CONCERT
TEMPLE CHURCH 16 NOVEMBER 2015
THIS CONCERT IS IN AID OF THE NATIONAL BRAIN APPEAL REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 290173
WE ACKNOWLEDGE AND OFFER OUR WARM THANKS FOR SUPPORT FOR THIS EVENING’S CONCERT Corporate Supporters No5 Chambers
President: John Rutter CBE Music Director: Greg Morris
Performer sponsors 23 Essex Street Chambers Anonymous
Trustees: Anthony Boswood QC (Programme) Timothy Dutton QC (Chairman) Kate Lumsdon (Choir) Stuart Ritchie QC Mark Trafford QC (Treasurer)
Piece Sponsors 5 Essex Court Chambers Cluttons LLP Caroline Hutton in memory of Geoffrey Hutton Christopher Wilson-Smith QC Patrons Rachel Avery Anthony Boswood QC Richard Coleman QC Sappho Dias and Timothy Dutton QC Caroline Hutton and Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP
Temple Church Robin Griffith-Jones (Master of the Temple) Secretary: Kay Matthews (kam@fountaincourt.co.uk)
Registered Charity Number 1163229 Supporters HH Judge Toby Hooper QC Cloisters Chambers Associate David Wurtzel
Help and Administration Kay Matthews (Choir Secretary) Lucy Scutt (Administration) Caroline Phillips (Fundraising) Jacquelyn Bell (Media and Publicity) Temple Music Foundation (Box Office) Master of the Temple and the Temple Church Committee David Wurtzel (Programme Editor) Robert Cooper (Library Recording)
Programme George Frederick Handel
Let the bright seraphim Let their celestial concerts all unite SPONSORED BY CAROLINE HUTTON IN MEMORY OF GEOFFREY HUTTON
Claudio Monteverdi
Ave Maris Stella from Vespers SPONSORED BY 5 ESSEX COURT CHAMBERS
Antonio Vivaldi
Winter from Four Seasons SPONSORED BY CLUTTONS LLP
Gloria SPONSORED BY CHRISTOPHER WILSON-SMITH QC
Guest Soprano Grace Davidson Guest Counter-tenor David Allsopp Guest Soprano Rachel Ambrose Evans SPONSORED BY AN ANONYMOUS DONOR
Violin soloist Persephone Gibbs Conductor and Music Director Greg Morris SPONSORED BY 23 ESSEX STREET CHAMBERS At the end of the concert please remain seated, Professor Alan Thompson, Dean of UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences and Trustee of The National Brain Appeal will say a few words and invite guests to a drinks reception in the Round.
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A SNAPSHOT
Law or music? The genius of the Bar Choral Society is that
members of the choir don’t have to choose. One of the founding principles was that the rehearsal schedule would be consistent with maintaining one’s practice. The list of choir members has varied in the past 18 months, but the many who are tonight appearing for their fourth concert is testament to the success of that principle. And testament to their love of what they are doing. Their ages vary enormously; the Bar as it is now is very different from the profession entered decades ago by others; but the lifelong sustaining love of music is a theme which runs through everyone’s background. It is clear that music has often played a major or even dominating part in the lives of those who have performed in the concerts here, as choristers, choral scholars, choir members, and instrumentalists. Even in these difficult times for the publicly funded Bar, few barristers may give up their legal career for music, but it is striking to note how many of the guest soloists started off at university studying something else: AngloSaxon, Norse and Celtic (Elin Manahan Thomas), Law (Ruth Massey), and English (Sarah Gabriel). Grace Davidson, happily back here tonight, moved from studying to be a chef at Prue Leith’s School of Food and Wine in order to take up her scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. I confess to noting a repeated background of Cambridge for several of the soloists and choir members. It was at Cambridge in the early 1970s that I really began to attend concerts, given by the Cambridge University Music Society conducted by Sir David Willcocks, who died in September. Conductors are often long-lived, and Sir David matched Leopold Stokowski by dying at the age of 95. We remember his profound impact on choir music in this country. Amongst so much else, he edited Carols for Choirs with the Bar Choral Society’s President, John Rutter. I keenly remember sitting in the stalls of King’s College Chapel while the Verdi Requiem was performed in the ante-chapel, with the celestial music floating over the screen of Henry VIII. One of my law contemporaries, and a future barrister, was a good enough oboist to be the soloist in the Richard Strauss concerto, in the Guildhall. Sir David broke off his own career when war came and won an MC in Normandy. In time he returned to his music, like so many of those performing tonight.
DAVID WURTZEL 4
Never a dull moment
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here is much to report on and to look forward to. In the summer the Charity Commission accepted the Bar Choral Society as a charity thanks to the indefatigable work and generosity of Anthony Boswood QC. This means that all donations to the BCS are charitable with concomitant tax advantages and savings. Also in the summer Penny Jonas who was responsible for our fundraising and sponsorship was appointed to a permanent position at Aldeburgh: she leaves with our thanks and congratulations. In her place we have the irrepressible Caroline Phillips who has used our new status as a charity to widen the way we approach fundraising. It is thanks to Caroline that we now have a broad spread of support from sets of Chambers and individuals who might sponsor our maestro – Greg Morris – or a soloist, or one of the pieces of music. The Society is grateful to everyone who has responded and supported us. Caroline’s arrival has coincided with our first concert in aid of another charity. The National Brain Appeal supports the pioneering work of the National Hospital for Neurology in Queen’s Square. One in six of us suffers from some neurological illness, and yet neurology still lacks the support it needs to find cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and Motor Neurone Disease which were diagnosed as long ago as the 19th century. We welcome to Temple Church colleagues from the medical profession whom we normally only meet in conference and who practice just a short walk away, in Queen’s Square but who may not have discovered the rich musical life of the Temple. As the summer turned to autumn a group of us from the choir formed a chamber ensemble (called the Noting Briefs), and sang for our
supper at the last night of the Keble Advocacy course. We have sufficient depth and quality in the ranks of the choir that a chamber choir for such occasions works well, and is something Greg is planning to build on. About 15 years ago at the Keble course I taught a young criminal barrister Jennifer Johnston. Over dinner at the end of the week she confided that, whilst she loved being a barrister, she was contemplating becoming a professional soloist contralto. She took the plunge, and after three years reading for a music degree she emerged as one of this country’s bright young stars. She has recorded extensively. Radio Three dedicated a programme to her and her work, and she is in great demand both in the UK and internationally. Jennifer will be our guest soloist at our next concert on 16th May 2016 when we will be singing Brahms Alto Rhapsody, Geistliches Lied, Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen (from German Requiem), Elgar Give unto the Lord, and Vaughan Williams O clap your hands. And next autumn? Plans are developing for us to sing Haydn’s Creation. Never a dull moment.
TIMOTHY DUTTON QC www.barchoralsociety.co.uk
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SUPPORTING THE BAR CHORAL SOCIETY There are a number of ways in which you can support the Bar Choral Society. Join our mailing list Be the first to find out about our forthcoming concerts and other events at www. barchoralsociety.co.uk
Become an Associate
£100-249
Receive acknowledgement in the programme book and on the BCS website alongside other Associates, priority booking for future events
Become a Supporter
£250-£499
Receive acknowledgement in the programme book and on the BCS website alongside other Supporters, priority booking for future events
Become a Benefactor
£500-£999
Receive acknowledgement in the programme book and on the BCS website alongside other Benefactors, priority booking for future events
Become a Patron
£1,000 plus
Receive acknowledgement in the programme book and on the BCS website alongside other Patrons, priority booking for future events.
Sponsor a performer Support us by sponsoring the orchestra, conductor or individual soloists
Sponsor a piece Support us by sponsoring particular choruses, arias or other items from our concert programmes.
Corporate Sponsors We can tailor a selection of benefits for Corporate Sponsors which can include: l Promoting your brand through our literature and media l Client entertainment at our concert venues l Networking opportunities l Opportunities to meet soloists and guest artists For more information about how you can support us please contact Caroline Phillips, Fundraising Consultant cphillips@caroline-phillips Tel 01249 716 716 Registered Charity Number 1163299 6
Programme notes AIR AND CHORUS FROM SAMSON LET THE BRIGHT SERAPHIM LET THEIR CELESTIAL CONCERTS ALL UNITE In August 1742, George Frederick Handel returned from Ireland fresh from the huge success of the first performance of Messiah there some three months earlier. His next foray into the world of oratorio was, for the most part, already composed and ready to perform – Samson¸ setting a libretto adapted from Milton’s poem Samson Agonistes. In February 1743, the oratorio was advertised as the opening offering in the new season at Covent Garden, complete with a new organ concerto performed by Handel himself. It was an immediate success. In revising the as yet unperformed score for the opening night, Handel added the two movements heard tonight to conclude the whole work. Let the bright seraphim is a virtuosic showcase for soprano and trumpet, though one in which the virtuosity is very much in the service of the text. It is followed by the chorus Let their celestial concerts all unite, which reveals Handel at his grandstanding choral best.
HYMN FROM VESPERS AVE MARIS STELLA While Handel represents the very end of the baroque era—his style would soon be superseded by the more poised tastes of the classical era—the music of Claudio Monteverdi belongs very much to the transition from Renaissance to baroque. His Vespers service in honour of the Virgin Mary. Ave Maris Stella uses the traditional plainsong melody of this ancient hymn throughout, but Monteverdi
transforms it in a very personal way. In the outer verses he wreathes the plainsong in rich, eight-part harmony; in the inner verses, he transforms it into a lyrical triple-time melody for either choir or soloists. Freely composed ritornelli separate the verses, and the sequence as a whole is one of the most serene and beautiful parts of the collection.
WINTER (CONCERTO IN F MINOR OP. 8 NO. 4) FROM FOUR SEASONS Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice, the son of a professional violinist. He trained for the priesthood, and was ordained in 1703, but although he remained pious, outwardly at least, for the rest of his life, he ceased to say Mass soon after his ordination. He claimed this was due to health problems, and he is known to have suffered from chest complaints, but there is one anecdote which tells of him using an absence due to a supposed ‘illness’ during Mass to write a fugue. By the time he wrote the Gloria in c. 1716, he was already well-known as a composer throughout Europe, most notably for the twelve concerti published in Amsterdam in 1711. His style became hugely influential – for example, J.S. Bach transcribed a number of his concerti for organ or harpsichord, and assimilated many aspect of Vivaldi’s ritornello technique into his own compositional style. Vivaldi wrote more than 500 concerti, of which 230 are for violin and orchestra. Of this vast number, the concerti of the Four Seasons are undoubtedly the most famous. They were published in 1723, part of a collection of twelve works entitled Il cimento dell-armonia e dell-inventione (‘The contest between harmony and invention’). Each concerto is prefaced 7
with a Sonnet, possibly written by Vivaldi himself, which the music proceeds to illustrate with great wit and imagination. As such, they can be seen as early examples of “programme music” (music which takes its inspiration from an external source), although it is remarkable how the concerti retain the perfectly balanced musical form so typical of Vivaldi’s works while illustrating the poems with such vigour.
GLORIA The Gloria was composed for the Ospedale della Pietà, one of four large charitable institutions in Venice, where Vivaldi became maestro di violino in 1703, and maestro de’ concerti in 1716. Even when he travelled widely at a later stage in his career, Vivaldi continued to compose a large number of concerti for the institution. The Gloria will have received its first performance in a liturgical context in the chapel there. Some of its movements, for example the first and sixth, show the influence of Vivaldi’s modern concerto style. Other movements are in a more traditional stile antico, and for at least one of these – the concluding ‘Cum Sancto Spiritu’ – Vivaldi used a composition by the Veronese composer Ruggieri as a model. Although to modern minds this seems uncomfortably close to plagiarism, it was an accepted practice in Vivaldi’s day, and would not have needed excusing, especially when it provides such a fitting conclusion to the work as a whole.
GREG MORRIS
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Programme Air and Chorus from Samson Music: George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)
Let the bright seraphim Let the bright Seraphim in burning row;, Their loud uplifted Angel trumpets blow Let the Cherubic host, in tuneful choirs, Touch their immortal harps with golden wires
Let their celestial concerts Let their celestial concerts all unite Ever to sound his praise in endless morn of light
Hymn from Vespers Music: Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Chorus Ave, maris stella, Dei Mater alma, Atque semper Virgo, Felix caeli porta.
Hail, star of the sea, loving Mother of God, and also always a virgin, blessed gate of heaven.
Summens illud Ave Gabrielis ore, Funda nos in pace Mutans Evae nomen.
You who received that “Ave” from the mouth of Gabriel preserve us in peace changing the name of “Eve”.
Solve vincla reis, Profer lumen caecis, Mala nostra pelle, Bona cuncta posce
Break the chains of sinners, bring light to the blind, drive away our evils, give us all that is good..
Soloists Monstra te esse matrem: Sumat per te preces, Qui pro nobis natus Tulit esse tuus.
Show yourself to be our mother may our prayers ascend through you to Him who, born for our sake, allowed Himself to be yours.
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PROGRAMME
Virgo singularis Inter omnes mitis Nos culpis solutos Mites fac et castos
O Virgin beyond compare, meekest of all women purged of our sins may you make us meek and chaste.
Vitam praesta puram, Iter pWinara tutum, Ut videntes Jesum, Semper collaetemur.
Grant us a pure life, Make our journey safe, So that, seeing Jesus, We may always rejoice together.
Chorus Sit laus Deo Patri, Summo Christo decus Spiritui Sancto, Tribus honor unus. Amen.
Let there be praise to God the Father, Glory to Christ in the highest, And the Holy Spirit, One honour to all three. Amen.
Winter (Concerto in F minor op.8 no. 4) from Four Seasons Music: Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Allegro non molto Aggiacciato tremar trà neri algenti Al Severo Spirar d’ orrido Vento, Correr battendo i piedi ogni momento; E pel Soverchio gel batter i denti
Allegro non molto Shivering, frozen mid the frosty snow in biting, stinging winds; running to and fro to stamp one’s icy feet, teeth chattering in the bitter chill.
Largo Passar al foco i di quieti e contenti Mentre la pioggia fuor bagna ben cento
Largo To rest contentedly beside the hearth, while those outside are drenched by pouring rain.
Allegro Caminar Sopra ‘l giaccio, e à passo lento Per timor di cader gersene intenti; Gir forte Sdruzziolar, cader à terra Di nuove ir Sopra ‘l giaccio e correr forte Sin ch’ il giaccio si rompe, e si disserra; Sentir uscir dalle ferrate porte Sirocco Borea, e tutti i Venti in guerra Quest’ é ‘l verno, mà tal, che gioja apporte.
Allegro We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously, for fear of tripping and falling. Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground and, rising, hasten on across the ice lest it cracks up. We feel the chill north winds coarse through the home despite the locked and bolted doors… this is winter, which nonetheless brings its own delights.
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Gloria Music: Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) 1. Gloria in excelsis Deo chorus Gloria in excelsis Deo,
Glory to God in the highest,
2. Et in terra pax chorus Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
and peace to his people on earth.
3. Laudamus te soprano duet Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te.
We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you.
4. Gratias agimus tibi chorus Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam,
We give thanks to you for your great glory.
5. Domine Deus, Rex cĂŚlestis soprano solo Domine Deus, Rex cĂŚlestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father.
6. Domine Fili Unigenite chorus Domine Fili Unigenite, Iesu Christe,
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
7. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei alto solo & chorus Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis;
Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us;
8. Qui tollis peccata mundi chorus Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.
you take away the sin of the world: receive our prayer;
9. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris alto solo Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. 10. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus chorus Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus, Iesu Christe, 11. Cum Sancto Spiritu chorus Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.
you are seated at the right hand of the Father: have mercy on us. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. 11
BIOGRAPHIES
GRACE DAVIDSON (Guest Soprano) “Grace Davidson has one of the most beautiful and pure soprano voices on earth.” Eric Whitacre, composer “Grace Davidson sings with gorgeous purity and warmth and hits some extraordinarily ethereal high notes.” Classic FM
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race Davidson is an English soprano who specialises in the performance and recording of baroque music. Winner of the prestigious Early Music Prize whilst studying singing at London’s Royal Academy of Music, she has since carved a successful international career working with the leading baroque vocal ensembles of our day under the batons of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Paul McCreesh, Philippe Herreweghe and Harry Christophers. As a baroque soloist Grace has appeared on many of the world’s most famous stages, from the Barbican (Purcell’s Come Ye Sons of Art) to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Purcell’s Ode to St Cecilia and Bach’s Magnificat) to Lincoln Center New York (Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion). Her discography includes a decade of CDs with The Sixteen, many of which feature her as a soloist: Handel’s Jephtha (as “Angel”) and Dixit Dominus, 12
Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers and Pianto Della Madonna and the Lutheran Masses of Bach. She is also the soloist for a recording of Fauré’s Requiem by Tenebrae and the LSO. The Times said of her performance, “Grace Davidson made Pie Jesu the simplest and most precious of gifts.” Future performing engagements include a UK tour of Monteverdi’s Vespers and Handel’s Dixit Dominus with Harry Christophers, a European Tour of Bach’s St Matthew Passion for Philippe Herreweghe, and a new staged production of Bach St John Passion with B’Rok, plus the release of a recording of Handel’s Gloria and Silete Venti.
DAVID ALLSOPP (Guest counter-tenor) avid Allsopp was a choral scholar and subsequently lay clerk in the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge where he also obtained a degree in computer science. After leaving King’s, he spent three years in Westminster Cathedral Choir, leaving in 2008 to pursue a freelance career; he was been a Choirman of the Temple Church for the last six years. David is also a member of the
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Gramophone award-nominated early music ensemble Gallicantus. David’s performances have included many of Handel’s oratorio works and Bach’s major choral works and cantatas in venues all over Europe. He has recorded Handel’s Israel in Egypt, Joshua and Jephtha on K&K Verlangsanstalt Maulbronn Monastery Edition. While much of the countertenor’s repertoire is baroque, David makes occasional forays into more modern repertoire with performances of Arvo Pärt’s Passio, Orff ’s Carmina Burana and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, amongst others. His consort performances have encompassed a wide repertoire ranging from the fourteenth century right through to contemporary music, including many premières. Concerts this year include St Matthew Passion in The Netherlands, St John Passion, with recording, in Germany, a residency in Princeton University for the early music ensemble Gallicantus of which David is a member, as well as several performances of Pärt Passio. He is also performing in St Cecilia’s Feast in Middle Temple Hall on Thursday.
Polyphony, Tenebrae, Dunedin Consort, Arcangelo, Britten Sinfonia Voices, and the New London Consort. She appears as a soloist on recently released discs of music by Karl Jenkins (Deustche Grammophon) and Arvo Pärt (Hyperion) with Polyphony conducted by Stephen Layton. She has a particular interest in early music, which was first sparked when studying the baroque violin. Recent and future solo engagements include Handel’s Joshua and Israel in Egypt (Holst Singers/Layton), Purcell/Blow Dido & Aeneas/Venus & Adonis (New London Consort), Bach’s St Matthew Passion and St John Passion (Israel Camerata/Avner Biron), Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres (L’Académie du Roi Soleil), Purcell’s Fairy Queen (Temple Music), Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo (Phillip Thorby), the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, Brahms’ Requiem, Bach B Minor Mass and Magnificat in D, and Vivaldi Gloria with the choirs of King’s and St John’s Colleges in Cambridge. A recent graduate of Pembroke College, Cambridge, where she read Music, Rachel sang with the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge under Stephen Layton. She appears as a soloist with the choir on recently released discs of music by Kenneth Leighton and Eriks Ešenvalds (Hyperion).
PERSEPHONE GIBBS
RACHEL AMBROSE EVANS (Guest soprano) achel Ambrose Evans is a soloist and consort singer with a variety of vocal ensembles in the UK including
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(Violin soloist) Hailed by Time Out as a ‘rising star of the baroque violin’, US-born Persephone Gibbs studied with Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard, and gained degrees in English at Yale and in law at Columbia. She improvised with a rock band and immersed herself in dancing tango before moving to London to study with David Takeno and Rachel Podger at the Guildhall School of Music. 13
BIOGRAPHIES
Persephone is a performance coach and guest lecturer in historical performance practice at City University and leads orchestral workshops in the Academy of Ancient Music’s mentoring scheme. In her spare time she enjoys plying her friends with experimental cocktails.
GREG MORRIS
© Kevin Clifford
Persephone has just made her debut as artistic director of Devon Baroque, launching their 2015-16 season to critical acclaim. In addition to leading the Temple Players, she is director/soloist in the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists’ concerto series at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and is occasional director of Charivari Agréable and guest leader with Florilegium and the Feinstein Ensemble. She has been a featured soloist on Radio 3 and WQXR-FM New York. Persephone is much in demand as a chamber musician. She programmed and performed sonata concerts in ‘Vermeer and Music’, the Academy of Ancient Music’s collaboration with the National Gallery. She directed chamber concerts at the Glorious Georges festival at Kensington Palace and recently performed quintets for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s Night Shift series. She was also in the Early Opera Company’s 17thcentury string band in L’Ormindo and Orpheus at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Persephone is a founder of the group Gut Instinct, researching and performing little-known baroque music for two or, more unusually, three violins and continuo. 14
(Conductor and Music Director)) reg Morris is Associate Organist of the Temple Church in London, Musical Director of Collegium Musicum of London, and founding Musical Director of the Bar Choral Society. An acclaimed solo recitalist and recording artist, Greg has performed widely throughout the UK and Europe. He gave the world premiere of David Briggs’ Organ Concerto, and subsequently recorded the work with the Northern Chamber Orchestra. His three solo CDs have received widespread critical acclaim; the most recent, the first to be recorded on the
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newly restored organ of the Temple Church, was described by Gramophone as “a singularly impressive release”. In December, Greg will broadcast a recital live on BBC Radio 3, including Carl Nielsen’s last completed work, Commotio, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Since 2006, Greg has accompanied the acclaimed Temple Church Choir. He has performed with them on BBC Radio 3, in CD recordings, and in the presence of The Queen, as well as on tours to Washington D.C. and Holland. He has appeared at the BBC Proms with the BBC Singers. Greg also works extensively as a conductor. Recent highlights have included staged performances of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in Middle Temple Hall with the Temple Singers, Bach’s Magnificat and cantatas with Collegium Musicum of London, and Haydn’s Nelson Mass with the Bar Choral Society, Southbank Sinfonia and soloists including Elin Manahan Thomas and DeAndre Simmons. Future plans include Purcell’s magnificent ode in praise of the patron saint of music, Hail! Bright Cecilia as the culmination of a feast in her honour in Middle Temple Hall, and Brahms’ Requiem in a new version for chamber ensemble by Iain Farrington at St James’ Piccadilly.
musicians, a pianist and opera singer both now involved in education, I have always enjoyed music. My particular passion for singing is something I found time to pursue and dedicate time to throughout all stages of my education and professional life to date. I recorded a solo CD during my time at school and went on to become a founding member of ‘Voices of Newnham’, an a capella choral group at my college that, five years later, is still going strong. A highlight for me with Voices of Newnham was singing the Grace at our Graduation Dinner which was a very special moment. I was thrilled when the Bar Choral Society was set up so that I could continue my love of singing and share it alongside other friends and colleagues in the legal profession. It is unique to be part of a choral society that understands there may be occasions where a late day at court stops you from making it to a rehearsal, but that simultaneously enjoys singing terrific repertoire to such a high standard. To have the opportunity to rehearse and perform in the setting of Temple Church, in the heart of bustling legal London, is a real joy and privilege. It offers all of us choir members a much needed moment of respite and peace in the context of everyone’s incredibly busy lives. I feel enormously lucky that the choir exists and to be a part of it.
HANNAH JONES (soprano)
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am a Family Law Barrister at 36 Bedford Row specialising in all aspects of matrimonial finance work along with private law children’s matters. My Inn of Court is Middle Temple where I was called to the Bar in 2012. I read law at Newnham College, Cambridge and during my time there received the Kemp Fund Scholarship upon graduating in 2011. Being the daughter of two classically trained 15
BIOGRAPHIES
regularly. I was out of the sidings and back on track – then Tim Dutton started up the BCS and I didn’t need prodding, I signed up straightaway. What a pleasure! To sing fantastic music in one of THE great venues and surrounded by a lifetime’s friends and colleagues.
PATRICK TALBOT QC (Tenor)
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t 15, my musical express ran into the buffers of the music master who announced during choir practice, “Talbot, just stand in the back row and mime.” Like Emily Dickinson, did I sing too loudly? I have now heard so many such stories that I wonder if this was part of the approved teacher training for music teachers in the ‘60s. But my singing career was over. I still loved music, especially vocal music and at Oxford two or three times a week I heard James Bowman singing. As a young junior I made time to sneak away to hear Evensong. A highlight for me was to hear Barbara Bonney make her debut as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier at Covent Garden – that final duet is on my list of funeral music, though, as my wife Beth points out, that event will take at least four days and will bankrupt the family. And it is to my wife that I owe my own musical reincarnation. A keen singer herself, (she once managed to sing five concerts in one Sunday, changing frocks in a taxi between events), she eventually tricked me into joining our local chamber choir – being a tenor they ignored the fact that I hadn’t auditioned for the first five years by which time I was the chairman and had finally learned to sing well enough to pass. More plotting by Beth followed and I found myself singing a Messiah or two with English Chamber Choir, with whom I now sing 16
CHARLOTTE SCOTT AND PHILIPPA SCOTT (Sopranos)
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y sister, Charlie, and I are delighted to sing in the Bar Choral Society. We have always held a passionate interest in music and through the choir we are able to embrace this whilst also spending time together. Largely, we have explored our love of music
together. At Bury Grammar School we sang as sopranos in the Festival Choir, performing the likes of Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah. This choir, whilst boasting a frankly terrifying choir master (very unlike Greg!), also offered some incredible opportunities, perhaps the most inspiring being a concert in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. We also ventured into a variety of orchestras and concert bands, trying our hand at any instrument likely to offer us such opportunities (in part because of a natural musical curiosity, but equally because such bands offered one of very few opportunities to mix with the Boys’ School across the road…) From piano, to flute, to trombone, to violin, and even a brief stint in percussion – we had all bases covered. We both went on to study at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and sadly at this stage a variety of other commitments began to get in the way. After Charlie joined the Bar, however, and set up her practice at Hogarth Chambers, she heard about the Bar Choral Society through her good friend Pia Dutton, whose father Tim was fundamental in founding the Society, and quickly became involved. I know that she enjoys de-stressing after busy days in Chambers and in court by singing in our rehearsals in Temple Church and she has loved taking part in every one of the concerts so far. I myself have recently moved to London to train to be a solicitor, and after hearing such good things about the Bar Choral Society from my sister I jumped at the chance to be involved. As my first concert approaches I am so glad I did; somehow, I had forgotten how simply wonderful it feels to sing in a full choir, enjoying producing a sound so much greater the sum of its parts. I am hugely grateful for the welcome the Bar Choral Society offers to friends and family of those at the Bar and look forward to many concerts to come. Both of us are very happy to bring our sabbatical from music to a much-needed close.
TIMOTHY BRENNAN QC (tenor)
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sang hardly at all before I reached 50. I could read music, having played the piano and the trombone at school, and regret failing to take notice of kindly people who occasionally commented favourably on my voice, such as it was. Once endurance sports had seen off my left knee, I found replacement activity in the London Welsh Chorale, a mixed-voice choir. Reliant for warmth of welcome on the national shortage of tenors, I now sing with various choirs, and to increasingly large numbers of people. My most recent London performance was for a paying audience of 80,863, with further millions on television. Possibly some of those watching Wales v Australia at Twickenham were not interested only in the choir singing national anthems on the pitch, but the truth will be clear to the fair-minded reader. I have lessons with the excellent Thomas Hal Herford, studying tenor arias too big to sing. Tom’s gift for constructive criticism at both ends of the spectrum of praise includes delivery of my personal favourite comment: “That had overtones of Kermit about it”. Congratulations and thanks are due to Timothy Dutton QC, who had the idea for the Bar Choral Society and all the energy and drive needed to pull together the musical talent 17
BIOGRAPHIES
around the Bar. And to Greg Morris, at the sharp end of delivery. It is a privilege to share the crisp efficiency of BCS rehearsals and the musicality of the concerts, and in one of the magnificent buildings of London too. Away from choirs, I am the elected head of Devereux Chambers, practising mainly on one side or the other of disputes between national tax authorities and their natural opponents, and in associated areas. Statutory interpretation, public and employment law, avoidance, international treaties, tax planning structures and industrial structures: all black letter, no black dots.
PIA DUTTON (soprano) am a junior barrister at 3 Verulam Buildings, practising commercial law with particular interest in banking, commercial contracts, civil fraud and confidentiality. Before joining 3VB, I worked and studied in a number of different jurisdictions. After completing my LL.M at the University of Chicago Law School, and the BCL at Oxford. I taught international law and published work on Burmese politics whilst working for the Burma Lawyer’s Council on the Thai Burma border. In 2012, I acted as foreign law clerk to Mr Justice Edwin Cameron at the Constitutional Court of South Africa and in 2013 I moved to New York to complete an internship in the Commercial Litigation and
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Appeals departments of Jones Day. It is not that the apple has not fallen far, rather the apple sits directly beneath the trees. My interest not only in law but in music has been cultivated and has thrived under the influence of both my parents, Timothy Dutton QC and Sappho Dias. From the age of 11, I could be found most Augusts acting as a ‘vulnerable’ witness or defendant in the mock trials at the Keble Advanced Advocacy Training Course. My mother often enquired of other faculty members, ‘has my daughter been convicted again?’ In music, from my ‘stage debut’, in my primary school’s production of Bugsy Malone in 1999, to my direction of Stars for Burma at the Bloomsbury Theatre in 2011, I have my parents to thank for their example and support. I am a proud member of the Bar Choral Society, though I have enjoyed tormenting the students and faculty of the Keble course with repeated renditions of Summertime, recently in the very good company of the ‘Noting Briefs’. I look forward to further performances both with the BCS and the Noting Briefs (now of Keble fame).
FRANCIS BARLOW QC (Bass)
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ooking through the biographies of members of the BCS in the programmes for previous concerts I was dismayed to discover what accomplished musicians many of us are. By contrast my own musical career is inglorious. I believe that I had quite a good singing voice as a small boy. But when I went to boarding school at the age of 11 my much older (and unmusical) brother warned me that I would be auditioned by the music master for the chapel choir. He advised me to sing out of tune as that would save me a lot of
trouble. I regret to say that I took his advice. Although Mr Nightingale (for that was his name) was suspicious, I managed to deceive him. But I subsequently sang in the school choir (Mr Nightingale had left by that time) and enjoyed participating in performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Purcell’s Ode to St Cecilia. On leaving school I spent two years in the Royal Navy as a National Serviceman. It was not exactly a gap year but I was lucky enough to be taught Russian. I learned naval Russian (easier to understand than naval English) and sang a lot of Russian folk songs. (If I may be permitted one small boast, I believe that I am the last National serviceman to have been given Silk, a distinction of which I am immoderately proud) Subsequently at university I managed to wangle my way into the Oxford Bach Choir. This presented a bit of a problem as one had to be auditioned. As it happened, however, the conductor, Dr Sydney Watson, was very anxious that one of his choral exhibitioners at Christ Church who was a friend of mine should join the Choir. My friend agreed to join but only if I was allowed to join as well. I sailed through the audition. When Helen and I married we joined the St Martin’s Singers and sang regularly under the direction of the Rev W D Kennedy-Bell, who
worked for the BBC world service. K-B (as he was invariably known) was a very fine musician and very amusing man who was Reader here at the Temple Church for 40 years. After moving out of London we have sung with several choral societies and now sing in our village church choir. The common feature of all these choirs is that there was no audition. The creation of the Bar Choral Society was a blindingly obvious idea which only a very clever man could think of. Thank you, Tim, very much indeed. And thank you, Greg, for being such an inspiring and tolerant conductor. But please do not introduce auditions.
HELEN BARLOW (Soprano) am not a barrister but am married to one. This why I am here and how lucky I am. Unlike my husband I come from a musical background. My father was a very talented
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BIOGRAPHIES
pianist and for many years sang as a tenor with the Bach Choir. He was a civil servant working in the Ministry of Aviation. After the War he was posted to Singapore where he was instrumental in setting up Cathay Pacific and took us with him. I was sent to a girls’ prep school in Singapore where I am proud to say that I was Head Girl, though only because I was the tallest! I have very fond memories of Singapore – of morning assembly out in the open air when we would lustily sing hymns, of evenings after I had been sent to bed listening to my father playing Bach preludes and fugues and Schumann’s Kinderszenen and of the enormous dragon boat on the Singapore river on the night of The Queen’s Coronation.
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He died at the very young age of 43 when I was 16. I still have his scores of the works he sang with the Bach Choir. I have never had a formal musical education but like Francis I could not exist without music. After moving out of London we have sung with various choral societies singing many of the standard choral works but some which are rarely heard. I recall in particular participating in a really memorable performance of Holst’s Hymn of Jesus in St Albans Abbey. I have been a member of the Bar Choral Society from the outset and am enjoying the experience as much as I have ever done. I hope and feel sure that it will continue to thrive. I feel very privileged to be part of it.
CHOIR MEMBERS SOPRANOS
ALTOS
BASS/BARITONES
Helen Barlow Isabel Barter Amanda Bostock Louise Bowmaker Natalie Connor Diana Cotton QC Felicity Davies Lyndsey de Mestre Laura Deuxberry Victoria Domenge Pia Dutton Jessica Elliott Nina Goolamali Elizabeth Grace Harriet Holmes Hannah Jones Ruth Jones Paola Kovacz von Csaky Kate Lumsdon Jennifer MacLeod Natalie McNamee Kate Merz Gay Moon Lesley Neenan Lucinda Orr Mary Page Rachel Platts Erica Power Florence Roland Faye Rolfe Amanda Savage Charlotte Scott Philippa Scott Rosie Scott Nicola Shannon Anne Smallwood Julie Pritchard Wall Rachel Pritchard Wall Christina White
Katherine Apps Victoria Clarke Martha Cover Dilpreet Dhanoa Naomi Ellenbogen QC Hannah Gomersall Penny Hamilton Caroline Hutton Maggie Jones Julia Krish Lucinda Mackworth-Young Hannah Noyce Yasmin Omotosho Claire Packman Daphne Perry Alison Rowley Lucy Scutt Catriona Stirling Stephanie Talbot Victoria von Wachter Sarah Webbe
Francis Barlow QC Mark Bryant-Heron QC Andrew Clarke QC Tom Cockroft Timothy Dutton QC David Green Al Hogarth Tom Jefferies Marc Maitland Roland Merz Alexander Milner Ashitey Ollennu Andrew Peebles Stuart Ritchie QC Chris Russell Oliver Sells Gavin Smith Robin Tam QC Mark Trafford QC Edmund Vickers
TENORS Robin Allen QC Anthony Boswood QC Timothy Brennan QC Michael Chapman Graham Eklund QC Jonathan Evans QC Harry George Matthew Hardwick QC Matthew Knowles Martin Scutt Paolo Sidoli Patrick Talbot QC
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The TEMPLE PLAYERS The Temple Players is a professional instrumental ensemble originally founded in 2006 by James Vivian and the baroque cellist Joseph Crouch, bringing together players from many of London’s finest period instrument groups. Over the intervening decade, it has performed a wide variety of repertoire with the Temple Church Choir, Temple Singers and a number of distinguished soloists, both in concert and as part of the liturgy of the Temple Church, including: Dido and Aeneas and Fairy Queen by Purcell, both fully staged in Middle Temple Hall; a number of Bach cantatas, both solo and choral; organ concertos by John Stanley, organist of Inner Temple; and masses by Haydn, Schubert and Mozart. The ensemble appears on The Majesty of thy Glory, a CD recording of the Temple Church Choir, and has broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Later this week, they will perform odes by Henry Purcell in honour of St Cecilia in collaboration with the Temple Singers.
1ST VIOLINS Persephone Gibbs Miki Takahashi George Clifford Stephen Pedder
BASS Kate Aldridge
2ND VIOLINS Alice Evans William Thorp Sarah Moffat Rebecca Miles
BASSOON Inga Maria Klaucke
VIOLAS Jane Rogers Wiebke Thormählen
ORGAN/ HARPSICHORD Richard Moore
OBOE Mark Baigent
TRUMPET Russell Gilmour
CELLOS Joseph Crouch Gavin Kibble
CHOIR REHEARSAL PROGRAMME Spring 2016 Rehearsals take place from 6.00pm to 7.30pm in Temple Church. Music will include: Brahms Alto Rhapsody, Geistliches Lied, Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen (from German Requiem), Elgar Give unto the Lord, and Vaughan Williams O clap your hands. Jennifer Johnston will be the soloist. The concert will be on Monday 16 May 2016 at 7.00 pm in Temple Church. The music will be provided ahead of rehearsals starting. Please make sure you bring the music with you.
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FEBRUARY 29th (Monday)
Tenors and Basses
MARCH 7th (Monday) 14th (Monday) 21st (Monday)
Sopranos and Altos Tenors and basses Sopranos and altos
APRIL 11th (Monday) 18th (Monday) 25th (Monday)
Full choir Full choir Full choir
MAY 5th (Thursday) 9th (Monday) 16th (Monday)
Full choir Full choir 5.00pm Rehearsal 7.00pm Concert
Rehearsals take place at 6.00pm – 7.30pm (with one exception – please see below) in Temple Church. We are planning to sing Vivaldi: Gloria (30’) Handel: Let the bright Seraphim & Let their celestial concerts all unite (8’), Aria and chorus from Samson, Monteverdi: Ave maris stella (from the Vespers) (7’), and as an Encore – Bach: Jesu, joy of man’s desiring. The concert will be on Monday 16th November at 7.00pm in Temple Church. The music will be provided ahead of rehearsals starting. Please make sure you bring the music with you! SEPTEMBER 14th (Mon) Sopranos and Altos 21st (Mon) Tenors and Basses 28th (Mon) Sopranos and Altos OCTOBER 5th (Mon) Basses 12th (Mon) 19th (Mon) 26th (Mon)
Tenors and Full Choir Full Choir Full Choir
NOVEMBER 5th (Thurs) Full Choir At 6.45pm – 8.15pm Please note the change in time for this date only. 11th (Wed) Full Choir 16th (Mon) 5.00pm Rehearsal 7.00pm Concert
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ON EI NS IX One in six people in the UK suffer from a neurological disorder. This can be from birth, through a slowly developing illness or through brain injury. The National Brain Appeal is the charity dedicated to raising much-needed funds for The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. We rely on donations to help fund vital technology, equipment, research programmes and building projects. Please show your support and donate. 24
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Registered Charity Number 290173