Hiawatha's Wedding Feast

Transcription

1 HITCHIN THESPIANS present Hiawatha's Wedding Feast including works by F.J.Haydn, G.B. Pergolesi and W.A. Mozart Musical Director Alan Childs Accompanist Robert Day Organist Kevin Vockerodt April 17th, 2010 Christchurch, Bedford Road, Hitchin Hitchin Thespians is a registered charity. Number

2 PART 1 1. Magnificat G. B. Pergolesi ( ) Soloists: Jane Homer - Soprano; Lucy Miller-White - Alto; Richard Cowling - Tenor; Michael Steele - Bass. To celebrate the 300 th anniversary of the birth of Pergolesi we begin tonight s concert with a performance of his Magnificat. Pergolesi s life and the history of his Magnificat remain a mystery. He was born in Ancona and studied with Durante and Feo the leading composers in the Neapolitan School founded by Alessandro Scarlatti. Pergolesi became an accomplished organist and composer of Opera Buffa as well as sacred music. He died tragically early from tuberculosis. Musicologists have often considered the Magnificat to be the work of Francesco Durante ( ) but there appears to be sufficient evidence to suggest that it is indeed the work of Pergolesi. The work is divided into 6 short movements: Magnificat (chorus); Et Misericordia (soprano and alto solos with chorus); Deposuit potentes (chorus), Suscepit Israel (tenor and bass duet); Sicut Locutus Est (chorus) and Sicut erat in principio (chorus). The first and last choruses share the same music a traditional compositional device reflecting the text as it was in the beginning and both use a theme based on the plainsong Magnificat Tone 1 also used by Montiverdi in his setting of the same text. The whole work is full of simple beauty, charm and melodic interest. 2. Three Solo Songs: a) O Ravishing Delight T. Arne Soloist : Lucy Miller-White From the Opera The Judgement of Paris (1742), text by Congreve, music composed by Arne when he was House Composer at Drury Lane, this arrangement is by William H. Summings. b) Mad Bess H. Purcell Soloist: Jane Homer Realised by Benjamin Britten.

3 c) O Peace Thou Fairest Child of Heaven T. Arne Soloist: Sandra Page From Alfred, a masque by James Thompson and Daniel Mallet (1740), this arrangement is by Guy Warwick. 3. Splendente te, Deus - W. A. Mozart ( ) Soloists: Lucy Miller-White - Soprano; Jane Homer Second Soprano; James Hamilton - Tenor; Michael Steele - Bass. Mozart s life and music needs little introduction. This short motet contains music originally used to accompany von Gelber s heroic dram Thamos, König in Āgypten and was popular throughout Mozart s lifetime. The music being heard tonight was probably commissioned and written during Mozart s stay in Vienna from July to September 1773 and first performed in April Sometime later the original German text was replaced by Latin world to form an offertory motet. This version was published posthumously in The work for chorus and four soloists is celebratory in character. 4. Hark, the Echoing Air H. Purcell Soloist: Sandra Page Realised by Benjamin Britten 5. Music for a While H. Purcell Soloist: Lucy Miller-White An arrangement by the Purcell Society of this aria from the opera Oedipus, a tragedy by Dryden and Lee first produced in 1678, although it is believed that this aria was written for the 1692 revival.

4 6. Te Deum - F. J. Haydn ( ) Chorus This magnificent choral drama is three parts was a commission from Empress Marie Therese, the wife of Franz I of Austria. Haydn was a frequent visitor to the Imperial palace in Vienna. The Empress had a good voice; Haydn once accompanied her on a private performance of the soprano part of The Creation. The Empress repeatedly used to ask Haydn for some specially-composed church music, but Prince Esterhazy was reluctant to allow his famous employee to write for anyone but himself. Evidently, however, Marie Therese finally got her way we know not how! The Te Deum was composed around 1799, but its first recorded performance was not until 1800 at Eisenstadt, the home of the Esterhazy family, to celebrate Lord Nelson s (and inevitably, Lady Hamilton s) arrival there. The Te Deum is a choral work throughout, without the solo sections that are heard in Haydn s masses and other sacred works. Two lengthy Allegro passages surround a central Adagio, effectively making the work a concerto for chorus and orchestra. For those with a serious Catholic upbringing, Haydn uses the Gregorian Te Deum plainchant from the eighth psalm-tone. The opening theme in the Allegro, the traditional festive key of C major, is sung by the chorus in unison. The Adagio and Te ergo quaesusmus opens with a thunderous unison C and proceeds, mysteriously, in C minor with the harmonies moving chromatically to stunning, if brief, effect. The final Allegro returns to the same cheerful mood as the first passage, concluding with a stirring double fugue on the words In te Domine speravi. A coda-like section, distinguished by overlapping instrumental and choral phrases with syncopated rhythms, brings the piece to a glorious close. Aylesbury Choral Society, December INTERVAL

5 PART 2 7. Hiawatha s Wedding Feast S. Coleridge-Taylor ( ) Chorus Soloist: Richard Cowling Accompanist: Robert Day Born in London, the son of an African father and English mother, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor began playing the violin and singing in the local church choir from a young age. By the time he was 15 he had been accepted into the Royal College of Music, his place there sponsored by the musical director of Croydon s Grand Theatre. At the RCM he was taken under the wing of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, a stabilizing influence in his troubled youth deserted by his father who returned to his native Sierra Leone and taunted throughout his school days. His problematic life ended at the age of 37 in 1912 when he collapsed and died unexpectedly. Coleridge-Taylor was fascinated by Longfellow s epic poem The Song of Hiawatha setting it to music as a trilogy for solo voices, chorus and orchestra: Hiawatha s Wedding Feast (1898), The Death of Minnehaha (1899) and Hiawatha s Departure (1900). Longfellow s colourful description of the legends of the Red Indian Tribes is equally matched by Coleridge-Taylor s charming and exciting music and such was the popularity if this work during the first half f the 20 th century that it became the most performed choral piece with the exception of Handel s Messiah!

6 Choir Sopranos : Joanna Chugg, Anna Carter, Chris Fox, Lesley Greasley, Vivienne Hamilton, Wendy Hazlewood, Jane Homer, Lucy Miller-White, Sandra Page, Ann Peacock, Melanie Plowman, Sheila Soothill, Roz Ward, Kate Webb, Jenny Wilson. Altos: Gillian Clough, Lilian Dixon, Barbara Edney, Helen Hodge, Sheila Mole, Kay Watts, Natasha Worsley. Tenors: Fred Ardron, Andrew Carmichael, Richard Cowling, James Hamilton, Ian Hamilton. Basses: John Beal, John Edwards, Jack Lardent, Michael Steele. Acknowledgements Choral Manager: Concert Manager: Box Office Managers: Front of House Manager: Poster Artwork: Programme Editors: Lighting: Rehearsal Pianist: Sheila Soothill Andy Johnson Nick & Nicky Morgan Vivienne Tadman Tracey Gwynne Jane Tunesi & Susan Osbourn Richard Cobb Robert Day Have you enjoyed the concert? Would you like to be part of the next one? Hitchin Thespians are looking for new members, especially tenors and basses. If you are interested, please contact the Secretary, Alex Evans secretary@hitchinthespians.org.uk chinthespians.org.uk or ask any member of the choir.

7 HITCHIN THESPIANS WHAT S ON 2010 Summer Concert Carmina Burana Carl Orff, Feel the Spirit John Rutter and excerpts from Mass - Leonard Bernstein Hitchin Girls School 17th July 2010 The King and I Gordon Craig Theatre 12th 16th October 2010 GORDON CRAIG THEATRE BOX OFFICE Tel: CONCERT BOX OFFICE MANAGERS Nick and Nicky Morgan, 43 Bessemer Close, Hitchin, Herts, SG5 1AG Tel: boxoffice@hitchinthespians.org.uk WOODSIDE HALL BOOKINGS For details contact Ann Crook or anncrook@btinternet.com Financially supported by The Arts Council for North Hertfordshire Hitchin Thespians Web Site