University Community Concert
Faire is the Heaven:
The Choir of Clare College Cambridge University 美哉天堂：劍橋克萊爾學院合唱團
04 SEP 2016｜SUN｜3PM
Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre The University of Hong Kong 香港大學李兆基會議中心大會堂
Welcome to the Grand Hall. Thank you for coming to the concert. To ensure that everyone enjoys the music, please switch off your mobile phones and any other sound and light emitting devices before the performance. Unauthorised photography, audio and video recordings in the Hall are prohibited. Enjoy the concert and come again.
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museinfo@hku.hk +852 3917 8165 www.muse.hku.hk Cultural Management Office, LG. 45, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
HKU MUSE
Supported by
D｜ Faire is t he Heave n: T he Choi r of Cl are Col l e ge , C a mb r i d g e U n i ve r s i t y
PROGRAMME The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge University Graham Ross, Director Michael Papadopoulos, Organ / Piano
BACH
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf
DES PREZ
Nunc dimittis
BAINTON
And I saw a new heaven
HARRIS
Faire is the heaven
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Lord, thou hast been our refuge
TIPPETT
Steal away
GERSHWIN / arr. ROSS
Summertime
arr. ROSS
Abide with me
TAVENER
Song for Athene
MAW
One foot in Eden
HAMLISCH / arr. CLEMENTS
Nobody does it better
SWINGLE
Country Dances
RUTTER
All things bright and beautiful*
RUTTER
A Clare Benediction* *with HKU Singers
Today’s concert programme presents a snapshot of the repertoire that has made the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge one of the world’s most celebrated university choral groups. We present sacred music that you might hear sung during our choral services in Clare College Chapel, much music drawn from the great Anglican choral tradition, and some secular works too – these all contribute to our huge range of repertoire that we perform both in the UK and on our many international touring programmes. It is a great pleasure to be performing here in Hong Kong as part of a major tour of Asia. I hope you enjoy our concert. Graham Ross
The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge University
“Here is music with the power to transform your life.” The Times
“The singing and, above all, direction are of such consummate musicianship.” Gramophone
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Since the founding of a mixed voice choir in 1972, the Choir of Clare College has gained an international reputation as one of the world’s leading university choirs. In addition to its primary function of leading services three times a week in the College chapel, the Choir keeps an active schedule recording, broadcasting, and performing. Former directors have included John Rutter and Timothy Brown. Under the direction of Graham Ross, Director of Music since 2010, it has been praised for its consistently ‘thrilling’ and ‘outstanding’ performances worldwide. Recent engagements include Handel’s Messiah with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the world première of Alexander Raskatov’s Green Mass with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), concerts in the Spitalfields Festival, Notre Dame Cathedral, and a five-state tour of the USA. The Choir’s 2016/17 season includes a major tour to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, concerts across the Netherlands and UK, and a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the LPO. In 2017 the Choir also embarks on a Bach cantata recording and performance project to commemorate 500 years since the Reformation. In addition to live performances, the Choir has produced an impressive discography of more than forty recordings. Their recordings under Graham Ross on the Harmonia Mundi label have been released to great critical acclaim, earning praise for ‘impeccable ensemble’ and ‘immaculate performances’, a Le Choix de France Musique and a Diapason d’Or award, and garnering a Gramophone Award nomination. The Choir’s ongoing series of Music for the Church Year has received numerous 5 star reviews in the national and international press, including recordings for Advent (2013), Passiontide (2014), Christmas (2014), Ascensiontide & Pentecost (2015), and, Requiem: Music for All Saints & All Souls (2015). Releases in 2016 include Haec dies: Music for Easter and Duruflé Requiem: Music for Remembrance . The Choir has toured widely, including in the United States of America, Australia, Japan, China, Russia, the Middle East, and mainland Europe. It has collaborated with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in performances of Handel’s Jephtha under the direction of René Jacobs, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius at the Royal Festival Hall conducted by Sir Mark Elder, and with many other ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music, European Union Baroque Orchestra, Freiburger Barockorchester, Israel Camerata, Aurora Orchestra, the Schubert Ensemble, and the Dmitri Ensemble. The Choir performs a wide range of repertoire throughout the year, and has commissioned and premièred works by many composers, including Herbert Howells, John Tavener, John Rutter, Giles Swayne, James Whitbourn, Andrew Carter, Jonathan Dove, Julian Phillips, Tarik O’Regan, Graham Ross, Brett Dean, Matthew Martin, and Nico Muhly. www.clarecollegechoir.com 美 哉 天 堂 ： 劍 橋 克 萊 爾 學 院 合 唱 團 ｜3
Graham Ross, Director of Music Graham Ross has established an exceptional reputation as a sought-after conductor and composer of a very broad range of repertoire. His performances around the world and his extensive discography have earned consistently high international praise, including a Diapason d’Or, Le Choix de France Musique, and a Gramophone Award nomination. He is co-founder and Principal Conductor of The 7 Dmitri Ensemble and, since 2010, Fellow and Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge. In demand as a regular guest conductor in the UK and abroad, his recent collaborations have included the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Aalborg Symfoniorkester, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Salomon Orchestra, and Haydn Chamber Orchestra. In 2016, Ross makes his conducting debuts with the London Mozart Players, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and BBC Singers, as well as acting as Assistant Conductor to Vladimir Jurowski for a BBC Prom and Chorus Master for the world première of Raskatov’s Green Mass with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In recent seasons his work has taken him to Sydney Opera House, Washington's Library of Congress, and across Europe. At the age of 25 he made his BBC Proms and Glyndebourne debuts, with other opera work taking him to Jerusalem, London, Aldeburgh, and Provence. A passionate believer in the unveiling of both unjustly-neglected and newly-written works, he has conducted and recorded world premières of a wide spectrum of composers, including James MacMillan, Judith Bingham, Giles Swayne, Vaughan Williams, Imogen Holst, Nico Muhly, Brett Dean, and Matthew Martin. Since 2011, he has recorded exclusively for Harmonia Mundi. His latest recordings are the Shostakovich/Barshai Chamber Symphonies with The Dmitri Ensemble and the Duruflé Requiem with the Choir of Clare College. He studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and conducting at the Royal College of Music, London. He held a conducting scholarship with the London Symphony Chorus, has served as assistant conductor for Sir Roger Norrington, Vladimir Jurowski, and Diego Masson, and acted as Chorus Master for Sir Colin Davis, Sir Mark Elder, Ivor Bolton, Edward Gardner, Richard Tognetti, and Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
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The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge Soprano
Alto
Bass
Lydia Allain Chapman
Sarah Assaf
Thomas Ashton
Olivia Brett
Henrietta Box
Gregory Barber
Beatriz dos Santos
Catherine Clark
Leopold Benedict
Alice Halstead
Joseph Payne
Toby Hession
Holly Holt
Rosie Taylor
Christopher Holliday
Caroline Meinhardt
Stephen Matthews
Eleanor Smith
Tenor
Anna Tindall
Laurence Booth-Clibborn
Matthew Nixon
Harry Castle Joshua Cleary Alexander Porteous Jackson Riley
HKU Singers Soprano
Alto
Bass
Kristen Chan
Joey Cheng
Danny Chan
Ellie Cheung
Eunice Damulo
Simeon Ho
Gao Wei-fan
Vanessa Ip
Aaron Kwan
Shannon Ho
Louise Joachimowski
Alvin Lee
Rachel Lam
Mak Pui-man
Christopher Ng
Catherine Lau
Tse Yiu-ting
Morrie Mo
Tenor
Oliver Wong
Timothy Chak
Ronnie Yeung
Andrew Choi
Instructor
Samantha Yeung
Carson Ho
Patrick Chiu
Yue Si-jun
Chris Lui
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Programme Notes
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685–1750) Bach’s eight-part Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf is the only of his six motets that can be assigned with certainty to a particular occasion: it was written for the funeral of J. H. Ernesti, Rector of St Thomas’s School, on 24 October 1729. It is in two movements: the first, subdivided into three contrasted sections marked by changes of time, is a setting of Romans 8, verses 26 and 7, while the second is a simple setting of verse 3 of Luther’s chorale ‘Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott’. The musical style, however, is much more modern. The first section of the first movement, for instance, is in the polychoral motet style, but uses a lively 3/8 metre and has a main theme that returns in fragments in the manner of a concerto ritornello theme. Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf, denn wir wissen nicht, was wir beten sollen, wie sichs gebühret; sondern der Geist selbst vertritt uns aufs beste mit unaussprechlichem Seufzen [ROMANS 8: 26] Der aber die Herzen forschet, der weiß, was des Geistes Sinn sei; denn er vertritt die Heiligen, nach dem das Gott gefället [ROMANS 8: 27] Du heilige Brunst, süßer Trost, Nun hilf uns, fröhlich und getrost In deinem Dienst beständig bleiben, Die Trübsal uns nicht abtreiben. O Herr, durch dein Kraft uns bereit Und stärk des Fleisches Blödigkeit, Daß wir hie ritterlich ringen, Durch Tod und Leben zu dir dringen. [MARTIN LUTHER, 1483–1546]
The Spirit helps us in our weakness, since we do not know what is most fitting to pray for, the Spirit itself best makes our petition for us in sighs that cannot be put into words. But he who can see into every heart knows what the Spirit means, because the prayers the Spirit makes for the saints are in accordance with God’s pleasure. Holy Zeal, sweet Comfort, Help us now with joy and confidence To remain constant in your service And not be driven away by adversity. Lord, through your potency prepare us And strengthen our stupid human nature So that we can gallantly do battle And force our way through death and life to you.
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Nunc dimittis JOSQUIN DES PREZ (c. 1440/55–1521) We sing the Nunc dimittis text at most Choral Evensongs in our College Chapel, alongside the song of Mary, the Magnificat . Such was the prestige enjoyed by the music of Josquin des Prez during and immediately after his lifetime that an unusually large number of compositions which he probably or definitely did not write were attributed to him, some no doubt on the principle that an orphan given a famous name is more likely to succeed in the world. This appears to be the case with the present Nunc dimittis , which was included in the collected Josquin edition but subsequently shown to be of unreliable attribution. Whoever the composer, it is a setting of affecting simplicity and expressiveness which bears some of the hallmarks of Josquin’s style, notably in the alternation of high and low pairs of voices. Particularly effective is a reprise near the end (unusual in Renaissance motets) of the opening words and music. Nunc dimittis servum tuum Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace: quia viderunt oculimei salutare tuum, quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum: lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui sancto. [LUKE 2: 29–32]
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen: thy salvation; Which thou hast prepared: before the face of all people; To be a light to lighten the Gentiles: and to be the glory of thy people Israel. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost.
And I saw a new heaven EDGAR BAINTON (1880–1956) Edgar Bainton was a pupil of Stanford’s at the Royal College of Music in London. He spent much of his life in Newcastle-upon-Tyne as a teacher and principal at the Conservatoire. At the outbreak of World War I, Bainton was abroad, and subsequently was interned in Ruhleben. After the war he returned to Newcastle and once again became an active force in music-making in the north-east. In recognition of his work and influence, and prior to him leaving England to take up the appointment as director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium in Sydney (where the Choir of Clare College toured to in 2012 as part of an 11-concert tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra), the University of Durham awarded him the degree of DMus honoris causa and he was also elected 美 哉 天 堂 ： 劍 橋 克 萊 爾 學 院 合 唱 團 ｜7
a Fellow of the Royal College of Music. Although not a prolific composer – and somewhat ignored as a composer in England – he did have some success with his operas in Australia. The anthem And I saw a new heaven is typical of Bainton’s work in that he was attracted to late-romantic harmony without indulging in the folksong-influenced modal harmonies which characterise much of the music of his English contemporaries such as Vaughan Williams. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. [REVELATION 21: 1–4]
Faire is the heaven WILLLIAM HARRIS (1883–1973) Sir William Harris also trained at the Royal College of Music (RCM) where he studied the organ with Sir Walter Parratt and composition with Charles Wood and Walford Davies. After a period as assistant organist at Lichfield Cathedral he settled in Oxford where he became organist first of New College and later of Christ Church. From 1923 he was a professor at the RCM, and he conducted the Oxford Bach Choir for some years before embarking on almost three decades as Organist and Master of the Choristers of St George’s Chapel, Windsor. His compositions include a major choral work, The Hound of Heaven , for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra, but he is remembered chiefly for his church and organ music of which the anthem Faire is the heaven , a setting for double choir of a poem by Edmund Spenser, is an outstanding example.
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Faire is the heaven where happy soules have place In full enjoyment of felicitie; Whence they do still behold the glorious face Of the Divine, Eternall Majestie; Yet farre more faire be those bright Cherubins Which all with golden wings are overdight. And those eternall burning Seraphins Which from their faces dart out fiery light; Yet fairer than they both and much more bright Be the Angels and Archangels Which attend on God’s owne person without rest or end. These then in faire each other farre excelling As to the Highest they approach more neare, Yet is that Highest farre beyond all telling Fairer than all the rest which there appeare Though all their beauties joynd together were; How then can mortal tongue hope to expresse The image of such endlesse perfectnesse? [EDMUND SPENSER, 1552–99]
Lord, thou hast been our refuge RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872–1958) Composed in 1921, Lord, Thou hast been our refuge combines a setting of Psalm 90 with Issac Watts’s metrical version of the same Psalm – O God, our help in ages past – and the fine tune ‘St Anne’, to which the latter is commonly sung. Vaughan Williams, carries out this feat with typically unostentatious skill. The semi-chorus starts the Psalm, chant-like; the full chorus enters with the hymn, pianissimo, as if in the distance, and the two proceed in tandem – always piano – until the first verse of the Hymn is finished. The full chorus then continues with the Psalm over a broad spectrum of homophonic texture. An instrumental transition, fugally based on ‘St Anne’, leads to a combined recapitulation / apotheosis – forte now – in which fugal derivations from ‘St Anne’ assume ever greater importance (‘And the glorious majesty of our Lord be upon us’). Vaughan Williams would certainly have been aware, in this context, of Bach’s so-called ‘St Anne’ Fugue, the first phrase of whose subject is identical with the first phrase of the ‘St Anne’ tune. The Choir of Clare College have recorded a number of discs of works by Vaughan Williams, most notably in 2008 with a disc of previouslyunrecorded works, under the direction of the late Sir David Willcocks, which was to become his final recording before his death in 2015.
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O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home. Lord, thou hast been our refuge from one generation to another. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, Thou art God from everlasting and world without end. Thou turnest man to destruction; again thou sayest Come again ye children of men; For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday, seeing that is past as a watch in the night. As soon as Thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep and fade away suddenly like the grass. In the morning it is green and groweth up, but in the evening it is cut down, dried up and withered. For we consume away in Thy displeasure, and are afraid at Thy wrathful indignation. For when Thou art angry all our days are gone; we bring our years to an end as a tale that is told: so passeth it away and we are gone The years of our age are three score years and ten, and though men be so strong that they come to four score years, yet is their strength but labour and sorrow. Turn Thee again O Lord at the last. Be gracious unto Thy servants. O satisfy us with Thy mercy and that soon. So shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life. Lord, Thou hast been our refuge from one generation to another. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, Thou art God from everlasting and world without end. And the glorious Majesty of the Lord be upon us. O prosper Thou the work of our hands, O prosper Thou our handiwork. [PSALM 90]
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Steal away MICHAEL TIPPETT (1905–98) Michael Tippett began his oratorio A Child of our Time as the Second World War broke out and its composition gave the composer a creative outlet for his pacifism (he was later imprisoned as a conscientious objector). Central to the oratorio are the Five Negro Spirituals which function in a similar manner to the chorales in Bach’s Passions . In 1958 Tippett extracted the spirituals from the oratorio and rescored them for voices alone. The genius of these arrangements lies in Tippett’s ability to take orchestral accompaniments and to make them work as vocal lines. The effect is a grand one in which Tippett retains the directness of expression of the spirituals while lovingly adorning each one with musical gestures which were very much of his own time. Steal away is the first of the five spirituals. Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus! Steal away, steal away home! I ain’t got long to stay here. My Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the thunder! The trumpet sounds within a my soul. I ain’t got long to stay here. Green trees are bending. Poor sinner stands a trembling; The trumpet sounds within a my soul, I ain’t got long to stay here. [TRADITIONAL SPIRITUAL]
Summertime GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898–1937) arr. GRAHAM ROSS (b. 1985) The Choir of Clare College’s connections with America are very well established. Many musicians have gone on to take up musical positions in that country, and the Choir regularly tour to America – in the last six years under the direction of Graham Ross they have performed in over twenty different States. George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess , written in 1935, with lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin, remains the only opera by an American composer firmly established in the standard repertory. Gershwin began composing the show’s most memorable song, Summertime , in December 1933, and he knew a good thing when he heard it – the song appears twice in the opera’s first act and reappears in the 2nd and 3rd acts as well. Summertime has gone on to become one of the most popular songs ever written. This new choral arrangement by Graham Ross received its first performance in 2016.
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Summertime, And the livin’ is easy Fish are jumpin’ And the cotton is high Oh, Your daddy’s rich And your mamma's good lookin’ So hush little baby Don’t you cry One of these mornings You’re going to rise up singing Then you’ll spread your wings And you’ll take to the sky But until that morning There’s a’nothing can harm you With your daddy and mammy standing by Summertime, And the livin’ is easy Fish are jumpin’ And the cotton is high Your daddy’s rich And your mamma’s good lookin’ So hush little baby Don’t you cry [EDWIN DUBOSE HEYWARD, 1885–1940]
Abide with me arr. GRAHAM ROSS (b. 1985) At every service in Clare College Chapel at least one hymn is sung, many of which appeared in the original nineteenth-century hymnal Hymns Ancient and Modern . William Henry Monk’s famous hymn-tune Eventide was supplied for that hymnal, of which Monk was appointed musical editor in 1857. It was assigned to the text of Henry Francis Lyte’s five-stanza Abide with me , a prayer to the Lord to stay close ‘in life, in death’. It has become one of the most popular hymns, and is performed here in an arrangement by Graham Ross, recorded by the Choir of Clare College on a forthcoming disc of music for Remembrance as part of the Choir’s ongoing series of music for the church year for the Harmonia Mundi record label.
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Abide with me! fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide! When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me. I need thy presence every passing hour, What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power? Who like thyself my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless: Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness: Where is death’s sting? where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies: Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord abide with me. [HENRY FRANCIS LYTE, 1793–1847]
Song for Athene JOHN TAVENER (1944–2013) John Tavener had a close relationship with the Choir of Clare College, most significantly with his major choral work Ex Maria Virgine , commissioned and premièred by the Choir in 2005 in the presence of the composer. Tavener’s Song for Athene , composed in 1993, was written as a tribute to Athene Hariades, a young half-Greek actress and a family friend, who was killed in a cycling accident. Tavener had heard her reading Shakespeare in Westminster Abbey, and after her funeral, developed the idea of composing a piece which combined words from the Orthodox funeral service and Shakespeare’s Hamlet . It contains all the hallmarks of his late compositional style: low held bass drones, chantlike ‘Alleluia’s, delicate parallel harmonisations, and strict two-part inversions (as heard in his earlier setting of Blake’s The Lamb). The music is largely mystical, masterfully held back until an ecstatic unfolding of the voices leads to a fourteen-part climax ‘with resplendent joy in the Resurrection’, as he marks it. It has become one of Tavener’s best-known works, being performed in 1997 at the funeral service of Diana, Princess of Wales in Westminster Abbey, where his own Memorial Service was held in 2014. 美 哉 天 堂 ： 劍 橋 克 萊 爾 學 院 合 唱 團 ｜13
Alleluia. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. Alleluia. Remember me, o Lord, when you come into your kingdom. Alleluia. Give rest, o Lord, to your handmaid who has fallen asleep. Alleluia. The Choir of Saints have found the well-spring of life and door of paradise. Alleluia. Life: a shadow and a dream. Alleluia. Weeping at the grave creates the song: Alleluia. Alleluia. Come, enjoy the rewards and crowns I have prepared for you. [AFTER WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 1564–1616, AND THE ORTHODOX FUNERAL SERVICE]
One foot in Eden NICHOLAS MAW (1935–2008) Nicholas Maw’s motet One foot in Eden still, I stand, composed in 1990, is a setting of the Scottish poet Edwin Muir which Maw discovered in The New Oxford Book of English Verse 1250–1950 . It was commissioned and first performed by our neighbouring Cambridge College, King’s College, to mark the 500th anniversary of the founding of their college. It demonstrates a composer in total command of his medium and is impressive in its varied choral writing and striking use of harmony and melody in response to the text. Muir’s poetry is riven with the recurring image of mankind’s Fall in the Garden of Eden, and the subsequent loss of innocence. The music rises to an intense climax at the crux of the poem ‘What had Eden ever to say / Of hope and faith and pity and love’ and again at ‘buried all its day’. Only at the very end of the poem is a resolution achieved, as reflected in the concord of the music in the final bars. One foot in Eden still, I stand And look across the other land. The world’s great day is growing late, Yet strange these fields that we have planted So long with crops of love and hate. Time’s handiworks by time are haunted, And nothing now can separate The corn and tares compactly grown. The armorial week in stillness bound About the stalk; these are our own. Evil and good stand thick around In the fields of charity and sin Where we shall lead our harvest in. Yet still from Eden springs the root As clean as on the starting day. Time takes the foliage and the fruit And burns the archetypal leaf To shapes of terror and of grief Scattered along the winter way. 1 4 ｜Faire is t he Heave n: T he Choi r of Cl are Col l e g e , C a mb r i d g e U n i ve r s i t y
But famished field and blackened tree Bear flowers in Eden never known. Blossoms of grief and charity Bloom in these darkened fields alone. What had Eden ever to say Of hope and faith and pity and love Until was buried all its day And memory found its treasure trove? Strange blessings never in Paradise Fall from these beclouded skies. [EDWIN MUIR, 1887–1959]
Nobody does it better MARVIN HAMLISCH (1944–2012) arr. JIM CLEMENTS (b. 1983)
Nobody does it better was written for the 1977 James Bond film The spy who loved me . It is performed here in an arrangement made for the vocal group Voces8 by the young British arranger Jim Clements. Nobody does it better, Makes me feel sad for the rest. Nobody does it half as good as you: Baby, you’re the best! I wasn’t looking, but somehow you found me, I tried to hide from your love-light, But like Heaven above me, the spy who loved me Is keeping all my secrets safe tonight. And nobody does it better, Though sometimes I wish someone could. Nobody does it quite the way you do. Why d’ya have to be so good? The way that you hold me, whenever you hold me; There’s some kind of magic inside you That keeps me from running, but just keep it coming! How d’ya learn to do the things you do? And nobody does it better, Makes me feel sad for the rest. Nobody does it half as good as you: Baby, baby, darling, you’re the best! [CAROLE BAYER SAGER, b. 1947]
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Country Dances WARD SWINGLE (1927–2015) Ward Swingle was an American vocalist and jazz musician who founded the Swingle Singers in France in 1962. Swingle and a group of fellow studio singers discovered that Bach’s music lent itself to jazz styles with very few modifications. A prolific arranger, Swingle wrote many works for his group. Throughout the 1960s and early 70s, the Swingle Singers maintained a hectic schedule of international touring and recording. A second album of Bach was issued in 1968, followed by a collection of American music, which included the first – wordless – version of Swingle’s folk song pastiche, Country Dances . Now fully lyricised, it continues to be a favourite of the group that never fails to challenge the singers and, hopefully, delight the audience. Ward Swingle died in Eastbourne, England in January 2015. Once upon a time in Arkansas, All ol’ man sat in his little cabin door, And fiddled at the tunes that he liked to hear, Jolly little ditties that he only knew by ear. lt was raining cats and doggies, but the fiddler didn’t care, As he sawed away contentedly at each and ev’ry air tho’ the roof was leakin’ bad, it sounded like a waterfall, It didn’t really seem to bother the ol’ fiddler man at all. Did ya ever go to meetin’ Uncl’ Joe, Don’t mind the weather when the wind don’t blow. Hop up, my ladies three in a row, Don’t mind the weather when the wind don’t blow. Oh a grasshopper sittin’ on a railroad track, Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day, pickin’ his teeth with a carpet tack, Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day. Fare thee well, my fairy fey. For I’m gonna Louisiana for t’ see my Susianna singin’ Polly Wolly Doodle all the day. Oh I gotta gal and you got none, Li’l Liza Jane, I gotta gal that calls me Hon’, Li’l Liza Jane. A traveler was ridin’ by that day, And stopped to hear him a-practicing away, The cabin was afloat and his feet were wet, 1 6 ｜Faire is t he Heave n: T he Choi r of Cl are Col l e g e , C a mb r i d g e U n i ve r s i t y
But the little fiddler didn’t really seem to fret. So the stranger told the fiddlerman, “It really seems to me that you better mend y’r roof a bit before y’ wash t’ sea”. Then the fiddlerman replied as he was fiddling away, “Y’ know I couldn’t mend it now because it’s such a rainy day”. Ol’ Dan Tucker’s a fine ol’ man, washed his face in a fryin’ pan, Combed his hair with a wagon wheel, An’ died with a toothache in his heel. Get out the way, Ol’ Dan Tueker, You’re too late t’ come for supper, Supper’s over an’ dinner’s acookin’ an’ ol’ Dan Tucker just standin’ there alookin’. Oh I love t’ go afishin’ on a sunny summer day, Jus’ t’ watch the perches and the catfish play, With their pennies in their pockets and their pockets in their pants, W’d y’ like t’ see the ladies do the hootchie-kootchie dance? Turkey in the straw, Turkey in the hay, Roll’em up an’ twist’ em up an’ high atuck ahaw, An’ y’ hit ’em up a tune an’ call it “Turkey in the Straw”. Yankee Doodle came to town aridin’ on a pony, Stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni. Yankee Doodle, do or die, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy. I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin’ an’ her heel kept arockin’ an’ her toe kept arockin’. I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin’ an’ we danced by the light of the moon. Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight, An’ dance by the light of the moon. The traveler replied, “That’s all quite true, but this, I think, is the thing for yell to do: Get busy on a day that’s fair and bright, an’ go ’n patch y’r roofing til it’s really good and tight”. But the fiddlerman was busy, he was practicing a reel, He was tappin’ out the rhythm 美 哉 天 堂 ： 劍 橋 克 萊 爾 學 院 合 唱 團 ｜17
with a heavy leather heel. “You can get along”, he said, “because you really are a pain, Y’ know my cabin never leaks a drop the day it doesn’t rain!” Thanks for list’ning, that’s all. [TRADITIONAL AMERICAN]
All things bright and beautiful JOHN RUTTER (b. 1945) John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, and went on to become Director of Music in the 1970s. He is now an Honorary Fellow of the College, and a great supporter and friend of the Choir of Clare College. The text of All things bright and beautiful is Irish, perhaps the best-known of a number of children’s hymns written by Cecil Frances Alexander, who was born in Derry in 1818. Perhaps disapproving of W. H. Monk’s Victorian tune to which the hymn was originally sung, in 1915 Martin Shaw (a friend and collaborator of Vaughan Williams) fitted the text to a sturdy English folk-tune he called Royal Oak . John Rutter’s arrangement has been heard around the world. All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small. All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all. Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colours, He made their tiny wings. The purple-headed mountain, The river running by, The sunset and the morning, That brightens up the sky; The cold wind in the winter, The pleasant summer sun, The ripe fruits in the garden, – He made them every one; He gave us eyes to see them, And lips that we might tell, How great is God Almighty, Who has made all things well. [CECIL FRANCIS ALEXANDER, 1818–95]
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A Clare Benediction JOHN RUTTER (b. 1945)
A Clare Benediction , written in 1998, was named in honour of John Rutter’s alma mater, Clare College, Cambridge, and is one of a number of choral blessings he has written over the years, in every case for a person or institution of special significance to him. May the Lord show His mercy upon you; May the light of His presence be your guide : May He guard you and uphold you; May His Spirit be ever by your side. When you sleep, may His angels watch over you; When you wake, may He fill you with His grace : May you love Him and serve Him all your days. Then in heaven may you see His face. [JOHN RUTTER, b. 1945]
Programme notes by The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge University
美 哉 天 堂 ： 劍 橋 克 萊 爾 學 院 合 唱 團 ｜19
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is a series of programmes presented by the Cultural Management Office of The University of Hong Kong. The team was established in early 2013, with a mission to inspire a life-long passion for the arts through innovative and educational programmes that will enrich the imaginative atmosphere on campus and establish HKU as a leading centre of cultural activities.
Music Along the Silk Road 絲路漫漫
The Northern Lights: Ensemble 1B1 融冷光：挪威1B1樂集
21 SEP 2016｜WED｜1:10PM
21 OCT 2016｜FRI｜8PM
Glimpses of the Immortal: Takács Quartet’s All-Beethoven Programme 一窺堂奧：塔克斯四重奏之全貝多芬曲目
Music in Words: Lecture Demonstration by Ensemble intercontemporain 樂語融融：法國現代樂集示範講座
24 SEP 2016｜SAT｜8PM
22 OCT 2016｜SAT｜5:30PM
Steven Isserlis Cello Recital 伊瑟利斯大提琴演奏會
Formosa Excursions: Soundscape of Taiwan 土地奏鳴曲：一個音樂製作人的問答題
16 OCT 2016｜SUN｜3PM
11 NOV 2016｜FRI｜8PM
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