NCS is performing in this event - Newbury Choral Society · group of singers must have met an...
Transcript of NCS is performing in this event - Newbury Choral Society · group of singers must have met an...
Newbury Choral Society is a non-auditioned
choir with a history of over 130 years of
bringing a high standard of music to the
area. The establishment of a permanent
group of singers must have met an urgent need in the town as the
Society attracted more than one hundred members for the first
concert in 1885. Conducted by the choirmaster and organist of
Newbury's St Nicolas Church, John Shepherd Liddle, the choir made a
good impression on the Newbury Weekly News critic who wrote that
'the execution of the choruses reflected great credit upon the
members of the Society and their conductor'.
Since that first concert we have continued to perform a wide and
varied repertoire, from the great choral works of Bach, Handel and
Vaughan Williams to pieces by more recent composers Tavener,
Britten and Karl Jenkins. In its second century the choir’s conductors
have included Jonathan Finney, Robert Barsby, Leo Hussain and its
first female Musical Director Janet Lincé. Cathal Garvey has held the
position since December 2009.
You can find out more about Newbury Choral Society, its history and
forthcoming events, at www.newburychoral.org.uk.
If you are interested in joining us, please contact our secretary
through the website. We rehearse on Monday evenings at the
Methodist Church Hall, Newbury, from 7.20pm to 9.40pm. We ask
that you are able to read music but not necessarily to sight-read. You
will receive a warm welcome.
This programme was printed by Newbury College Print Room.
Newbury Choral Society
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Will Todd: Mass in Blue
Interval
In the Mood: Songs from the Great American Songbook
Ain’t misbehavin’ Night and day
Autumn Leaves Blue Moon
Begin the Beguine ‘S wonderful
Let’s do it I got rhythm
Smoke gets in your eyes Over the rainbow
Conductor: Cathal Garvey
Soprano: Hilary Cronin
Piano: Will Todd
The Will Todd Trio
Rehearsal Accompanist: Steve Bowey
We are grateful to the following organisations for their support:
The Englefield Charitable Trust
Please visit www.newburychoral.org.uk/ConcertFeedback
to tell us about your experience of our performance.
The Programme
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Will Todd: Mass in Blue (Jazz Mass) Op. 28 (2003)
Written in 2003 in response to a commission by Hertfordshire
Chorus, and originally premiered under the title Jazz Mass, Will
Todd’s Mass in Blue is a brilliant blend of driving jazz grooves and
clear, strong, choral writing against which the solo piano and solo
soprano voice weave and blend in a delightful aural tapestry. The
work reflects not only the composer’s love of jazz music and his
admiration of jazz performers, but also his own experience as an
improviser. It also allows Todd to make use of his extensive choral
skills which he deploys so effectively in works such as the oratorios
The Burning Road (Op 10) and Saint Cuthbert (Op 7) or the chorus
writing of his opera The Blackened Man. It is a confident work by a
composer who understands and responds to the jazz idiom, making
free use of the 12 bar blues sequence (which has been fundamental
in the development of jazz music) as well as more complex harmonic
processes.
The Kyrie opens with an energetic cadenza for the trio section which
builds into the first set tempo of the work. Over this the first vocal
entry is heard, a bluesy theme reminiscent of negro spirituals and
therefore apt for the text Kyrie Eleison - Lord have mercy. Gradually
other lines join the initial melody until the full choir is singing. On a
move to the sub-dominant B flat the choir ecstatically bursts forth
with Christe Eleison and as this music subsides we hear the soprano
enter on a soulful melody with a strong improvised feel, which builds
over the return of the original key of F minor. The music of the Kyrie
Eleison is repeated with the soloist interwoven around the vocal lines
Programme Notes
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in a virtuosic display. The movement slows and closes on a thrilling F
minor 11 chord.
The Gloria is set up with a fanfare from the brass which punctuates
the whole movement. From the moment the choir enters there is an
uplifting rhythmic drive to this setting with the full brass section
adding a distinctive colour. In the central section of the Gloria a
pulsating 5/8 time is set up which gradually builds until a
recapitulation of the opening material brings the movement to a
close.
The Credo features the soprano in a colourful 12 bar blues in 12/8
time. There is a strong gospel feel with the choir repeating lines from
the soloist and humming soft backing harmony. Again in three
sections, the first blues part gives way to a more sombre section at
the Crucifixus, and after Et sepultus est (and he was buried) a piano
solo leads the band into a blazing depiction of the moment of
resurrection. The Et resurrexit is set with a scorching up-tempo swing
which eventually cuts back into the 12/8 as the movement builds to a
thrilling climax.
Like the Gloria the Sanctus is set for the choir and band without the
soloist. It is a beautiful, slow ballad set up initially on the piano in
which the woodwind players are featured, especially soprano sax.
The movement provides a welcome period of tranquility and
reflection after the sheer energy of the previous three movements.
The Benedictus begins with solo double bass over which the choir
sings a theme which builds up from the basses through the rest of the
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voices. This music is gradually invaded by a new, more driving beat
and the solo voice begins to weave into the texture once again. This
funky riff gradually takes over and the music emerges into a powerful
Hosanna section with punching brass and a jubilant choral sound.
The Agnus Dei grows out of the dying echoes of the Hosanna with a
haunting soprano ballad accompanied by piano. In the stirring
maestoso which follows, we hear the main themes of the work on
high trumpet fanfares and strong trombone chords. Once again the
strong 12 bar blues harmony underpins the texture. A huge climactic
entry from the choir subsides into a gentle A minor section in which
intricate choral lines are woven over a simple, repeated chordal
structure. After another big build this time with the chorus featured,
the music returns to the opening ballad theme, the soprano now
accompanied by soft choir and brass. This is a substantial movement
and is more than beautiful – it is painful, plaintive, a cry for mercy
and a prayer for peace. Traditionally the mass would end here, but in
another dramatic master-stroke Will Todd leaves the altos hanging
on a soft E after the last chord of the Agnus Dei. The air of
expectation grows as the sopranos softly recapitulate the Credo
theme. Gradually the music builds with the soloist entering and then
the tenors and basses. Suddenly the driving 12/8 beat of the Credo is
forcing the music forward as the choir sing Et expecto resurrectionem
(we look for the resurrection) and the music comes back to the key in
which the work began, F minor. The emphatic final chords of the
work leave the listener not in quiet contemplation but jerked forward
into praise and belief. Credo Amen!
© Ralph Woodward 2003
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Mass in Blue libretto
1. Kyrie Lord, have mercy
Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy upon us.
Christe eleison. Christ have mercy upon us.
Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy upon us.
2. Gloria Glory to God in the highest
Gloria in excelsis Deo. Glory be to God in the highest.
Et in terra pax hominibus bonæ
voluntatis.
And peace to all people on the
earth.
Laudamus te; benedicimus te; We praise you; we bless you;
adoramus te; glorificamus te. we worship you; we glorify you.
Gratias agimus tibi We give you thanks
propter magnam gloriam tuam. for your great glory.
Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, O Lord God, Heavenly King,
Deus Pater omnipotens. God the Father Almighty.
Domine Fili unigenite Jesu
Christe
O Lord Jesus Christ, the only
begotten Son
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Lord God, Lamb of God,
Filius Patris. Son of the Father.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, You take away the sins of the
world,
miserere nobis. have mercy upon us.
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Qui tollis peccata mundi, You take away the sins of the
world,
suscipe deprecationem nostram. receive our prayer.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, You are seated at the right hand
of God,
O miserere nobis. have mercy upon us.
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus
Dominus,
For you alone are the holy one,
tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe. the most high Jesus Christ.
Cum Sancto Spiritu With the Holy Spirit
in gloria Dei Patris. in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
3. Credo I believe in one God
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem
omnipotentem,
I believe in one God, the Father
Almighty,
factorem cœli et terrae,
visibilium omnium et
invisibilium.
Maker of heaven and earth, of
all things visible and invisible.
Et in unum Dominum, Jesum
Christum,
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex
Patre natum ante omnia
saecula.
the only-begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all
worlds.
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Deum de Deo, Lumen de
Lumine, Deum verum de Deo
vero,
God of God, Light of Light, true
God of true God,
genitum non factum,
consubstantialem Patri;
born, not made, of one being
with the Father.
per quem omnia facta sunt. Through Him all things were
made;
Qui propter nos homines et
propter nostram salutem
descendit de cœlis.
Who for us and for our salvation
came down from Heaven.
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu
Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et
homo factus est.
and was incarnate by the Holy
Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and
was made man:
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub
Pontio Pilato passus, et sepultus
est,
And for our sake he was
crucified under Pontius Pilate,
died and was buried:
et resurrexit tertia die,
secundum Scripturas,
And on the third day rose again
according to the Scriptures:
et ascendit in cælum, sedet ad
dexteram Patris.
And ascended into Heaven, and
sits at God's right hand:
Et iterum venturus est cum
gloria, iudicare vivos et mortuos,
And He shall come again in
glory, to judge the living and the
dead:
cuius regni non erit finis; And His Kingdom will have no
end;
Et in Spiritum Sanctum,
Dominum et vivificantem,
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the
Lord, and Giver of Life,
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qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Who proceeds from the Father
and the Son.
Qui cum Patre et Filio simul
adoratur et conglorificatur:
Who, with the Father and the
Son, is worshipped and glorified,
qui locutus est per prophetas. Who has spoken through the
Prophets.
Et unam, sanctam, catholicam
et apostolicam Ecclesiam.
And I believe in One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church,
Confiteor unum baptisma in
remissionem peccatorum.
I acknowledge one Baptism for
the forgiveness of all sin.
Et expecto resurrectionem
mortuorum,
And I await the Resurrection of
the Dead:
et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen. And the Life of the world to
come. Amen.
4. Sanctus Holy, holy Lord
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Holy, holy, holy,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth! Lord God of Sabaoth.
Pleni suni coeli et terra gloria
tua.
Heaven and earth are full of Thy
glory.
Hosanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest.
5. Benedictus Blessed is he
Benedictus qui venit in nomine
Domini.
Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord.
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Hosanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest.
6. Agnus Dei O Lamb of God
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata
mundi,
Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
miserere nobis. have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata
mundi,
Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
dona nobis pacem. grant us peace.
Credo reprise
Credo. I believe.
Et expecto resurrectionem
mortuorum,
And I await the Resurrection of
the Dead,
et vitam venturi saeculi. And the Life of the world to
come.
Credo. I believe.
Interval of 20 minutes
In the Mood
In the Mood is a collection of choral arrangements of popular classic
songs from the Great American Songbook. Tonight we are performing
the following selection:-
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Ain’t misbehavin’: Lyrics by Andy Razaf, music by Tomas “Fats”
Waller and Harry Brooks in 1929. It was created as a theme song for
the musical comedy Connie’s Hot Chocolates, first performed at
Connie’s Inn in Harlem.
Autumn Leaves: Lyrics by French poet Jacques Prévert, music by
Joseph Kosma in 1945. In 1947 Johnny Mercer wrote the English
lyrics and it has become a jazz standard in both French and English.
Begin the Beguine: Written by Cole Porter in 1935 and made popular
by band leader Artie Shaw. The word Beguine refers to a style of
music and dance, a combination of French ballroom and Latin folk
dance.
Let’s do it: Written by Cole Porter in 1928 for his first successful
Broadway musical Paris. The song was later used in the English
production of Wake Up and Dream in 1929 and in the film of Cole
Porter’s Can-Can in 1960.
Smoke gets in your eyes: Composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by
Otto Harbach for the musical Roberta in 1933. It was performed in
the 1935 film version which co-starred Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
and Randolph Scott.
Night and day: Written by Cole Porter in 1932 for the musical Gay
Divorce. A recording by Fred Astaire topped the charts for ten weeks
and it went on to be performed by Bing Crosby, Eartha Kitt, Tony
Bennett, Shirley Bassey and many others.
Blue Moon: Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934. It
was created as the title song for the film Manhattan Melodrama but
was cut before the film’s release. Hart wrote different lyrics, creating
the song as we know it today.
‘S wonderful: Composed by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira
Gershwin. It first appeared in the Broadway musical Funny Face in
1927 and again in the 1951 film An American in Paris.
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I got rhythm: Written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin in 1930.
It was sung by Ethel Merman in the Broadway production of Girl
Crazy and also featured in An American in Paris.
Over the rainbow: Music composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip
Harburg for the film The Wizard of Oz in 1939. It was sung by Judy
Garland in the starring role and won the Academy Award for Best
Original Song. It was adopted by American Troops sent to Europe in
the Second World War as a symbol of the United States.
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Since moving from his native Ireland to London in
2009, Cathal Garvey has conducted Southern
Sinfonia, London International Orchestra, Covent
Garden Chamber Orchestra, I Maestri, London
Repertoire Orchestra, London Medical Orchestra,
King's College London Symphony Orchestra and
Morley College Choir. He was Chorus Master and
Assistant Conductor for two seasons at Grange Park
Opera. He is currently on the conducting staff of the
Royal Academy of Music.
Cathal is conductor and Artistic Director of the London-based Ulysses
Symphony Orchestra, which he founded in 2015. More recently, he took its
professional sister-orchestra, the London Ulysses Orchestra, on a six-city
tour of China at the end of 2016, which included a performance at the
Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Cathal was appointed Musical Director of
Newbury Choral Society in 2009. Since 2015 he has been Musical Director of
Billingshurst Choral Society.
Cathal began violin and piano studies in Cork at an early age, continuing at
the Cork School of Music and later reading music at University College Cork.
After completing his Masters Degree in Conducting, he studied for two
years at the prestigious College of Moscow Conservatory. Cathal began his
career as an Opera Chorus Master working for most of Ireland’s major
opera companies including Opera Ireland, Opera Theatre Company, Anna
Livia Opera Festival, Opera South and Lyric Opera. He worked on over fifty
productions with these companies and acted as Assistant Conductor for
many of them.
During his ten years in Dublin, Cathal conducted many orchestras including
the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and
the Dublin Baroque Players, and from 2001 to 2006 was Principal Conductor
of the Dublin Orchestral Players. From 2004 to 2009 he was Musical
Director of the Dun Laoghaire Choral Society.
Cathal Garvey - Musical Director
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Will Todd’s music is sung and loved all
over the world. A composer of great
fluency, his work encompasses choral
works large and small, opera, musical
theatre and orchestral pieces, as well
as jazz compositions and chamber
works. His 2003 mass setting Mass in
Blue has been performed extensively
worldwide; many times with the Will Todd Trio and Will at the piano.
He has collaborated with award winning choirs The Sixteen and
Tenebrae, as well as with the BBC Singers, BBC Concert Orchestra,
The Halle Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, Opera Holland
Park, Welsh National Opera, The Bach Choir and The Genesis
Foundation. His discography includes best selling choral discs Lux Et
Veritas and The Call of Wisdom (Tenebrae; Nigel Short), Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland (Opera Holland Park) and Mass in Blue, all
on the Signum Classic label. His music is regularly broadcast on Classic
FM, as well as on BBC Radio 3.
Will Todd's music is valued for its melodic intensity and harmonic
skill, often incorporating jazz colours, and his choral music is much in
demand from amateur as well as professional performers. He has
worked extensively with community choirs, children's choirs, youth
choirs and church choirs, writing a large body of approachable
liturgical music and directing regular workshops in the UK and
internationally.
Notable works include the operas The Blackened Man (2001), Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland (2013), Sweetness and Badness (2006),
the oratorios Saint Cuthbert (1995), Ode To a Nightingale (2011),
Rage Against the Dying of the Light (2014), The City Garden (2013),
The Burning Road (1996), the musical The Screams of Kitty Genovese
(2010), choral works Mass in Blue (2003), Requiem (2009), Te Deum
Will Todd - Composer/Pianist
Photograph by Andy Holdsworth
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(2008), Jazz Missa Brevis (2015), My Lord Has Come (2012), The Call
of Wisdom (2012), and orchestral pieces Concerto For Emma (clarinet
concerto 2015), Suite from Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1994) and
Violin Concerto (1996). In 2016 he collaborated with the former
children's laureate Michael Rosen to create Lights, Stories, Noise,
Dreams, Love and Noodles, a work commissioned by The Bach Choir
for youth singers, choir and band.
Will Todd grew up in the city of Durham in North East England, where
his grandfather worked as a coal miner. He now lives in the South
East of England with his family.
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London based soprano Hilary Cronin is in
demand as a soloist and ensemble singer.
Recent engagements include Poulenc’s
Gloria with Walton Voices and Mozart’s
Requiem at St Martin-in-the-Fields where
she is a St Martin's Voices Fellow, as well as
Handel's Messiah at the Bristol Old Vic with
the Erebus Ensemble and Harry Bicket and
The English Concert. Hilary currently sings at St Bartholomew the
Great and is an alumna of Genesis Sixteen. Hilary has sung with
groups including Eo Nomine, Renaissance, Illuminare, Siglo de Oro,
Erebus, Reverie and Britten Sinfonia Voices. Hilary covered the roles
of Minerva in Monteverdi's Ulysses' Homecoming and Diana in
Cavalli's La Calisto in English Touring Opera's 2016 Autumn Season.
Hilary trained at Trinity Laban Conservatoire where she studied with
Teresa Cahill and was a Robinson Hearn and Trinity London Scholar in
addition to being the Dame Susan Morden Choral Scholar at the Old
Royal Naval College Chapel. Prior to this, Hilary read Music at Royal
Holloway University of London where she received the Driver Prize
for Excellence in Performance and the Dame Felicity Lott Bursary and
was a soloist for Hyperion recordings and live BBC Radio 3 Broadcasts
with The Choir of Royal Holloway.
Upcoming engagements include recordings with The Choir of St
Sepulchre’s and Illuminare, Brahms’ Neue Liebeslieder and
Liebeslieder with Seraphim and Handel’s Messiah at Cranleigh School.
Hilary Cronin - Soprano
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Gareth Huw Davies - Bass
Gareth Huw Davies is a London-based double and
electric bass player. His work includes varied sessions,
TV, West End theatre, jazz, big band, and classical
crossover. He has performed all over the world in
concert halls, theatres and jazz venues, collaborating
with and recording for a wide range of musicians
including Graham Coxon, Mark Eitzel, Sir Willard White,
the Will Todd Trio, Simple Minds, Chrissie Hynde,
Charlie Dore and the Tootsie Rollers, and he is the regular bassist for the
long running Welsh live music TV show Noson Lawen. He also works
professionally as a recording engineer and producer, particularly with
composer Will Todd, and as a music theatre keyboard programmer, notably
on the West End productions of Cabaret and Scrooge, and Legally
Blonde. Gareth does occasional corporate, INSET and workshop education
for the Wigmore Hall and others, and is Director of CSSM Summer School of
Music at Sherborne School.
Jim Fleeman - Drums
Jim has led a varied and extensive career,
working with artists such as Martha Reeves
and the Vandellas, Mark Eitzel, Kenny
Wheeler, Omar, Damon Albarn, Sir Willard
White, Mike Figgis and the Halle
Orchestra. He has played on several BBC 1 and 2 and Sky television series
and has worked on theatre productions including Damon Albarn’s Monkey:
Journey to the West and the RSC’s award-winning Matilda the Musical. Jim
has been working with Will Todd since 1999 and has played on the
recordings of Mass In Blue, Te Deum, Jazz Evensong and Songs of Peace,
also performing those works extensively around the UK and on BBC radio.
The Will Todd Trio
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Steve studied organ and piano from an early age,
playing the organ regularly at St Francis and St
Andrews churches in Coulsdon.
After studying Engineering at Salford University
he moved to Newbury to work for Vodafone. In
1991 Steve was appointed as accompanist of the
Cromwell Singers and became their musical
director in 1993. From 1992, he was Director of
Music at St Mary's Church, Shaw-cum-Donnington, and regularly
accompanies for local choirs, including the Douai Choral Society, the
Downland Chorale, the RSCM Southern Cathedral Singers, Berkshire
Maestros youth choirs, Worcester College Oxford and Newbury
Choral society.
In June 1995 an opportunity at work took Steve to live in Holland. On
returning to Newbury in 1997 he returned to St Mary's Shaw-cum-
Donnington as organist. He is a regular performer in the Newbury
and District Organists' Association lunchtime recital series and has
also given recitals in Thaxted, Caterham and Manchester and
Farnham. In 2001 he was appointed Musical Director of the Sandham
Singers.
In 2006 Steve joined the Royal College of Organists, and in July the
following year took the examination for Associate (ARCO) in which he
was awarded the Limpus prize for performance, as well as the
Sowerbutts and Samuel Baker prizes. After further study, he was
awarded the Fellowship diploma (FRCO) in January 2011.
Steve Bowey - Accompanist
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Honorary Life Patron: Lady Knill Chairperson: Liz Wallace Secretary: Nat Smith Treasurer: Tracy Smith Concert Manager: Mike Barthorpe Rehearsal accompanist: Steve Bowey
SOPRANOS ALTOS
Rachel Atkinson Rebecca Berger Helen Bomgardner Kat Brandon Marion Croxford Sarah Foley Janet Freer Pat Hayward Gill Hitchcock Rachet Holt Monica Huddie Murrie Jackson Lauraine Leigh Klugman Bev Lewis Penny Lovelock Lynne Moore Debbie Murphy
Clare Owen Margaret Owen Laura Rushton Taylor Brigitta Small Sarah South Judeth Stock Fenisia Stopher Heather Yule
Katharine Andrews Gayle Ashby Hilary Banks Denise Barthorpe Helen Cook Jacquie Cooper Nicola Foster Fiona Friend Lynette Harper Jenny Hayward Mavis Hughesdon Gwenda Hutchinson Mary Lawler Emma Leader Viv Masson
Susanne Padel Barbara Riggs Georgina Seaman Sally Sinclair Nat Smith Tracy Smith Ann Turner Ann Vodden Liz Wallace Sally Walsh Penny Webb
TENORS BASSES
Peter Angwin Mike Barthorpe Andy Blake Matthew Evans Russell George Derek Harwood
Nick Lampkin Richard Papworth Neil Rendall Andrew Salisbury Angela Whitcomb Nick Yates
Peter Bell David Bomgardner Mike Braide David Craig John Garbutt David Hunt Alexander Jackson
Richard Moore Barrie Seaman Jon Trickey
NCS members singing in tonight’s performance