The Hebrides Overture
Hear My Prayer
Thomas Delgado-Little
Violin Concerto
Tasmin Little
Sea Drift
Songs of the Fleet
Henry Neill
Vivace
Chorus
Mendelssohn
Hebrides Overture
Hear my Prayer
Violin Concerto
Delius
Sea Drift
Stanford
Songs of the Fleet
featuring
Tasmin Little
Violin
and
Thomas Delgado-Little
Treble
Henry Neill
Baritone
Brandenburg Sinfonia
Conductor: Jeremy Backhouse
We are delighted to welcome violinist Tasmin Little back to Surrey,
where she spent some years as a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin School,
Cobham, to play Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto this evening. This is
preceded by his well-known Hebrides Overture and Hear My Prayer,
which includes the much-loved ‘O for the wings of a dove’.
There is a strong flavour of the sea in both works in the second half.
Delius’ Sea Dirift, for baritone solo and chorus, is set to the words of
American poet Walt Whitman. An emotional journey, it tells the story of a
pair of sea birds. As they nest, the female bird flies away, never to return,
leaving her mate to pine for her in vain. In contrast, Stanford’s Songs of
the Fleet, in British sea-song tradition, bring this evening’s concert to a
close with a set of wonderful tunes, by turns both rousing and poignant.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 — 1847)
Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg and enjoyed enormous popularity,
especially in the 19th century.
He showed interest in music at an early age and began to receive piano
lessons from his mother when six years old. It was only two years later
that he started having lessons in composition and before he was fifteen
he had composed a considerable amount of music. Two of his
masterpieces stemmed from his teenage years — the Overture to A
Midsummer Night’s Dream (1826) and the miraculous Octet for Strings
(1825) — and at the age of twenty he conducted a performance of Bach’s
St Matthew Passion, which led to his conducting further works by Bach
and
being
responsible
for a
general
revival
of the
music
of
this
composer.
A number of Mendelssohn’s best known works came about through his
various travels. The popular [talian Symphony emerged when the
composer was on an extended tour of Italy (he insisted on holding it up
until he had visited Naples) and the Scottish Symphony and Hebrides
Overture were inspired by his visit to Scotland in 1829. This marked
Mendelssohn'’s first visit to the British Isles and he was to return to Britain
on at least nine other occasions, including conducting the premiere of the
oratorio Elijjah at Birmingham in 1846.
His choral music included large-scale works such as Elijah, St Paul and
Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise), but he also composed a large number of
smaller choral pieces such as motets, psalm cantatas, anthems and
Please
note:
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. Thank you
2
Vivace Chorus
settings of the Magnificat, Gloria and Te Deum. These sacred music
compositions by Mendelssohn were created for the Catholic, Anglican
and German Protestant churches. A number of the shorter pieces were
composed for the Berlin Protestant Cathedral of which Mendelssohn
became the director of the choir in 1843.
Mendelssohn was thirty-eight when he died and during his comparatively
short life he composed eight concertos, of which two piano concertos
and the E minor Violin Concerto are performed most often. In fact, the
violin concerto remains one of the best known works in the concerto
repertoire for this instrument and continues to play a significant role in
the careers of virtually every leading violinist.
The Hebrides Overture, Op.26 (Fingal’s Cave)
The Hebrides Overture was composed in 1830, when Mendelssohn was
a mere twenty-one years of age. On his visit to Scotland in the previous
year he was overwhelmed by the ruggedness and grandeur of the
country. At Abbotsford he met Sir Walter Scott and, when he arrived at
the Hebrides, he was immediately drawn to the many different sounds of
the sea, which in turn gave him the inspiration for the famous opening
phrase of the Overture. One of the letters which he wrote while on the
islands featured a sketch of these particular bars and it is these bars
which so vividly set the scene for one of the finest and most atmospheric
concert overtures to have been written.
Hear my Prayer
The anthem Hear my Prayer dates from 1844 and is on a larger scale
than many of the pieces composed for the choir at Berlin Cathedral. It is
scored
for
soprano
or
treble
solo
and
chorus
with
instrumental
accompaniment and enjoyed enormous popularity in this country through
the 1927 recording by the famous boy-soloist, Ernest Lough, with the
Temple Church Choir. Part of the text is based on Psalm 55, which starts
with the words Hear my prayer, O God.
This first section is given to the soloist and the music for this has a warm
and gentle nature in the key of G major. Two bars of chorus finish this
section before the mood changes dramatically with the words The enemy
shouteth, the godless come fast. The second section has a troubled
atmosphere and features both soloist and chorus, finishing with the
words O God, hear my cry. This is followed by a short recitative for the
soloist (My heart is sorely pained) plus chorus at the words Lord, hear
Vivace Chorus
3
my call and then this leads into the beguilingly lyrical O for the wings of a
dove. The soloist sings the first section of this beautiful piece and is then
involved in one of
Mendelssohn’s most famous melodies.
later joined by the chorus so that everyone is
Hear my Prayer
Hear my prayer, O God, incline Thine ear!
Thyself from my petition do not hide!
The enemy shouteth, The godless come fast!
Iniquity, hatred upon me they cast!
Take heed to me! Hear how in prayer | mourn
The wicked oppress me, Ah, where shall | fly?
to Thee!
Perplexed and bewildered,
Without Thee all is dark, | have no guide 2
cry!
My heart is sorely pained within my breast,
O for the wings of a dove!
My soul with deathly terror is oppressed,
Far away would | rove!
O God, hear my
Trembling and fearfulness upon me fall,
In the wilderness build me a nest,
With horror overwhelmed, Lord, hear me calll
And remain there for ever at rest.
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64
|.
Allegro molto appassionato
Il. Andante
lll. Allegro molto vivace
The Violin Concerto in E minor, which dates from Mendelssohn’s later
years, was completed in 1844 while he was on a recuperative holiday at
Soden near Frankfurt, a place which he found ideal for both relaxation
and work. The idea of a violin concerto first came about six years earlier
when Mendelssohn had written to the renowned violinist, Ferdinand
David, stating that he would like to compose such a concerto for him.
However,
even
when
Mendelssohn was still
the
concerto
appeared
making modifications
six
years
later,
including extending the
cadenza.
The concerto has the usual three movements, but they are designed to
be played without a break. Each movement is complete in itself, but they
are linked by passages which change the mood and the key. Many
concertos open with an introductory section for the orchestra alone,
providing a build-up for the initial entry of the soloist, but Mendelssohn
offers only a brief rustling from the orchestra before the soloist appears
on the scene with a passionate theme and immediately establishes the
importance and virtuosity of the solo part. The orchestra then takes over
and goes on to introduce themes of its own, which in turn are taken up
by the soloist. There follows a cadenza (earlier in the movement than
4
Vivace Chorus
usual) with much brilliance for the soloist, who leads effectively into a
recapitulation of the opening theme.
At the end of the first movement a solitary bassoon emerges to lead into
a songlike melody for the soloist introducing the sublime Andante. The
mood of this second movement is broken with a more agitated middle
section before returning to the warmth and glow of its opening. A short,
linking passage leads to a fanfare which heralds the third movement,
now in the brighter key of E major. A sense of pure unclouded delicacy
and joy establishes itself at the outset and this continues right through to
the final pages of this marvellous concerto.
~ INTERVAL ~
Frederick Delius (1862 — 1934)
Frederick Delius was born in Bradford. His ancestry was German and
Dutch, although both his parents were German, and his father showed
exceptional keenness for his son to be involved in the business world. A
musical career would not be suitable for him and so, with the business
association in mind, visits to Norway and Sweden were set up, along
with residence in Germany and orange growing in Florida. None of these
experiences dimmed Frederick’s keen interest in music and whilst in
America his friendship with an organist from Brooklyn spurred him on to
settle down in the musical world. His father’s insistence on business life
for his son finally gave way when the well-known Norwegian composer,
Edvard Grieg, approached him and insisted that his son be allowed to
become a composer.
In 1897 Delius went to live in France and married Jelka Rosen. Two
years later he moved to Grez-sur-Loing, a French country town where he
lived for the rest of his life. Delius’s catalogue of compositions included a
wide
variety
of
music,
including
chamber
music,
songs,
operas,
concertos, orchestral music and choral works. His particular genius was
to be found in his orchestral and choral-orchestral works. The basis of
these works was the magical musical representation of the atmosphere
of nature and peacefulness. The unique effect of this in such works as
Appalachia, Brigg Fair, An English Rhapsody and Sea Drift had special
appeal to the eminent English conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham, who
championed
Delius’s
compositions
and
helped
considerably
in
establishing Delius as a major British composer.
Vivace Chorus
5
The two major choral-orchestral works by Delius are A Mass of Life (a
large-scale setting of words by Nietzsche) and Sea Drift.
Sea Drift is scored for solo baritone, chorus and orchestra and the
magical music of this piece was inspired by the text of a poem by the
well-known American poet, Walt Whitman. Sea Drift is a section from
Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and tells the story of two sea birds, together
looking after their nest with four eggs. The she-bird remains on the nest
dealing with maternal duties while her partner comes and goes as
required. But one day, when the he-bird returns, she is not on the nest.
What has happened to her? How can he tell? The rest of Whitman'’s text
is concerned with the desperate but fruitless search by the he-bird for his
loved one and the tragic theme of this story is vividly represented in
Delius’s highly effective and picturesque music. All this drama is
observed by a boy and the solo baritone represents both the voice of this
lad and that of the he-bird.
Delius’s music for the opening of this work captures to perfection the
motion of the sea’s waves and its mood, whether tranquil or
tempestuous, is effectively conveyed by his music throughout. The
character of the opening pages of this score provides a sense of joy and
serenity, which remains until the baritone announces the she-bird’'s
disappearance with the words Till of a sudden..., followed by the chorus
setting the scene for a violent storm. While the he-bird takes on the task
of searching for his mate the music takes on a darker and more dramatic
mood, building up to the choral opening to O rising stars. After this there
is music of a more tender nature as one has to accept the fact that she
will no longer appear and the music dies away as the chorus murmurs
No more.
Sea Drift
Chorus
Once Paumanok,
When the lilac scent was in the air and fifth-month grass was growing,
Up this seashore in some briers,
Two feather'd guests from Alabama, two together,
And their nest, and four light-green eggs spotted with brown.
Baritone
(and
chorus)
And every day the he-bird to and fro near at hand,
And every day the she-bird crouch’d on her nest, silent, with bright eyes,
And every day |, a curious boy, never too close, never disturbing them,
Cautiously peering, absorbing, translating.
Chorus
Shine! shine! shine!
Pour down your warmth, great sun.
6
Vivace Chorus
While we bask, we two together, Two together!
Winds blow south, or winds blow north,
Day come white, or night come black.
Baritone
Home, or rivers and mountains from home
Chorus
Singing all time, minding no time,
While we two keep together
Baritone
Till of a sudden,
Maybe kill'd, unknown to her mate,
One forenoon the she-bird crouch’d not on the nest,
Nor return’d that afternoon, nor the next,
Nor ever appeared again.
And thence forward all summer in the sound of the sea,
And at night under the full of the moon in calmer weather,
Over the hoarse surging of the sea,
Of flitting from brier to brier by day,
| saw, | heard at intervals the remaining one, the he-bird.
The solitary guest from Alabama.
Chorus
Blow! blow! blow!
Blow up sea winds along Paumanok’s shore;
| wait and | wait till you blow my mate to me.
Baritone
Yes, when the stars glisten'd,
All night long on the prong of a moss-scallop’d stake,
Down almost amid the slapping waves,
Sat the lone singer, wonderful, causing tears.
He call'd on his mate,
He pour'd forth the meanings which | of all men know.
Yes, my brother, | know,
The rest might not, but | have treasur'd every note,
For more than once dimly down to the beach gliding,
Silent, avoiding the moonbeams, blending myself with the shadows,
Recalling now the obscure shapes, the echoes, the sounds and sights after their
sorts,
The white arms out in the breakers tirelessly tossing,
|, with bare feet, a child, the wind wafting my hair,
Listen'd long and long,
Listen'd to keep, to sing, now translating the notes,
Following you my brother.
Chorus
Soothe! soothe! soothe!
(and
Close on its waves soothes the wave behind,
And again another behind embracing and lapping, every one close,
But my love soothes not me, soothes not me.
Low hangs the moon, it rose late,
Itis lagging - O I think it is heavy with love, with love.
baritone)
Vivace Chorus
Baritone
O madly the sea pushes upon the land,
(and
chorus)
With love, with love,
O night! do | not see my love fluttering out among the breakers?
What is that little black thing | see there in the white?
Loud! loud! loud! Loud | call to you, my love!
High and clear | shoot my voice over the waves,
Surely you must know who is here, is here,
You must know who | am, my love.
Chorus
O rising stars!
Perhaps the one | want so much will rise, will rise with some of you.
O throat! O trembling throat! Sound clearer through the atmosphere!
Pierce the woods, the earth,
Somewhere listening to catch you must be the one | want.
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Baritone
Shake out carols!
Solitary here, the night's carols!
Carols of lonesome love! death’s carols!
Carols under that lagging, yellow, waning moon!
O under that moon where she drops almost down into the sea!
O reckless despairing carols.
But soft! sink low!
Soft! let me just murmur,
And do you wait a moment you husky nois'd sea.
For somewhere | believe | heard my mate responding to me,
So faint, | must be still, be still to listen,
But not altogether still, for then she might not come immediately to me,
Hither my love!
Here | am! here! With this just sustain'd note | announce myself to you,
The gentle call is for you my love, for you.
Chorus
Do not be decoy'd elsewhere,
(and
baritone)
That is the whistle of the wind, it is not my voice,
That is the fluttering, the fluttering of the spray,
Those are the shadows of the leaves.
O darkness! O in vain! in vain!
Baritone
O | am very sick and sorrowful.
(and
O brown halo in the sky near the moon, drooping upon the sea.
O troubled reflection in the sea!
O throat! O throbbing heart!
And | singing uselessly, uselessly all the night.
chorus)
O past! O happy life! O songs ofjoy!
In the air, in the woods, over fields,
Loved! loved! loved! loved! loved!
But my mate no more, no more with me!
We two together no more!
Vivace Chorus
Charles Villiers Stanford: Songs of the Fleet
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852 — 1924) was born in Dublin. His interest in
musical composition started at the age of eight with the composition of a
march, which was later used in a pantomime. Ten years later he went to
Cambridge and when he was twenty-one he became organist of Trinity
College and conducted two choral societies, which resulted in his
creation of CUMS (Cambridge University Musical Society). After this his
interest
in
composition
truly
blossomed
and
during
his
lifetime
he
produced a wide range of works — operas, cantatas, symphonies and
other orchestral works, oratorios, church music, chamber music and
many songs, including settings of Irish folk songs. There was absolutely
no doubt concerning his Irish background as not only did he sneak Irish
folk songs into some of his works, but also wrote an Irish opera, an lIrish
symphony and a number of Irish rhapsodies.
Stanford spent many years as a professor of music at Cambridge and as
a professor and teacher at the Royal College of Music — Holst and
Vaughan Williams were amongst his pupils — and his musical guidance
at the RCM made a profound impression on the development and
inspiration of English music in general. He also spent much time in
Germany familiarising himself with the music of such composers as
Brahms and Wagner.
This eminent Irish composer was not a sailor himself, but maritime texts
certainly caught his interest. This resulted in his producing such inspired
works as Revenge: A Ballad of the Fleet, Songs of the Sea and Songs of
the Fleet. The first of these three works was scored for chorus and
orchestra whereas the other two also featured a major part for baritone
solo as well.
Songs of the Fleet was first performed at the Leeds Festival in 1910
and was created by Stanford as a follow-up to Songs of the Sea. The five
songs in Songs of the Fleet are strongly and highly effectively contrasted
— three of them are of a slower nature and these are interspersed by two
lively songs at a distinctly faster speed. Stanford has used a selection of
poems by the English poet, novelist and historian, Henry Newbolt, who
was also responsible for the words of the famous Drake’s Drum and for
the full text for Stanford’s Songs of the Sea.
The baritone soloist opens the first song, Sailing at Dawn, with a gentle
lyrical melody which is then taken up by the chorus. There are three
sections for the soloist, each of which is followed by the chorus as they
sing Now the fleet’s a fleet again, culminating with the words Lead the
Vivace Chorus
9
line. The second song, The Song of the Sou'Wester, is laid out in a
similar format, but the mood here has a distinct flavour of drama and
urgency as A great Sou'Wester hurricane high came rollicking up the
sea. The tempo slows down for the third song as the chorus and soloist
describe and set the scene for the mystery and anticipation of The
Middle Watch — a wonderful atmospheric central movement which
creates an ideal contrast to the rousing song which follows, painting a
vivid picture of The Little Admiral — and then, once again, there is a
complete contrast as the final song, Fare Well, provides a poignant slow
moving ending to this characterful group of maritime songs. There is a
particularly glorious climax in the final pages as soloist and chorus sing
the words For evermore their life and thine are one.
All programme notes by John Parry
Songs of the Fleet
Sailing at Dawn
One by one the pale stars die before the day now,
One by one the great ships are stirring from their sleep,
Cables all are rumbling, anchors all a-weigh now,
Now the fleet's a fleet again, gliding towards the deep.
Chorus: Now the fleet's a fleet again, bound upon the old ways,
Splendour of the past comes shining in the spray;
Admirals of old time, bring us on the bold ways!
Souls of all the sea-dogs, lead the line to-day!
Far away behind us town and tower are dwindling,
Home becomes a fair dream faded long ago;
Infinitely glorious the height of heaven is kindling,
Infinitely desolate the shoreless sea below.
Chorus: Now the fleet's a fleet again....
Once again with proud hearts we make the old surrender,
Once again with high hearts serve the age to be,
Not for us the warm life of Earth, secure and tender,
Ours the eternal wandering and warfare of the sea. ~ Chorus: Now the fleet's a fleet again....
The Song of the Sou'wester
The sun was lost in a leaden sky,
Chorus
And the shore lay under our lee;
Oh! | am the enemy most of might,
When a great Sou'Wester hurricane high
The other be who you please!
Came rollicking up the sea.
Gunner and guns may all be right,
He played with the fleet as a boy with boats
Flags a-flying and armour tight,
Till out for the Downs we ran,
But | am the fellow you've first to fight
And he laugh'd with the roar of a thousand throats ~ The giant that swings the seas.
At the militant ways of man:
10
Vivace Chorus
A dozen of middies were down below
Chasing the X they love,
While the table curtseyed long and slow
And the lamps were giddy above.
The lesson was all of a ship and a shot,
And some of it may have been true,
But the word they heard and never forgot
Was the word of the wind that blew:
Chorus
Oh! | am the enemy most of might..
The Middy with luck is a Captain soon,
With luck he may hear one day
His own big guns a-humming the tune
" ‘Twas in Trafalgar's Bay."
But wherever he goes, with friends or foes,
And whatever may there befall,
He'll hear for ever a voice he knows
Chorus
For ever defying them all:
Oh! | am the enemy most of might...
The Middle Watch
In a blue dusk the ship astern
Like fleets along a cloudy shore
Uplifts her slender spars,
The constellations creep,
Like planets on the ocean floor
With golden lights that seem to burn
Among the silver stars.
A
Our silent course we keep.
And over the endless plain,
From a dim West to a dark East
Out of the night forlorn
Our lines unwavering head,
Rises a faint refrain,
As if their motion long had ceased
A song of the day to be born,
And Time itself were dead.
Watch, O watch till ye find again
Life and the land of morn.
Vainly we watch the deep below,
But over the endless plain,
Vainly the void above,
Out of the night forlorn
They died a thousand years ago,
Rises a faint refrain,
Life and the land we love.
A song of the day to be born,
Watch, O watch till ye find again
Life and the land of morn.
The Little Admiral
But here's just one little Admiral,
Stand by to reckon up your battleships
Ten, twenty, thirty, there they go.
Brag about your cruisers like Leviathans
A thousand men a-piece down below.
We're all of us his brothers and his sons,
And he's worth O he's worth at the very least
2
Double all your tons and all your guns.
Chorus: Stand by...
Vivace Chorus
11
See them on the forebridge signalling
Where's the mighty will that shows the way to
A score of men a-hauling hand to hand,
them,
And the whole fleet flying like the wild geese ~ The mind that sees ahead so quick and clear?
Moved by some mysterious command.
A
He's there, Sir, walking all alone there
The little man whose voice you never hear.
Chorus: Stand by...
There are queer things that only come to
I've been with him when hope sank under us
sailormen;
He hardly seemed a mortal like the rest,
They're true, but they're never understood;
| could swear that he had stars upon his
And | know one thing about the Admiral,
uniform,
That | can't tell rightly as | should.
A/
And one sleeve pinned across his breast.
Chorus: Stand by...
Some day we're bound to sight the enemy,
None knows what may be the end of it,
He's coming, tho' he hasn't yet a name.
Keel to keel and gun to gun he'll challenge us
To see the little Admiral a-playing him
To meet him at the Great Armada game. 2
A rubber of the old Long Bowls!
But we'll all give our bodies and our souls
Chorus: Stand by...
Farewell
Mother, with unbowed head
Hear thou across the sea
The farewell of the dead,
To keep the house unharmed
Their fathers built so fair,
Deeming endurance armed
The dead who died for thee.
Better than brute despair,
They found the secret of the word that saith,
"Service is sweet, for all true life is death."
Greet them again with tender words and grave,
For, saving thee, themselves they could not
save.
7
So greet thou well thy dead
Across the homeless sea,
And be thou comforted
Because they died for thee.
Far off they served, but now their deed is done
For evermore their life and thine are one.
Bach B minor Mass, November 2014
Q’Jj’ "
N,
:
"It really was splendid and both of us were quite
overwhelmed.”
=
@’//
=
"A wonderful piece on a grand scale in a performance .
that grew in stature as it progressed.”
"Congratulations to everyone concerned, and especially
to Jeremy, as ever the lynchpin."”
B
12
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Vivace Chorus
:
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Conductor: Jonathan Willcocks
Sunday March 22nd 2015
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, 7.30pm
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Tasmin Little — Violin
Tasmin Little has firmly established
herself
as
one
international
of
today's
violinists.
leading
She
has
performed on every continent in some
of the most prestigious venues of the
world,
including
Musikverein,
harmonie
Carnegie
Hall,
Concertgebouw,
Phil-
Berlin,
Vienna
Konzert-
haus, South Bank Centre, Barbican
Centre, Royal Albert Hall, Lincoln
Center and Suntory Hall.
Tasmin’'s
include
concerto
those
Symphony,
,
L
Photography: Paul Mitchell
Gewandhausorchester,
Philharmonic, Malaysian
Japan
Philharmonic,
Royal
Philharmonic,
Philharmonic,
Berliner
Adelaide
Philharmoniker,
Bournemouth
~ Symphony,
Symphoniker,
City
Berlin
of Birmingham
Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic,
London
Symphony
Orchestra,
London
Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, New
Philharmonia,
Seattle
appearances
with
Royal
Netherlands
Scottish
Symphony,
Radio
National,
Singapore
Philharmonic,
Royal
Symphony,
Liverpool
St.
Louis
Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, West Australian Symphony and all the BBC
Orchestras.
Tasmin’s
multi-award
winning
international
and
concerto
and
recital
varied
career
performances,
encompasses
masterclasses,
workshops and community outreach work, and her discography and
performance schedule reflect her wide-ranging repertoire.
Tasmin is an exclusive recording artist for Chandos Records. Her
recording of the Elgar Violin Concerto with Sir Andrew Davis and the
Royal National Scottish Orchestra garnered outstanding critical acclaim
and was awarded the Critic's Choice Award in the 2011 Classic BRIT
Awards. Further awards include a Gramophone Award for Audience
Innovation for her ground-breaking musical outreach programme,
The
Naked Violin, a Diapason d'Or for her disc of Delius violin sonatas with
Piers Lane, and a Gold Badge Award for Services to Music.
The 2014/2015 season includes her debut in Canada, playing Korngold’s
Violin Concerto with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and her debut
in Mexico in February 2015, playing Holst, Ravel and Vaughan Williams.
Vivace Chorus
13
She returns to Istanbul for a performance of Sibelius Concerto and, later
in 2015 to Warsaw to play Szymanowski 2nd Concerto. Performances
within the UK include Mendelssohn Concerto with Bournemouth
Symphony and Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, and Piazzolla,
Panufnik and Vivaldi which she will play/direct with the London Mozart
Players, as well as recitals with her long-standing pianist partners, Piers
Lane and Martin Roscoe, including at London’s Wigmore Hall.
Tasmin Little is an Ambassador for The Prince’s Foundation for Children
and the Arts, a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and
an Ambassador for Youth Music, and has received Honorary Degrees
from the Universities of Bradford, Leicester, Hertfordshire and City of
London. In June 2012, Tasmin was appointed an Officer of the Order of
the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Birthday
Honours List, for Services to Music. She plays a 1757 Giovanni Battista
Guadagnini violin.
Tasmin can be followed on Twitter - https:/twitter.com/tasminlittle
Thomas Delgado-Little — Treble
Recently described by several major
opera critics as ‘utterly convincing’, ‘rarely
bettered’, having ‘an angelic treble’ and
‘the true star of the show’, Thomas
Delgado-Little sang the role of Miles in
the critically acclaimed revival of Britten's
The Turn of the Screw for the 2014
Glyndebourne Tour. Prior to that he
scored a notable debut success singing
the role of Paris as a young boy in the
Olivier Award-winning
production
of
Michael Tippett's King Priam by English
Touring Opera at the Linbury Studio at
the Royal Opera House. Thomas is a
. member of the boys’ choral group Libera,
based in South London, with whom he
has sung concerts at major venues in London, Moscow, Tokyo, Seoul,
Singapore, the Philippines and major cities across the USA. He has
made several TV appearances including on BBC Songs of Praise and
the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He featured as a soloist in Libera’s
recent CD and DVD release, Angels Sing — Christmas in Ireland on the
Warner Classics label and appears as a soloist in their forthcoming
14
Vivace Chorus
release this Easter. He has sung with the Dulwich Chamber Choir as the
treble soloist in Faure’s Requiem conducted by Richard Mayo and with
the Allegri Singers as the treble soloist in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms
conducted by Tom Bullard. He attends Dulwich College where he is a
Choral Scholar and studies singing with Dan Ludford-Thomas.
Henry currently studies on the Royal
Academy of Music Opera course with
Mark Wildman and Ingrid Surgenor. He
was recently awarded the Sir Thomas
Armstrong Prize for English Song at the
Royal Academy of
Music
and the
Audience prize and second prize at the
Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards and is
generously supported
by the
CarrGregory Scholarship.
Henry has performed at the Colston Hall,
Bristol, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,
appearances
include
a
and St. John's, Smith Square, and the
Wigmore
Hall
in
London.
Concert
St Matthew Passion with members of the
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Mozart and Brahms Requiems,
Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical
Songs and various performances with the Orchestra of St John’s. He has
performed at the Oxford Lieder Festival and he recently performed
Butterworth’s Six Songs from a Shropshire Lad with orchestra conducted
by Sir Mark Elder.
Operatic roles include Quince in Britten’s A Midsummer Night's Dream
and Sprecher in Die Zauberfléte at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Figaro
in Mozart's La Nozze di Figaro and Noye from Noye's Fludde in
Cambridge University Opera Society productions. With Royal Academy
Opera he has performed as Marco in Gianni Schicchi and later this year
will be playing the role of Smirnov in Walton’s The Bear. Last year he
played the role of
Offenbach’s Vert-vert.
Friquet
in
Garsington
Opera’s
production
of
Vivace Chorus is grateful to
The Josephine Baker Trust
for the sponsorship of Henry Neill this evening.
Vivace Chorus
15
Jeremy Backhouse
Jeremy is one of Britain’s leading
conductors of amateur choirs. He began
Canterbury
in
career
musical
| his
. Cathedral where he was Senior Chorister.
' In 1980 he was appointed Music Editor at
the RNIB, where he was responsible for
the transcription of print music into Braille.
He has worked for both EMI Classics and
later Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers
as a Literary Editor, but now pursues his
career as a freelance conductor.
Photography: Ash Mills
Jeremy has been the sole conductor of
chamber
internationally-renowned
the
choir Vasari Singers since its inception in
1980. Since winning the prestigious Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year
competition in 1988, the Vasari Singers has performed regularly on the
South Bank and at major concert venues in London, as well as in many
of the cathedrals and abbeys of the UK. Jeremy and the Vasari Singers
have broadcast frequently on BBC Radios 3 and 4, and have a
discography of over 25 CDs on the EMI, Guild, Signum and Naxos
labels.
Recordings with the Vasari Singers have been nominated for a
Gramophone award (Howells and Frank Martin), received two
Gramophone Editor's Choice awards (Marcel Dupré choral works), a top
recommendation on Radio 3's ‘Building A Library’ (Vaughan Williams
Mass in G minor), and two recent CDs (Gabriel Jackson’s Requiem and
A Winter's Light, a disc of Christmas carols) both achieved Top Ten
status in the Specialist Classical Charts.
In January 1995, Jeremy was appointed Music Director of the Vivace
Chorus (then the Guildford Philharmonic Choir). Alongside the standard
classical works, Jeremy has conducted the Vivace Chorus in some
ambitious programmes, including Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi and
Szymanowski’'s Stabat Mater, Mahler's ‘Resurrection’ Symphony (No. 2),
Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible, Mahler's ‘Symphony
of a Thousand’ (No. 8) and Verdi's Requiem in the Royal Albert Hall with
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Britten's War Requiem.
He is totally committed to contemporary music and to the commissioning
of new works. He and Vasari have commissioned over 25 new works in
their recent history, from small anthems to works of the grandest scale.
16
Vivace Chorus
This enthusiasm has spread to the Vivace Chorus who, in May 2009,
commissioned and performed the premiere of Will Todd's Te Deum and
have recently commissioned a 20-minute work from Francis Pott, the
choir’'s accompanist.
Jeremy has also worked with a number of the country's leading choirs,
including the BBC Singers, the Philharmonia Chorus, the London Choral
Society and the Brighton Festival Chorus. For six 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 took up the post of Music Director of the
Salisbury Community Choir. His first major engagement with them was
the opening concert of that year’s Salisbury International Arts Festival, in
Salisbury Cathedral, premiering a vast new work by Bob Chilcott entitled
Salisbury Vespers. In 2013 the choir celebrated its 21%' Anniversary with
a major concert in Salisbury Cathedral in October, featuring the world
premiere of a specially-commissioned community work by Will Todd, The
City Garden, which they subsequently toured to Lincoln (2014) and will
take to Guildford (2015) and Exeter (2016).
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TILAS
Esublished 1911
|
EVERYONE
IS
TALKING
ABOUT
Woking
17 Commercial Way
T: 01483 766800
Fleet
202 Fleet Road
T: 01252 613733
Guildford
37 High Street
T: 01483 575650
Camberley 1B High Street
T: 01276 21791
Vivace Chorus
17
Branseole
¥ 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.
Violin 1
Susie Candlin
Jenny Godson
James Widden
James Dickenson
Cello
Rowena Calvert
lain Ward
Julia Morneweg
Stefan Rees
Clarinet
Anthony Pike
Fiona Mitchell
VIOlln 2
Flute
Connnie Tanner
Raja Halder
Mackenzie Richards Bass
Barbara Dziewiecka Richad Pryce
Sam Rice
Nuno Carapina
Bass Clarinet
Richard Russell ~ Trombone
Rory Cartmell
Mark Townend
Bassoon
Adam Mackenzie ~ Dougall Prophet
Bassoon
Wolstenholme Contra
Ellzabe.th van Ments Anna
Rosi
Kimberley Boyle
John Dickenson
Anna Pym
s i
Elunded Pritchard
Oboe
Viola
Matthew Quenby
Lydia Giriffiths
:
Seila Tamisola
Tansy Garrod
Francis Kefford
Enrico Alvares
Richard Simpson
Cor Anglais
Alison Alty
Trumpet
Robin Totterdell
Heidi Bennett
Sam Kinraid
osie Cow
Tul:?a
=3
Miotti
Adrian
.
;
Timpani
Tristan Fry
e
Lalfjr:nl_elswellyn
Pereaston
Ric Elsworth
Mark Bennett
Mark Wood
Tim Evans
y
Sally Pryce
Emilv Whitne
y
Harp
Louise Hawker
18
Vivace Chorus
Based in Guildford Acfl.-,;f.;-eiEverywher
e
rh
W
solicitors
rhw Solicitors - Realistic Legal Solutions for Life
rhw sohcn‘ors 180 yecxrs serwng Surrey s&v..-vbeyond
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"Your help and guidance were invaluable.......
....... as for your service - impeccable"
Vivace Chorus
Music Director: Jeremy Backhouse
Accompanist: Francis Pott
Chairman: James Garrow
Vivace Chorus is a flourishing and adventurous choir based here in
Guildford, Surrey. We have two aims: to make music of the highest
standard and to have fun while doing so.
The choir has come a long way since it began some 67 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, Vivace has thrived under the exceptional leadership of this
evening’s conductor, Jeremy Backhouse. Jeremy’'s passion for choral
works and his sheer enthusiasm for music-making are evident at every
rehearsal and every performance. He is supported by Francis Pott, who
is not just a very fine rehearsal accompanist but is also a composer of
international repute and an accomplished concert pianist.
Our repertoire spans more unusual works such as Prokofiev's Alexander
Nevsky as well as the great choral masterpieces of Bach, Brahms,
Handel, Haydn, Mozart and Verdi, and the more intimate works of Faure,
Tavener, Allegri and Lauridsen. We also actively promote the classics of
the
future
with
our
‘Contemporary
Choral
Classics’
series,
commissioning new works when funds allow.
Particular successes have included a sell-out performance in May 2011
of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, at the
Royal Albert Hall, a highly acclaimed performance in November 2012 of
Britten’s War Requiem, and another Royal Albert Hall success in May
last year, when we performed the Verdi Requiem.
In addition to our own concerts, we also sing in various charity concerts
and, with our regular orchestra, the Brandenburg Sinfonia, take part in
the Brandenburg Choral Festival each year in St Martin-in-the-Fields. We
also, on occasion, venture further afield and have visited Germany many
times over the years to sing with the Freiburg Bachchor.
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 2012 we headed across France to Strasbourg,
20
Vivace Chorus
Rehearsing in the Royal Albert Hall
Photography: Ash Mills
giving concerts there and in Heidelberg and Freiburg. In 2015, we spent
a wonderful few days in ltaly, where we gave three concerts, in Verona,
Mantua and Venice.
If that whets your appetite, do come
and join us! We rehearse in
Holy
Trinity Church, Guildford High Street,
on Monday evenings. Just turn up
(before
7.15),
or
contact
our
membership secretary Jane Brooks
at membership@vivacechorus.org.
For
further
choir
and
information
our
concerts,
about
the
visit
our
'
'
website, vivacechorus.org, follow us on Facebook or TWItter or join our
mailing list.
STOP PRESS! If you add your email address to our concert
information list this weekend you’ll have the chance of winning G Live
vouchers worth £60. Please use the slip provided tonight, pop a business
card into one of the boxes on the counter in the foyer, email your name
to publicity@vivacechorus.org with the subject ‘G Live voucher entry’, or
text your name and email address to 07806 670774. We promise not to
bombard you with emails, or pass or sell your details to any third party.
Vivace Chorus
21
Vivace Chorus Singers
FIRST SOPRANO
Pam Alexander
Helen Beevers
Joanna Bolam
Mary Broughton
Elaine Chapman
Rebecca Kerby
Alex Nash
Emily Nash
Susan Norton
Robin Onslow
Margaret Parry
Sarah Smithies
Carol Terry
Hilary Vaill
SECOND
SOPRANO
Jacqueline Alderton
Anna Arthur
Ginny Heffernan
Marianne llisley
Krystyna Marsden
Isabel Mealor
Alison Newbery
Kate Peters
Isobel Rooth
Rosemary Spalding
Valerie Thompson
Christine Wilks
Fiona Wimblett
Frances Worpe
FIRST ALTO
Barbara Barklem
Penny Baxter
Valerie Garrow
Grace Beckett
Monika Boothby
Jane Brooks
Liz Durning
Kate Emerson
Valentina Faedi
Atalia Fuller
Sheila Hodson
Jean Leston
Judith Lewy
Lois McCabe
Kay McManus
Christine Medlow
Rosalind Milton
Mary Moon
Penny Muray
Gill Perkins
Linda Ross
Lesley Scordellis
Liz Hampshire
Pauline Higgins
Catherine
Shacklady
Carol Sheppard
Ann Smith
Marjory Stewart
Nicola Telcik
Hilary Trigg
Maggie Woolcock
SECOND ALTO
Geraldine Allen
Evelyn Beastall
Sylvia Chantler
Mary Clayton
Andrea Dombrowe
Celia Embleton
Elizabeth Evans
Sheena Ewen
Margaret
Grisewood
Carol Hobbs
Beth Jones
Margaret Mann
Catherine
Middleton
Val Morcom
Pamela Murrell
Jacqueline
Norman
Prue Smith
Jo Stokes
Rosey Storey
Pamela Usher
Anne Whitley
June Windle
Elisabeth Yates
FIRST TENOR
Mike Bishop
Bob Bromham
Bob Cowell
Tim Hardyment
Nick Manning
Martin Price
Chris Robinson
John Trigg
SECOND TENOR
Tony Chantler
Simon Dillon
Geoff Johns
Stephen Linton
Peter Norman
Jon Scott
John Thornely
FIRST BASS
John Bawden
Phil Beastall
Richard Broughton
Simon Browning
Michael Dudley
Michael Golden
Brian John
Jeremy Johnson
Jon Long
Malcolm Munt
Chris Newbery
Peter Pearce
Chris Peters
Robin Privett
David Ross
Philip Stanford
Kieron Walsh
SECOND BASS
Peter Andrews
Alan Batterbury
Norman Carpenter
Geoffrey Forster
James Garrow
Stuart Gooch
Nick Gough
Eric Kennedy
Neil Martin
Adrian Oxborrow
John Parry
Roger Penny
David Robson
Richard Wood
John Yeomans
Some of the printed music for this evening's concert has been hired from
Surrey County Council Performing Arts Library,
Boosey & Hawkes Music Hire Library and
Stainer & Bell Ltd Hire Library.
o
Vivace Chorus
Vivace Chorus Patrons
The Vivace Chorus is extremely grateful to all patrons for their support.
Honorary Life Patrons:
Mr Bill Bellerby MBE
Mr John Britten
Mrs Doreen Bellerby MBE
Dr John Trigg MBE
Life Patron:
Mrs Joy Hunter MBE
Premier Patrons:
Dr Michael Golden
Robin & Penny Privett
Dr Marianne llisley
Platinum Patrons:
Mr & Mrs Stephen Arthur
John McLean OBE & Janet McLean
Mr & Mrs Peter B P Bevan
Ron & Christine Medlow
Richard & Mary Broughton
Mr Lionel Moon
Mr & Mrs G Dombrowe
Dr Roger Muray
Mr & Mrs Joseph Durning
Mr & Mrs John Parry
Susan & Cecil Hinton
Dr & Mrs M G M Smith
Mrs Carol Hobbs
Idris Thomas
Mrs Rita Horton
Mrs Pamela Usher
Mr Laurie James
Bill & June Windle
Mr Michael Jeffery
Gold Patrons:
Robin & Jill Broadley
Mr & Mrs Maxwell S New
Roger & Sharon Brockway
Brenda & Brian Reed
Jane Kenney
Sheila Rowell
Mr Geoffrey Johns
Prue & Derek Smith
Dr Stephen Linton
Silver Patrons:
Mrs Iris Bennett
Bob & Maryel Cowell
If you have enjoyed this concert, why not become one of our patrons?
We have a loyal band of followers whose regular presence at our
concerts is greatly appreciated. With the valued help of our patrons, we
are able to perform a wide range of exciting music, with world-class,
professional musicians in venues such as Guildford Cathedral, G Live
and the Royal Albert Hall. Patrons enjoy discounts of between 10% and
30% off concert tickets, reserved seating and priority booking for the best
seats for as little as £50pa. If you are interested, please contact Joan
Thomas on 01483 893178 or email: patrons@vivacechorus.org.
Vivace Chorus
23
Saturday 23 May 2015 - a special date for your diary!
A Concert for Rowan. Join over 300 musicians for an extraordinary
fundraising concert for the charity Rainbow Trust. Singers from Guildford,
Salisbury and London will be joined by local children’s choirs and
Guildford’s professional orchestra, Southern Pro Musica, for an evening
of wonderful music celebrating life, love and the joy of working together
to benefit others. All profits from this concert will go to Rainbow Trust to
help families whose children have life-threatening or terminal illnesses.
“This is a charity that is so close to my heart”
Will Todd — composer, and father of Rowan
Further details on back cover and at vivacechorus.org
B ?f,j " Excerpts from a review in the Surrey Advertiser of
the Bach B minor Mass, November 2014
&
beauty and power and Jeremy Backhouse brought these:
important elements alive with the Vivace Chorus’performance.
:}DW#
:
‘
NN
"Bach's Mass in B minor .. is a work of immense symmefry,
| The chorus coped well with the long lines, and extended runs ... most no ticeable
. was the clarity of the diction and the carefully graded dynamics that helped to
| bring a sense of direction throughout the Gloria.
' The opening two choral movements [of the second half] were energetic with
' rhythmic vitality. Et incarnatus est and the powerful Crucifixus that followed
' were controlled with care and paced with a sense of the tortured harmonies. -
/
| The chorus excelled here, in the centre of the Mass.
We were treated to such warmth in the Sanctus and the chorus sopranos in
' particular gave such precision in their triplets. The Osanna was triumphant and ;
' displayed how well Vivace Chorus can manage the demands of two-choir singing.
The final Dona nobis pacem showed all that makes the Vivace Chorus such an
. enjoyable choir to hear: there was a sense of enjoyment on everyones face, ’
" commitment singing through the chorus and they surprised us all with a strong’
‘
" firm sound until the very last note.
. Bravo to the chorus, soloists, Brandenburg Sinfonia and particularly to Jeremy
| Backhouse. It was clearly a labour of love for Bach to compile this complex
A: work and that love was evident in Jeremy's strong leadership to bring together /
an important, great work of the choral repertoire. 4L
| an enjoyable evening ofA
IR
A E B
Printed by WORDCRAFT
115 Merrow Woods, Guildford, Surrey GU1 2LJ. Tel: 01483 560735
Registered Charity No. 1026337
Vivace Chorus
24
Vivace Chorus
9
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3
IN AID OF
RAINEOW
TRUST
CHILDREN’S CHARITY
MAY 23 2015, 7.30PM
GUILDFORD CATHEDRAL
CHILCOTT: Salisbury Vespers
TODD: The City Garden
CONDUCTOR: Jeremy Backhouse