Programme Notes
H Schütz: Selig sind die Toten; Die Himmel erzählen
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) is regarded by contemporary scholars as one of the most
influential and pioneering composers of the 17th century, and is also considered to be
Germany's preeminent composer before J. S. Bach. Schütz's compositions show the
influence of his two most significant teachers, Monteverdi and Gabrieli. They are
characterised by frequent use of imitation between vocal parts that enter at irregular
intervals, and by melodic interplay that results in colourful harmonic progressions that only
fully resolve at carefully crafted cadences. Selig sind die Toten is taken from the
Geistliche Chormusik, published in 1648, apparently written to encourage others to write
without the use of continuo. It is a richly sonorous work, full of vivid contrasts. The
serenity and stillness of 'for they rest' is perfected juxtaposed with the energetic
counterpoint of 'for their deeds follow them'. The motet Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre
Gottes is a highly complex work that concludes his Musikalische Exequien, written in 1636
for the funeral of Prince Heinrich Posthumus of Reuss. The exuberance of Psalm 19 is
captured with apt rapture in this great song of praise and thanksgiving.
W Byrd: Ne Irascaris Domine
William Byrd (c. 1543-1623) is a significant musical figure whose importance to this
country's cultural landscape is summarised by the historian Paul Henry Lang as follows:
"After Shakespeare, Byrd is without a doubt the most imposing figure of the English
Renaissance, towering above all his contemporaries." Byrd held strong Roman Catholic
beliefs; his wife was cited for recusancy and his associations with other high-profile
Catholics led to his temporary suspension from the Chapel Royal. However he was held in
high esteem by the Queen Elizabeth (herself an accomplished keyboard-player) and
remained relatively secure in his position at the Chapel Royal until his death. In the
Queen's own words, he managed to succeed in being both "a stiff papist and a good
subject" during such perilous times. Ne irascaris, Domine was published in 1589, at a
time when Catholics throughout England must have felt desperate and victimised. This
motet is among a group of Latin anthems that describe the fall of Jerusalem and are often
interpreted as a metaphor for the plight of the Roman church in England during these
turbulent times. Byrd employs the five voices in contrasting groups of three and four in a
manner derived from the contemporary madrigal. The anthem has been heralded for its
balance of drama and prayerful restraint, with beautiful homophony alternating with
inspired polyphony.
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J D Zelenka: Nisi Dominus
Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679 - 1745), born in Bohemia, began his employment at the
Dresden court in 1711 as a double bass player. By the 1720s, he had achieved the title of
court composer, and often acted as the Kapellmeister J.D. Heinichen's deputy, especially
as the latter often suffered from ill health. He might therefore reasonably have expected
to succeed to the post of Kapellmeister when Heinichen died in 1729. But his hopes were
thwarted. The court did not find his sometimes dark and intense compositional style to its
liking, and he was passed over for the post. Although he tried hard during the 1730s to
amend his style to be more in line with the galant idiom that the court had come to
expect, his talents were never fully recognised. He died in 1745, in all probability a bitter
and disappointed man. During the 1720s, Zelenka began assembling great collections of
all the music required for the office of Vespers: psalm settings, Magnificats, hymns and
Marian antiphons. From these collections a Kapellmeister could then select whichever
items were required for any given day or feast. This setting of the psalm Nisi Dominus
is part of one of these collections, and was composed around 1726. It well illustrates
Zelenka's bold and imaginative use of harmony and chromaticism, with its pungent
dissonances and also moments of great lyricism. The whole setting is based on an
ostinato, a repeated pattern of notes, played in unison, which is virtually unremitting until
the final bars of the piece. By this means, the Dresden congregation was perhaps
encouraged to reflect on the necessity of the unchanging support of God in all things
('Unless the Lord build the house, those that build it labour in vain').
J S Bach: Vom Himmel hoch
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) started his 27-year tenure as Kapellmeister for
the main churches of Leipzig in the summer of 1723. For his first major festival in his new
position, he composed his first large-scale Leipzig work - the Magnificat in E-flat major,
BWV 243a, which was performed on Christmas Day. Ten years later, in 1733, Bach revised
the Magnificat, most significantly transposing it to D major, a more traditional and easy key
for trumpets. In Leipzig, the Magnificat was customarily sung during the service of
Vespers in German, except on high feasts when it was sung in Latin and set to polyphony.
Since medieval times, the Magnificat was sung with interpolations of so-called Laudes,
which are Liturgical appropriate hymns (in this case, for Christmas). Bach adopted this
local practice for his setting of the Magnificat by writing settings of these four 'hymns',
albeit only including them in the appendix. The first Vom Himmel hoch was instructed to
be performed after the second movement. Eminent musicologist Robert L. Marshall claims
that these movements do not share a stylistic unity with the rest of the Magnificat. In his
view, the interpolations are intentionally a pastiche of former historical styles of choral
music. For example "Von Himmel hoch" is an a capella chorale cantus-firmus motet in the
strict stile antico.
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J S Bach: Prelude and Fugue in Eb (organ)
Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E flat major was included in Part III of his Clavier-Übung
(literally "Keyboard-Practice") which was first published in September 1739. It is generally
considered to be one of his finest and most noble organ works. The Prelude is framed by a
section based on dotted rhythms and ornamentation, which also reappears several times in
the middle of the piece. There are interludes between these sections making use of the
contrasting sounds of the different manuals on the organ, and with many running
semiquaver passages to contrast with the weightier opening.
Paul Mealor: Ubi Caritas
Paul Mealor (b.1975) is establishing a reputation as one of the most admired of
contemporary choral composers, producing music of a deep and heartfelt spirituality.
Having studied composition from an early age he now teaches at the University of
Aberdeen, and elsewhere. In 2011 he was catapulted to fame when 2.5 billion people (the
largest audience in broadcasting history) heard his Motet, Ubi caritas sung at the Royal
Wedding of HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey. The piece,
adapted from an earlier secular one at the specific request of the couple, draws on the
composer's expertise in both Renaissance and modern choral technique (there is also
religious symbolism in the layout of the score, another Renaissance device). The rich yet
delicate harmonies enhance the simplicity and power of the ancient Latin words which,
referring to divine as well as human love, are particularly appropriate for a wedding.
John Tavener: 5 anthems from The Veil of the Temple
Sir John Tavener (b.1944) began as a prodigy; in 1968, at the age of 24, he was
described by The Guardian as "the musical discovery of the year", while The Times said he
was "among the very best creative talents of his generation". As the years progressed his
music became increasingly spiritual in conception, contemplative in its idiom, and popular
with audiences worldwide. In 1977 he joined the Orthodox Church which was a major
inspiration on his work for the following two decades. In 1997, the performance of Song
for Athene at the close of Princess Diana's funeral showed that the profound effect of his music reached far beyond just the concert-going public. Knighted in 2000, his music has
since taken on a more Universalist approach, which embraces a diverse range of musical,
cultural and religious influences. Tavener wrote The Veil of the Temple for performance
in the Temple Church in London in 2003. The whole work, which lasts seven hours or
more, has been described as a majestic all-night journey from darkness into light. From
this epic work the composer later published a set of five anthems to draw upon some of
the most memorable and touching moments.
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H Purcell: Hear my prayer; Remember not, Lord, our offences
Henry Purcell (1659-1695) grew up in the English church, as a boy chorister in the
Chapel Royal and, once his voice had broken, as organ tuner and copyist at Westminster
Abbey. In 1679, he succeeded his teacher John Blow as organist of the Abbey, and in 1682
he became one of the organists of the Chapel Royal. Both these posts, and indeed his
involvement with the court's musical establishment before 1682, required him to compose
sacred music. The anthem Hear my prayer, O Lord, which dates from the early 1680s,
is a setting for eight-part choir of the first verse of the penitential Psalm 102. It is no more
than a fragment: for some unknown and unfathomable reason, the composer's manuscript
breaks off at the first double bar, with a blank space after it. The piece is based on just two
phrases, which are used to create a single span of music gradually increasing in tension
towards a powerful climax. Remember not, Lord, our offences was also composed
around 1680 and makes highly effective use of harmony, discord, word-setting, and
drama, in a piece of music shorter than the first movements of many of his other sacred
works. The first and last phrases are homophonic and prayer-like, while the central section
is contrapuntal, each phrase representing a new point of imitation overlapping the previous
one.
T Tallis: O sacrum convivium
Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) lived in a time of considerable political and religious volatility.
During his career he witnessed the reign of four monarchs with vastly differing theological
convicitions. Fortunately, it appears that Tallis was equally adept at writing for the Catholic
and Anglican liturgies. His setting of O sacrum convivium comes from a volume of
Cantiones published jointly with Byrd in 1575 under exclusive royal licence. It has been
surmised that Queen Elizabeth had hoped that the publication would raise England's musical
profile across the continent, for which the choice of Latin texts would be essential. Even
considering this, O sacrum convivium is a strikingly Catholic piece, with its use of a Thomas
Aquinas text from the liturgy of Corpus Christi, a feast outlawed by the English Prayer book.
The work's genius is in its communication of the spiritual intensity of the text. Its close-knit
five-part texture, masterful use of rising sequential motivic treatment and skilful control of
tessitura bring the work to a staggering emotional climax.
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Gabriel Jackson: O sacrum convivium
Gabriel Jackson (b.1962) began his musical training as a chorister at Canterbury
Cathedral and later studied composition at the Royal College of Music. His music is now
widely recorded, and regularly performed and broadcast around the world. Many of his
pieces reflect an interest in mediæval techniques and ideas, and are made of simple
melodies, chords, drones, and ostinatos. The composer says, "I try to write music that is
clean and clear in line, texture, and structure. [My pieces] are not about conflict and
resolution; even when animated, they are essentially contemplative. I like repetition and
'ritualised' structures". O sacrum convivium was commissioned by Andrew Millington,
then organist of Guildford Cathedral, for the 1990 Guildford and Portsmouth Cathedrals'
Festival. As the piece was to be sung by the combined forces of two cathedral choirs,
Jackson decided to take advantage of the potentially massive resultant sonority by dividing
the score, at some moments, into ten parts. The piece is predominantly quiet and
meditative, with a resplendent climax at 'et futurae gloriae'.
H Howells: Psalm Prelude Set 2 No 3 (organ)
Herbert Howells composed two sets of Psalm Preludes. The third Psalm-Prelude of the
second set was completed in London on June 27th 1939, and is inscribed "For Percy C.
Hull", who was then organist of Hereford Cathedral. It is marked 'Allegro (non troppo) ma
giocoso' (Not too fast but joyful) and is a commentary on Psalm 33, verse 3: 'Sing unto
Him a new song: play skilfully with a loud noise'. The opening section unfolds with very
energetic rhythms reminiscent of Walton, starting with a most outrageous blues chord and
using a mode of C where the fourth note is often sharpened and the seventh flattened, a
mode used increasingly by Howells in some of his later organ pieces. Towards the end of
this section there is a rather perky tune on the Tuba, before a gradual diminuendo leads
into a quieter and slightly slower middle section. Although softer, the rhythmic momentum
is maintained, the music gathers volume and speed until an allargando leads to a modified
restatement of the first section, but in D major. The extended coda reverts to C for its
tonal centre, before building up to end "with a loud noise", as the Psalmist directs.
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James MacMillan: The Gallant Weaver
James MacMillan (b.1959) was raised in Cumnock, North Ayrshire and studied
composition at the University of Edinburgh and Durham University. James MacMillan has
produced acclaimed works in various genres - symphonic, concerto, opera, theatre, sacred
and choral. His huge successes place him easily among the leading Scottish composers of
recent times. 1990 was a watershed time for MacMillan: that year his theatrical piece
Búsqueda (1988) was introduced at the Edinburgh International Festival, and his orchestral
work The Confession of Isobel Gowdie was premiered at a Proms concert, both events
catapulting him to national as well as international notice. The latter opus and his
percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel are probably MacMillan's most popular large
works. MacMillan's style incorporates some modernist characteristics, but on the whole his
relatively approachable melodic and rhythmic invention and his gift for imaginative scoring,
place his style well within the accessible range. In fact, much of his compositional style is
strongly influenced by traditional Scottish folk music. The Gallant Weaver, composed in
1997, is rich in Scottish flavour, appropriate to its Robert Burns text. Characteristic vocal
elements are the ornamental inflections drawn from Scottish folk music and Gaelic
Psalmody, and the overall mood is one of tranquillity. Distinctive colourings of the voice
parts are explored through triple divisions of the sopranos above rich sonorities in the
lower parts.
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Pawel Lukaszewski: Nunc Dimittis
Pawel Lukaszewski (b.1968) has been at the forefront of the vibrant and progressive
musical scene that has developed in Poland since the fall of the Soviet Union and the death
of the towering musical and cultural figure of that generation, Witold Lutoslawski.
Lukaszewski's individual compositional style has been appreciated and lauded throughout
Europe for many years. However, his rich harmonic language, shimmering choral textures,
and ability to encapsulate the expressive essence of a text have only recently been brought
to the national consciousness in the UK through the quasi-evangelical promotion of his
work by acclaimed British maestro Stephen Layton, whose inimitable recordings of
Lukaszewki's choral works have received many plaudits. It is to this maestro and his
peerless choir at Trinity College Cambridge, that this Nunc dimittis is dedicated. The
canticle of Simeon has provided a rich source of inspiration for many composers across the
centuries. Lukaszewski's eloquent setting focuses on the image of enlightenment, of
promises fulfilled and of works complete, through radiant shimmering sound. A sense of
awe and wonder is present in each and every note. The constant diminuendo during the
final repeated section paints the image of Simeon's departure from this earthly life in hope
and eternal peace.
Patrick Gowers: Viri Galilæi
Stephanie Williams joins Nigel Nash at the organ.
Patrick Gowers (b.1936) is best known as a composer of music for television and films,
but his large output also contains several sacred choral works, of which the Ascensiontide
anthem Viri Galilæi is the best known. Gowers paints a vividly dramatic and emotional
picture of the Ascension of Jesus: one can almost visualize the scene as the dumbfounded
apostles gaze up in amazement while high-pitched swirling organ figurations and ethereal
overlapping choral 'Alleluias' convey the literal other-worldliness of what they are
witnessing. Gradually the chordal writing for the choir assumes a more solid, less
disembodied character, and the music becomes punchier and more rhythmic ('God is gone
up with a merry noise'). The build-up continues inexorably, leading to a thrilling glissando
on the full organ and an elated verse of Christopher Wordsworth's Ascension hymn 'See
the Conqueror mounts in triumph', underpinned by a jazzy, propulsive organ part and
dramatically interspersed with forceful 'Alleluias' and the swirling organ figurations heard at
the start, but now louder and more prominent. After this, the music gradually subsides into
the mystical mood of the opening and eventually disappears into nothing.
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