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Vi sinfonia
RTIFHENLDS
St Martin-in-the-Fields
Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4Jj
Concerts by Candlelight
Thursday 30 June at 7.30pm
Vivaldi
Masterworks by Candlelight
Bn@i@nburg
W sinfonta
Conductor - Jeremy Backhouse
Four Seasons
Gloria
with Vivace Chorus
Soloists
Nicola Stonehouse Soprano
Lucie Spickova Mezzo-Soprano
Solo Violin - Simon Fischer
Box Office: 020 7839 8362
Book online: www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org
Vivace Chorus
Formerly Guildford Philbarmonic Choir
The Guildford Philharmonic Choir was founded
in 1947 by the Borough of
Guildford to perform major works from the choral repertoi
re with the Guildford
Philharmonic Orchestra. During this time the choir has
grown both in stature and
reputation and can now rightly claim it’s place
as one of the foremost choruses in
the country. The choir grew to prominence under the
batons of such eminent
musicians as Sir Charles Groves, Vernon Handle
y and Sir David Willcocks.
Sir David remains in close contact with the choir as its
President. The choir became
independent of the Borough of Guildford in 1997
and to reflect this change, it
changed its name to the Vivace Chorus.
The most recent concert performed by the Vivace Chorus
was the first in its
Contemporary Choral Classics Cycle,
an innovative series of choral concerts
comprising works from the 20th and 21st century
- classics of the future paired
with established masterpieces. Performed in this concert
was Karl Jenkins’ “The
Armed Man” in which the Muezzin from the Woking Mosque
performed the Muslim
Call to Prayer in Guildford Cathedral.
Other recent performances have included Dvorak’s Requiem,
Symphony no. 8, Borodin's Polovtsian Dances and Prokofi
Verdi Requiem, Mahler’s
Russian) and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius.
ev's Alexander Nevsky (both in
Next season, as well as Vivace Chorus’s usual perform
they will be performing in the Fairfield Hall,
Konzerthaus in Germany.
ances in Guildford Cathedral,
Croydon and the Freiburg
The Vivace Chorus website can be found at www.VivaceChor
us.org.
the
SBrandeouire
\) sinfonta
The Orchestra
Oboe
Ruth Contractor
Violin I
Simon Fischer
Claire Hoffman
Emil Chakalov
Trumpet
Paul Archibald
Violin 11
Catherine van de Geest
Chihiro Ono
Harpsichord
Harold Lester
Viola
Jonathan Barritt
Matthew Quenby
Cello
Sarah Butcher
Claire Morton
Bass
Stacey Watton
Artistic Director
Concert Manager
PA to Artistic Director
Robert Porter
Jane Kersley
Eve Christie
Ensemble Director
Events Manager
Finance Director
Julian Leaper
Wendy Warrilow
Patricia Unwin
Associate Music Director
Transport Manager
Sarah Tenant-Flower
Alan Fryer
The Four Seasons
Antonio Vivaldi 1678 - 1741
Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons were the first four of twelve Violin Concertos that he
had published in Amsterdam in 1725. The twelve were entitled I/ cinmento dell’armonia
¢ dell’'inventiono (The trial between harmony and invention). Each of “The Four Seasons’
concertos is based on a sonnet describing the time of year. Although these four
concertos are some of the best known music, we know very little about them. We don’t
know when the sonnets were written, or by whom, whether the music was based on the
poetry, or vice-versa, or whether the programme ideas were Vivaldi’s own. The Seasons
of the year have been a theme that Artists have responded to throughout history. As
these particular anonymous sonnets are of little merit, it is possible that Vivaldi wrote
them himself.
The first of The Four Seasons is Spring. This is the most optimistic music of the cycle, it
is also the most formal, with a ritornello that has the heaviness and poise of a courtly
dance, suited to the proclaiming of a Goddess. The arrival of the season Spring in the
first movement is portrayed with the happy bird song and the murmuring of the
streams. Following this arrival of spring, as in the sonnet, the music shows the
darkening of the sky with thunder and lightning. However, at the end of the first
movement, the birds return and the singing continues. In the slow movement we hear
hushed Violins lulling the shepherd to sleep, while the Viola portrays a barking dog. In
the third movement we see festive celebration, in a rustic compound metre, with
bagpipe-like drones.
Vivaldi’s vision of Summer is the fear and destruction of a violent storm. First we hear a
ritornello that represents the oppressive heat of an airless day - repeated falling quavers
is a figure that paints this picture. The voice of the cuckoo can be heard, soon followed
by the turtledove and the nightingale, the cuckoo’s voice is a premonition of disaster.
The winds follow and in the final movement, the storm breaks, and destroys the corn.
Unlike the Summer Concerto, Autumn is one of victory and enjoyment. Having toiled
with the troubles of the Summer weather, man may now revel in untroubled leisure,
celebrating the harvest with singing and dancing. He can reap the benefits of the crops,
and drink ale. In the second movement, he rests and sleeps, and in the third, he hunts.
The Winter Concerto explores the varying emotions of the winter weather. The first
movement paints the coldness of the snow and biting winds, the second is a picture of
the warmth inside, in front of the fire, when the weather outside is freezing. The third
movement talks about the ice, how one is cautious when first trying to walk on it, then
grows in confidence, and in the end, falls and breaks the ice. Vivaldi concludes The Four
Seasons with the realisation that winter can bring much pleasure.
INTERVAL - 20 minutes
Gloria
Antonio Vivaldi 1678 - 1741
This, probably Vivaldi’s best known sacred work, must surely be counted among his
most important contributions to church music. It was probably written for the Feast of
the Blessed Virgin in 1713 or 1714. This was the Patronal Feast of the Ospedale della
Pieta (the orphanage for young girls) in Venice where Vivaldi was Music Master and is
therefore the most likely reason for its composition.
It was not unusual for single mass movements to be set to music, as certain occasions
required individual treatment of a particular movement. This was most likely the case
for this piece. The work is set in broad dimensions. It is cantata-like and is divided into
twelve movements, each of which is well-contrasted in tempo, key, scoring and musical
style. Its conspicuous use of winds (oboe and trumpet) as obligato instruments and its
allocation of solo vocal parts exclusively to high voices, two sopranos and one contralto,
are typical of the works written for the Pieta.
The first movement, Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Glory be in the highest to God), with its
octave leaps in the strings and the subsequent run with the trumpet, has become
synonymous with the festive brilliance of Vivaldi’s church music. It exerts an almost
hypnotic sense of forward drive in the listener.
The second movement, Et in Téerra Pax Hominibus (And Peace on Earth to all Men) is
moving and broadly conceived piece of music. Contrary to what the words may lead
one to expect, it is a piece suffused with profound sadness.
After a light-hearted duet for the two sopranos, Laudamus te (We Praise Thee, Lord),
there follow two movements in E Minor: the Gratias Agimus Tibi (And We Give Thanks
Unto Thee) and the magnificent fugal Domine Propter Magnam (And All For Thy Great
Glory, Lord).
The next movement, Domine Deus (O Thou Our Lord God), is a Largo in the form of a
Siciliano with pizzicato lower strings. It is a dialogue between solo soprano and a
hauntingly beautiful solo for either oboe or violin. (Vivaldi left the choice to the
performers).
After the Et in Terra Pax Hominibus, the eighth section is another beautiful slow
movement. The Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (O Thou, Our Lord God, Lamb of God) is a
duet for contralto solo and choir. The Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus (For Thou Only Art Most
Holy) uses the material of the opening Gloria.
The final movement, Cum Sancto Spiritu is not an original work by Vivaldi. He adapted
a fugue by the minor Veronese composer G. M. Ruggieri. Vivaldi largely rewrote the
piece, adding virtuoso trumpet solos, making this a dignified end to one of the great
masterpieces of choral music.
Soprano : Nicola Stonehouse
Mezzo-Soprano : Lucie Spickova
Soprano
Nicola Stonehouse is the current Leverhulme Trust Scholar at the
Benjamin Britten International Opera School (BBIOS),
RCM,
studying with Kathleen Livingstone. She recently switched from high
Mezzo to Soprano and is enjoying the increased repertoire and roles.
Her recent operatic experience includes:
Mozart Cosi Fan
Tutte
(Dorabella)BBIOS, Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin (Le Pelerin) A/ Bustan
International Festival, Beirut, Puccini’s Lz Fanciulla del West (Wowkle)
and Puccini’s Suor Angelica (Lay Sister) Opera Holland Park. Holst’s Savztrs (Title role) for
the Montepulciano Festival, Italy. Britten’s The Rape of Luctretia (Female Chorus), Handel’s
Sosarme (Melo), Britten’s The Turn of the Screw (Miss Jessel) all BBIOS, Mozart’s The Magic
Flute (Third Lady); Britten’s A Midsummer Night's Dream (Hippolyta cover) both for BYO.
Staged opera scenes at the RCM have included Ariadne Auf Naxos (Der Komponist), title
role in Carmen, and Cosi Fan Tutte (Dorabella). She recently worked with ENO Baylis on a
new commission called For the Public Good (Orlando Gough) and was involved with the
chorus and solo (Cover).
Nicola is an experienced concert soloist having performed most of the standard concert
repertoire for Mezzo-Soprano, including Handel's Messzah, Bach’s Magnificat and the
Passions of St. Jobn and St. Matthew, The Christmas Oratorio with Peter Schrier at St. John'’s
Smith Square, Mendelsohn’s E/ijah, Mozart Requiem with Hilary Davan Wettan and the
London Mozart Players, Vivaldi Gloria at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
Later in the Summer she will return to BYO to perform the role of Stephano in Gounod’s
Romeo andJuliet. In the Autumn she will perform the role of Mrs Gobineau in Menotti’s The
Medium for Wexford Festival Opera. She has just recorded 7 Goethe Lieder by Dallapiccola
on the Delphian Record label and awaits its release.
Mezzo-Soprano
Lucie Spickova graduated from Oriel College, Oxford, in 2000 with a
First Class degree in Modern Languages (German and Italian) and is
now in her second year on the postgraduate vocal course at the Royal
Academy of Music where she studies under Elizabeth Ritchie and
Clara Taylor.
Since commencing her studies in 2003, Lucie has gained considerable
.
experience in oratorio performance, most recently having performed
Mozart’s Requiem and Solemn Vespers as part of the Grove Park Music Festival under Brian
Kay. She is a regular soloist with the Kingston Orpheus Choral Society and the Walton-onThames Choral Society, with whom she has performed the Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and
Coronation Mass, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Other recent
performances include Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit with the Highgate Choral Society under
Ronald Corp, Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, Dvorak’s Mass in D and Mozart’s Credo Mass.
Her upcoming performances include Mozart’s Mass in C Minor in St. James’s Piccadilly
under Murray Stewart and a summer-long engagement with Opera Camera Linz
performing in Die Verlovene Liebesmueh-die Oper.
Lucie’s operatic performances have most recently included a tour with the Royal Academy
of Music to Northern Italy where she performed several Bel Canto arias and also the roles
of Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito) and Suzuki (Madam Butterfly) in operatic tableaux directed by
Ian Ledingham. She has also studied the roles of Marcellina, Fidalma, Mére Marie and Meg
for performances of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Cimarosa’s Matrimonio Segreto, Poulenc’s
Dialogue des Carmelites and Verdi's Falstaff as part of Opera Tableux staged at the Royal
Academy of Music.
On the recital platform, Lucie performs both in the UK and abroad and is currently
preparing for a Lieder recital at Syon House.
While at the Royal Academy of Music, Lucie has participated in masterclasses with Barbara
Bonney, Robert Tear, Phillip Langridge, Rudolf Jenssen and Ian Partridge and recently won
the prestigious Elena Gerhardt Lieder Prize.
Violin Soloist
Simon Fischer enjoys a varied and distinguished playing career. He
has given many solo recitals at the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room,
| and for the BBC, and has played as soloist or guest leader with most
of the major symphony and chamber orchestras in the UK.
| Sought-after as a teacher; he is a professor at the Yehudi Menuhin
School and the Guildhall School of Music. His 170 consecutive
| monthly articles in The Strad magazine have attracted world-wide
interest and acclaim, as have his technique books Basics and Practice,
now translated into Korean and Italian.
The Brandenburg Sinfonia gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the
Josephine Baker Trust by supporting the soloists in this evening’s performance.
) sinfonia
The Brandenburg Sinfonia is one of the most dynamically versatile musical organisations
in the country. It is renowned for its special quality of sound and poised vivacity in
performance. In recent years the orchestra has performed in the majority of the major
venues across the country, and in London at the Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Fairfield
Hall and St John’s Smith Square.
The Brandenburg Sinfonia is also in great demand abroad and has recently visited France
twice, USA, Bermuda, the Channel Islands, Barbados and St. Petersburg.
Future tours include: France, Germany, USA, Japan and Hong Kong.
A large number of artists of international standing have worked with the orchestra
including Emmanuel Hurwitz, Lesley Garrett, John Georgiadis, John Wallace, Ian Watson,
Michael Thompson and Gordon Hunt.
Its repertoire ranges from Bach to Lloyd Webber and its members give around three
hundred performances of orchestral, chamber, choral and operatic music during the year.
Along with selected freelance players, members of the orchestra are also members of the
Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Opera House and English Chamber orchestras
who choose to play with the Brandenburg Sinfonia in order to make music with the finest
of their peers in a more intimate and sympathetic setting.
The orchestras for a number of touring companies are formed from members of the
Brandenburg Sinfonia including First Act Opera, London City Opera, Opera Holland
Park and London Opera Players.
“What made it actually rather enjoyable was the playing of the chamber
orchestra which was consistently well shaded and nuanced”
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
“Some of the most stylish Mozart playing for some time”
THE TIMES
“An ensemble of distinguished players”
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
Future performances by the
Brandenburg Sinfonia at St. Martins in 2005:
15th July
Baroque Masterworks
Julian Leaper
Elisse Kleiner
12th August
Mozart Requiem
Jeremy Backhouse
English Baroque Choir
10th September
Mozart Requiem
Sarah Tenant-Flower
Harlow Chorous
8th October
Vivaldi Four Seasons & Gloria
Julian Leaper
For further information about the Brandenburg Sinfonia or any of the
events listed please contact us:
Tel/Fax: 01372 209817
E-mail: bob@brandenburg.org.uk
9 Queen Anne’s Terrace, Leatherhead SURREY KT22 7HR
Our latest CD The Elegance of the Baroque will be on sale at the back of
the church during the interval and after the concert price £10.
SMTIFARHENLD
St Martin-in-the-Fields
Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4J]
Concerts by Candlelight
Friday 15 July at 7.30pm
Baroque
Masterworks
by Candlelight
Branslenburg
the
W) sinfonia
Solo Violin/Director - Julian Leaper
Handel
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Vivaldi
Summer from Four Seasons
Purcell
Chaconny
Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Bach
Suite in B minor
Bach
Concerto for Violin in E
Solo Flute - Elisse Kleiner
Tickets: £6, £8, £12, £15 & £18
Box Office: 020 7839 8362
Web: www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org
Smoking and consumption offood & drink
are not allowed in the church.
Patrons are kindly requested to switch off
mobile phones and alarms on digital watches.
Flash photography, audio or video recording is not permitted.
Please try to restrain coughing,
A handkerchiefplaced over the mouth when coughing
assists greatly in limiting the noise. Thank you.
Interval is 20 minutes.
A bell will be rung 5 & 2 minutes before the end of the interval.
Once the concert starts again admittance will only be between pieces.
The Crypt Gallery and Café-in-the-Crypt
can be hirved for private functions. Phone: 020 7839 4342
Programmes printed by
Pentecost Printing and
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TeI/Fe.l).(: 02_0 8445 8500 LB
E-mail: mail@pentecost-printing.co.uk
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