alice Gamble Award and is
sponsored
by
the
Josephine
Baker
Trust
and
gratefully
acknowledges its support.
Vivace Chorus
19
Kieran
Carrel
(born
1996)
studied
in
Cologne, Germany with the renowned
German
before
tenor
Christoph
continuing
his
Pregardien
studies
with
distinguished Scottish tenor Neil Mackie
at the Royal Academy of Music.
He frequently appears as a soloist in
oratorio
and
recital
across
Europe.
Kieran
has appeared on the operatic
stage
in
Weber's
roles such
as
Freischutz
and
Kilian
in
CM.
Sakristan
in
Siegfried Wagner's An allem ist Hutchen
Schuld under Lionel Friend, which was
recently released on DVD with Naxos.
Further roles include Flute in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's
Dream and Contino
Mozart's
Belfiore
in
Ryedale
La finta giardiniera with
Festival's production of
the
Orchestra
of the Age of
his
debut
Wigmore
Enlightenment.
In
December
2016
Kieran
had
at
Hall,
accompanied by Graham Johnson. He has since returned to the Hall.
As part of the Schubert Weekend with Thomas Hampson and
Wolfgang Rieger, he has recently sung at the newly opened Pierre-
Boulez-Saal in Berlin.
Kieran is recipient of the Royal Academy's Douglas Samuel & Birdie
Matthews
Award
and
regularly
cast
as
a
soloist
in
the
Royal
Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Cantatas series, where
he has sung under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe. Kieran is
generously supported by the ABRSM.
20
Vivace Chorus
Nicholas Mogg - Bass
Nicholas Mogg recently graduated from
the Opera Course at the Royal Academy
of Music. He is an Oxford Lieder Young
Artist, a Britten-Pears Young Artist, a
Park Lane Group Young Artist, and a
Drake Calleja Scholar. Nicholas won the
2017 Royal Over-Seas League Singers'
Prize
and
the
Richard
Lewis/Jean
Shanks
Award.
Other
competition
success includes the Joan Chissell
Schumann
Lieder Prize,
the
Elena
Gerhardt Lieder Prize, and the Oxford
Lieder Young Artist Platform. Nicholas is
grateful for the support of the Robert
Easton Award, Drake Calleja Trust, Help Musicians UK Sybil Tutton
Award, and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. He read music at
Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar.
Operatic roles to date include Peachum in Die Dreigroschenoper,
Jupiter in Orphée aux Enfers at Hackney Empire, Melisso in Alcina for
Royal Academy Opera. Nicholas has sung at Festival d'Aix-enProvence, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Garsington Opera, the Royal
Opera House, Covent Garden, and will spend this season at
Glyndebourne Festival Opera where he will sing Hausknecht in Der
Rosenkavalier.
Nicholas has appeared as a soloist at the Barbican, Concertgebouw,
Palau de la Musica Catalana, Bozar Brussels, KKL Luzern, and
Philharmonie de Paris with conductors including Sir John Eliot
Gardiner, Ton Koopman, and Sir Roger Norrington. He has
established a successful duo partnership with pianist, Jams
Coleman, and together they have performed recitals at the
Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, Two Moors Festival, Roman
River Festival, and Ryedale Festival Engagements in 2017/18
include the title role in Don Giovanni and Steward in Flight for Royal
Academy Opera, Handel Messiah for Edward Higginbottom in Spain,
Schubert Schwanengesang at the Two Moors Festival, and a return
to the Oxford Lieder Festival for Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem.
Vivace Chorus is grateful to The Josephine Baker Trust
for the sponsorship of tonight's soloists.
Vivace Chorus
21
Jeremy is one of Britain's leading choral
conductors. He began his musical career
| in Canterbury Cathedral where he was
Senior Chorister. In 1980 he was
appointed Music Editor at the RNIB,
where he was responsible for the
transcription of print music into Braille.
He has worked for both EMI Classics and
later Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers
as a Literary Editor, but now pursues his
career as a freelance conductor.
Jeremy has been the sole conductor of
the internationally-renowned chamber
choir Vasari Singers since its inception in
1980. Since winning the prestigious Sainsbury's Choir of the Year
competition in 1988, the Vasari Singers has performed regularly at
concert venues and cathedrals throughout the UK and abroad.
Jeremy and Vasari have broadcast frequently on BBC Radio and
Classic FM, and have a discography of over 25 CDs on the EMI,
Guild, Signum and Naxos labels; they have recently launched their
own VasariMedia label with a recording of Jonathan Rathbone's
Under the shadow of His wing, which they premiered in 2014. Their
highly-acclaimed recording of Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil was
released in October 2017.
In January 1995, Jeremy was appointed Music Director of the Vivace
Chorus. Alongside the standard classical works, Jeremy has
conducted the Vivace Chorus in some ambitious programmes,
including Howells' Hymnus Paradisi and Szymanowski's Stabat
Mater, Mahler's 2nd Symphony ‘Resurrection’, Prokofiev's Alexander
Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible, Mahler's Symphony No 8, ‘Symphony of
a Thousand' and Verdi's Requiem in the Royal Albert Hall with the
Royal Phitlharmonic Orchestra.
In January 2009, Jeremy took up the post of Music Director of the
Salisbury Community Choir. In 2013 the choir celebrated its 21st
Anniversary with a major concert in Salisbury Cathedral in October,
featuring
the
world
premiere
of a
specially-commissioned
community work by Will Todd, The City Garden, which they
subsequently toured to Lincoln (2014) and Guildford (2015). A
commission for a major new work from Alexander LEstrange is
planned for November 2018.
22
Vivace Chorus
The Brandenburg Sinfonia is one of the most dynamlcally versatile
musical organisationsin the country, renowned for its special quality
of
sound and poised vivacity in performance. The orchestra
performs regularly in most 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 a major concert
series at both St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Crystal Palace Bowl.
Violin 1
Bass
Gabby Lester
Andrew Davis
Nick Korth
Hilary Jane Parker
David Ayre
Finlay Bain
Alice Hall
H
Jonathan Eddie
Cara Laskaris
Susan Blair
Peter Hembrough
Flute
Cecily Ward
S =gl
P
Horn
_
Hugh Sisley
Jason Koczur
James Widden
Anne Allen
lan Mulllin
gggizgi:terde
u
Ryan Linham
Violin 2
Eleanor Parry-Dickinson
John Dickinson
Abigail Burrows
Chloe Vincent
Kate Walter
Mackenzie Richards
Rebecca Crawshaw
Oliver Carey
Jo Harris
Oboe
Trombone
Peter Facer
Susan White
Ed Webb _
Eleanor Gilchrist
Katie Bennington
Rory Cartmel
Clare Raybould
Bryony Middleton
Dougal Prophet
Viola
Geoff Coates
Tub
Matthew Quenby
Rachel Broadbent
Nl;!ckaEtherid
Kate Musker
Clarinet
Milena Simovic
Andrew Harper
Joseph Fisher
Cello
Timpani
Rosemary Taylor
Bassoon
Tristan Fry
Percussion
Adrian Bradbury
Judith Fleet
Madeleine Ridd
Patrick Johnson
Vivace Chorus
ge
e
James Crook
Elizabeth Trigg
Ben Brooker
Robert Porter
Tom Hardy
About Vivace Chorus
Jeremy Backhouse
Music Director
Francis Pott
Accompanist
James Garrow
Chairman
Vivace Chorus is a flourishing, ambitious and adventurous choir
based in Guildford, Surrey, which aims to have fun making and
sharing great choral music.
The choir has come a long way since it began in 1946 as the
Guildford Philharmonic Choir, and now has an enviable reputation for
performing first-class concerts across a wide range of musical
repertoire. Particular successes include a sell-out performance in
May 2011 of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, the ‘Symphony of a Thousand,
at the Royal Albert Hall, a highly acclaimed performance in
November 2012 of Britten's War Requiem and another Royal Albert
Hall success in May 2014 when we performed the Verdi Requiem. In
2017 we celebrated our 70th birthday with the Philharmonia
Orchestra in the Royal Festival Hall
Since 1995, Vivace has thrived under the exceptional leadership of
this evening's conductor, Jeremy Backhouse. Jeremy's passion for
choral works and his sheer enthusiasm for music-making are
evident at every rehearsal and performance. He is supported by
Francis Pott, who is not just a very fine rehearsal accompanist, but is
24
Vivace Chorus
also an academic and composer of
international
repute
and
an
accomplished concert pianist.
In addition to our own concerts in
Guildford and London, we also sing
in
various
with
our
each
vyear
charity
concerts
regular
orchestra,
and,
the
Brandenburg Sinfonia, take part in
the Brandenburg Choral Festival
in
St
Martin-in-the-
:
Fields. We also like to take our music- maklng overseas and have
toured to France, Italy, Germany and Austria. After a ‘home tour' in
the Cotswolds last summer, we are now preparing for a tour of the
Baltic States in June 2018.
We're a friendly and sociable choir that enjoys singing traditional
choral classics alongside the challenge of contemporary and newlycommissioned
music. We are always happy to welcome new
members, so if you would like to try us out, do come along to any of
our regular rehearsals on Monday evenings at 7.15 in the Millmead
Centre, Millmead, Guildford.
Just
contact
our
membership
secretary
Jane
Brooks
at
membership@vivacechorus.org and for more information, visit our
website, vivacechorus.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter -
@VivaceChorus.
Vivace Chorus Singers
FIRST SOPRANO
FIRST ALTO
Sylvia Chantler
SECOND TENOR
Sel Adamu
Jackie Bearman
Mary Clayton
Ewan Bramhall
Pam Alexander
Monika Boothby
Andrea Dombrowe
Amelia Atkinson
Jane Brooks
Elizabeth Evans
Jane Barnes
Amanda Burn
Sheena Ewen
Helen Beevers
Valentina Faedi
Valerie Garrow
Peter Norman
Joanna Bolam
Elaine Harris
Jo Glover
Jon Scott
Mary Broughton
Jean Leston
Liz Hampshire
Rebecca Kerby
Liz Martin
Pauline Higgins
Mo Kfouri
Lois McCabe
Beth Jones
Susan Norton
Penny McLaren
Mary King
Robin Onslow
Christine Medlow
Christine Lavender
Richard Broughton
Margaret Parry
Rosalind Milton
Kay McManus
Brian John
Gillian Rix
Mary Moon
Catherine Middleton Jeremy Johnson
Joan Thomas
Lilly Nicholson
Pamela Murrell
Anna Veronese
Gill Perkins
Sonja Nagle
Linda Ross
Jacqueline Norman
Lesley Scordellis
Prue Smith
SECOND SOPRANO
Catherine Shacklady
Rosey Storey
Robin Privett
Jacqueline Alderton
Carol Sheppard
Pamela Usher
David Ross
Suzanne Cahalane
Marjory Stewart
Anne Whitley
Philip Stanford
Isobel Humphreys
Jo Stokes
June Windle
Isabel Mealor
Julia Stubbs
Elisabeth Yates
Sonia Morris
Hilary Trigg
Alison Newbery
Fiona Wimblett
Kate Peters
Maggie Woolcock
Simon Dillon
Geoff Johns
FIRST BASS
Paul Barnes
Phil Beastall
David Brassington
Jon Long
Malcolm Munt
Chris Newbery
Peter Pearce
Chris Peters
Kieron Walsh
SECOND BASS
Norman Carpenter
FIRST TENOR
Geoffrey Forster
Bob Bromham
James Garrow
Rosie Jeffery
Barbara Tansey
Peter Butterworth
Tony Chantler
Stuart Gooch
Nick Gough
Christine Wilks
SECOND ALTO
Nick Manning
Frances Worpe
Valerie Adam
Martin Price
Geraldine Allen
Chris Robinson
Roger Penny
Evelyn Beastall
John Trigg
Richard Wood
Mark Lewis
Neil Martin
Vivace Chorus
Vivace Chorus Patrons
The Vivace Chorus is extremely grateful to all patrons
for their support.
Honorary Life Patrons
Mr John Britten
Dr John Trigg MBE
Life Patrons
Carol Hobbs
Mrs Joy Hunter MBE
John and Jean Leston
Platinum Patrons
Mr & Mrs A Batterbury
Ron & Christine Medlow
Mr & Mrs Peter B P Bevan
Lionel & Mary Moon
Robin & Jill Broadley
Dr Roger Muray
Roger & Sharon Brockway
Peter Norman
Richard & Mary Broughton
John & Margaret Parry
Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson CBE
Robin & Penny Privett
Jean & Norman Carpenter
Gillian Rix
Andrea & Gunter Dombrowe
Jonathan Scott
Rosemary & Michael Dudley
Catherine & Brian Shacklady
Celia & Michael Embleton
Prue & Derek Smith
Susan & Cecil Hinton
Dennis Stewart
Michael Jeffery
Idris & Joan Thomas
Geoffrey Johns & Sheila Rowell
Pam Usher
Jane Kenney
Anthony J T Williams
Dr Stephen Linton
Bill & June Windle
John MclLean OBE & Janet McLean
Maggie Woolcock
If you have enjoyed this concert, why not become one of our patrons? \We
have a loyal band of followers whose regular presence at our concerts is
greatly appreciated. With the valued help of our patrons, we are able to
perform a wide range of exciting music, with world-class, professional
musicians in venues such as Guildford Cathedral, G Live, the Royal Albert
Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. For an annual donation, patrons can have
unlimited tickets at a 10% discount. If you are interested, please contact
Mary Moon on 01372 468431 or email: patrons@vivacechorus.org.
Vivace Chorus
27
Vivace Chorus dates for your diary
A Concert for Peace
Saturday 10th November
7.30 pm
G Live, Guildford
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War,
Vivace Chorus is proud to be presenting an evening of music and
words on the theme of War and Peace. With the Guildford Friary
Band, Dame Penelope Keith, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey and the
Royal British Legion, we invite you all to a unique and unforgettable
occasion.
The Mayor of Guildford's Carol Concert
Sunday 16th December 7.00 pm
Holy Trinity Church, Guildford
We are delighted to be once again invited to sing at the Mayor of
Guildford's annual Carol Concert, in support of the Mayor's selected
charity. In the beautiful setting of a candlelit Holy Trinity Church, our
seasonal mix of favourite carols and beautiful Christmas music, as
well as delicious mince pies and mulled wine will definitely help to
put you in the Christmas spirit.
Sea Symphony - Vaughan Williams
Saturday 16th March 2019
7.30 pm
Guildford Cathedral
Join us for some musical maritime adventures when we perform a
fantastic programme of sea music. Alongside Benjamin Britten's
Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, we will be singing Herbert
Howells' Sir Patrick Spens, a tale of daring sea adventure which
really should be performed more often. And there's only one way to
finish a concert like this: with an all-time favourite - the wonderful
Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Further details at vivacechorus.org
Printed by WORDCRAFT
15 Merrow Woods, Guildford, Surrey GU1 2LJ. Tel: 01483 560735
Vivace Chorus is a Registered Charity No. 1026337
28
Vivace Chorus
LANGUAGE OF THE HEART
The new album from Sunfiugo Quartet
"Stunning cerebral and sensual....this is truly special” Sting
"A real pleasure to experience” Nick Ingman
"Sexier than 50 Shades of Grey" Bob Geldof
"Inspired” The Independent
No. 3 in the Specialist Classical Chart
Classic FM Charts fop ten
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Remembers
BRASS BAND
During the afternoon in the foyer at GLive:
- Guildford in the Great War — a‘Circle 8'film
« Gordon’s School Pipe and Drum Band
+« WW1 Re-enactment Group
« Reed’s School Drum Corps
- Display of artwork and poetry from local
schools
;
GLive auditorium 7.30 pm - A Concert for Peace
Readings from:
« Thomas Hardy
« Wilfred Owen
«'The Wipers Times’
« Letters from the trenches
- The Last Post and Reveille (Bugler from The
Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment)
« Spirituals from A Child of our Time Tippett
Excerpts from:
« The Armed Man Karl Jenkins
« The Planets Gustav Holst
« The Enigma Variations Edward Elgar
« Requiem Gabriel Fauré
- Abide with me, You'll never walk alone
« First World War songs