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BRANDENBURG
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CHORAL FESTIVAL
Gl
LONDON 2013
Mozart
Requiem
by candlelight
Mozart Salzburg Symphony No.1
Mozart Marriage of Figaro Divertimento
Vivace Chorus
Brandenburg Sinfonia
Conductor - Jeremy Backhouse
Friday 4 January 7.30pm
Welcome
May I offer you a very warm welcome to this, the fourth event of
the Brandenburg Choral Festival 20137
What an exciting time we have ahead of us!
Sixty-six concerts in eight venues performed by seventy-six
choirs and choral groups of all shapes, sizes and styles.
I am obviously delighted that John Rutter has agreed to be our
Artistic Patron and the line-up of vocal ensembles is nothing less
than spectacular.
Amongst the familiar repertoire lie heaps of choral and vocal
nuggets. Don’t miss the Jazz Nights — or the Fringe gigs in a
secret location!
Many of the concerts feature long-standing partners of the
Brandenburgs and that cap certainly fits the Vivace Chorus. We
have performed with them for around twenty years (including my own wedding), so it is a real delight
to invite them to sing with us in the Festival again with their Musical Director — Jeremy Backhouse.
St Martin-in the-Fields is such a marvellously atmospheric setting and of course the acoustic is just
perfect for the vocal music, whether solo or choral.
You will find details of all the remaining concerts in the Brandenburg Spring Choral Festival in the
brochures available this evening so we do hope to see you again, either here at St Martins, or at one
of the interesting smaller venues.
Robert Porter
Brandenburg Artistic Director
PS.
If you enjoy tonight’s concert why not sign up as a “Friend of the Brandenburgs”. It is an email
service that keeps you up to date with our activities. There is no charge, you can withdraw from our
mailing list at any time, and because we understand what a pain it can be constantly to receive
unwelcome emails, we guarantee not to pass on your email address to anyone.
In particular it will enable us to send you details of our exciting Brandenburg Choral Festival next
year.
Simply send us a quick one-line email asking to be put on the list to bob@brandenburg.org.uk
THE
BRANDENBURG
CHORAL FESTIVAL
LONDON 2013
Artistic Director
Associate Artistic Director
Robert Porter
Jessi Pywell
Festival Manager
Concert Manager
Administrator
Fran Birch
Jane Kersley
Mervion Kirwood
Friends Chairman
Outreach Director
Outreach Manager
Martin Cole
Adam Mackenzie
Maggi Griffiths
The Brandenburg 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.
The Orchestra performs regularly in the majority of the major
venues across the country and in London at the Barbican
Halls, Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Fairfield Hall
and St John's Smith Square.
One major event in the year is the Spring Choral Festival at St Martin-in-the-Fields when the
Brandenburg Sinfonia, along with its sister orchestra the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists is able to
invite a large number of partner choirs to join in a celebration of all the major choral repertoire — all
of course in the magnificent setting and acoustic of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
A large number of artists of international standing have worked with the orchestra including Richard
Bonynge, James Bowman, Sir James Galway, Lesley Garrett, John Georgiadis, Gordon Hunt, Emma
Johnson, Emma Kirkby, Yvonne Kenny and John Wallace,
Its repertoire ranges from Bach to Lloyd Webber and its members give over one hundred
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 Central Festival Opera, First Act Opera, London City Opera.
"What made it actually rather enjoyable was the playing of the chamber orchestra which was
consistently well shaded and nuanced"
THE
TELEGRAPH
"Some of the most stylish Mozart playing for some time"
THE
TIMES
"An ensemble of distinguished players..."
THE
INDEPENDENT
ON
SUNDAY
“Played with a verve and sparkle”
THE
TIMES
BRANDENBURG
Violin 1
Mihkel Kerem
David Ballesteros
SINFONIA
Cello
Adrian Bradbury
Rowena Calvert
Trumpet
Paul Archibald
Heidi Bennett
Susanna Candlin
Bass
Violin 2
Richard Milone
Kokilla Gillett
Anthony Williams
Basset Horn
Anthony Pike
Viola
Tom Lessels
. Matthew Quenby
Jon Thorne
Trombone
Emma Juliet Hodgson
Susan White
Rob Burgess
Timpani
Tristan Fry
Bassoon
Adam McKenzie
Rosie Cow
Vivace Chorus
The Vivace Chorus 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 its
Music Director, Jeremy Backhouse, ably supported by pianist and
composer Francis Pott as rehearsal accompanist.
The choir performs more unusual works, such as Mahler’s Symphony
No. 8, or Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, as well as the great choral
masterpieces of composers such as Verdi, Bach, Brahms, Handel and Haydn. Contemporary music is
an important feature of the choir’s repertoire and its ‘Contemporary Choral Classics’ series, which has
featured for instance Will Todd’s Mass in Blue, is designed to promote the classics of the future.
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 Backhouse, and a performance in November 2011 of the
Brahms Requiem which prompted a reviewer to say, “Guildford is indeed most fortunate to have such
a great ensemble in its midst”. Other concerts in the 2011/12 season included a programme of opera
choruses in March, and a Rachmaninov concert in May when, alongside the Piano Concerto No 2, the
choir sang extracts from the Vespers and gave a rousing performance of The Bells.
The 2012/13 season opened in Guildford Cathedral with a performance to mark the 50th anniversary
of its first performance of the Britten War Requiem, and will continue with an evening of Elgar in
March 2013, including Elgar’s The Music Makers and Julian Lloyd Webber playing the Elgar Cello
Concerto. The last concert of the season, in May, will feature contemporary works by Todd, Mealor,
Rutter and Chilcott.
Jeremy Backhouse
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.
Eleanor Hemmens
Eleanor Hemmens (soprano) is currently studying on the ENO Opera Works
programme. Future performances with them include a concert in January at
the National
Portrait Gallery.
She recently participated in an open
masterclass with Robin Leggate for The Hampshire Singing Competition,
and has performed solos in many concerts at the Holst Room, Morley
College. In addition she has sung solos in Southwark Cathedral, Exeter
Cathedral and in churches in and around London. At the beginning of the
year she completed the Advanced Performers 3-month Intensive Opera
Course with Associated Studios and performed scenes from Dialogues des
Carmelites (Sister Constance) and Rape of Lucretia (Lucia). In June she performed Acts One and Two
from Don Pasquale as Norina at the Bridewell Theatre for Morley College Opera.
Recent solo appearances include Bach's St John Passion, Brahms' Requiem, Bach's B Minor Mass,
Howard Goodall's Eternal Light: A Requiem, Rutter's Requiem and Mozart’s Regina Coeli K108.
Future engagements include Handel's Messiah, Brahms' Requiem, 'Dido' in Purcell's Dido and
Aeneas, and Bach's St John Passion.
Simon Ponsford
Simon Ponsford (countertenor) is currently studying for an MA in Vocal
Studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studies with Michael
Chance and Ian Partridge. He is also a lay clerk in the choir of St. George’s
Chapel, Windsor, alongside which he regularly appears as a recitalist and
soloist. Simon began his musical training as a chorister in Gloucester
Cathedral Choir, before returning to Gloucester as a choral scholar. In 2008,
he graduated from King’s College, Cambridge, with a BA in English
Literature following two years as a member of King's College Choir. Simon
has sung with many professional choirs including Polyphony, English Voices
and Tenebrae, was an Apprentice in the Monteverdi Choir, and is a founder
member of the Platinum Consort.
Recent solo engagements include Handel’s Messiah (Silurian Choir), Bach’s Matthdus Passion (St.
George’s, Windsor) and Purcell’s Ode on St Cecilia’s Day (Wendover Choral Society). He has recently
given recitals of early music in Souvigny, Madingley Hall, Ashridge, Cambridge, Powys and Windsor.
Simon’s opera roles include David in the stage-premiere of Samuel Hogarth’s chamber opera David and
Goliath (CUOS), Narciso in Handel’s Agrippina (Royal Academy of Music Opera Scenes), Eustazio in
Handel’s Rinaldo (RAM Opera Scenes), Athamas in Handel’s Semele (Benslow Baroque Opera) and
Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina (RAM Opera Scenes).
Nick Pritchard
Born in West Sussex, Nick Pritchard (tenor) sang in the choir of New College,
Oxford (where he studied music) and is currently studying with Russell
Smythe and John Fraser at The Royal College of Music, where he is a Mason
Scholar and is supported by an Ian Evans Lombe Award and the Maidment
Scholarship (administered by The Musicians Benevolent Fund).
Concert appearances include Messiah, Israel in Egypt, Acis and Galatea and
Ode on St. Cecilia’s Day (for Neil Jenkins), Beethoven Mass in C, Mozart
Requiem, DvorakStabat Mater, the Petite Messe Solennelle (for Robert
Dean), Dies Natalis, Oh Fair to See and ‘Til Earth Outwears, the Monteverdi
Vespers of 1610, On Wenlock Edge andFour Hymns (Vaughan Williams), the St. John Passion, the
Christmas Oratorio and the St. Matthew Passion, and the War Requiem, Canticle 1 and Winter Words
(with Simon Lepper).
Recent opera roles include Count Almaviva The Barber of Seville, Lysander A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Mr. Ford Falstaff (Salieri), Prologue/Quint The Turn of the Screw, Alfred Die Fledermaus,
Tamino The Magic Flute, Mr. Peachum The Threepenny Opera (Weill), Batille (cover) in Rameau’s
Anacreon (for the OAE), Ferrando Cosi fan tutte, and Prince Hilarion Princess Ida, for which he won the
award for Best Supporting Actor at the Buxton International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival 2010.
Nick appears as a soloist on recordings of Monteverdi’s Vespro Della Beata Vergine (Fiori Musicali and
Novum), Nelson Mass, Britten Choral works, Couperin Motets Choisis (all Novum) and Gounod’s Ave
Maria (Decca).
Nick has also sung with many of Britain’s leading consorts and choirs, including
The Sixteen, The
Gabrielli Consort, The Choir of Enlightenment, Enchanted Voices, Ex Cathedra, Magnificat,
The
Cardinall’s Musick, Alamire, Polyphony and The Monteverdi Choir.
Current season/future plans: Lucano L’incoronazione di Poppea at the RCM, Messiah in
the Royal
Albert Hall for Brian Kay, Oedipus Rex with the LSO, B minor Mass for Sir John-Eliot
Gardiner and
the Bach Magnificat for the English Concert with Laurence Cummings.
Timothy Murphy
Before graduating from reading Music at the University of Bristol, Timothy
Murphy(bass) progressed from singing in his local church choir in Belfast to
being awarded a choral scholarship at Wells Cathedral.
In 2008 he was
offered the position of Bass Lay Clerk at Ripon Cathedral where he stayed
for two years before moving to London to pursue new musical adventures.
Timothy has enjoyed a wide variety of vocal employment over the years;
solo, ensemble and operatic.
Before becoming fully freelance he was
appointed as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace and
the Tower of London, respectively. He currently sings as a dep around the
major churches in London including Westminster Abbey, Royal Hospital Chelsea and the
Brompton
Oratory. Recent highlights of his ensemble career include a tour of Stile Antico's new programme
The
Rose
in
Flower,
the
release
of
Platinum Consort's debut album In
sinthe Crypt
g8
the Dark and the recording of two
soon to be released discs of music by
Palestrina
with
The
Brabant
Ensemble and Irish contemporary
Great food,
going for
a song!
A warm welcome, stunning
architecture and a delicious,
value for money menu awaits
you at the Café in the Crypt,
St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Open for breakfast, lunch,
afternoon tea, interval drinks
and dinner
All profits support the work of
St Martin’s.
www.smitf.org
music with The National Chamber
Choir of Ireland.
This summer he
spent most of his time rehearsing and
performing in Birmingham Opera
Company’s
production
of
Stockhausen’s Mittwoch aus Licht;
singing as part of Ex Cathedra in the
critically acclaimed Welt Parlament.
Highlights in the New Year include a
performance of Mozart’s Requiem
(soloist) as part of the Brandenburg
Festival, a lunchtime recital at St
Martin-in-the-fields
and
an
East
Coast tour of America with the Eric
Whitacre Singers.
Requiem
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791
Mozart was commissioned to write the Requiem Mass by a wealthy nobleman, Count Walsegg, in
memory of his wife who had died at the age of twenty. Work on the Requiem proceeded slowly as
Mozart was in the process of completing his two final opera La Clemenza Di Tito and The Magic
Flute. By the time he came to concentrate on the Requiem , he was suffering from his final illness and
his growing weakness made it impossible for him to complete the work.
Indeed, by the time he died, only the first two movements were completely finished. The movements
Dies Irae to Hostias were drafted out, but there were no notes for the final four sections. Constanze,
Mozart’s wife, was afraid that she would have to return the payment already made by Count Walsegg
and so asked Mozart’s pupil Franz Siissmayer to complete the Requiem.
Siissmayer had spent the whole of Mozart’s final months with him, working on the Requiem so it is
likely that the whole piece closely resembles Mozart’s intentions.
The generally dark and passionate character of the work is accounted for by the predominance of minor
keys and the rich texture of the orchestration: Mozart did not use french horns or the upper woodwind,
using bassett horns, bassoons, trumpets, trombones and timpani, with the strings playing frequently in
the lower registers. However another major factor is Mozart’s bold harmonic language which leads the
listener through the despair of death to the joy of eternal life.
I. Introitus Requiem aeternam (choir and soprano solo)
I1. Kyrie eleison (choir)
IIL. Sequentia (fext based on sections of the Dies Irae
Dies irae (choir)
Tuba mirum (soprano, contralto, tenor and bass solo)
Rex tremendae majestatis (choir)
Recordare, Jesu pie (soprano, contralto, tenor and bass solo)
Confutatis maledictis (choir)
Lacrimosa dies illa (choir)
IV. Offertorium
Domine Jesu Christe (choir with solo quartet)
Hostias et preces (choir)
V. Sanctus
Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth (choir)
Benedictus (solo quartet, then choir)
VI. Agnus Dei (choir)
VII. Communio
Lux aeterna (soprano solo and choir)
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FORTHCOMING
T
EVENTS
?
Martin
THE
BRANDENBURG
the =~
CHORAL FESTIVAL
St
LONDON 2013
Britten
A Ceremony of Carols
Carols for the New Year and Epiphany
Featuring works by Leighton, Howells,
Holst and Whitacre
Vivamus
Harp - Daniel de-Fry
Conductor - Rufus Frowde
Friday 4 January 9.30pm
Tickets £14 (unreserved)
St Martin-in-the-Fields|
Trafalgar Square London WCZN 4]]
Box Office020 7766 1100Onlme wwwsmltf org
~
Classicalf www.brandenburgchoralfestlval.co.uk
Please note - for your comfort and enjoyment
Smoking and consumption offood and drink
are not allowed in the church.
Patrons are kindly requested to switch off
mobile phones and alarms on digital watches.
Flash photography, audio and video recording are not permitted.
Please try to restrain from coughing;
A handkerchief placed over the mouth whilst coughing
assists greatly in limiting the noise. Thank you.
There will be an interval of 20 minutes.
A bell will be rung 5 and 2 minutes before the end of the interval.
Once the concert starts again entry
will only be permitted between pieces.
The Crypt Gallery and Café-in-the-Crypt
can be hired for private functions. Phone 020 7839 4342.
Designed, produced & printed by Jones’ Creative Services Limited
Designers, Typesetters, Graphic Artists and Printers for the The Leatherhead Drama Festival
www.leatherheaddramafestival.org and Mole Valley Arts Alive Festival www.arts-alive.co.uk
Supporting Virtuocity with Creativity www.jonescreative.co.uk
3
St
Martin
in
the
3
‘
Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ
Box Office: 020 7766 1100
Online: www.smitf.org
Fri 4 Jan 2013 7.30pm
Mozart Requien By Candlelight
Vivace Chorus and Brandenburg Sinfonia
Please keep ticket for re-admission
£25.00
NAVE F20
Please use entrance f