Lewisham Choral Society

Transcription

1 Lewisham Choral Society Schubert Offertorium: Intende voci Mozart Piano Concerto No 21 in C Schubert Mass No 6 in E flat Mark Chaundy Tenor Nico de Villiers Piano Helen Meyerhoff Soprano Susan Legg Mezzo Soprano Philip Tebb Bass Forest Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Dan Ludford-Thomas

2 From the Gates of Vienna On the afternoon of Thursday the 29 th of March, 1827 a coffin was solemnly processed through the streets of Vienna, watched by tens of thousands of citizens gathered to bid a final farewell to the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who had died in the city three days previously. Among the thirty eight torchbearers accompanying the coffin was a fellow composer: Franz Schubert. Beethoven had long been one of Schubert's heroes and during his last days, the older man returned the compliment: on his deathbed he acknowledged the spark of divine genius which resided in the younger man. The route of the procession began at the Sparzspanierhaus, where Beethoven had breathed his last and proceeded to the Alserkirche, the Church of the Holy Trinity some ten minutes' walk away, where the funeral was held. The church was very familiar to Schubert, being only twenty minutes walk from his parents' home, where he had been born and brought up. The young organist at the church, Michael Leitermayer, was a friend of Schubert. Some have claimed that it was at the organist's request that the composer wrote what was to be his sixth and final setting of the Mass. It is this which we shall sing tonight, along with a setting by Schubert of an Offertorium, a prayer sung or chanted during Mass. Whether the attribution of the commission to Leitermayer is true or not, it was in the Alserkirche that the Mass would have its first performance in But sadly Schubert was by then himself dead, and buried next to his hero Beethoven. Some forty four years earlier, in 1785, in a fashionable apartment just half an hour's walk from the same church, another composer was hard at work: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Five years previously he had moved permanently to Vienna from his birthplace, Salzburg, having fallen out with his employer, the Prince-Archbishop. He was at the height of his powers and popularity, hence the expensive apartment. During what were to be the last eleven years of his life, he produced a huge quantity of music including no less than eighteen piano concertos. His Piano Concerto No 21 in C major, K.467 was to enjoy a particular popularity which has endured until this day. And so tonight we give you a flavour of some of the wonderful music created within the gates of Vienna by these two highly prolific and yet short-lived Austrian composers. Grüß Gott, liebe Musikfreunde!

3 TONIGHT'S PROGRAMME Franz Schubert: Offertorium Intende voci, D.963 Intende voci orationis meae, Rex meus et Deus meus, quoniam ad te orabo Domine Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God, for unto Thee will I pray, o Lord. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto No 21 in C major for piano & orchestra, K Allegro maestoso 2. Andante 3. Allegro vivace assai Interval Franz Schubert: Mass No.6 in E flat major, D.950 Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, gratias agimus tibi Deus Pater omnipotens, gratias agimus tibi Domine Jesu Christe, gratias agimus tibi Fili unigenite, gratias agimus tibi Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will towards men. We praise Thee, we blessthee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, we give thanks to Thee God the Father Almighty, we give thanks to Thee O Lord, Jesus Christ, we give thanks to Thee The only-begotten Son, we give thanks to Thee

4 Gloria in excelsis Deo, Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Filius Patris, Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, quoniam tu solus Altissimus, quoniam tu solus Dominus. Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris. Amen. Credo in unum Deum, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium, et invisibilium. Credo in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum. Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem, descendit de coelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine : Et homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas. Et ascendit in coelum: sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, judicare vivos et mortuos: cujus regni non Glory be to God on high, we praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Son of the Father, Lamb of God, Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For Thou only art holy, Thou only art most high, Thou only art the Lord. With the Holy Ghost, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. I believe in one God, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son of God. Begotten of His Father before all worlds. God of God, light of light, very God of very God. By whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven. And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary: And was made man. And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven: and sitteth at the right hand of the Father. And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead: His

5 erit finis. Credo in Spiritum sanctum, Dominum, et vivificantem: qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per Prophetas. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum, mortuorum. Et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Osanna in excelsis Deo. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis Deo. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem. kingdom shall have no end. I believe in the Holy Ghost, Lord, and giver of life: who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified: who spake by the Prophets. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, [the resurrection of] the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna to God in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna to God in the highest. Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace. Schubert's spectacles

6 TONIGHT'S COMPOSERS & THEIR WORKS FRANZ SCHUBERT ( ) Franz Peter Schubert was born in 1797 in what is now the district of Alsergrund in Vienna. He was one of the thirteen children born to the local parish schoolmaster Franz Theodor Schubert and his wife, the former housemaid Elisabeth Vietz. Franz Peter was a gifted child and his father was soon giving him a basic musical education. He then began to learn to play the piano, the violin and the viola. Schubert's birthplace in Vienna When Franz was aged 7, his singing abilities were recognized by the composer and teacher Antonio Salieri, much maligned in our time by Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus but in his lifetime recognised as the Austrian capital's leading musical authority. Schubert soon won a choral scholarship to study at the Imperial Seminary, where he remained for five years. Salieri also gave the boy private lessons in music theory and composition and Franz's own early works began to be recognised. At the age of 17, Schubert returned home to start teacher training and then reluctantly took up a post at his father's school for two years. In his spare time he was rescued from what he saw as drudgery by continuing with Salieri's tuition until Meanwhile he moved out of his family home to lodge with a friend, allowing him to devote himself full-time to composition: I compose every morning, and when one piece is done, I begin another. But this happy period was not to last: although Schubert's music was circulated amongst his friends and admirers, he was unable to get much of it published. He failed to secure a conducting post and was rejected for membership of the prestigious musical society, the Musikverein. So eventually he had no choice but to return to school teaching to earn a living, although a spell as music teacher to the Esterházy family helped him both financially and socially. He continued to entertain and amaze a close-knit circle of friends with evenings of his music, which became known as Schubertiaden. But even this caused him trouble: the revolutionary atmosphere of the period made the local police suspicious of such gatherings and Schubert was arrested with some of his companions. One of them was imprisoned for over a year and banished from Vienna but the composer got away with a severe reprimand. Life was still not easy for Schubert however, with publishers remaining reluctant to print his music. Even introductions to fellow composers Weber and his hero Beethoven did little for his cause. Despite showing proven ability in the composition of chamber and orchestral music and particularly of Lieder, and obtaining with this work some popularity even beyond his immediate circle, Schubert then unaccountably turned his attention to opera and

7 incidental music for the stage, where on the whole he did not do well. Nevertheless his musical style continued to develop and mature with the production of a whole series of works which were recognised as works of genius. But again such recognition came too late. Unfortunately he did little better in affairs of the heart: he is said to have fallen for a number of women but his diminished means did not help. As, one assumes, neither did his physique: a short-sighted man of under 5 feet tall, his friends gave him the affectionate but descriptive nickname of Schwammerl or 'little mushroom' to describe their stunted and tubby companion. Schubert in 1827 (portrait by Franz Eybl) By 1825 things were however beginning to take a turn for the better: Schubert was back with the Esterházys, so once again enjoying a regular income. The following year he returned to Vienna, where he was to remain. Works were still flowing from his pen and they were now getting published and performed: in the spring of 1828, with much success and for the first and only time, Schubert gave a concert of his own works. Later that year he was at work on both his Mass No.6 in E flat major, D.950 and the Offertorium: Intende voci, D.963. It is not known for sure when Schubert began work on or finished the Mass but he had certainly started by June of 1828, the date on the score. He had by then written three missae breves or short Mass settings, while D.950 was to be his third missa solemnis, or full setting of a Solemn Mass. It is also unclear as to why Schubert wrote this final setting. Some say that Michael Leitermayer, a friend since school days and now organist at the Alserkirche, the Church of the Holy Trinity just down the road from Schubert's birthplace, had commissioned the piece for his church's choir; Schubert also penned in1828 a motet to be sung during a service of dedication of the same church's recast bell in September of that year. But the church choir, the mainstay of the local church music society, was not formed until October 1828, by which time the Mass setting was probably already complete. Schubert may have merely written it as a profession of faith, although he himself had an unorthodox attitude to organised religion and was said to be agnostic. He had however been brought up in the church music tradition and continued to write choral music for the liturgy throughout his life. Alserkirche, Vienna But Schubert does show a somewhat idiosyncratic attitude to the liturgy in his choice of text for this Mass: from the Credo the declaration of belief in one holy catholic and apostolic church is missing and there is no mention of a Father almighty or of His Son being begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father. And it would seem that the composer was not awaiting the resurrection of the dead, although bizarrely it is noticeable that the word mortuorum (meaning of the dead ) is retained and thus

8 rather nonsensically sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb! In the Gloria Schubert fails to ask Christ to receive our prayer and doesn't seat Him at the right hand of the Father. But some think that with these omissions, the composer was merely following the fashion of the Catholic Enlightenment. One of many mysteries and uncertainties concerning Franz Schubert. As for the music of this Mass, in contrast to his earlier settings which tended to follow the previously fashionable style of Haydn and Mozart, Schubert now chose to plough his own furrow. He was clearly influenced by the music of his hero Beethoven; the latter's Missa solemnis was only four years old. Nevertheless, in his own Mass Schubert shied away from the operatic use of soloists, making their interventions less distinct. He employed a more personal, romantic harmonic invention, while retaining a dramatic use of alternating dynamics to show both serenity and menace, emphasised by brass and timpani in the orchestra. In common with the other music he was writing at this time, there appears here to be a darker side to his composition. The Offertorium: Intende voci, D.963 is thought to have been composed in October 1828 and may have been part of the previously mentioned, possible commission by Leitermayer. It is a simple, devotional setting for tenor solo, mixed choir and orchestra of verse 2 of the fifth psalm and was the fifth and final setting by Schubert of music to accompany the Offertory, the ceremonial offering of the bread and wine during Mass, often with alms being collected from the congregation. Although its author was to die only weeks after its composition, there is little hint of his impending demise in its music, in contrast to the occasional darkness of the Mass. Schubert was never to hear a performance of either the Offertorium: Intende voci or his Mass No.6 in E flat major. He was thought to have known for some years that he was living on borrowed time, having already confided to friends his fear that he was near death. Although the official diagnosis was typhoid fever, it seems that he may have been suffering from syphilis, an incurable disease at the time, often treated with mercury, which in turn brought its own poison to the suffering patient. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday the 19 th of November 1828, in the Viennese apartment of his older brother Ferdinand, Franz Schubert breathed his last. He was just two months short of his thirty-second birthday. Ferdinand Schubert It was Ferdinand Schubert, also a composer, who was to conduct the premiere of the Mass, almost a year after his brother's passing. On 4 October 1829 the work was given its premiere in a concert, rather than a liturgical, performance. It was sung in the Alserkirche by the choir of the Alsergrund Church Music Association, prepared for the occasion by its director, the composer's childhood friend, Michael Leitermayer. It is not known when the Offertorium was first performed. The Mass received a mixed reception: a Viennese critic said that many experts saw it as Schubert's finest work while one of the composer's close friends said we shall never make a Mozart or Haydn out of him with reference to his church music. Nevertheless

9 Schumann became an admirer of the Mass when he got to know it in the late 1830s and it was thanks to the efforts of Johannes Brahms that the work was finally published in And Brahms himself also anonymously prepared a piano reduction. The Offertorium was not published until Mozart in 1782 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART ( ) On 27 January 1756, the 35-year old Anna Maria, wife of the minor composer and music teacher Leopold Mozart, gave birth to their seventh child in the couple's apartment on the third floor of number 9, Getreidegasse in the capital city of the princely Archbishopric of Salzburg. Five of their children had not survived infancy and Anna Maria herself nearly died giving birth to this their second but sole surviving son. Nevertheless both mother and son survived and the next day the child was baptised in St Rupert's Cathedral as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, later known to the world as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was not long before Wolfgang began to show signs of his musical genius, faultlessly playing keyboard pieces from the age of four and composing small pieces from the age of five. He surprised his father with his prowess and Leopold soon realised that his own work as a composer had been far outshone by his son's output. Father and son, joined by Wolfgang's sister Nannerl (also a child prodigy), then set off on the first of many travels to display their musical expertise to royalty and the aristocracy across Europe. In his late teens Wolfgang followed his father's example by taking up employment as a court musician to his home town's Prince-Archbishop. Nevertheless his concert tours continued and Mozart soon epitomised a prophet honoured everywhere except in his own land. He felt himself poorly paid and unappreciated in Salzburg and, after a long quarrel with his employer, finally settled in Vienna. Here in 1782, with the first performance of his opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail, he firmly established a position as a leading composer. He was already seen as Vienna's finest keyboard player. And he developed a settled home life, having married Constanze, the sister of his first love Aloysia Weber, a relative of the composer Carl Maria von Weber. Constanze gave birth to six children in all but as with her husband's parents, only two of her children lived beyond infancy. Otherwise, life was good for Wolfgang and Constanze: in 1784 they moved to a fine apartment, bought costly furnishings, employed servants and sent their eldest son to boarding school. The same year, Mozart succeeded Gluck as chamber composer to the Holy Roman Emperor, the Austrian monarch Joseph II. And he met the great Joseph Haydn in Vienna, who was clearly impressed by the younger man: he later said to Wolfgang's father: I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste and what is more the

10 greatest skill in composition. Despite his great success with opera composition, Mozart now chose to turn his attention to piano concertos, as both their interpreter and their composer; this was probably in order, in a relatively easy and speedy way, to raise sufficient funds to support his new self-employed status. Between 1782 and 1785, he produced three or four new concertos each season, all with great popularity. To play these concertos as soloist, Mozart acquired a fine fortepiano made by Anton Walter for the princely sum of 900 florins (almost twice the yearly rent for his plush apartment!). The same instrument is now on display at the Mozart Residence in Salzburg. Mozart's fortepiano In mid-february 1785, Mozart composed a concerto in D minor (K. 466), a work with a somewhat tragic hue. Only four weeks later came a work in complete contrast: the far sunnier Concerto No 21 for piano & orchestra in C major, K 467. Mozart listed the work in his personal catalogue on 9 March and its first performance was given the next day, with the composer as soloist, directing the orchestra from the keyboard. In contrast to the venue for his currently ongoing series of weekly subscription concerts the ballroom of the Mehlgrube restaurant Mozart booked a far more auspicious one for this occasion. The Burgtheater was neighbour to the imperial court, had already seen the premiere of Die Entführung aus dem Serail and was later to be the venue for the first performances of the Marriage of Figaro and Cosí fan tutte. Mozart's father Leopold, visiting him at the time, noted with pleasure that the concert made a profit of 599 gulden, more than the annual rent on his son's apartment. But Mozart Senior was exhausted by Wolfgang's hectic schedule. He wrote to his daughter: We never get to bed before one o'clock. Every day there are concerts; and the whole The Burgtheater, Vienna time is given up to teaching, music, composing and so forth If only the concerts were over! It is impossible for me to describe the rush and bustle. Although he had temporarily turned away from the operatic stage, he retained a sense of operatic drama in the orchestral opening of the concerto's first movement, beginning quietly but soon increasing in volume. In contrast, the soloist slips in unannounced but soon takes the upper hand. New themes are introduced on the keyboard and the music is spiced up with subtle sparks of dissonance and harmonic audacity, which emphasise the work's complexity. There follows what has surely become one of the best-loved of Mozart's movements for piano and orchestra. It was in 1967 that the Swedish director Bo Widerberg made a film based on the true story of the doomed love affair between a Danish tightrope walker

11 and a Swedish nobleman and used extensive extracts from this movement in the soundtrack. The film was Elvira Madigan and soon introduced the music and indeed Mozart himself to a worldwide audience, despite some dismissing what they saw as the somewhat cloying sweetness of the movie as a Hallmark card run amok! Nevertheless, the bitter sweet quality of the music appeared ably to depict the failed attempt of the lovers to escape the real world. But even for those listeners unfamiliar with these cinematic associations, the music has an other-worldly, dreamlike atmosphere, a sense of time momentarily suspended. At the same time Mozart avoids any saccharine quality in his melody by introducing occasional harmonic clashes. The finale brings us and the concerto back to earth with a delightfully jaunty and exuberant swing in its step. It may at first seem totally light-hearted but in fact also manages to include hidden depths, which finally bring the whole work to a bold and triumphant conclusion. Autograph manuscript of the concerto D NUMBERS & K NUMBERS In case you were wondering...the D. numbers attached to Schubert's compositions relate to a catalogue of the composer's works compiled by Otto Erich Deutsch in And for Mozart, K. numbers relate to the chronological catalogue first compiled in 1862 by Ludwig von Köchel. TONIGHT'S PERFORMERS Mark Chaundy Tenor Mark was raised in Wales, studied music at Oxford and singing at the Royal College of Music, supported by The Countess of Munster and The Arts Council of Wales. He now continues to study with Joy Mammen. In 2004 Mark was selected to take part in the Operalia competition in Los Angeles where he sang for Placido Domingo. In October 2005 he was announced as one of the recipients of the first Susan Chilcott Scholarship enabling regular lessons with Dennis O Neill, and in 2006 he became a Samling Scholar. He has twice been a finalist in the Young Welsh Singers Competition, performing live on BBC radio and television and also won the National Federation of Music Societies Award.

12 Concert appearances include the Wigmore Hall with The Wallace Collection, Kurt Weill s Seven Deadly Sins with Cleo Laine, Messiah with the CBSO, Brubeck s La Fiesta de la Posada at the Barbican, and Haydn's Creation with the Northern Sinfonia. Mark's concert repertoire also includes Haydn's The Seasons, Janáček s Otčenáš, Handel's Samson, Rossini's Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Solennelle, Kodály's Psalmus Hungaricus and Tippett's The Tempest Suite. Mark is also a keen recitalist and has performed at St David s Hall in Cardiff, the Wigmore Hall with the Samling Foundation, at the Ludlow English Song Weekend with Iain Burnside, a Britten programme with Roger Vignoles, and has worked with Ned Rorem on a performance of his songs at Tanglewood. Mark was an Associate Artist with Welsh National Opera, where he understudied the roles of Lenski Eugene Onegin, The Duke Rigoletto, Kudrjas Káťa Kabanová, Don Ottavio Don Giovanni and Giove in Monteverdi's Il ritorno d Ulisse in patria. He sang Roderigo Otello in the WNO Millennium opening gala conducted by Carlo Rizzi. Other appearances include Adonis in Blow's Venus and Adonis for the Benslow Music Trust, Bajazet in Handel's Tamerlano for Cambridge Handel Opera Group, 1st Trojan Man Idomeneo and Giuseppe La traviata for Glyndebourne on Tour, as well as several roles during the Scottish Opera Essential spring tour. Recordings include Duruflé s Messe Cum Jubilo for Harmonia Mundi. Past roles include Alvarez in Offenbach s Barbe-Bleue and Courier La fanciulla del West for Grange Park Opera, Egeo in Cavalli s Giasone for the Early Opera Company with Christian Curnyn, Kudrjash (cover) Káťa Kabanová for Opera North, Don José Carmen for Opera Project, Lurcanio Ariodante for Cambridge Handel Opera Group and Tenor 1 (cover) in Weill s The Seven Deadly Sins for The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House. Recent operatic performances include Steersman (cover) The Flying Dutchman for ENO, staged performances of Carissimi s Jephte for the Spitalfields Festival followed by a recording for Harmonia Mundi, Aminta Handel s Atalanta for Cambridge Handel Opera and concert performances include Rossini s Petite Messe Solennelle with Lewisham Choral Society, Schubert Mass in Ab for Salisbury Choral Society, Beethoven Symphony No 9 at St Albans Abbey and Beethoven Missa Solemnis at Dorchester Abbey. He lives in West Ealing, London with many books, an old piano and three chickens. Nico de Villiers Piano South African-born pianist Nico de Villiers is a doctoral candidate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, researching the art songs of Dutch-born American composer Richard Hageman ( ). Nico holds degrees from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, University of Michigan, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has been the recipient of various awards including scholarships from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, the Mary Paton Memorial Trust, Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, University of Michigan, the International Opera Awards and the Guildhall School of Music. Nico won the

13 Accompanist of the Year award at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow in 2005, and won the same title at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in In his formative years in South Africa Nico studied with Johan Cromhout and was a prize winner at various national music competitions. In 1999 he made his debut with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. The following year he performed with the Odeion Sinfonietta and the Odeion String Quartet, both ensembles resident at the University of the Free State, South Africa. He was the winner of the Musicon National Piano Competition (now the National Arts Trust Piano Competition), Belville Academy Music competition and was awarded prizes at the ABSA National Youth Music Competition as well as the 9th Hennie Joubert Piano Competition. Nico has performed in recital internationally at venues including the Kennedy Center (Terrace Theatre) in Washington DC, USA, the Barbican and Wigmore Hall in London, Symphony Hall in Birmingham and St. David s Hall, Cardiff, Wales, the Mozarteum Grosser Saal in Salzburg, Kammermusiksaal in Bonn, and the Rudolph Oetkerhalle in Bielefeld. Nico has furthermore broadcast for NPR (USA), Polskie Radio, BBC Radio 3, BBC Four and Sky Arts. He features in the EntertainingTV documentary on Polish composer and pianist André Tchaikowsky entitled Rebel of the Keys. Festival performances include appearances at the Buckingham Festival, the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, and the Salzburg Festival. Nico was an assistant faculty member at the International Music Academy in Pilsen, Czech Republic in 2006 and He was coach in operatic and Lieder repertoire at the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria between 2008 and 2012, as well as the Abingdon Summer School and Oxenfoord Summer Programmes in the UK. Nico led masterclasses internationally at various institutions including the Birmingham Conservatory, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden as well as the Universities of Pretoria, Stellenbosch and the Free State in South Africa. In addition to his doctoral research Nico recently co-authored the first ever Richard Hageman biography with Dutch author Asing Walthaus, entitled Making The Tailcoats Fit. The Dutch translation, De Fries Die Een Oscar Won, will be released later in Through the initiative of founding the Richard Hageman Society, Nico was involved in the inauguration of the Richard Hageman Aqueduct in Leeuwarden, as well as the unveiling of a memorial plaque outside Hageman s birthplace in Leeuwarden. Nico is also an enthusiastic educator, teaching piano at the Junior Trinity Laban as well as the Leeds College of Music. He most recently was awarded the Most Innovative Teaching Award by the Leeds College of Music. For further information regarding Nico s activities, please visit

14 Helen Meyerhoff Soprano Soprano Helen Meyerhoff has been praised in The New York Times for the "unabashed lushness" of her voice with interpretation described by The Independent as "triumphant...having the utmost dramatic force". Since making her debuts both at the Wigmore Hall and on BBC Radio 3 (live from the City of London Festival) Helen has frequently appeared as a recitalist with leading accompanists and ensembles internationally. London concerts include regular performances in the Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican, St John s, Smith Square and Cadogan Hall. She has also appeared in the Schoenberg Centre in Vienna, for Bargemusic in New York, and in recital with Jonathan Zak in Tel Aviv, as well as for festivals such as Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Leamington, Oxford Contemporary, Boxgrove and Bromsgrove in the UK. Helen has sung the roles of Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Titania (A Midsummer Night s Dream) and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) for Opera Shorts, Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) for the Aldeburgh Festival and Clorinda (Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda) for the Northern Aldeborough Festival and was a finalist in the New York Center for Contemporary Opera Competition. A specialist in the contemporary repertoire, she has given many UK and world premieres, presenting Judith Weir s King Harald s Saga for the Vale of Glamorgan Festival and frequently performing Schoenberg s Pierrot Lunaire, notably with the Rambert Dance Company and soloists from the CBSO. Helen has worked closely with Arvo Pärt, Judith Bingham and Naji Hakim, Hakim and Bingham both having written works for her voice. Helen has appeared and performed several times for BBC Radio 3 s In Tune and was featured on BBC Radio 4 s A Voice Like Honey. Her discography includes music by Pärt, Bliss, Langlais, Vierne and Patterson. Susan Legg Mezzo Soprano Since winning the National Mozart Singing Competition, Susan's flourishing career has taken her to major venues worldwide. Specialising in contemporary song, she has broadcast for BBC Radio 3 and Norwegian Radio. Legendary mezzo Christa Ludwig described Susan's lyric mezzo as a beautiful voice with a fine coloratura. Susan has given vocal and piano recitals at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and St. John, Smith s Square and performed at Glyndebourne, Bayreuth, Wexford and Aldeburgh Festivals and the Walton Trust, Ischia. She has sung all Elgar s choral works, Bach s Passions, the Verdi and Mozart Requiems and toured Handel s Messiah in Mexico. Awards include: National Mozart Singing Competition; Richard Tauber Schubert Society Prize; Tillett Trust s Young Artists' Platform; finalist in Kathleen Ferrier Awards and

15 Belvedere International Singing Competition and British representative in the Queen Sonja International Competition. In a celebrated duo with pianist Ann Martin-Davis, their CD of Lutosławski chamber music, described as beautiful and exquisite by BBC Music Magazine, led to a disc for Nimbus Label: Heaven-Haven, The Songs of Peter Pope'. The duo commissioned song-cycles from Graham Fitkin, Howard Skempton and Gabriel Jackson, which they toured in major UK music and poetry festivals. Their project Mr. James s Garden celebrated music, sculpture and Edward James s surrealist Mexican garden Las Pozas and premiered in Mexico City with UK performances in Henley and Petworth Festivals. Susan has recorded soundtracks for film, TV and video games, including Project Cars, and regularly sings with the BBC Singers. Susan co-wrote the music for the film The Impressionists - and the man who made them in 2015 and her voice features on Stephen Baysted's film score Renoir: Revered and Reviled, which premiered in February 2016 and played in cinemas worldwide. Susan studied singing with Margaret Kingsley at the Royal College of Music and National Opera Studio and piano with Clifford Benson and Phyllis Sellick. Philip Tebb Bass Philip Tebb studied Music at Durham University, where he was a Choral Scholar at the Cathedral, and at the Royal College of Music on the Benjamin Britten International Opera School with Russell Smythe. His studies at RCM were generously supported by the Anne Clayton Award, Stanley Picker Trust Award, the Audrey Sacher Award and the Josephine Baker Trust. Roles at RCM included: Demetrius in Britten s A Midsummer Night's Dream; Harasta in Janáček s The Cunning Little Vixen; Nicandro in Handel s Atalanta (as part of the London Handel Festival); Father Trulove in Stravinsky s The Rake's Progress and Antonio in Mozart s Le Nozze di Figaro. With the Academy of Ancient Music he has sung Uno Spirito in Monteverdi s Orfeo and Littore/Famigliare in Monteverdi s Poppea at the Barbican, in Bucharest and Venice. Other appearances include Momus in Rameau s Platée with the Early Opera Company in St John's Smith Square. Philip is in great demand as an oratorio soloist. Recent highlights include: Bach s Matthäus Passion (Christus and Arias) in Jesus College Chapel Cambridge, St John's Smith Square and St Edmundsbury & Southwark Cathedrals; Bach s Magnificat with Barts Choir in Cadogan Hall; Bach s Weihnachts Oratorium with Cor Dyfed in St David's Cathedral; Brahms Requiem with UCS Choral Society; Handel s Messiah in the Royal Festival Hall, St David's Cathedral, St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Guildford Cathedral, St Martin-in-the-Fields and Tewkesbury Abbey; Mozart s Requiem with Stroud Choral Society in Gloucester Cathedral; Mendelssohn s Elijah with Whitstable Choral Society in Canterbury Cathedral; Mozart s C Minor Mass with Barts Choir in Cadogan Hall and Verdi s Requiem with the English Chamber Choir and the Belmont Ensemble in St Martinin-the-Fields.

16 Forest Philharmonic Orchestra Under the direction of Artistic Director Mark Shanahan, Forest Philharmonic Orchestra has gained an impressive reputation for the high quality and vitality of its performances, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014/15. Originally the Leyton Municipal Orchestra, it was reconstituted under its current name in 1964 by its first Artistic Director, Frank Shipway. The first President was Zoltan Kodály, followed by Sir John Barbirolli, with an illustrious list of patrons including Leonard Bernstein, Sir William Walton, Benjamin Britten and Lorin Maazel and soloists including pianists John Lill and Stephen Kovacevich. Today, the orchestra continues to perform with top artists such as soprano Susan Bullock and pianist Stephen Hough, and also gives opportunities to young musicians in the local Waltham Forest community through open rehearsals and a participation programme. Each string section is led by a professional player, whose input in rehearsals enables the orchestra to fulfil its aim of coaching the musicians of tomorrow while providing a platform for the leading amateur players of today. In addition to its regular season at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, Forest Philharmonic performs within the borough and surrounding areas, including at the Stow Festival and chamber concerts in local churches. It was invited by Waltham Forest Council to perform for HM The Queen for her visit to Walthamstow as part of her Diamond Jubilee Tour in 2012, and recently performed the live music accompaniment to Hitchcock s film Blackmail as part of Beyond Barbican. The orchestra has also performed in the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican Centre, St John s, Smith Square and St Albans Cathedral, featuring works such as Mahler s Symphonies nos. 2, 3 and 8, Tippett s A Child of Our Time and Britten s Spring Symphony. Recent soloists include Ronan O Hora, Fenella Humphreys, Gemma Rosefield, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, Paul Archibald, Gareth Hulse, Anne-Marie Owens, Linda Richardson, Julian Gavin and Andrew Greenan. The orchestra regularly performs with choral societies and also took part in the BBC 2 programme Maestro. Dan Ludford-Thomas Conductor Dan enjoys a busy schedule as a conductor, chorus master and singing teacher in London. He directs a wide variety of choirs from professional ensembles, church choirs, chamber choirs and large symphonic choruses. He performs regularly in major concert venues across the country including Birmingham Symphony Hall and The Royal Albert Hall. In 2012 he conducted over 300 singers and the Forest Philharmonic in a performance of Handel's Messiah in the Royal Festival Hall. In 2014 he conducted over

17 200 singers in a performance of Verdi's Requiem in the Fairfield Halls returning with the same forces to put on Mendelssohn's Elijah in Dan was the Chorus Master for the Choir of the Enlightenment, preparing them to sing Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Marin Alsop at the 2013 BBC Proms. He returned as Chorus Master for Marin, preparing the Choir of the Enlightenment to perform Brahms Alto Rhapsody and Triumphlied at the 2015 BBC Proms. In 2012 Dan worked as a choirmaster on BBC2 s The Choir: Sing While You Work and then became the Artistic Director of the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir enjoying success as the co-producer and musical director for the Choir's 2015 Christmas Number 1 'Bridge Over You'. He returned in 2013 to work on BBC2 s The Choir: Sing While You Work series 2 as choirmaster to Citibank Choir with whom he has continued as the Musical Director; highlights include performing at the Hammersmith Apollo and a series of concerts in New York. In 2015 Dan worked behind the scenes as choirmaster for The Choir: Gareth Malone's Great Choir Reunion. He is currently Head of Vocal Studies at Dulwich College, conductor of the Senior Choir of the National Children's Choir of Great Britain, Musical Director of Concordia Chamber Choir, Musical Director of The Hackney Singers and Director of Music of Lewisham Choral Society. Lewisham Choral Society Lewisham Choral Society is one of London s most popular community choirs, performing at local venues and major concert halls such as Southbank Centre s Royal Festival Hall, the Cadogan Hall and the Fairfield Halls. It has provided the chorus for two shows at the Young Vic and was honoured to take part in the opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games in It is a large, lively community-based choir, with almost two hundred singers. Founded in 1950 by a (photo: Marc Wood) group based at Lewisham s parish church, it grew in size and ambition, marking its transformation by a change of name to Lewisham Choral Society in the early 1980s. The Society is a member of Making Music - the National Federation of Music Societies. We are a performing choir, staging four concerts a year and taking part in other choral singing events when opportunities arise. Under the professional direction of Dan Ludford- Thomas and his deputy Nico de Villiers, the choir s repertoire ranges from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first - Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 through to contemporary works by Will Todd and Eric Whitacre.

18 We hope you enjoyed tonight's performance. Please send us your feedback via our website (on the Reviews page), Facebook or Twitter! WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN LEWISHAM CHORAL SOCIETY AS A SINGER? Lewisham Choral Society offers a warm welcome to new joiners. We are open to singers in all voice parts, but given the need to maintain a good balance across the choir we are targeting our recruitment at tenors and basses. Although we do not audition, the choir performs to a high standard and tackles some complex pieces which require a level of experience and musical ability. Rehearsals are relatively fast-paced, so may not suit complete beginners. We rehearse on Monday evenings from 8 to 10 at St Laurence's Church, 37 Bromley Road, Catford, SE6 2TS: five minutes' walk from Catford and Catford Bridge stations; buses 47, 54, 136, 171, 199 and 208 stop outside. Parking is relatively easy on nearby residential streets and there is limited parking within the church grounds. Rehearsals of Bach s B minor Mass for the Spring 2017 term start on Monday 9 January and continue until the concert on 27 March next year. We shall schedule additional rehearsals as and when necessary. Singers are welcome to join as new members on 9 or 16 January. Introduction and programme notes by Martin Bull Design of concert posters and flyers by Ben Leslie No flash photography please Please switch off all mobile devices Lewisham Choral Society acknowledges the support of the London Borough of Lewisham and is affiliated to Making Music Lewisham Choral Society, Registered Charity Number

19 Lewisham Choral Society Future performances Please visit our website for updates Ticket enquiries to or website Saturday 17 December at 7.30 pm St Andrew the Apostle Church, Sandhurst Road, SE6 1RQ Bach to Christmas Carols for choir and audience with selections from Bach s B minor Mass Monday 27 March 2017 at 7.30 pm Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX With the Hackney Singers and the London Mozart Players Bach Mass in B minor, BWV 232