Programme notes for All We Want for Christmas

Transcription

1 Programme notes for All We Want for Christmas Biographies Our guests... Pete Beachill has a vast experience in the film and music industry. He has recorded and toured extensively with some of the most listened-to pop and rock artists in the industry. He has appeared on many film soundtracks including Chicago, Die Another Day and Bridget Jones Diary. Gina Foster has been a solo artist and a noted part of the UK session scene for many years. Working in several different styles, she has had the pleasure of being employed by the likes of Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Bill Wyman, Natalie Cole, ABC, Swing Out Sister, Sinead O'Connor, Alison Moyet, Michael McDonald and Pete Townshend. She is currently working on a repertoire for The Foster Beachill Project, a collaboration with trombone player Pete Beachill, as well as a solo album. Special thanks to Paul Campany for keeping us in time on percussion. Our arrangers... Mark Nightingale is best known as a jazz trombone soloist, and has worked all over the world with some of the very finest jazz musicians including Ray Brown, Clark Terry, Scott Hamilton, James Morrison and Steely Dan. In the UK he can be heard playing with artists such as Cleo Laine, Alan Barnes, Laurence Cottle, Stan Tracey and the John Wilson Orchestra. As a bandleader Mark has produced a clutch of critically acclaimed CDs, and he has been a multiple award-winner at the British Jazz Awards since the 1990 s. He is also a busy session musician in London. Mark s composition and arranging skills have blossomed and flourished since the early days of writing big band charts whilst in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Nowadays he is regularly called upon by his fellow professionals on all instruments and in many different genres to write tailor-made features for them. As well as individuals he has also received specialist commissions from groups such as LSO Brass, The New Trombone Collective, London Brass and a wide variety of big bands Europe-wide. Mark s compositions have been featured at various International Trombone Festivals, and also a great deal with the BBC Big Band. Mark has had a long association with Warwick Music Ltd since their

2 inception in the 1990 s. He now has a catalogue of study material and concert pieces for players of all standards on various instruments. His study book Easy Jazzy Tudes has been particularly successful, and has recently been re-launched complete with backing tracks. Many of Mark s pieces and studies have been taken up by the music examination boards (ABRSM, Trinity and Guildhall) for use in their syllabusses, bringing them to a wide audience of instrumentalists of all ages. Roger Trigg was born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied at The Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Music (Performance). In 1996, Roger completed a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education with the Australian Catholic University and he was recently awarded a Master's degree in Education: Leadership & Management. As a trombonist, Roger has been a member of The Salvation Army s Melbourne Staff Band ( ) and the New York Staff Band ( ). Whilst living in New York, Roger worked at The Salvation Army Headquarters as Assistant Divisional Music Director. In 2001, he returned to Melbourne and commenced work as Director of the Creative Ministries Department for The Salvation Army Melbourne Central Division. During this tenure, Roger directed Gospel Choirs, Contemporary Music Groups, Choirs and Brass Bands. As a composer, Roger has accepted commissions from various groups and has had numerous works recorded and published in the USA, Australia and the UK. Since moving to the UK in 2005, Roger has worked for the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) as an Education Manager with responsibilities for GCSE and GCE Music and Drama. Roger also keeps busy in both his role as part time tutor at the City of Belfast School of Music and as an occasional freelance trombonist. Roger lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland with his wife Cheryl, son Jacob and daughter Poppy. Our programme... Troika - Prokofiev arr. Vollam Prokofiev ( ) composed his music for the film of the same name, Lieutenant Kije, in 1933, and later compiled a suite for wind and percussion from the film music. The suite exists in two versions, one using a baritone voice and the other using a saxophone. Broadly following the plot of the movie, the suite is in five movements with Troika being the fourth. Troika has now become synonymous with Christmas and has been arranged and adapted many times. Shepherds Farewell - Berlioz arr. Vollam French composer Hector Berlioz ( ) originally studied medicine before going

3 on to study composition at the Paris Conservatoire. One of his best known works is the 'Symphonie Fantastique', inspired by French actress Harriet Smithson whom he later married. This piece is taken from his oratorio 'Lenfance du Christ' written in 1853 and is based on the holy family's flight into Egypt. This movement, originally for organ, was composed in 1850 before the main work, and depicts the shepherds bidding farewell to the family as they leave Bethlehem. Three Early Carols arr. Vollam The three early carols featuring in this arrangement are Patapan, Coventry Carol and Gaudete. 1. Patapan is a French Christmas carol first published in 1720 by Bernard de La Monnoye, The carol revolves around the birth of Christ told from the shepherds point of view the patapan being being the onomatopoetic sound of their drums and the tu-re-lu-relu being the sound of the flutes. 2. Coventry Carol dates from the 16 th Century and was performed in Coventry as part of a mystery play entitled the Pageant of the Shearmen and the Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story as told in the Gospel of Matthew. The carol refers to the Massacre of the Innocents where Herod ordered all infant boys to be killed, and is the lament of a mother who is about to lose her child. It is the only song from the play that has survived. 3. Gaudete is a carol first published in Pies Cantiones, a collection of early Finnish and Swedish sacred songs, in No music is given for the verses but the standard tune used comes from older liturgical books. It is interestingly one of only a handful of a cappella songs to become hits and is also one of only a very few hits to be sung in Latin. The Lamb - Tavener arr. Smith The Lamb is a poem by William Blake published in 'Songs of Innocence' in Like many other of his works the poem is about Christianity. The Songs of Innocence were originally intended to be sung although Blake's original melody is now lost. Sir John Tavener (1944-) the British composer set the poem to music in 1982, and it has rapidly become one of his most performed works. It was written for his nephew's 3 rd brithday. It is a simple but beautiful setting and is usually performed as a Christmas carol. For Unto Us a Child is Born - Handel arr. Vollam Georg Friedrich Handel( ) composed his oratorio The Messiah in 1741 with a text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and from the psalms included from the Common Book of Prayer. The Messiah is in three parts and Part 1 from which For Unto Us a Child is Born is taken, deals with the prediction of the Virgin birth by the Old Testament prophets.

4 The words to the chorus are taken from Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Bethlehem Down - Warlock arr. Vollam Bethlehem Down is a choral anthem composed in 1927 by the unconventional and notorious composer Peter Warlock ( ) and set to a poem by Bruce Blunt. It is a beautiful piece of music which reputedly has a less than beautiful origin as Warlock and Blunt supposedly wrote it to finance a heavy drinking session one Christmas Eve. They submitted the carol to the Daily Telegraph's annual Christmas Carol competition and won! Musical Sleigh Ride - L.Mozart arr. Vollam Johann Georg Leopold Mozart ( ) was probably most famous for being the father and teacher of W.A. Mozart although was a composer and violinist in his own right. The question of whether he was a successful composer, either by fame or artistic merit will undoubtably continue to cause debate but he did write a number of symphonies, many concertos, oratorios and dance items. This musical sleigh ride is taken from Leopold Mozart's Divertimento in F major written in It was written to entertain children at Christmas time and the instrumentation can include toy percussion and bird whistles. Il est ne, le divin Enfant - Faure arr. Vollam Il est ne is a French Christmas carol published for the first time in 1862 by R. Grosjean the organist of Cathedral of Saint-Die-des Vosges, in a collection of carols called 'Airs des Noels Lorrains'. The text of the carol details the birth of Christ and the wait of 4000 years for the event. This arrangement was based on the harmonization of the carol by Gabriel Faure. Silent Night - Gruber arr. Trigg Franz Gruber ( ) wrote the music for Silent Night to set to words written by the priest Joseph Mohr, a couple of years previously. It was written for singer with guitar accompaniment, which they performed together at mass on Christmas Eve There are many stories of why it was written for guitar, including the theory that the church organ was broken or that Mohr simply wanted a carol he could play on his guitar. Whatever the truth, the song was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in March

5 Winter Wonderland - Bernard arr. Trigg Winter Wonderland is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and Richard Smith. Smith was reputedly supposed to have been inspired to write it after seeing Honesdale's Central Park, Pennsylvania, covered in snow. The original recording was by Richard Himber and his orchestra in 1934 but it has now been recorded by over 150 different artists. Although widely regarded as a Christmas song, in fact Christmas is never mentioned in the lyrics. Santa Baby - Javits/Springer arr. McDonald Santa Baby was written in 1953 by Joan Javits and Philip Springer, one of only two Christmas hits written by a woman. It was originally recorded by Eartha Kitt although it has since been sung by many other popular female artists and also a couple of male ones (with suitably changed lyrics!). We welcome Gina Foster on this track. Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! - Cahn arr. McDonald Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! is a song written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in July It was reputedly written in Hollywood, California during one of the hottest days on record. It was also recorded for this album on one of the hottest days in 2012! We are joined on this arrangement by Pete Beachill. Sleigh Ride - Anderson arr. Smith Leroy Anderson ( ) was a light orchestral composer commonly regarded as one of the finest in his genre. He finished the music for Sleigh Ride in 1948 and the lyrics were written by Mitchell Parish in Again it was conceived of and written during a heat wave! The first orchestral recording was made in 1949 by the Boston Pops Orchestra. The piece has been arranged for many different ensembles and recorded and sung by hundreds of artists. Again interestingly Christmas is never mentioned in the lyrics but it is indeed considered a Christmas classic. When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney - Grafton arr. Nightingale The last track on this CD is a wonderful arrangement of the classic children s song, When Santa Got Stuck up the Chimney by Jimmy Grafton. It has been arranged for us by the amazing Mark Nightingale. We hope you have enjoyed the CD and that you have a wonderful and peaceful Christmastime. Thanks, Bones Apart x

6