To develop a sustainable financial model for the organisation

Taverner to Tavener

Neil McEwan explores A Who’s Who of English Church Music

The history of English church music began well before the Reformation – Gregorian chant and sacred texts in Latin dominated choral music. Composer John Taverner was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Christ Church Oxford by Cardinal Wolsey in 1526. Taverner’s Western Wynde Mass, one of his few surviving works, is still sung liturgically to this day. In the 16th century, under the reign of Henry VIII, there was conflict between Catholics and Protestants, and monasteries and abbeys were dissolved. The period produced a number of Tudor composers such as Thomas Tallis and William Byrd who wrote magnificent music which spanned these turbulent times, including If ye love me, by the former and Sing joyfully, by the latter. During the reigns of James I and Charles I in the first half of the 17th century, Orlando Gibbons set English texts for choir, often with the addition of instruments. This is the record of John is one of his famous anthems. One of his contemporaries, Robert Ramsey, is probably best-known for his anthem How are the mighty fallen. After the new heights of beauty which church music achieved in the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, utter devastation followed under Oliver Cromwell, with the desecration of great cathedrals and ‘throughing down of great organs’. At Westminster Abbey ‘they break down the organs, and pawned the pipes at several ale houses for pots of ale’. In its place, instrumental music flourished, including the Pavan for 2 Bass Viols by John Jenkins. With the glorious restoration of Charles II, composers such as Henry Purcell, one of England’s greatest musical geniuses, added to the prestige of England’s liturgical and secular music. His O Sing unto the Lord is representative of this period, as is John Blow’s motet Salvator mundi.

Wendy Johnson / Alamy Stock Photo

The use of instrumental forces popular in Continental church music did not take hold in England in the same way. English anthems and settings for Evensong were usually sung a cappella, or with organ accompaniment with occasional instrumental ensembles used from time to time. One of the foremost composers of the time was William Boyce, who wrote the coronation anthem Praise the Lord O Jerusalem. After the moribund situation of English cathedrals, the influence of the Oxford Movement in the 1840s began to see the rise in status of liturgy and music. Composer and organist Samuel Sebastian Wesley was ‘a lifelong fighter for better conditions’ for church music. Wesley aside, composers such as Thomas Attwood Walmisley, Sir John Stainer and Charles Wood wrote mostly fine music for church liturgies. Continued reforms at the end of the 19th century inspired works by Parry, Stanford, and Elgar, among others. Perhaps one of the most revered musicians during the 20th century is Herbert Howells, whose settings for the canticles at Evensong are greatly loved and sung by many choirs. His Magnificat from Collegium Regale is worth seeking out. Among a number of composers of this period, John Tavener contributed much to church music. One of his most moving choral pieces is Song for Athene, which was sung at the funeral of Princess Diana in Westminster Abbey in 1997.

Explore sacred music from Taverner to Tavener in Musica Sacra, Sunday 12 September at 9am.

First Person – Coast Opera Australia

David Ogilvie talks with Angela Brewer, Founder and Artistic Director of Coast Opera Australia

Tell us a little about your professional background...

Truth be told, I’m quite an accidental opera singer. Although my parents and extended family have an appreciation for music, going to the opera was not our usual form of entertainment. My introduction to singing was learning to play piano, classical guitar, cello, and in Grade 2, training in a choir outside of school. This put me in good stead with music history and theory, and taught me how to sight-read music, often four-part harmony, with sol-fa, unaccompanied and in foreign languages. I was recognised to have a voice for operatic repertoire and completed an Honours degree at Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne University, under consecutive scholarships. At the age of 22 I was invited to begin singing with Opera Australia.

Setting up a new opera company would be hard enough in a major city with many potential opera lovers. What motivated you to choose the Central Coast?

Realising there was a need, desire, and curiosity, and that there were artists living here on the Coast who had to leave and commute to work professionally in all areas of theatre, not just as vocalists or instrumentalists. Opera encompasses all areas of the Arts – singers, instrumentalists, actors, dancers, set designers, you name it – the list is endless and one of the few art forms that is so inclusive! The Coast already had a community orchestra, and vibrant groups of music lovers such as the Gosford Musical Society, the developing Conservatorium and other private teaching studios. However, established artists such as myself had nowhere to work at the standard I was accustomed to, especially if they had also worked internationally or were expecting to be paid professional rates.

Do you think your approach could be a model for other regional areas in Australia with similar challenges?

We are not the first with this idea, however I hope we can encourage and inspire more regional areas to do the same, especially once Covid restrictions ease. Our communities will have a hunger like never before to get outside, socialise and be entertained.

Coast Opera’s performances are very well attended. Do you think that there is an untapped appetite for classical music and opera outside of the capital cities in Australia?   

Yes, I have found an even stronger desire for world-class events since they didn’t exist on the Coast in the past. It’s an exciting treat for our audiences to have a singer walk off the stage at La Scala in Italy, and the next day be performing with Coast Opera Australia.

COA has sung in swish restaurants, RSL clubs, a stadium, and even at car launches. Are these just pragmatic choices in the absence of a dedicated performance space on the Central Coast, or a different way to interface with the general public?

Our community deserves and expects honesty and directness from me on this topic. Despite decades of promises by the local Council and pre-election funding commitments by the NSW State Government, there is no real indication when this performance space project will go ahead, particularly after the recent revelation of Council’s indebtedness. COA is encouraging those in positions of power to listen to our artistic community’s request and build a multipurpose, regional performing arts venue here in Gosford, the heart of the Coast! 

If that were to happen, would you continue performing in ‘unorthodox’ venues?

Absolutely. We want to showcase the beautiful Central Coast with outdoor and indoor musical events that entice people to our region. Coast Opera Australia is community-focussed with an entrepreneurial approach, such as Salute to the Anzacs or Disney to Diva from the Central Coast Stadium which was viewed online by hundreds of thousands nationally and internationally.

It’s a common complaint amongst opera companies that they are obliged to serve up a familiar diet of well-known works such as Carmen, Don Giovanni, and La bohème, or risk losing their audience with new or unusual repertoire. Is this something that concerns you?

I think it’s important to acknowledge the history of Opera and provide some well-known works, however we are not trying to compete with companies like Opera Australia which are already well established. COA is here to provide new musical experiences, entice our faithful audience members, and develop a new market for future sustainability. Opera Afloat at Saddles at Mt. White is a classic example of mixing the old with the new.

What are your thoughts for the future of Coast Opera, given that we may be forced to live with COVID-19 for quite some time? 

I see our future as very positive. Yes, it has been challenging to navigate Covid, however just like other past diseases society has controlled, I am certain we will be out of the woods and back on stage performing very soon. Our priority is to protect the health of our audiences, performers, and those who get the show on the road for the benefit of us all. Due to the present Covid restrictions, Coast Opera Australia has once again redesigned our concerts for an online platform. In August we will be announcing our four-part series Backstage Q&A. This will be a live, interactive conversation with professionals from the music industry. Our audience will be able to submit their questions on any topic relating to the professional lives and experiences of our artists; a great opportunity to find out how opera really works from an intimate, behind-the-scenes perspective.

The Quiet Achiever

Lyndon Pike reveals the evenly keeled composer, John Caroll Kirby

Los Angeles native, journeyman, keyboardist, composer, and producer John Caroll Kirby began his career as a session musician in the early 2000s. Having graced Grammy-nominated songs by Norah Jones (Chasing Pirates) and Solange (Cranes in the Sky) as well as providing colour and tone on recordings by Sébastien Tellier, Bat for Lashes, Frank Ocean, Harry Styles, Madeleine Peyroux and more, Kirby’s session work CV is nothing short of prolific and held in the highest regard. In 2017, Kirby branched out and started making his own albums, a series of personal recordings reflecting his influences, lifestyle, and immediate surroundings. His sound oscillates between ambient and new age, progressive and free form jazz, easy listening, and neo-soul styles, all of which encapsulate his humble but nuanced ability to remain a strong presence throughout the recording process without having to steal the limelight. Raised in a Pasadena home that once belonged to the influential architect Charles Greene, it is within the Arroyo Seco area of Los Angeles that Kirby feels at home. It was here in 2020 that he realised the album that gained him international exposure, entitled My Garden. Released on the influential and cult record label Stones Throw, My Garden was a glimpse into Kirby’s surroundings that were the most geographically personal to him. There is even a track on the album recorded in Sydney whilst staying with a friend at Tamarama Beach, entitled By the Sea. During the past year and a half, Kirby has used the abundant time and space to reflect and record a cathartic album reflecting on lockdown that has a melancholy beneath the bounce. The album is Septet, a change in direction from his five previous releases in that he enlisted a group of musicians to assist: Deantoni Parks on drums, Tracy Wannomae and Logan Horne on woodwinds, JP Maramba on bass, Nick Mancini, mallets and David Leach on percussion. It’s through this fleshed out lineup that the recent album marks a slight change in his sound. Septet was recorded live in Kirby’s studio and has a certain 1970s jazz fusion sound to it. Improvisational in parts, it reveals its depths further upon each listen. At first, the cosmic melodies, jazz-funk grooves, heavily layered horns and percussion rhythms can be experienced almost as background music; seemingly the album wouldn’t sound out of place on a typical Spotify Chill Jazz playlist. However, it’s the subtleties of Kirby’s keyboard wizardry underpinning the guest players—studio session experts all—where the magic starts to happen. It’s more a spiritual than a physical listening experience.

I want to entice people. I understand that there’s other stuff that they could be listening to, and don’t want to make things too complicated.

Despite Kirby’s exquisite finesse, he’s no stranger to the odd improvisational misstep, such as a flubbed chord on the keyboard during one track. Rather than insist on a retake, he chose instead to incorporate it into the song. “As a jazz musician, it’s fun to play with being irreverent, it’s fun to play with mistakes. Sometimes even in my work as a session musician, I’ll try to do that. I might try to create a character who’s playing the piano, not necessarily me, who might be drunk or something and who would make mistakes. I enjoy playing with that kind of stuff,” he once proclaimed in an interview with the music magazine Fader. Influenced by the easy, laid-back West Coast jazz sound created by icons such as Art Pepper and Shelly Manne, Kirby finds solace in instrumental compositions rather than vocal intrusions. He claims: “As you’re composing, you’re not being told what the song is about because of the words. You’re free, because you can create this melody, and you’re letting the meaning of the song develop as you’re composing. I want to entice people. I understand that there’s other stuff that they could be listening to, and don’t want to make things too complicated.”

Listen on Spotify - A John Carroll Kirby Primer