Barnt Green Choral Society Karl Jenkins The Armed Man A Mass For Peace John Tavener Song For Athene. Albinoni Adagio for Organ and Strings The Artrix Bromsgrove Saturday 17th November 2007 Price 1.
Cover design: Tommy. A photograph of the soldier on the War Memorial, St. Andrew s Church, Barnt Green. Art work Margaret Maybee 2007. Clip art Clipart.com 2007. Design, layout and D.T.P. C. Hackney/Barnt Green Choral Society 2007.
May I start by welcoming all of you who have come to support us tonight. I know many of you are close friends and relations of our singers, who have, in some cases over many years, become accustomed to a significant other's absence on a Monday evening when the search for the music bag is accompanied by the wheedling imperative 'and please don't forget to record Doc Martin..' Many thanks to all of you who lend a hand behind the scenes. We sincerely hope that this rather grand concert will justify your forbearance. This particular performance has been supported by the Elmley Foundation, an independent charity which gives grants to events held in the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. It was endowed by the Countess Beauchamp, Else Schiwe, the Danish born widow of the last Earl Beauchamp, William Lygon also known as Viscount Elmley, who was raised with his six siblings at Madresfield Court in Malvern. During the 1920's and 30's, Madresfield, a frequent haunt of Evelyn Waugh, became the model for 'Brideshead', and a mecca for artistic pursuits. The charity's purpose is to continue the encouragement of all forms of the arts, crafts and design in the two counties, particularly those involving young people, and we are grateful to its trustees for their support tonight. We are also fortunate in welcoming students from North Bromsgrove High School to sing with us this evening. This is our fourth outing to the Bromsgrove Artrix and I should put on record how much we appreciate the help we receive from its staff when using its space as a venue. I hope those of you here tonight also support this Arts initiative on other occasions. Do collect a brochure of coming events. There really is something for everyone! Finally, performing this Mass for Peace in Remembrance Week, makes us particularly conscious of its initiator's avowed wish in 2000 'to reflect as we leave behind the most war torn and destructive century in human history and look ahead with hope to a more peaceful millennium'. With so many young lives being risked all over the world at present in so many conflicts, we raise our voices now in the spirit in which the composer intended, and the belief that every call for peace, no matter how fragile or seemingly powerless, is a small stand for the future.
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Ruth sang her first solo at the age of three! She was brought up in Astwood Bank, near Redditch, where she sang many solos at the Baptist Church, in Sunday School Anniversary services and also in school concerts. After training as a nurse, she moved to Bromsgrove and joined Northfield Operatic Society performing many shows with them at The Crescent Theatre. She studied singing with Anne Linstrum at Bromsgrove College and gained ALCM in voice. After that she taught Singing and Recorder at home for a few years, coaching many students to Grade 8 in Singing or Recorder. When her children had become teenagers she did a B Ed. course, with music as her main study, at what is now Wolverhampton University. She graduated in 1992 and now teaches at Parkside Middle School in Bromsgrove. Ruth was one of the founder members of Bromsgrove Operatic Society and performed many leading roles in their early shows, including Tessa, in The Gondoliers; Rosalinda, in Die Fledermaus and Queen Elizabeth, in Merrie England. She currently sings with Oakville Singers and also plays the Recorder with HERO (Heart Of England Recorder Ochestra) which meets in Coventry.
He has performed some solo work elsewhere when duty allows and counts a number of high points including taking the baritone part in Carmina Burana in Cambridge, Fauré s Requiem in Southwark Cathedral and the Bach Cantata Ich habe genug in Walsall. His particular favourite, however, is to make people smile by singing the songs of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, and more recently those of Richard Stilgoe and Peter Skellern. David hails from Kidderminster. Here he sang in various church and school choirs, but his love of performing was confirmed when he joined the local operatic society as one of the children in the Sound of Music. On leaving school he gained a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he studied under Rudolph Piernay. Here his musical repertoire was broadened considerably and opportunities also arose for small parts in opera at a number of London Theatres. However, he decided that making a living in music was rather precarious and so he joined the Metropolitan Police. By taking part in their choir he was able to sing as a soloist at many of the great London venues including The Royal Festival Hall, St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Transferring to West Mercia Constabulary in 1988, he soon joined the Hereford Police Choir and continued his singing in earnest.
Ros Bateman, Christine Bould, Sarah Cowen, Natasha Dougan, Eileen Felton, Sue Fox, Judith Gibbons, Vicky Hall, Karen Harvey, Phillipa Harvey, Lesley Henley, Judy Hickman Smith, Janet Lee, Betty Lucas, Ann McKay, Sylvia Parkinson, Joan Prescott, Mysie Raine, Elizabeth Richmond, Wendy Tricklebank, Julie Ward, Sue Wright, Helen Roberts, Gillian Yegwart.. Fiona Brown, Sylvia Cartwright, Jenny Edwards, Diane Freeman, Julie Flower, Hazel Flinn, Debbie Goodkin, Maggie Kelly, Julie Johnson, Pam Jones, Helen Maybee, Margaret Maybee, Christine Morse, Rosemary Parker, Margaret Parry, Pat Ratcliffe, Lucy Sherlock, Andrea Wilkie, Alyson Williams, Aileen Winwood, Ros Wright. Michael Davenport, Paul Goldsmith, Kevin Ward, Albert Whurr, Harold Crisp, Jonathan Treml. Simon Charles, Wally Davies, Simon Edwards, John Felton, Tony Fox, Jack Goodall, Chris Hackney, Richard Harvey, Tom Hollick, Andy Jones, Brian Jones, Len Kedge, Peter Main, Will Mason, David Richmond, Len Smith, Brian Williams, Ron Wills.
Song for Athene John Tavener (b. 1945). John Tavener (not to be confused with John Taverner c. 1495-1545) studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Sir Lennox Berkeley and David Lumsdaine. In 1968 his dramatic cantata The Whale (I was at the Prom in the Albert Hall at its premiere!) took the audience by storm and led to his music being recorded on The Beatles Apple label! Tavener has continued to show originality of concepts and an immense personal idiom, making his voice quite separate from those of his contemporaries. Over the years the contemplative side of his nature has led him in more spiritual directions and his commitment to the Russian Orthodox Church, which he joined in 1977, is now evident in his work. Song for Athene, which has become one of his best known pieces since it was sung at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, takes as its text a mixture of Shakespeare (specifically Hamlet ) and the Orthodox Funeral Service. The work, originally written in 1993, is typical of Tavener s rich choral sound, with the Bass drone continuing for the whole piece. Song for Athene was commissioned by the BBC. It was first performed on 22nd. January, 1994 at St. Giles in the Barbican, London, by the BBC Singers, conducted by Simon Joly. Composer s note: It was written in memory of Athene Hariades, who died tragically in March 1993. Her inner and outer beauty was reflected in her love of acting, poetry and music and of the Orthodox Church. The texture of the work varies, growing from a single line melody and various groupings of the choir to the full choir, the end sung molto forte (very loud) with all the voices singing similar, mainly step-wise melodies at different pitches, except for the drone. Tavener s marking is With resplendent joy in the Resurrection. The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. Karl Jenkins (b.1944). `The armed man must be feared; Everywhere it has been decreed That everyman should arm himself With an iron coat of mail'. (Anon c1450-1463). Karl Jenkins was born in Penclawdd, South Wales and was introduced to music by his father, a local teacher, organist and choirmaster. He was educated at Gowerton Grammar School, subsequently graduating from the University of Wales, Cardiff before commencing graduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
It was in jazz that he initially made his mark, playing at Ronnie Scott's club before co-forming Nucleus, which won first prize at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival. Over the years he has had links with many instrumental groups and musicians, and as a media composer he has won several industrial awards. In the mid 1990's Karl, who has always resisted categorisation in music, drew on his multifaceted background and created the `Adiemus project' for which he is universally known, and which has crossed boundaries, topping classical and `pop' charts around the world, gaining fifteen platinum and gold album awards. Recent commissions include works for the Royal Ballet, Evelyn Glennie, Leslie Garrett, The National Eisteddfod, BBC Proms in the Park and the National Youth Orchestra. The year 2002 saw the premiere of his harp concerto Over the Stone, which was commissioned by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales for the Royal Harpist, Catrin Finch. One of his most recent compositions, his Requiem, has proved to be very popular, and its success has included a nation-wide tour of Britain. Karl is a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Music and of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. In the 2004 Honours List he was honoured with an OBE, bestowed on him by the Queen. `The Armed Man' is the result of a special millennial commission from the Royal Armouries, and the latest in a six-century-old tradition of Armed Man masses that take the fifteenth century French song `L'Homme Armé' as their starting point. According to Guy Wilson, Master of the Royal Armouries, "The theme that `the armed man must be feared', which is the message of the song, seemed to me painfully relevant to the 20th'. century, and so the idea was born to commission a modern `Armed Man Mass'. What better way both to look back and reflect as we leave behind the most war-torn and destructive century in human history, and to look ahead with hope and commit ourselves to a new and more peaceful millennium. Large in both scope and scale, `The Armed Man' is a profoundly moving and accessible work that uses the most traditional means to explore an all too-contemporary subject. As Karl Jenkins explains, "As I started composing `The Armed Man', the tragedy of Kosovo unfolded. I was reminded daily of the horror of such conflict and so I dedicate the work to the victims of Kosovo". In the manner reminiscent of Britten's `War Requiem', `The Armed Man' interpolates a number of different texts within the usual Mass form. Malory, Dryden, Swift, Tennyson, Kipling, The Koran and the Hindu Mahabharata contibute to a compelling account of descent into, and the terrible consequences of war. Nevertheless the work concludes with a `Ring' of hope. The initial tune in the first movement (the first four notes) look to be in the key of C major matching the key signature, but then a Bb is introduced and in the context at that point gives the feeling of G minor, although the E flat confirming this key doesn't appear until later in the rnovement; the Bb has an alternative feeling of the flattened seventh, in keeping with the folk song idiom. F sharps appearing later with E flats confirm G minor but then, for good measure, F naturals conflict with them, all in all establishing an unsettling situation, part and parcel of wartime society, both for those taking part and for many not directly involved. The music reminds me of the score that William Walton created for the film `Henry V', with the parallel fourths and fifths etc. Another feature of the first movement is Jenkins's use of unison singing, sometimes by two sections of the choir and sometimes by the whole choir. He also
uses imitation, one voice copying another in different combinations. When the music of the first movement returns at the end of the work there are small differences whereby the use of the B flat is delayed and, at the very end F sharps can be heard with B naturals, establishing without doubt the triumphant key of G major, albeit with the major third missing in the final chord, typical of the ancient music mirrored by Jenkins, and creating a certain vagueness. He endeavours to represent the feelings of instability in other ways, such as introducing sharps and flats foreign to the key centres of the movements, changing the beat of consecutive bars and using different rhythms at the same time e.g. two against three etc. Karl Jenkins uses compositional techniques that remind me of the works of Andrew Carter and John Rutter, which the Choir have performed in the past. The styles he adopts in two other movements underline Karl's fondness for music of the past and provide apt vehicles for the atmosphere he wants to create. They also underline the meaning of the words, e.g. the Kyrie, where in one section he imitates the compositional techniques of Palestrina, a sixteenth century Italian composer, who used a system of five rules (species) that dictated the juxtaposition of the voice parts, note lengths and rhythms resulting in him composing not only tightly organised textures, but rich, beautifully flowing counterpoint.. Then, in movement four, `Save Me from Bloody Men', he resorts to the sixth century method of Gregorian Chant, associated with Pope Gregory l, which became the fundamental music of the Roman Catholic Church. The voices, in this case the tenors and basses, sing in parallel fifths throughout the movement, with free rhythm (the beat changes almost in every bar) melismatic semiquavers (several notes to a word) and several pauses, the whole creating an unusual effect in the context of the whole work. The Armed Man' received its world premiere in April 2000 at London's Royal Albert Hall, to rapturous applause. The Mass was "a firebomb of orchestral and human voices" (The Times) that drew "prolonged shouts of approval from the audience" (The Independent). Karl's composition is constantly voted one of the most popular pieces of music by Classic FM listeners.
- Albinoni - John Tavener - Karl Jenkins The Armed Man (L Homme Armé) The Call to Prayer Kyrie Save Me from Bloody Men Sanctus Hymn Before Action Hymn Before Action Charge Angry Flames Torches Agnus Dei Now the Guns Have Stopped
John Tavener (b. 1945). Alleluia, May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.. Alleluia, Remember me, O Lord, When you come into your Kingdom. Give rest, O Lord, to your hand maid who has fallen asleep. The Choir of Saints have found the well-spring of life and door of paradise. Life a shadow and a dream, Weeping at the grave creates the song: Come, enjoy rewards and crowns I have prepared for you. Alleluia. (A Mass for Peace). (sung in French) The armed man must be feared; Everywhere it has been decreed That every man should arm hiniself With an iron coat of mail. Anon. Trad. (sung in Arabic) Trad. (sung in Greek) Lord. have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Ordinary of the Mass. Karl Jenkins (b. 1944). Be merciful unto me O God: For man would swallow me up. He fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: For they be many that fight against me. O thou most high. The Bible, Psalm 56 Defend me from them that rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, And save me from bloody men. The Bible, Psalm 59
(sung in latin) Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory, Hosanna in the highest. Ordinary of the Mass The earth is full of anger, The seas are dark with wrath, The Nations in their harness Go up against our path: Ere yet we loose the legions Ere yet we draw the blade, Jehovah of the Thunders, Lord God of Battles, aid! High lust and froward bearing, Proud heart, rebellious brow, Deaf ear and soul uncaring, We see thy mercy now. The sinner that forswore Thee, The fool that passed Thee by, Our times are known before Thee, Lord grant us strength to die! Rudyard Kipling The trumpet's loud Clangor Excites us to Arms, With shrill notes of Anger And mortal Alarms. John Dryden, Song. for St. Cecilia's Day How blest is he who for his country dies. Jonathan Swift, (to the Earl of Oxford, after Horace Odes) The double double beat Of the thundering drum Cries, Hark! the Foes come. Charge, Charge, 'tis too late to retreat. John Dryden How blest is he who for his country dies. Jonathan Swift Charge, charge! Pushing up through smoke From a world half darkened By overhanging cloud, The shroud that mushroomed out And struck the dome af the sky, Black, Red, Blue, Dance in the air, Merge, Scatter glittering sparks, Already tower Over the whole city. John Dryden. Quivering like seaweed, the mass of flames spurts forward. Popping up in the dense smoke, Crawling out Wreathed in fire, Countless human beings On all fours In a heap of embers that erupt and subside, Hair rent, Rigid in death, There smoulders a curse. Toga Sankichi [written in memory of the victims of Hiroshima] The animals scattered in all directions, screaming terrible screams. Many were burning, others were burnt. All were shattered and scattered mindlessly, their eyes bulging. Some hugged their sons, others their fathers and mothers, unable to let them go, and so they died. Others leapt up in their thousands, faces disfigured and were consumed by the Fire. Everywhere were bodies squirming on the ground, wings, eyes and paws all burning. They breathed their last as living torches. The Mahàbharàta, begun 6th century
(sung in Latin) O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, grant us Thy peace. Ordinary of the Mass Silent, So silent, now, Now the guns have stopped. I have survived all, I, who knew I would not. But now you are not here. I shall go home, alone; And must try to live life as before And hide my grief. For you, my dearest friend, Who should be with me now, Not cold, too soon, And in your grave, Alone. Guy Wilson Ring, happy bells, across the snow. The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out old shapes of foul disease. The larger heart, the kindlier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand years of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring in the valiant man and free, Ring in the Christ that is to be. Alfred Lord Tennyson, (In Memoriam A. H. H.)...God shall wipe away all tears... And there shall be no more death, Neither sorrow nor crying, Neither shall there be any more pain. The Bible, Revelations, 21.4. Praise the Lord. (sung in Latin) Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Ordinary of the Mass Lancelot - Better is peace than always war, Guinevere - And better is peace than evermore war. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d,arthur That every man should arm himself With an iron coat of mail. Everywhere it has been decreed The armed man must be feared; Anon, Trad. Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Would you like to become a friend of Barnt Green Choral Society? As a friend you are entitled to reduced price tickets for our two main concerts, held in November and March, and priority booking for our popular Christmas and Summer concerts. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated and will help the Society continue to produce enjoyable concerts using first class soloists and musicians. If you would like to become a friend of BGCS please send your name and address and a cheque for 10 to: Fiona Brown, The Secretary BGCS, Stable Door House, School Lane, Alvechurch, Birmingham B48 7SA. Steve joined Barnt Green Choral Society in May 2002. He was brought up in Hexham, Northumberland, where he was a chorister in Hexham Abbey Choir, and where he started learning to play the organ. He read Music with applied Physics at Surrey University, studying the Organ under Philip Moore and Gerald Gifford. He returned to Hexham to teach Music after a post-graduate year at Newcastle University before moving to Bromsgrove, where he works at North Bromsgrove High School. He spent many years as organist and choirmaster at St. Godwalds, Finstall, and has conducting experience with a wide range of choirs and ensembles. He enjoys acting when he gets the chance, and loves Scottish Islands. He hopes that choir members find rehearsals fun as well as challenging!
Christmas Concert - December 15th 2007 7.00 p.m. St. Andrew s Church, Barnt Green and afterwards in the Parish Centre.. Spring Concert - March 15th 2007. at 7.30 p.m. St Andrew's Church, Barnt Green Fauré's., and with John Rutter s Summer Concert - June 14th 2007. 7.30 p.m. St. Andrew s Church, Barnt Green and afterwards in the Parish Centre. Our advertisers have already supported you by generously meeting some of the expenses of producing this programme. Please support them in return. Are you a professional person? Do you have a trade? Do you offer a service in this area? If so why not tell our audience about yourself? An advertisement in our next programme could earn you money!! Rates: One quarter page 10 A half page 15 Full page 25 For further details please contact A choir member, www.barntgreenchoralsociety.org.uk Or The Society gratefully acknowledges support from: Worcester Music Library; Birmingham Library; The Elmley Trust. Tuneful new members in all voices are welcome to join the society. Details from: Andrea Wilkie (Chairman) 0121 445 3710 Details of the society are also availble on its web site at: www.barntgreenchoralsociety.org.uk
Barnt Green Choral Society, is an affiliated member of Making Music (National Federation of Music Societies).