Vivace
s
Choru
s
Saturday
17th Nov 2012
7.30 pm Guildford Cathedral
FUNDRAISING
IN SUPPORT OF
-=HELP for
@ “HEROES
vivacechorus.org
WAR REQUIEM
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Alla Kravchuk
Soprano
Philip O’Brien
Tenor
Gareth Brynmor John
Baritone
with
Brandenburg Sinfonia
Brandenburg Chamber Orchestra
Tiffin Boys’ Choir
Members of the Freiburg Bachchor
Conductor: Jeremy Backhouse
After tonight’s concert there will be a retiring collecti
on
on behalf of the charity ‘Help for Heroes’
PRE-CONCERT TALKS
Before Vivace Chorus concerts in Guildford Cathedral, we offer ticket
holders a free talk given by an acknowledged music expert who has a
special interest in the works to be performed.
We are fortunate to have two speakers eminently qualified to talk about
Britten tonight: Christopher Mark is senior lecturer in musicology at the
Umversnty of Surrey, whose research is focused on 20" century English
music. He has published book chapters, articles and reviews on Elgar,
Britten, Vaughan Williams and Tippett, and has also written two books on
Britten: Early Benjamin Britten was published in 1995 and the second,
Britten: An Extraordinary Life, is due to be published mid-2013. His talk
will be preceded by some words from Vivace Chorus bass John Britten,
who will be reminiscing about none other than his Uncle Benjamin!
Members of the audience who wish to attend the talk and do not already
have reserved seating can reserve their concert seats beforehand in the
I appropriate unreserved areas of the Cathedral.
~
Rachmaninov, May 2012
“Well done on the excellent and passionate singing. Ir"
was a wonderful concert, very moving at times."”
j
;=
. $220 C
:
;
"I particularly enjoyed the Vespers, especially the’
quiet passages, where the balance & ‘fogetherness’ of ;
the cham were so good
- unusually good for a choir of;:
this size.”
:
“As a Russian speaker I congratulate Vivace on fhef
pronunciation and articulation of the Russian words and’;
the musicality of their performance.
We very much:
enjoyed both the singing and the piano concerto.”
Flash photography, audio and video recording are not permitted
without the prior written consent of the Vivace Chorus. Please also
kindly switch off all mobile phones and alarms on digital watches.
Please note: There is no interval in tonight’s performance
o
Vivace Chorus
Benjamin Britten (1913 — 1976)
Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft,
Suffolk, and began composing as a child. He
studied with the composer Frank Bridge before
attending the Royal College of Music in 1930,
where he then continued his studies with Arthur
Benjamin, Harold Samuel and John Ireland.
Britten was in the United States at the outset of
World War Il and stayed there for 3 years,
returning to Britain in 1942, where as a
conscientious objector, he was excused military
service. He began work on the piece that would
establish
him beyond question as the preeminent British composer of his generation — his second opera, Peter
Grimes, premiered on 7" June 1945. The following year saw the first
performance of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra: Variations
and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell — a cornerstone of the orchestral
repertoire. Britten subsequently produced a prolific range of works in
every genre, from large-scale symphonic scores to songs and choral
works. His importance in post-war British cultural life was enhanced by
his founding of the English Opera Group in 1946 and the Aldeburgh
Festival 2 years later. Britten's career as a composer was matched by his
outstanding ability as a performer: he was both a refined pianist and a
spontaneous and fluent conductor.
He was commissioned to write the War Requiem for the festival to
celebrate the consecration of the newly-built St Michael's Cathedral,
Coventry, completing it in January 1962, a few months before the first
performance in the new cathedral on 30" May 1962.
Britten’s last opera was Death in Venice (1971 — 73) and by the time of
its first performance, he was already seriously ill. He died at the age of
63, a few months after being appointed a life peer — the first composer
ever to receive this honour.
A personal note:
Vivace Chorus bass John Britten is the son of Benjamin Britten’s older
brother Robert. Here John explains why he believes that the War
Requiem had its origins in his uncle’s early childhood.
“My father was born in 1907 and my Uncle Benjamin in 1913. The boys
shared a bedroom at the top of my grandparents’ house in Kirkley Cliff
Vivace Chorus
3
Road, South Lowestoft. From there they looked out over the North Sea
just a few yards away.
During World War 1 Lowestoft experienced bombing from the air,
shelling from the sea, and many other wartime privations. In 1916
Lowestoft was shelled from the sea by a fleet of German battlecruisers
and the family house was actually hit by a five pound lump of shrapnel
which badly cracked one of the walls.
Although my uncle was probably too young (three or four) to have a real
memory of the terrible events of that time, the family would have talked
about them then and later, and it is certain that he was aware at a very
young age of what war involved.
Obviously the many wars of the 20th century, notably the Spanish Civil
War and World War 2, will have reinforced Uncle’s passionate pacifism,
and the War Requiem is perhaps his greatest effort to warn of the
dangers and horrors of war. However | feel that the seeds of his attitudes
and convictions were already being sown by what he saw and heard in
his first five years of life.”
WAR REQUIEM
There is but a handful of truly great choral works, especially from the
pens of British composers: Handel's Messiah of course, and more
recently Elgar’'s Dream of Gerontius and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast
and possibly others besides. However, to that list can undoubtedly be
added this masterpiece of Britten’s.
The message of this profound, moving and unforgettable work is
unashamedly anti-war and entirely reconciliatory.
My subject is War, and the pity of War.
The Poetry is in the pity...
All a poet can do today is warn.
These words, written by Wilfred Owen, are inscribed on the first page of
the autograph full score of Britten's War Requiem.
In the spirit of reconciliation which pervaded the Coventry Cathedral
consecration festival, Britten had written the War Requiem with three
particular soloists in mind: the Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya,
the English tenor Peter Pears and the German baritone Dietrich FischerDieskau. In the event, at the first performance, conducted by Meredith
Davies with Britten directing the chamber group, the soprano soloist was
the understudy Heather Harper, as Vishnevskaya was not permitted to
travel to attend the event.
4
Vivace Chorus
The text of this highly original, dramatic work consists of the Latin
Requiem Mass interspersed with nine of Wilfred Owen's anti-war poems,
written during World War 1.
The musical forces are divided into three groups that alternate and
interact with each other throughout the piece, finally fully combining only
at the end of the last movement. The Owen poems are divided between
the tenor and bass soloists, representing an English and a German
soldier, accompanied by a chamber orchestra. The soprano soloist and
chorus, accompanied by full orchestra, sing the Latin text of the Requiem
Mass, while an ethereal remoteness is provided by the choir of boys'
voices which sings sections of the Mass with organ accompaniment.
Britten
uses
a complex
arrangement
of the texts to
illustrate the
senselessness and pity of war. One musical motif, (the interval of a
tritone between C and F sharp) unifies the entire work, being heard first
in the bells in the opening plea for peace of the Requiem aeternam, and
recurring throughout the work. The second movement, the Dies irae, is
both menacing and emotional, opening with the dramatic Dies irae
chorus that leads to the baritone’s sorrowful ‘Bugles sang, saddening the
evening air’ and the soprano’s powerful Liber scriptus. Switching with
dramatic effect between chorus and soloists, the movement finally ends
with the calm of the chorus’s suppliant Pie Jesu.
After a bright introduction from the boys’ choir to the third movement, the
Offertorium, the story of Abraham and Isaac illustrates the needless
slaughter of youth, as told in Owen’s ‘The Parable of the Old Man and
the Young'.
The opening of the next movement starts with the soprano solo
declaiming Sanctus and ends with the contrastingly solemn baritone solo
‘After the blast of lightning’ from Owen’s ‘The End’. In between, the
chorus adds to the drama both with the freely repeated intonation of
Pleni sunt coeli and the triumphant Hosannas.
Movement five, the Agnus Dei, is an interspersing of the tenor’s ‘At a
Calvary near the Ancre’ with the gentle, almost soothing, Agnus dei from
the chorus.
In the final Libera me, all forces are finally involved together. The
German soldier and his former enemy, now reconciled, sing together ‘Let
us sleep now’. As these words are repeated, the boys' choir begins an
ethereal In paradisum, which is gradually taken up by the soprano and
chorus. The work concludes with the chorus singing Requiescant in
pace, returning to the uneasy tritone motif first heard in the opening
movement.
Vivace Chorus
5
I. REQUIEM AETERNAM
Chorus
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and
may perpetual light shine on them.
Boys
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et
tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem;
exaudi orationem meam:
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Thou, Lord, art praised in Sion, and
a vow shall be paid to Thee in
Jerusalem; hear my prayer,
unto Thee all flesh shall come.
Chorus
Requiem...
Rest...
Tenor solo: Anthem for Doomed Youth
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, —
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles, calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of silent minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
Chorus
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
6
Lord have mercy upon us.
Christ have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us.
Vivace Chorus
Il. DIES IRAE
Chorus
Dies irae, dies illa.
Solvet saeclum in favilla;
Teste David cum Sibyilla.
Day of wrath, that day
Will dissolve the earth in ashes
As David and the Sibyl bear witness.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus!
When the Judge shall come
To weigh all things strictly.
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
Per sepulchra regionum,
A trumpet, spreading a wondrous sound
Through the graves of every land,
What dread there will be
Coget omnes ante thronum.
Will drive all before the throne.
Mors stupebit et natura.
Death and Nature will be astonished
When all creation rises again
Cum resurget creatura,
Judicanti responsura.
To answer to the Judge.
Baritone solo: Voices
Bugles sang, saddening the evening air,
And bugles answered, sorrowful to hear.
Voices of boys were by the river-side.
Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad.
The shadow of the morrow weighed on men.
Voices of old despondency resigned,
Bowed by the shadow of the morrow, slept.
Soprano solo and chorus
Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
A book of writing will be brought forth
Containing everything for which
Unde mundus judicetur.
The world shall be judged.
Judex ergo cum sedebit
Therefore when the Judge takes his seat
Quidquid latet, apparebit:
Nil inultum remanebit.
Whatever is hidden will appear.
Nothing will remain unavenged.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus ?
Quem patronum rogaturus
Cum vix justus sit securus?
What then shall | say, wretch that | am,
What advocate entreat to speak for me,
When even the righteous are not secure?
Rex tremendae majestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
King of dread majesty,
Who freely savest the redeemed,
Salva me, fons pietatis.
Vivace Chorus
Save me, fount of pity.
Tenor and baritone solos: The Next War
Out there, we've walked quite friendly up to Death;
Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland —
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We've sniffed the green thick odour of his breath —
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't writhe.
He's spat at us with bullets and he's coughed
Shrapnel. We chorused when he sang aloft;
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.
Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier's paid to kick against his powers.
We laughed, knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars; when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death — for Life; not men — for flags.
Chorus
Recordare Jesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuae viae:
Ne me perdas illa die.
Remember, merciful Jesu,
That | am the cause of Thy pilgrimage,
Do not forsake me on that day.
Quaerens me, sedisti lassus:
Seeking me Thou didst sit down weary,
Thou didst redeem me on the Cross,
Let not such toil be in vain.
Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
Culpa rubet vultus meus:
Supplicanti parce Deus.
| groan like a guilty man,
| blush for my wrong-doing,
Spare a suppliant, God.
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Et latronem exaudisti,
Mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Thou who didst absolve Mary
And hearken to the thief,
To me also hast given hope.
Inter oves locum praesta,
Et ab haedis me sequestra,
Statuens in parte dextra.
Place me among Thy sheep
And separate me from the goats,
Setting me on Thy right hand.
Confutatis maledictis,
Flammis acribus addictis,
Voca me cum benedictis.
When the wicked are confounded
And consigned to bitter flames,
Call me with the blessed.
Oro supplex et acclinis,
Cor contritum quasi cinis:
Gere curam mei finis.
| pray in supplication on my knees,
My heart contrite as ashes.
Take care of my end.
Redemisti crucem passus:
Tantus labor non sit cassus.
Vivace Chorus
Baritone solo: Sonnet on seeing a piece of our artillery brought into
action
Be slowly lifted up, thou long black arm,
Great gun towering toward Heaven, about to curse:
Reach at that arrogance which needs thy harm,
And beat it down before its sins grow worse;
But when thy spell be cast complete and whole,
May God curse thee, and cut thee from our soul!
Soprano solo and chorus
Dies irae...
Day of wrath...
Lacrimosa dies illa,
Tearful that day
Q‘(’j“. bk o favilla
Judicandus homo reus.
When from the dust shall rise
Sinful man to be judged:
Huic ergo parce Deus.
Therefore spare him, God.
Tenor solo: Futility
Move him into the sun —
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
Think how it wakes the seeds, —
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides,
Full-nerved — still warm — too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
— O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?
Soprano solo and chorus
Lacrimosa...
Tearful...
Chorus
Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem.
Amen.
Vivace Chorus
Merciful Jesu, Lord, grant them rest.
Amen.
9
lll. OFFERTORIUM
Boys
Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,
libera animas omnium fidelium
defunctorum de poenis inferni,
et de profundo lacu.
Libera eas de ore leonis,
ne absorbeat eas tartarus,
ne cadant in obscurum.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
deliver the souls of all the faithful
dead from the pain of hell
and from the deep pit.
Deliver them from the lion's mouth,
that hell may not swallow them up,
that they not fall into darkness.
Chorus
Sed signifer sanctus Michael
repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam;
quam olim Abrahae promisisti,
et semini ejus.
But may the holy standard-bearer,
Michael, lead them into the holy light;
Which Thou didst promise of old to
Abraham and his seed.
Tenor and baritone solos: The Parable of the Old Man and the Young
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son —
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
Boys
Hostias et preces tibi Domine laudis
offerimus; tu suscipe pro animabus
illis, quarum hodie memoriam
facimus: fac eas, Domine, de morte
transire ad vitam.
10
Sacrifices and prayers, Lord,
we offer Thee; receive them for those
souls whom we commemorate this
day: let them, Lord, pass from death
into life.
Vivace Chorus
Chorus
Quam olim Abrahae...
Which of old to Abraham...
IV. SANCTUS
Soprano solo and chorus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God of Hosts.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Heaven and Earth are full of Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine
Blessed is he who cometh in the name
Sanctus...
Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.
Sanctus...
Holy...
of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Holy...
Baritone Solo: The End
After the blast of lightning from the East,
The flourish of loud clouds, the Chariot Throne:
After the drums of Time have rolled and ceased,
And by the bronze west long retreat is blown,
Shall life renew these bodies? Of a truth
All death will He annul, all tears assuage? —
Fill the void veins of Life again with youth,
And wash, with an immortal water, Age?
When | do ask white Age he saith not so:
"My head hangs weighed with snow."
And when | hearken to the Earth, she saith:
"My fiery heart shrinks, aching. It is death.
Mine ancient scars shall not be glorified,
4
Nor my titanic tears, the sea, be dried."
V. AGNUS DEI
Tenor solo: At a Calvary near the Ancre
One ever hangs where shelled roads part.
In this war He too lost a limb,
But His disciples hide apart;
And now the Soldiers bear with Him.
Near Golgotha strolls many a priest,
And in their faces there is pride
Vivace Chorus
11
That they were flesh-marked by the Beast
By whom the gentle Christ's denied.
The scribes on all the people shove
And bawl allegiance to the state,
But they who love the greater love
Lay down their life; they do not hate.
Chorus
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins
of the world, grant them rest.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins
of the world, grant them everlasting rest.
Tenor solo
Dona nobis pacem
Grant us peace.
VI. LIBERA ME
Soprano solo and chorus
Libera me, Domine, de morte
aeterna, in die illa tremenda:
Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra:
Dum veneris judicare saeculum per
Deliver me, Lord, from eternal death,
on that fearful day:
When the heavens are moved and the
ignem.
earth: when thou shalt come to judge
the world by fire.
Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo,
dum discussio venerit, atque
| am made to tremble, and | fear the
judgment and the wrath to come.
ventura ira.
Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis et
miseriae, dies magna
et amara valde.
Libera me, Domine...
On that day, that day of wrath, calamity
and misery, that great
and bitter day.
Deliver me, Lord...
Tenor and baritone solos: Strange Meeting
It seemed that out of battle | escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as | probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands as if to bless.
12
Vivace Chorus
And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan.
"Strange friend," | said, "here is no cause to mourn."
"None," said the other, "save the undone years,
The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours,
Was my life also: | went hunting wild
After the wildest beauty in the world.
For by my glee might many men have laughed,
And of my weeping something had been left,
Which must die now. | mean the truth untold,
The pity of war, the pity war distilled.
Now men will go content with what we spoiled,
Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled.
They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress,
None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.
Miss we the march of this retreating world
Into vain citadels that are not walled.
Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels
| would go up and wash them from sweet wells.
Even from wells we sunk too deep for war,
Even the sweetest wells that ever were.
I am the enemy you killed, my friend.
| knew you in this dark; for so you frowned
Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.
| parried; but my hands were loath and cold."
"Let us sleep now..."
Boys, soprano solo and chorus
In paradisum deducant te Angeli: in
tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres,
et perducant te in civitatem sanctam
May angels lead you into paradise, may
the martyrs receive you in your coming,
and may they guide you into the holy
Jerusalem. Chorus Angelorum te
city, Jerusalem. May the chorus of
paupere aeternam habeas requiem.
once poor, may you have eternal rest.
suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam
angels receive you and with Lazarus,
Boys
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and
may perpetual light shine on them.
Chorus
Requiescant in pace. Amen.
Vivace Chorus
May they rest in peace. Amen.
13
Alla Kravchuk trained at the Kiev
native
her
in
Conservatory
her
finishing
before
Ukraine
studies in London with Vera
Rosza. In 1995 she was a prize
Llangollen
the
at
winner
International Eisteddfod and for
ten years she was a lyric soprano
soloist employed, for the most
part, in Germany, initially in
Hannover and latterly in Stuttgart.
Her roles have included Pamina in
e
The Magic Flute, Susanna in The
Marriage of Figaro, Cleopatra in
La
in
Mimi
Cesare,
Giulio
Bohéme, Liu in Turandot, Antonia
in The Tales of Hoffmann, Nedda
in Pagliacci, Micaela in Carmen,
Marie in The Bartered Bride and Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow.
She also sang Euridice in Gluck's Orfeo and Mélisande in Debussy’s
Pelléas et Mélisande. The latter production was taken to both the Wiener
Festwochen and later the Edinburgh Festival.
In 2008 Alla made her debut as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro at
the Semperoper in Dresden and has appeared as a guest in opera
houses all over Germany.
:
She has maintained her passion for recital and oratorio performance
throughout her opera career appearing at the Queen Elizabeth and
Westminster Halls in London, the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, and many
concert venues in Germany, the most recent being an appearance with
the Bochum Symphony Orchestra conducted by Steven Sloane.
Her recital work has included the recent world premiere of Einzige Tage
by Francis Pott as well as programmes of more traditional German lieder
and art song from England, France, Russia and her native Ukraine. She
has recorded songs by Nikolai Medtner as well as a CD of music by
Glinka and Tchaikovsky and Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben.
14
Vivace Chorus
Philip O’Brien studied at the Guildhall
School
of
Music
and
Drama,
becoming a Wolfson Scholar and
winning the Patrick Libby Prize for
Acting. He was a finalist in the
Wagner Society Competition, London,
and a finalist at the Seattle Opera
International
Wagner
Competition.
Philip has sung principal roles at
Glyndebourne
Festival
and
the
Savonlinna Opera Festival.
Among Philip’s operatic roles are the
Prince in Rusalka, Peter Grimes in
Peter Grimes, Alfredo in La Traviata,
Samson in Samson and Delilah,
Beppe in [/ Pagliacci, Lensky in
Eugene Onegin, Turiddu in Cavalleria
Rusticana, Don José in Carmen, Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly
and
Rodolfo in La Bohéme.
Philip’s concert repertoire includes Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony and
Missa Solemnis, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Elgar's Dream of
Gerontius, The
Apostles and The Kingdom, and Verdi's Requiem.
Philip sang the first tenor in Weill's Seven Deadly Sins
for the Royal
Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Gerard
in Lakmé for
Opera Holland Park, Heinrich in Tannhuser with Richard
Hickox at the
St Endellion Festival, and his first Cavaradossi in Tosca.
He performed
leading roles in Das Wundertheater by Henze and Weill's
Mahagonny
Songspiel at the Montepulciano Festival, and Froh in Das Rheingol
d and
Siegmund in Act 1 of Die Walkdire with the Northern Wagner
Orchestra.
Philip made his debut at English National Opera as Danilo
with Amanda
Roocroft in The Merry Widow. He also appeared in the role of
Ismaele in
Nabucco for the Nationale Reisopera in the Netherlands, where
he is
soon to sing Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor, as
Sergei in Paradise
Moscow by Shostakovich with Opera North, and as
Jenik
Bartered Bride at the Schloss Hallwyl Festival, Switzerland.
in
The
Philip recently appeared as Don José in Carmen at the
02, London,
Student/Allova/Vojta in The Adventures of Mr Broucek with
Opera North
and Scottish Opera, and Pinkerton in Madam Butterfly
at the Royal
Albert Hall.
Vivace Chorus
i5
Gareth Brynmor John — Baritone
Winner of the 2011 Thomas Armstrong
Award and runner up in the 2011 Richard
Lewis Competition, baritone Gareth Brynmor
John held a choral scholarship at St John’s
College, Cambridge, before taking a place at
London’s Royal Academy of Music (RAM)
where he is the Reizenstein Scholar. He will
complete the Royal Academy Opera (RAO)
course in 2013.
Gareth’s operatic roles with the RAO include
Claudio in Béatrice et Bénédict with Sir Colin
Davis, The Ferryman in
Curlew River,
Sprecher in The Magic Flute and Sir Thomas
Bertram in Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park.
Other roles include the title role in Eugene Onegin, Papageno in The
Magic Flute at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Gianni Schicchi in Gianni
Schicchi, Sid in Albert Herring, Gendarme in Les Mamelles de Tirésias,
Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Escamillo in Carmen, Eliab in
Samuel Hogarth's David and Goliath, and Il Conte in The Marriage of
Figaro at the Amersham Festival.
Gareth has performed with a number of the UK’s leading orchestras and
ensembles including the Philharmonia, the London Mozart Players, The
Brandenburg
Sinfonia, and Charivari Agréable. Concert highlights
Bach’'s St Matthew and St John Passions; Mozart, Fauré,
Brahms and Duruflé Requiems; Handel's Messiah, Judas Maccabeus
include
and Alexander’s Feast, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, Fantasia
on Christmas Carols, Hodie and Sea Symphony; Dvoiék’s Te Deum and
Rachmaninoff’'s The Bells.
Gareth has a keen interest in song repertoire and is a member of the
RAM Song Circle. Recent performances include Brahms' Five Songs
op. 71 and Wolf's ltalienisches Liederbuch at the RAM, a recital featuring
works of Brahms at King's Place, and various settings of the work of poet
Walter de la Mare as part of the London English Song Festival.
Gareth is taught by Mark Wildman, coached by lain Ledingham and
gratefully
acknowledges the support of the Sybil Tutton Award
administered by the Musicians Benevolent Fund, the Norman McCann
Scholarship, Alec Rowley Award, the Philip Hattey Prize, the Josephine
Baker Trust, the EMI Sound Foundation, the St John’s College Choir
Association and the Countess of Munster Trust.
16
Vivace Chorus
—_
Jeremy
Backhouse
began
his
musical
career
in
Canterbury
Cathedral, where he was Head
Chorister, and later studied music at
Liverpool
University.
He
spent
5 years as Music Editor at the Royal
National Institute of Blind People
(RNIB), where he was responsible for
the transcription of print music into
Braille. In 1986 he joined EMI
Records as a Literary Editor and from
April 1990 combined his work as a
Consultant Editor for EMI Classics and later Boosey & Hawkes Music
Publishers with his career as a freelance conductor.
In January 1995, Jeremy was appointed Chorus Master and
subsequently Music Director of the Vivace Chorus (then the Guildford
Philharmonic Choir). Jeremy has presented and conducted some
ambitious programmes, including Howell's Hymnus Paradisi and
Szymanowski's Stabat Mater, Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony (No. 2),
Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, Mendelssohn’s ‘Lobgesang’
(Symphony No. 2), Prokofiev’'s Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible,
and, most recently, Mahler's ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ (No. 8) in the
Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Major classical
popular works have included Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, Verdi's
Requiem and Haydn's The Creation.
Since 1980, Jeremy has been the conductor of the Vasari Singers,
acknowledged as one of the finest chamber choirs in the country,
performing music from the Renaissance to contemporary commissions.
Jeremy is totally committed to contemporary music and to the
commissioning of new works. He and Vasari have commissioned over
20 works in their recent history, and this enthusiasm has spread to the
Vivace Chorus who, in May 2009, performed the premiere of their first
commission — local composer Will Todd's Te Deum.
Jeremy has also worked with a number of the country's leading choirs,
including the Philharmonia Chorus, the London Choral Society and the
Brighton Festival Chorus. For 6 years, to the end of 2004, Jeremy was
the Music Director of the Wooburn Singers, following Richard Hickox and
Stephen Jackson. In January 2009, Jeremy was appointed Music
Director of the Salisbury Community Choir.
Vivace Chorus
17
Quc
d
b
ran ! @n J urg
sinfonia
Artistic Director — Robert Porter
Associate Music Director — Sarah Tenant-Flowers
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. The orchestra performs
regularly in the majority of the major venues across the country, and in
London at the Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall,
Fairfield Halls and St John's, Smith Square. The Brandenburg Sinfonia is
also in great demand abroad and has visited France, USA, Bermuda, the
Channel Islands, Barbados, Russia, Germany, Japan and Hong Kong. In
1999 the orchestra established major concert series at both St Martin-inthe-Fields and Crystal Palace Bowl.
A large number of artists of international standing have worked with the
orchestra including Emanuel Hurwitz, Lesley Garrett, John Georgiadis,
John Wallace, Michael Thompson and Gordon Hunt. Its repertoire
ranges from Bach to Lloyd Webber and its members give around
100 performances of orchestral, chamber, choral and operatic music
during the year. 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, London Opera Players
and Central Festival Opera.
Tonight's concert requires two orchestras — a full symphony orchestra
which plays with the choir and soprano soloist, and a chamber orchestra,
which plays with the two male soloists. The organ accompanies the boys’
choir.
Chamber Orchestra
Violin 1
Cello
Oboe
Ciaran McCabe
Horn
Adrian Bradbury
Melanie Ragge
Martin Grainger
Violin 2
Bass
Clarinet
Rowan Bell
Percussion
Lawrence Ungless
g ;e Gill
Tristan Fry
Viola
Flute
Bassoon
Frances Kefford
Harp
Fergus Davidson
Adam McKenzie
Sue Blair
Organ
David Coram
18
Vivace Chorus
Symphony Orchestra
Violin 1
Viola
Oboe
Mihkel Kerem
John Rogers
Joe Sanders
Paul Archibald
James Dickinson
Richard Cookson
Sophie McMillan
Heidi Bennett
Lizzie Ball
:
Trumpet
Felix Tanner
Cor Anglais
Chris Evans
Sam Wickramsinghe Drew Balch
Owen Dennis
Shane Brennan
Xuan Du
Dunja Larovova
Rachel Robson
g
C!arlnet
Trombong
Gabriella Nikula
Cello
Richard Russell
Susan White
lva Fleishansova
Miriam Lowbury
Lucy Downer
Emma-Juliet
lan Ward
Bass Clarinet
Violin 2
Gabriel Amherst
Karen Hobbs
Dougal Prophet
Andres Kaljuste
Slabbg Swallow
Bahanon
Tuba
Rebecca Scott
Bass
Christiane Eidsten
| 4,ra Campbell
Liz van Ments
o
Barbara Zdziarska
Dahl
Tom Hardy
Elizabeth Trigg
Lucy Heath
Contra Bassoon
Li Boberg
Rosie Cow
Sarah Buchan
Stephanie Benedetti Flute
Horn
Adrian Uren
Nicola Smedley
Paul Cott
Kimberley Boyle ~ Francesca
Piccolo
Emilia Zakrzewska
Hodgson
Adrian Miotti
—E
Timpani
Ty, Evans
:
Percussion
James Green
SRR ST
e
Moore-Bridger ~ Neil Morris
Jason Koczur
Plano
Em".‘? Whitney
Malcolm Hicks
Laetitia Stott
Acknowledgements
Vivace Chorus is grateful to:
The Community Foundation for Surrey’s Community Arts Fund
for their generous grant towards the hire of the plasma screens used for
tonight’s concert
and
The Josephine Baker Trust
for the sponsorship of Gareth Brynmor John
Tonight's concert is being held in Guildford Cathedral
by kind permission of the Dean and Chapter
Some of the printed music for this evening's concert has been hired from Surrey
County Council Performing Arts Library and Boosey & Hawkes Music Hire Library
The staging for tonight’s concert is owned by the Association of Surrey Choirs
To hire please contact Carrie Tinsley, Cathedral Office. tel: 01483 547870
Vivace Chorus
19
About Vivace Chorus
Jeremy Backhouse
Music Director
Francis Pott
Accompanist
James Garrow
Chairman
Vivace Chorus has two aims: to make
3
music of the highest standard and to
have fun while doing so.
The choir has come a long way since it
began over 60 years ago as the
Guildford Philharmonic Choir, gaining
over time an enviable reputation for
performing first-class concerts across a
wide range of musical repertoire.
Since 1995, the choir has thrived under the exceptional leadership of our
Music Director, Jeremy Backhouse, ably supported now by Francis Pott.
Jeremy’s passion for choral works and his sheer enthusiasm for musicmaking are evident at every rehearsal and every performance, and
Francis is not just a very fine rehearsal accompanist but is also a
composer of international repute and a concert pianist in his own right.
Indeed he was the soloist in our concert last May, giving an acclaimed
rendition of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
We relish the opportunity to
R
perform
more
unusual
! works such as
@ Symphony
No.
Mabhlers
8,
or
Prokofiev’s
Alexander
Nevsky as
&= great
| of
much
choral
Verdi,
as
the
masterpieces
Bach,
Brahms,
Handel or Haydn. At a more
| intimate
B
4
7
home
level,
with
the
we
are
at
works
of
Fauré, Tavener, Allegri or
Lauridsen.
Contemporary
music is an |mportant feature of the repertoire and our ‘Contemporary
Choral Classics’ series, which has featured works such as Will Todd’s
Mass in Blue, is designed both to challenge the choir and to promote the
classics of the future. Look out for our next ‘CCC’ concert in May 2013.
20
Vivace Chorus
Recent successes have included a sell-out performance of Mahler’s
Symphony No. 8, the Symphony of a Thousand’, at the Royal Albert Hall
in May 2011, involving five choirs and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Jeremy, and a performance last November of the Brahms
Requiem which prompted a reviewer to say, “Guildford is indeed most
fortunate to have such a great ensemble in its midst”. In March this year
we made our highly successful debut at Guildford’s new venue ‘G Live’
with a very popular programme, A Night at the Opera. In our May
Rachmaninov concert, alongside the Piano Concerto No 2, we sang
extracts from the Vespers and gave a rousing performance of The Bells
(reviewed on page 25).
Tickets have already started to sell for our Elgar concert in March next
year, when the choir will perform The Music Makers at ‘G Live’, and
Julian Lloyd Webber will play Elgar's much-loved Cello Concerto. The
last concert this season, in May, will feature contemporary works by
Todd, Mealor, Rutter and Chilcott. We look forward to presenting another
varied programme next season, starting with a concert of contrasting
works by Haydn and Jenkins in November.
In addition to our own concerts, we also sing in various charity concerts,
including the Mayor of Guildford’s annual Carol Concert and with our
stalwart supporters, the Brandenburg Sinfonia, we sing twice a year in
one of London’s popular concert venues, St Martin-in-the-Fields.
We also, on occasion, venture further afield. We have visited Freiburg,
Germany, many times to sing with the Freiburg Bachchor and we are
pleased to welcome some of our Freiburg friends to sing with us tonight.
Other trips abroad have included a tour, in June 2009, of north-west
France when we sang in the cathedrals of Paris (Notre-Dame), Rouen
and Beauvais, while in June this year we headed across France to
Strasbourg, giving concerts alsoin Germany,in Heldelberg and Freiburg.
New members are always welcome, so if
you love beautiful choral music and want to
have fun singing,
N
#
"8
W
%
e
please contact Jane
Brooks at membership@vivacechorus.org
to find out how you can be a part of our
exciting future. We rehearse in Holy Trinity
Church, Guildford High Street, on Monday
evenings.
For further information, do visit our website, vivacechorus.org, where you
can also sign up to receive information about our concerts, email us on
info@vivacechorus.org or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
Vivace Chorus
21
Vivace Chorus Singers
FIRST SOPRANO
FIRST ALTO
Pam Alexander
Polly Andrews
Helen Beevers
Barbara Barklem
Penny Baxter
Joanna Bolam
Mary Broughton
Elaine Chapman
Rachel Edmondson
Mo Kfouri
Susan Norton
Robin Onslow
Margaret Parry
Margaret Perkins
Kate Rayner
Gillian Rix
Joan Thomas
SECOND
SOPRANO
Jacqueline Alderton
Anna Arthur
Mandy Freeman
Marianne llisley
Jane Kenney
Krystyna Marsden
Isabel Mealor
Rachael Moore
Debbie Morton
Alison Newbery
Alison Palmer
Gillian Palmer
Kate Peters
Isobel Rooth
Paula Sutton
Valerie Thompson
Christine Wilks
Frances Worpe
Jane Brooks
Margaret
Dentskevich
Liz Durning
Kate Emerson
Sheila Hodson
Pamela Leggatt
Jean Leston
Judith Lewy
Lois McCabe
Kay McManus
Christine Medlow
Rosalind Milton
Mary Moon
Penny Muray
Gill Perkins
Lesley Scordellis
Ann Smith
Carol Hobbs
Margaret Mann
Val Morcom
Jacqueline
Norman
Beryl Northam
Sheila Rowell
Prue Smith
Jo Stokes
Rosey Storey
Pamela Usher
Anne Whitley
Elisabeth Yates
FIRST TENOR
Mike Bishop
Bob Bromham
Bob Cowell
Tim Hardyment
Hilary Trigg
Jo Huddleston
Martin Price
Chris Robinson
Maggie Woolcock
John Trigg
SECOND ALTO
Geraldine Allen
Evelyn Beastall
Sylvia Chantler
Mary Clayton
SECOND TENOR
Tony Alderton
Andrea Dombrowe
Celia Embleton
Elizabeth Evans
Valerie Garrow
Margaret
Grisewood
Barbara Hilder
John Bawden
Peter Butterworth
Tony Chantler
FIRST BASS
Phil Beastall
John Britten
Stephen Chowns
Michael Golden
David Greenwood
Brian John
Jeremy Johnson
Eric Kennedy
Jon Long
Chris Newbery
Chris Peters
Robin Privett
David Ross
Philip Stanford
Barry SterndaleBennett
SECOND BASS
Peter Andrews
Roger Barrett
Norman Carpenter
Dave Cox
Geoffrey Forster
James Garrow
Stuart Gooch
Nick Gough
Michael Jeffery
Neil Martin
Geoff Johns
Stephen Linton
John Parry
Roger Penny
Peter Norman
Michael Taylor
John Thornely
Visiting members of the Freiburg Bachchor
SOPRANO
Geneviéve Bechtler
ALTO
TENOR
BASS
Iris Bechtold
Raphael
Anna Iffland
Nicola Hartmann
Sophia Lauterbach
Schneider
Christine Kom
Gudrun SaBe
Lisann Kinkel
Anneli Petrak
Werner Bauer
Guido Blissemeier
Christian Rank
Albrecht Verbeek
Anne Verbeek
22
Vivace Chorus
~
Singing Lessons
)
:
with
the
SEioge
Haslemere Singing Studlo_ *
=
|
-
‘
Daytime & evemng
-
lessons
Teachers CRB checked
:
All ages & abilities
www.haslemeresingingstudio.mfbiz.com
07974 948009
by Rossml
Opera South Orchestra & Cho
Conducted by Mark Austin
Directed by Lynn Binstock
Sung in English
February 2013
Wednesday 13 & Friday 15 at 7.30 p
Saturday 16 at 5.30 pm
Haslemere Hall, Bridge Road,
Haslemere, Surrey GU27 2AS
Box Office 01428 642161
www.haslemerehall.com
www.operasouth.co.uk
Vivace Chorus
23
Tiffin Boys' Choir
Director: Simon Toyne
Since its foundation in 1957, the Tiffin Boys’ Choir has been one of the
few state school choirs to have been continually at the forefront of the
choral music scene in Britain.
The choir has worked with all the London orchestras and performs
regularly with the Royal Opera.
included Britten
Engagements so far this year have
War Requiem (Philharmonia/Lorin Maazel), Mahler 3
(LSO/Semyon Byckov), Parsifal (Mariinsky Opera/Valery Gergiev), Otello
(Royal Opera/Pappano) and the world premiere of Titanic 3D at the
Royal Albert Hall. The choir gives regular concerts in London and tours
regularly, most recently to Australia in July last year. The choir will be
touring China and Korea in July/August 2013.
The choir has made recordings of most of the orchestral repertoire that
includes boys’ choir. Notable releases have included Mahler 8 (EMI /
Tennstedt),
which was
nominated for a Grammy Award,
Puccini
//
Trittico, Massenet Werther and Puccini Tosca (EMI / Pappano), Britten
Billy Budd (Chandos / Hickox), Mahler 3 (LSO Live / Gergiev and Telarc /
Zander), and Britten War Requiem (LPO Live / Masur). Members of the
choir feature in several DVD releases from the Royal Opera House.
Tiffin School is a state grammar school and specialist Arts College in
Kingston-upon-Thames, described by OFSTED as “exceptional”. The
majority of the 1,200 boys in the school play a musical instrument, and
over 100 boys study Music at GCSE and A Level. Several members of
the choir have gained university choral scholarships on leaving Tiffin:
there are ex-Tiffinians currently singing in eight Oxford and Cambridge
college choirs, including King’'s, Cambridge.
Future plans include a concert of music for Advent and Christmas in
Oldenburg, Germany, Fauré Requiem at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Britten
The Golden Vanity in Aldeburgh, and Tosca at the Royal Opera House.
A commercial recording of works by Britten for treble voices is planned
for 2013.
www.tiffinboyschoir.com
Tonight’s singers are:
Ben Baker
Tom LaFrenais
Narmathan Rajeswaran
Kiran Dasani
Thomas Dunne
Nathan Langford
Alexander Line
Henry Saywell
Hugo Schuler
Stefan Frost
Orlando Low
Sebastian Tyrall
Ben Gibson
Joe Gooding
Cameron Helsby
Rory McKeon
Tom Mitchell
Jack Parker
Angelo Umashangar
James Vanstone
Joseph White
Vith Ketheeswaranathan
Robert Pitman
24
Vivace Chorus
‘
N
/ M
&
From a review in the Surrey Advertiser by Jim Herrick
An all-Rachmaninov programme might seem over the top but the
programme was compiled to give us a good range of Rachmaninov's :
{ work and
- as the excellent pre-concert talk by Francis Pott pointed out- there is a :
. great diversityin his oeuvre.
/
' The concert opened with a selection from the Vespers (a liturgical work). They are :
:sung without accompaniment and depend entirely on the skill of the choir. The
{ question whether o sing in Russian was resolved by allowing the beauty of the Slavic
language to express both the Vespers and The Bells. The confidence with which this
: was done was seen in the opening of the Vespers. The Vivace Chorus certainly sang ‘rhe Russian with confidence, even fervour.
:
The Vespers were marked with great chordal singing and with great dynamic control. :
‘In the resurrection Hymn there was real Joy - not a common emotion for.
Rachmanmovs music.
:
' In the second Piano Concerto, the soloist, Francis Pott, gave everything to this much :
loved piece. He had said in his talk that Rachmaninov could be astringent as well as .
: rapturous and he showed this in his confident, steady opening. Pott is a man who can
create atmosphere with his fingertips. The Brandenburg Sinfonia were splendid *
: throughout, my only criticism being that the brass sometimes drowned the piano.
¢ The concluding cantata, The Bells, shows Rachmaninov in dramatic vein. The soprano,
. Sara Lian Owen had a ringing tone and the baritone, Gareth Brynmor John, was
! especially effective as a rich and expressive singer. The chorus excelled in the|
sheer' excitement of The Loud Alarum Bells and the atmospheric The Mournful Iron
* Bells. Jeremy Backhouse was able both to sustain fine control and yet allow the:
“ music to happen
V/vace Chorus
25
Vivace Chorus Patrons
The Vivace Chorus is extremely grateful to all Patrons
for their financial support.
Honorary Life Patrons:
Mr Bill Bellerby MBE
Dr John Trigg MBE
Mrs Doreen Bellerby MBE
Premier Patrons:
Dr Michael Golden
Platinum Patrons:
Mrs Rita Horton
Dr Roger Barrett
Mr Laurie James
Mr & Mrs Peter B P Bevan
Mrs Pamela Leggatt
John and Barbara Britten
John and Janet McLean
Mr & Mrs R H R Broughton
Ron and Christine Medlow
Mr Michael Dawe
Dr Roger Muray
Mr & Mrs G Dombrowe
Mr & Mrs John Parry
Mr & Mrs Joseph Durning
Dr & Mrs
Susan and Cecil Hinton
Mrs Pamela Usher
Mrs Carol Hobbs
Bill and June Windle
M G M Smith
Gold Patrons:
Robin and Jill Broadley
Mrs Jean Radley
Mrs Philip Davies
Brenda and Brian Reed
Mr & Mrs Maxwell S New
Prue and Derek Smith
Silver Patrons:
Mrs Iris Bennett
Mr Lionel Moon
Bob & Maryel Cowell
Maggie van Koetsveld
Without
the
help
of
Patrons,
together
with
grants
and
our
other
fundraising efforts, we would be unable to perform such a wide-ranging
and exciting repertoire. Patrons receive certain benefits so if you would
like to join do please contact Joan Thomas 01483 893178 or email
26
Vivace Chorus
“We
may
prevent
hurt,
not be able to
‘blokes’ being
FUNDRAISING
IN SUPPORT OF
our
but
together
we
helping them get better.”
are
‘Help for Heroes’ is all about ‘doing
your bit' and we are delighted to have
L_ H ELP for
R
“ HEROES
cnany o
the support of the Vivace Chorus at this performance at Guildford
Cathedral. The money raised is greatly needed and is hugely
appreciated.
Many think because we've raised a huge amount of money, we don’t
need any more. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth and all of
the money raised has been allocated or spent on the direct, practical
support of those whose lives have been changed as a result of their
service. There is still so much more to do, and we need to raise millions
more to do it.
We are creating a network of Recovery Centres in Colchester, Catterick,
Tidworth and Plymouth which will ensure the support is there for them
and their families, for life. The Centres, which will all be fully open in
Spring 2013, will provide accommodation, training and social space as
well as multi-disciplinary recovery facilities including state-of-the-art
gymnasium and physiotherapy suites. The Centres will deliver life skills
courses and activities to get the wounded, sick and injured, serving and
veterans,
back out doing what they enjoy the most. Through this
network, grants to specialist charities and organisations, and direct,
individual support, ‘Help for Heroes’ provides 360° care for Servicemen,
women and veterans, enabling individuals to excel along their chosen life
path.
Finally, on behalf of all of us at ‘Help for Heroes’ and all those who we
help, thank you for supporting our charity; each and every one of you is
special to us. So please keep on doing your bit, don’t stop now! It is only
with your help and support that we can continue to help our heroes.
We hope you have a wonderful evening.
Vi
f’? =
A
Bryn and Emma Parry OBE
Help for Heroes Co-Founders
Vivace Chorus
27
Vivace Chorus dates for your diary
The Mayor's Christmas Carol Concert
Sunday 16 December 2012, 7pm Holy Trinity Church
A programme of carols old and new, supporting the Mayor of Guildford's
Christmas Charity.
Mozart Requiem by candlelight
Friday 4 January 2013, 7.30pm St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
A Brandenburg Choral Festival concert with the Brandenburg Sinfonia.
Come and Sing
Saturday 26 January 2013, 10:30am — 4:30pm Normandy Village Hall
Join us for a day singing the Bach Mass in B minor — arguably the
greatest choral work ever written.
An Evening of Elgar, featuring Julian Lloyd Webber
Saturday 9 March 2013, 7.30pm G Live
“We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams”. The
opening words from The Music Makers very much reflect Elgar’s view of
himself as the private artist struggling isolated against the tide. In this
work,
Elgar gives full rein to those introspective feelings whilst also
taking the opportunity to colour the music as a retrospective of some of
his most successful musical creations to date; hence quotations from
The Dream of Gerontius, Sea Pictures, the First and Second
Symphonies, the Violin Concerto, Nimrod and others.
Alongside this, the plangent Cello Concerto: contemplative, imbued with
sadness, this last great work of Elgar's looks elegiacally back at a
changing world and one lost forever, performed in this special concert by
world-renowned cellist, Julian Lloyd Webber.
Further details at vivacechorus.org
or from info@vivacechorus.org
Vivace Chorus
Registered Charity No. 1026337
Financially assisted by
D
Printed by WORDCRAFT
115 Merrow Woods, Guildford, Surrey GU1 2LJ
Tel: 01483 560735
28
Vivace Chorus
Natural vision,
whatever the distance.
There’s a Varilux
vAaricux
www.varilux.co.uk
|
lens for everyone.
Ask us for details.
C)fl// L 0/7(/ é(}()é . /7770//77;27@/7/ 7([0///(7
1b High Street Camberley, Surrey GU15 3QU
202 Fleet Road, Fleet, Hants GU51 4BY
37 High Street, Guildford, Surrey GU1 3DY
Telephone 01276 21791
Telephone 01252 613733
Telephone 01483 575650
17 Commercial Way, Woking, Surrey GU21 6XR
Teley
1= 01483 766800
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musictocome...
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Julian Lloyd Webber is joining
730 Pm Guia,
us for ‘An Evening with Elgar.
Last season’s G live concert was sold out,
so book early to avoid disappointment. In May you can
come to hear four fantastic, living British composers. Or,
‘Come and Sing’' Bach with us in January.
vivacechorus.org
Registered Charity No. 1026337
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