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CONTENTS
DEPUTY EDITOR Hannah Beynon LISTINGS EDITOR Felicity Hayward
PRODUCTION Katherine Graham DESIGNER Daniela Di Padova HEAD OF ADVERTISING Myles Lester ADVERTISING MANAGER Matthew Cheadle ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVES David Jackson Natasha Alexander HEAD OF MARKETING & DESIGN Rebecca Ward Murphy MARKETING EXECUTIVE Frances Innes-Hopkins MANAGING EDITOR Keith Clarke MANAGING DIRECTOR Mark Owens PUBLISHER Derek B Smith PRINTED BY Wyndeham Grange Ltd Butts Road Southwick West Sussex BN42 4EJ PRODUCED BY Rhinegold Publishing Ltd, 241 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8TF ADVERTISING T: 020 7333 1733 F: 020 7333 1736 PRODUCTION T: 020 7333 1735 F: 020 7333 1768 EDITORIAL T: 020 7333 1742 F: 020 7333 1766 E: classical.music@rhinegold.co.uk W: www.rhinegold.co.uk. Telephone calls may be monitored for training purposes SUBSCRIPTIONS T: 01371 851892 F: 01371 851808 E: rhinegold@escosubs.co.uk Esco Business Services Ltd, Trinity House, Sculpins Lane, Wethersfield, Braintree, Essex CM7 4AY Classical Music tries to avoid inaccuracies. If readers believe that an error has been made they should contact the editor before taking any other action Save 15% on your sheet music at ScoreStore.co.uk. Enter RG817 as promotional code when ordering from the ScoreStore website, or call 0118 976 2020 to place your order.
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12 CHORAL 2012 6
NEWS
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CD REVIEWS
We take a look at some recent choral releases
12 GIRLS ALLOWED RHINEGOLD PUBLISHING
PATRICK ALLEN/PURCELL SINGERS
PRODUCTION MANAGER Nick Salt
ASH MILLS/SALISBURY CATHEDRAL
EDITOR Kimon Daltas
Twenty years of girl choristers at Salisbury Cathedral – so why is it still taboo?
16 BRANDENBURG THREE The Brandenburg Spring Choral Festival thinks big
30 LISTINGS
An A to Z of UK choirs
22 DIGITAL AID
The growing demand for sheet music online
26 COMPOSERS’ Q&A Richard Blackford and Alan Bullard
COVER IMAGE: GIRL CHORISTERS OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL CREDIT: ASH MILLS
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inspirations
The Wellensian Consort ‘Choir of the Year 2010’
Blessed Cecilia Thursday 24 November 2011, 7.30pm
The Armonico Consort A German Christmas Story Wednesday 7 December 2011, 7.30pm
The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge What Sweeter Music? Friday 9 December 2011, 7.30pm
The Eric Whitacre Singers Inspirations Wednesday 1 February 2012, 7.30pm
New York Polyphony Tudor City Wednesday 21 March 2012, 7.30pm
Ex Cathedra Bach: A Beautiful Mind Thursday 19 April 2012, 7.30pm
The Tallis Scholars Field of the Cloth of Gold Wednesday 16 May 2012, 7.30pm
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news
New choir for Britten Sinfonia TOBY DELLER A new professional choir, Britten Sinfonia Voices, gives its inaugural concerts in December with performances of L’enfance du Christ by Berlioz, conducted by Sir Mark Elder, and Handel’s Messiah, conducted by David Hill. Britten Sinfonia’s chief executive, David Butcher said: ‘The creation of Britten Sinfonia Voices, under the direction of Eamonn Dougan (pictured), is a natural extension of our commitment to artistic adventure and excellence. We aim to create a professional choir to match the pioneering spirit of the
orchestra – a group of singers who are equally at home in monumental works as in more intimate and contemporary repertoire.’ He continued: ‘The Voices will be made up of a mixture of emerging talent alongside more experienced singers, a combination in keeping with the orchestra’s make up. The ethos will reflect that of the orchestra: flexibility in terms of size and repertoire, a chamber music ethos and, of course, the highest quality, collaborating with a wide range of soloists and directors from across the musical spectrum.’ The choir makes its debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London followed by trips to Cambridge and Brighton (Berlioz), then Norwich and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (Handel). In March, the choir will perform Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Barbican. Butcher added: ‘Looking further ahead, there are more diverse projects planned, for example a project with the strings and eight singers performing late 12th-century music by Pérotin and a brand new piece by Eriks Esenvalds. We’re already talking to composers such as James MacMillan and Nico Muhly about future commissions.’
Junior conservatoire celebrates second winner of choirgirl of the year Hannah beynon Fourteen-year-old Ella Rainbird-Early has been named this year’s Radio 2 choirgirl of the year. Rainbird-Early, who currently attends the Junior Conservatoire in Birmingham, is the second of its students to win the prize, following chorister Alice Halstead who received the title in 2008. Radio 2 Young Choristers of the Year is open to choristers between the ages of 11 and 17 who sing regularly with their choir for religious services. The competition celebrates the unique contribution young people make to church choral music in this country, recognising the training, skills and repertoire they receive. As part of the prize, Rainbird-Early, who currently sings at Coventry Cathedral, will appear on various radio programmes including Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday and Sunday Half Hour and Radio 4’s Daily Service and Sunday Worship, as well as special events at Christmas and Easter concerts.
New choral training programme for young singers TOBY DELLER The Sixteen have teamed up with UK charity the Genesis Foundation to found Genesis Sixteen; a programme of choral training courses for singers aged 18 to 23. Under the leadership of The Sixteen’s artistic director Harry Christophers, the 22 singers selected receive individual voice coaching as well as detailed training in choral and consort work. Christophers said: ‘One of the traditional paths into the professional choral singing world is through Oxbridge choral scholarships and I am conscious that we might be missing out on
talented young singers who do not wish to go down the music conservatoire route, with its emphasis on solo and operatic careers. We want to afford the opportunity to all to train at the highest level and bridge the gap between student and professional singing.’ The Genesis Foundation has a ten-year track record of supporting young people in the performing and visual arts. Founder and chairman John Studzinski said: ‘Nurturing and supporting young talent is the reason for the Genesis Foundation’s existence. We couldn’t hope for better
partners since they represent artistic excellence of the highest order.’ The scheme began in August with a weeklong visit to the National Opera Studio. There will be three further courses: weekends at the Bridgewater Hall in November and at the NOS in February, and a week’s residency at Magdalen College, Oxford, in the summer. Applications for the 2012/13 scheme open in mid December 2011, with auditions in early 2012. www.the-sixteen.org.uk www.genesisfoundation.org.uk
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The choir of St John’s College, Cambridge
Ben Ealovega
Choir celebrates 500 years of St John’s College Hannah beynon The choir of St John’s College, Cambridge will host two large-scale concerts to celebrate the 500th anniversary year of the founding of St John’s College. The choir will perform Walton’s oratorio Belshazzar’s Feast on 18 November at Ely Cathedral and then again on 15 December at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Along with the choir of St John’s, the concerts will feature the choirs of Clare, Gonville & Caius, Jesus and Trinity Colleges, providing
Online choral arrangement service ANTONIA COULING A new online choral arrangement service has been created to supply choral arrangements as digital sheet music. Launched in 2008, Chorus Online is the brainchild of founder Frank de Vreeze.
an opportunity to hear the different choirs of Cambridge University singing together. The choirs will perform with the Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of St John’s director of music, Andrew Nethsingha, together with past members of the choir of St John’s. Soloists include: mezzo soprano Dame Ann Murray and baritones Leigh Melrose (Ely) and David Stout (London). Completing the programme in Ely will be a performance of Mahler’s Des Knaben
Wunderhorn, while works by Elgar, Harvey, Howells and Parry will feature alongside Walton’s work in the London. To coincide with the anniversary celebrations, St John’s has also commissioned five composers, including Jonathan Harvey, James MacMillan, John Rutter and Judith Weir, to write works especially for this 500th anniversary year.
‘With many choirs having a top budget of €200 (£170) for a work, and with each arrangement taking 30 to 40 hours to create, it became more trouble than it was worth,’ said de Vreeze. Since its creation, Chorus Online has secured deals with EMI and Universal, whereby rights can be acquired for individual works on a piece by piece basis. ‘The clever thing about the concept as a whole,’ de Vreeze said, ‘is that a company has a greater chance of securing the rights to a song than an individual does, so the arrangers can get on with what they do best – arranging.’
From €30 (£25), vocal groups can buy an arrangement which will be individually printed for them. Sheet music is also provided as a PDF with the choir’s name embedded on it. MP3 practice recordings are also supplied for the different voice types along with a professionally made accompaniment recording. All choir types are catered for, from mixed to womens’ choir to ‘Chorus light’, which is geared towards women-heavy groups, as well as younger boys.
www.sjcchoir.co.uk
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ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT CHOIR OF ST JOHN’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE In a joyous celebration of the festive season, the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge presents original carol settings by John Rutter, Elizabeth Poston, Kenneth Leighton, and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, along with traditional and contemporary arrangements of popular Christmas carols.
CHSA 5096 CHAN 10587
The Observer
CHSA 5085
CHAN 0778
‘…exuberant, full-toned precision and impressive musicality’
‘The Choir sings suavely and radiantly without resorting to cathedral prissiness’
‘Howells’s evocative church music sung with vibrancy and conviction’
Classic FM
Gramophone
CDs available from www.chandos.net and all good record stores MP3s, lossless and 24-bit studio quality downloads from www.theclassicalshop.net
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choral
CD reviews MacMillan, Miserere: The Sixteen
High Flight: The King’s Singers
CORO
Signum Classics
Editor’s c hoic e
MacMillan’s Miserere is sung here with a reverend and haunting severity. Other works are included on this CD, such as the Strathclyde Motets where The Sixteen display an athletic range of vocal agility from elegant force to tranquil lyricism. An excellent anthology exploring the depth and atmosphere of MacMillan’s writing.
Mozart, Requiem: Handel and Haydn Society
Signum Classics This selection of contemporary choral works by Bob Chilcott, Morten Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre are performed with an exquisite and luxurious sound by the King’s Singers and the Concordia Choir. Each track is an ethereal epic that is deeply affecting and undeniably beautiful.
Andriessen, Anaïs Nin: London Sinfonietta Signum Classics
CORO
This recording of the celebrated Requiem also includes Ave verum corpus and the lesser known Per questa bella mano. There is a pristine clarity and acute attention to dynamic, but the result is a tad dry in places. The most charismatic performance is the live recording of the playful Per questa bella mano.
Joy To the World: The King’s Singers Signum Classics
Anaïs Nin is a ‘monodrama’ about an incestuous cross-generational relationship. The London Sinfonietta and soprano Christina Zavalloni add a cold and awkward timbre that enhances the piece, and still manages dramatic climax. By contrast De Staat is an intimidating and unrelenting piece of minimalism. An interesting listen, but requires some endurance.
Rachmaninoff, The Bells – BBC Philharmonic CHANDOS
The King’s Singers bring their rich butterscotch sound to Christmas with this selection of festive works recorded live at Cadogan Hall. The programme brims with originality and inventiveness across the board, and a sense of humour that stops the seasonal standards from being too kitsch.
Songs of Cricket: Cantabile – The London Quartet
The BBC Philharmonic and the chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre perform Rachmaninoff’s beloved choral works. The choir bring a heavy melancholy to the sound, which complements the texts but can sometimes be a little overladen. The outstanding soloists and a handful of glorious moments lift this recording above being drab.
James Waygood
An absolute riot for cricket fans, this is quite extraordinary collection of cricket music, including a Village Rondo for piano by Matthew Holst, great-grandfather of Gustav, believe it or not. Why included? Because the sheet music bears a village scene including cricket match, thought to be the earliest image uniting music and the great game. There are medleys of tv/radio cricket themes, school songs and Australian cricket ditties. Richard Stilgoe is in fabulous form, providing the best laughs of all in numbers such as Lilian Thomson, The Barmy Army and Andy Flower Duet (hilariously borrowing from Lakmé’s Flower Duet). An Arvo Pärt-inspired setting of that bestselling tea towel The Ins and Outs of Cricket is good fun, and although singing The Rules of Cricket to Havergal’s haunting psalm chant is hardly a new idea, it goes down well enough in the mix. Australian sales may be boosted by the Hannon/Walsh number Jiggery-Pokery, recalling that Ball of the Century by which Shane Warne disposed of Mike Gatting (ouch!) at Old Trafford back in 1993. All this plus contributions from chanteuse Eliza Lumley and Rory Bremner in a talk-on part, reliving famous phrases from famous commentaries, plus a re-enactment of the never ever to be forgotten Test Match Special ‘corpsing commentators’ episode originally featuring Brian Johnston and Jonathan Agnew – just as side-splitting here. Everywhere the London Quartet expend gallons of good-humoured gusto in the cause (which incidentally will benefit the Lord’s Taverners charity, helping disabled and disadvantaged children). Good, detailed sleeve note/texts material add to the pleasure of an album whose release richly deserved the 2011 Indian Summer.
ANDREW GREEN choral 2012 rhinegold.co.uk 9
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NOVEMBER 2011 GOTHIC SYMPHONY
This phenomenal recording of HAVERGAL BRIAN’s was captured on 17 July 2011 at London’s Royal Albert Hall in front of a sell-out audience. Brian’s Symphony No 1 in D minor calls for over 800 performers: just about every known orchestral instrument, a double chorus of over 500, plus children’s choirs. The symphony ends with an hour-long Te Deum—the church’s blazing Hymn of Thanksgiving. Whether or not you were lucky enough to be there on the night, this is a recording not to be missed. soprano SUSAN GRITTON · mezzo-soprano CHRISTINE RICE tenor PETER AUTY · bass ALASTAIR MILES organ DAVID GOODE
CDA67971/2
THE BACH CHOIR · BBC NATIONAL CHORUS OF WALES BRIGHTON FESTIVAL CHORUS · CBSO YOUTH CHORUS · CÔR CAERDYDD ELTHAM COLLEGE BOYS’ CHOIR · HUDDERSFIELD CHORAL SOCIETY LONDON SYMPHONY CHORUS · SOUTHEND BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CHOIRS BBC NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF WALES · BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA conductor MARTYN BRABBINS
(2 compact discs)
MP3 and lossless downloads of all our recordings are
available from PHOTO: CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU
CHORAL_2011_010 2
www.hyperion-records.co.uk
HYPERION RECORDS LTD, PO BOX 25, LONDON SE9 1AX · info@hyperion-records.co.uk · TEL +44 (0)20 8318 1234
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Outstanding music
KEEPING THE MUSIC ALIVE
@ Salisbury Cathedral School
Being a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral is the experience of a lifetime
day and boarding, 3-13 years exceptional music, Scholarships available
— 100% tuition fees for all choristers — Assistance with boarding fees available — One of the top prep schools in the country — The finest musical education — An amazing start to life
Choristerships available for girls and boys aged 7-9 outstanding Scholarship record to Senior Schools ‘A happy and very special place to spend your early school years.’ The Good Schools Guide
If your son is aged 6–8 and shows musical promise, do get in touch. He could become one of the next generation of choristers at St Paul’s Cathedral.Visits and informal auditions can be arranged at any time.
For more information or to make an appointment please contact Ann Vos on 01722 555305 or e-mail headsec@salisburycathedralschool.com
For more information please contact: Clare Morgan, St Paul’s Cathedral School Secretary 020 7248 5156 · admissions@spcs.london.sch.uk
SaliSbury CaThedral SChool, 1 The CloSe, SaliSbury, WilTShire, SP1 2eQ WWW.SaliSburyCaThedralSChool.Com
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Know a child who loves singing?
Salisbury Cathedral Choir offers a wonderful opportunity in a spectacular setting
Voice Trials
School Years 3 and 4 Saturday 21 January 2012 (boys) Saturday 4 February 2012 (girls) In addition to our usual scholarships and bursaries we are offering two special 70% scholarships to start in 2012. All children are educated at Salisbury Cathedral School. Voice Trial Workshop Saturday 3 December Informal Pre-auditions any time by arrangement For further information please contact: chorister.recruitment@salcath.co.uk or telephone 07587 826 622
www.salisburycathedral.org.uk
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CHORAL
Girls allowed For two decades, girl choristers have been a firm feature in Salisbury Cathedral. But their acceptance is still a cause for concern for some traditionalists. Fiona Clampin tries to suss out what all the fuss is about
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possible to admit girl choristers. Separately, a sister of one of the boy choristers wrote to Jimmy Savile, saying she would like him to ‘fix it’ for her to sing alongside her brother in the cathedral choir. ‘But what really got me thinking was a meeting I had at Jerusalem Chamber in London, attended by representatives from the Dean’s conference, Choir Schools Association, and the RSCM,’ Seal says. ‘We had this meeting once or twice a year to swap ideas – it had no muscle at all. But towards the end, under any other business, somebody said, “One of these days you know, we’ll have to think about girls”. There was an awful hush and nobody commented on it and off we all went. And I thought no more of it until I got on the train and something, something just fired me into thinking, now supposing there were girls in Salisbury Cathedral, how could we fit them in? Would it be possible? And by the time I got
photos by Ash Mills
rains are often good places for reflection. Maybe it’s something about being in a neutral space. Or perhaps it’s the motion that allows you to switch off from the cares of the world and let ideas bubble up to the surface. That was the environment in which Richard Seal, organist and master of the choristers at Salisbury Cathedral (1968-1997), found himself as he contemplated the possibility of admitting girls into the choir. ‘Had you asked me early in 1989 whether girls would have been singing in Salisbury Cathedral, I’d have said over my dead body,’ Seal laughs, ‘because I’d never questioned it. But several things happened that year and these things lodge in your mind.’ Seal received a letter from the mother of one of the cathedral school pupils, asking if he would be prepared to audition her daughter for the cathedral choir – if it had been
Here come the girls: choristers of Salisbury Cathedral and right, in the choir stalls
back to Salisbury, I’d got myself very enthusiastic.’ In typical modest fashion, Seal attributes the realisation of the idea to his colleagues at the cathedral, with a particular nod to the then Dean, Hugh Dickinson. Seal’s assistant organist at the time, now director of music, David Halls, describes it as ‘almost like planets lining up’, such was the element of serendipity. To begin with, Salisbury took a softly-
They were very musical, keen, bright, they could sing in tune and had a good ear softly approach to incorporating girl choristers into services, gradually increasing the number of their commitments to roughly five services a week. ‘I made a pact with myself never to say the word “girl” in a rehearsal with the boys,’ says Seal. The girls too were aware that their introduction could leave the boys feeling somewhat displaced. ‘I was very sure that girl choristers would be as good, if not better, than the boys,’ says Nikki Dragonetti, one of the first girl choristers in 1991 and now a music teacher. ‘I made that statement quite a few times in what were probably quite offensive ways to anyone who would listen! But I have to say in that first rehearsal, I was thinking, maybe I have bitten off more than I can chew.’ It was clear that the sound the girls made in the early days would need moulding. ‘They were very musical, keen, bright, they could sing in tune and had a good ear,’ says Halls. ‘But they didn’t know how to sing in a big building. You just learn how to use the voice.’
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Judging by the sound made by the 80 former girl choristers who gathered for the reunion at the end of September this year to mark their 20th anniversary, the discipline of singing day in, day out, has certainly paid off. The reunion weekend was full of memories, exhortations of ‘eyes!’ to those whose faces were occasionally buried in their copies, and general laughter. But the event also underlined the fact that Salisbury’s decision to admit girls has opened up opportunities to train their voices and nurture musicianship in a setting that, until 20 years ago, was only open to young boys.
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oday, eight cathedrals in England provide girl choristers with an education: Durham, Lincoln, Ripon, York, Lichfield, Exeter, Salisbury and Wells. A number of others such as Wakefield and Norwich have set up voluntary girls’ choirs. ‘One of the strongest arguments for having girls in the choir would be that hitherto, the boys over the centuries have enjoyed this unique introduction to a vast amount of wonderful music,’ says Seal. ‘They leave with this immense knowledge which will never, ever leave them. To have this huge legacy available only to half the children in this country seems, to me, quite wrong.’ Perhaps only the most diehard of traditionalists would disagree, but there is no escaping the fact that the introduction of girls into cathedral choirs has left some people with real concerns. But gender remains a divisive issue, as was proved only recently when Lincoln Cathedral admitted its first (adult) female choral scholar. ‘Nobody has anything other than good intentions and some cathedrals have introduced spectacularly good girl choirs,’ argues Lynda Collins from the Campaign for the Traditional Cathedral Choir. ‘But it’s about doing it in a way that doesn’t undermine the stupendous choral tradition we have. There is certainly growing evidence that changes to cathedral music are happening that were never intended. Our argument tends to get shot down as antifeminist, which it’s not. The danger is that, by admitting girls, the boys will drift away, and when there are no boys, there will be no men. The sheer expense of running two choirs will ultimately mean cathedrals can’t keep two afloat and they’ll be forced to have a mixed choir. That would be a
huge loss if we were to lose our traditional choirs because the music was written to be sung by men and boys’ voices to the highest standard possible.’ In Salisbury’s defence, David Halls says they recognised this potential threat, and he maintains they have worked hard on recruitment and fundraising. ‘I think that girl choirs were inevitable in cathedrals. It was a question of who was brave enough to do it first,’ he says. ‘Because so many cathedrals have taken on a girls choir of some form, it’s opened up the possibilities for any cathedral. For instance, if you have two choirs, think of the things you could do with them, such as processions. That is rather spectacular, musically. What I find interesting though is how these girls, as the boys have too, are beginning to make their way in the musical world – not only as good singers with groups such as the Monteverdi Choir, but also as extremely good instrumentalists. I would like to think we had something to do with that.’ Jessica Lee (née Townsend) is one example of someone who now enjoys a professional music career. She was one of the first intake in 1991, and is now second clarinet in the Northern Sinfonia. ‘I would not be doing what I am now if I hadn’t come here,’ she enthuses. ‘It was the most incredible start as a musician, and even for people who haven’t
gone on to be musicians, there’s some amazing confidence that grows in you through singing at an early age and to this sort of level, and for that I thank Salisbury.’ Around 120 girls have received a choir school education at Salisbury since 1991, and having role models has inspired others to follow suit. ‘I saw the girl choristers sing at a service and I was just blown away,’ says 25-year old Alyusha Chagrin, now a professional jazz singer and songwriter. ‘They were like angels. Being a chorister has given me so many tools throughout my musical life. It’s been fantastic.’ It may be some time, however, before this new tradition has an impact on the number of female music directors in cathedrals. The first ever in a Church of England setting – Guildford’s organist and master of the choristers, Katherine Dienes-Williams – describes the current numbers as ‘a smattering’ but feels, like Salisbury’s girl choristers, they are showing ‘the art of what is possible. Twenty years ago, if a young girl looked at pursuing a career as a cathedral organist or music director, it wasn’t open as it might be now. Perhaps with people like myself and Sarah Baldock at Chichester, others coming through say, “Well if they can do it, then CM maybe we can too”.’ www.salisburycathedral.org.uk choral 2012 rhinegold.co.uk 13
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Not In Our Time
A new choral work by Richard Blackford
“Fiercely paced and vividly dramatic, it’s a huge sing and a grateful one. It’s perfectly designed to stretch the chorus without asking the impossible. …..Out of this melting-pot comes something that speaks for itself, and with tremendous force…. Writing this piece was like walking into a minefield, and too hesitant a step – in the interests of subtlety, good taste or whatever – could have been the end of it. But Blackford has proceeded fearlessly, intuitively, maybe rashly, but with confidence in his own craft. Which is considerable. Not in Our Time is a terrific piece whose textual content may cause choirs and audiences to think: is this for us? Emphatically it is.” Michael White - The Telegraph Not in Our Time stands in a powerful tradition of English oratorios that are highly political and overtly pacifist, drawing upon texts old and new to make the link between the contemporary and specific on the one hand, and the timeless and absolute on the other. Drawing alarming parallels between the Christian-Muslim conflicts of 900 years ago and the comparable miseries of today, Blackford forces his audience to look in the eye a profound, hideous truth: century after century, men abandon their shared humanity all too readily, using religious rhetoric to inspire nauseating atrocities. It may take a while for his natural optimism to break through, but when it does, it is glorious - and both the lyrical inspiration and the orchestration are of the highest level . Not in Our Time is perhaps closer to Tippett than to Britten – rooted in tonality whilst pushing at its boundaries when anger strikes – but both influences are palpably there, without the slightest hint of it being derivative. Invention is all – and there is invention aplenty. This is a paean of and to hope, a proclamation of shared humanity and, above all, a great oratorio for the peacemakers. This is a serious piece, but infinitely rewarding. Frankly, the more people who listen to it, the better, happier and more at peace with itself the world will be. Michael McManus - Gramophone “Richard Blackford showed great daring in confronting one of the major issues of our time – the apparently irreconcilable rift between Christianity and Islam which harks back to the time of the Crusades. ……a wonderfully stirring Crusaders’ marching hymn, Vexilla regis prodeunt, with a terrific brass and percussion accompaniment which makes them sound truly invincible. Jerusalem falls under their pitiless onslaught and they wade through the blood of their victims to worship at the Holy Sepulchre with the hymn Lucis largitor splendide – a thrilling outpouring of praise full of contrapuntal complexity, which both the adult chorus and the children’s chorus handled with relish and skill. Not in Our Time is an ingenious and provocative work which raises important issues for our time. Apart from that it is very strong and varied musically with some imaginative orchestration and really challenging items for the chorus to get their teeth into. Richard Blackford has composed a work which is stimulating both musically and intellectually, and choral societies who appreciate a challenge should be vying with each other to perform it. It proved a magnificent climax to a concert inspired by the tragic events of a decade ago and deservedly received a standing ovation.” Roger Jones - Seen and Heard International
Tenor and Baritone Soli, SATB Chorus, Childrens’ Chorus, Orchestra 2222 -433Tuba - Harp -3 Perc, Timp. - Strings Duration 55 minutes
Available on CD NI 6161, late October on Nimbus Records www.wyastone.co.uk Published by Novello promotion@musicsales.co.uk Further information and inspection scores from richard@blackford.co.uk
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© Christophe Abramowitz
le Chœur de Radio France
Radio France
Invites application for
Chœur de Radio France Matthias Brauer
musical director
TWO HIGH SOPRANOS (soprani I) AUDITIONS
january 16, 17, 18, 2012 Application closing-date : 19/12/2011 For application details: www.radiofrance.fr/concours contacts: Marie Boyer: +33 (0)1 56 40 37 25 Soraya villard: + 33 (0)1 56 40 16 81
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St Martin-in-the-Fields seen from Trafalgar Square
Brandenburg three It started out as a small event in 2010 but has grown into a substantial annual festival of choral music in the heart of London. Toby Deller talks to Bob Porter, artistic director of the Brandenburg Spring Choral Festival, about plans for 2012
J
anuary, and it is the lucky freelancer who looks at his diary in expectation rather than in hope. Even then, the one thing he will not expect to see is a Messiah gig – which usually takes at least a couple of months’ leave between the busy Christmas and Easter shifts. But there it is on 2 January: St Martin-in-the-Fields, 7pm, Messiah, the opening concert in the 2012 Brandenburg Spring Choral Festival. The event, which runs to the end of April,
is based at the landmark church on Trafalgar Square, but also includes a series of concerts in locations nearby. It is all the brainchild of Bob Porter, artistic director of the Brandenburg Sinfonia, a busy freelance orchestra that has over the years become a regular visitor to St Martin’s. ‘We do a lot of work as an orchestra with choirs,’ says Porter. ‘It’s work that I enjoy very much because there’s a real enthusiasm in the amateur choir scene which is not always
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present in the professional orchestral scene. After promoting concerts at St Martin’s for over ten years, in 2010 I pooled a group of half a dozen choral concerts and named it the spring festival.’ Then came the idea to expand. ‘We were sitting having a little planning session and talking about maybe doing it a bit bigger. And Sarah Tenant-Flowers, a choral conductor primarily but who also works with the orchestra and has been a great colleague and inspiration over the years, said, “Ok, Mr Smarty-pants, if we’re going to have a festival, we need a fringe”. And so from that, the idea grew that we would continue to base the festival at St Martin’s but develop a fringe of smaller concerts in all sorts of different, interesting venues so you’ve got more of a festival feel: little concerts, big concerts, late concerts, early concerts, all sorts of different angles.’ There are six satellite venues in all. ‘There had to be something interesting about them,’ continues Porter. ‘That might be acoustically, historically, architecturally, all sorts of reasons. So, we go to the chapel at Lincoln’s Inn which is a fascinating building and we also go to King’s College chapel with its glorious redbrick Victorian chapel.’ There are two new venues for 2012: the churches of St Clement Danes on the Strand and, a short hop over Waterloo Bridge, St John’s Waterloo. But the festival does return to the Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy and National Portrait Gallery. ‘They have a very nice music series on a Friday evening and it can be in any part of the gallery at all, depending on the group and the anticipated audience – quite difficult because it’s free entry with no tickets,’
says porter. ‘Last year we had the Guildhall Jazz Singers there with Scott Stroman and got a bit of a whisper that there was going to be a good sized audience and it would be tricky in one of the smaller galleries. At the last minute, we switched to hold it in their lecture theatre and we packed it out.’ Porter describes jazz choirs as one of his great passions, and the number of concerts featuring them (along with other non-classical genres such as gospel) has grown in 2012. Overall, his approach to programming the festival is to look for contrasts: ‘If you see a traditional Home Counties choral society go to a ladies’ barbershop event, the music is very different but the quality of performance is breathtaking, and every group has something to learn from other genres. In some concerts, we’re mixing up more than one group – we have a ladies’ barbershop group with an Afro-Caribbean choir within one programme, and similar contrasts elsewhere. Real musicians are always open to learning from other styles – we can all pick up something.’ Porter also mentions the festival’s closing day as a case in point; a triple decker at St Martin’s. ‘At 2.30 we have The Choir, the one formed by Gareth Malone and whose growth was witnessed by all of us on tv – they are called the South Oxhey Choir. They’ll be doing their popular stuff. Then at seven o’clock we have Monteverdi Vespers, which is probably the start of the western choral tradition, with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists and the classy Cambridge Chorale. And then late night, we have the New London Chamber Choir, a very edgy, experimental, interesting choir. The main thrust of their programme is romantic orchestral music transcribed for
Real musicians are always open to learning from other styles – we can all pick up something voices including Barber Adagio, Mahler – you couldn’t want a more contrasting day.’
T
hroughout the festival, there are concerts scheduled at different times, from afternoon and early evening events – Porter says he is keen to provide something for out-of-towners who may not want to be out late in London – to late-night concerts. ‘These,’ he says, before recalling an incident from the 2011 festival, ‘have worked very well – very atmospheric. Last year we had three concerts – a six o’clock, a 7.30 and a 9.30 – on the day of the Trafalgar Square riots. The 9.30 wasn’t actually a choral concert, it was Sebastian Comberti playing Bach unaccompanied suites on a baroque cello by candlelight in St Martin’s. Amazing, and increasingly atmospheric due to the riot that was going on 20 yards away. We locked the doors of the church and didn’t think they’d get through them.’ What, not even for Sebastian Comberti? He laughs. ‘At the end of the concert we just had to stick our heads out and figure out the safest escape route.’
Joining in: London Vocal Project choral 2012 rhinegold.co.uk 17
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Award-winning London chamber choir Best Classical Performance at Brighton Festival 2011. 2012 concerts include: 6 Jan, 9.30pm - Late Night at St. Martin-in-the-Fields part of the Brandenburg Spring Choral Festival. 24 July - Serenade to Music: a celebration of English music, poetry & Shakespeare at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. 3 Oct - Handel's Messiah at QEH, Southbank Centre, with Julia Doyle, Robin Blaze, Andrew Kennedy & Peter Harvey For further details on our concerts, classical CDs, commercial recordings, and how to join or hire the choir, please visit our website www.purcellsingers.org. Or email Fran at fran@purcellsingers.org.
www.purcellsingers.org
Borough Chamber Choir
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We are a friendly choir of around 30 regular members, augmented for special occasions, aiming always to bring a buzz to our musicmaking for both audiences and singers. This recently included Monteverdi’s Vespers with The Parley of Instruments. Come and hear us on December 10th at 7.30pm in St George’s, Borough High Street, London SE1, when we will be singing Tallis’s Puer Natus mass and other seasonal music, or on March 22nd at 9.30pm in St. Martin’sin-the-Fields when our programme includes forty-part motets from the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries. Anyone interested in joining us should email secretary@boroughchamberchoir.org.uk or visit our website: http://www.boroughchamberchoir.org.uk/. Bring a copy of this advertisement to our December concert for a free programme.
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He concedes that, ‘the excitement of it is what drives it forward. In 2010, we had seven concerts, 2011 we had 27, in 2012 there will be 43. There are general long-term aims, but my approach is always to let things grow naturally. If it’s working, it’ll grow. Funding is a big issue that would make life very much easier. There are some interesting venues that we haven’t quite tapped yet. We haven’t really developed the lunchtime slot, so there’s always that lurking. And also I’m very keen to introduce some choral workshops with one or two of the great and the good of the English choral scene who have expressed an interest in doing so.’
There’s a real enthusiasm in the amateur choir scene Above all, he says, the event is driven by his passion for choral music. ‘There is just something about it. Whatever musical language you start with, when you add text you add another layer of meaning, and when you add the human voice you add an intensity of expression that very few instrumentalists can quite capture. Put all that together with the enthusiasm in the choral scene in England, it’s so strong – that fires a passion in me. I’m hoping in a couple of years that this will seem as if it has existed for ever. To me, it just seemed blindingly obvious that it CM had to be done.’ Choral scene: the Medici Choir
www.brandenburgchoralfestival.co.uk www.brandenburg.org.uk
The Brandendurg Sinfonia and Brandenburg Baroque Soloists ‘Who,’ asks Christopher Herrick of the Twickenham Choral Society, ‘could have dreamt up and brought to realisation such a wonderful and varied choral festival in the heart of London but the splendid maverick Bob Porter? Many of the concerts, including ours, will feature his Brandenburg orchestras. It is a joy for me and for my choir to be taking part in it.’
Along with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists, the Brandenburg Sinfonia is the festival’s resident group. Many choral singers, particularly in south-east England, will have come across it elsewhere. ‘Like many other chamber orchestras in London, the Brandenburg Sinfonia is based on a core group of regular players,’ says Porter. ‘Some are freelance and some are employed in the
more regular orchestras like the Academy of St Martin’s or the ECO who have busier and slacker patches. It’s not a full-time occupation, but it is a surprisingly stable group of players. We’ve been working with quite a number of choirs for quite a long time, 15 years in some cases. The festival is founded in that really strong bedrock of relationships with large numbers of choirs.’
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2590 Choral Guide 118mm x 188mm [2]
8/11/11
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Artistic Director: Philip Dukes “...an outstanding musical opportunity for a talented young musician.” (Julian Lloyd Webber) A significant number of music scholarships available Professional orchestra-in-partnership: Southbank Sinfonia String Scholarship Fund for outstanding violinists, offering up to 85% of the fees State-of-the-art facilities including purpose built practice rooms and three concert halls A unique music programme offered to those preparing to read Music at university or conservatoire. Artistic Advisors and Visiting Consultants: Tasmin Little, Julian Lloyd Webber, Ronan O’Hora (Head of Keyboard, Guildhall School of Music and Drama), Dr Ioan Davies (Head of Chamber Music, Yehudi Menuhin School). Tel. +44 (0)1672 892300 Email: admissions@marlboroughcollege.org www.marlboroughcollege.org
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The Vocal department has an international reputation for the quality of its vocal training, offering inspirational tuition from the elite of the profession, including internationally respected teachers Isobel Buchanan and Nigel Perrin. Each voice is unique and every effort is made to tailor a vocal programme to suit the level of vocal maturity. Opportunities for performance as soloists and in ensembles in this country and abroad are boundless.
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Wells Cathedral School provides a brilliant foundation for life, in a specialist music school which exists in a real school environment.
This specialist training programme offers unparalleled preparation for choral scholarships, conservatoire and university. Recent successes include Meeta Raval, finalist in BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and the Wellensian Consort who were crowned ‘Choir of the Year 2010’. Scholarships are available from the DfE Music and Dance scheme for our specialist music course designed for young musicians of exceptional potential. For further information, please contact our admissions department on 01749 834252 or email admissions@wellscs.somerset.sch.uk www.wells-cathedral-school.com
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RE GU LA R CD S, MU SIC ALS AN D FO RE IGN TO UR S TO CL OS E HA RM ON Y GR MA GN IFI CE NT VE NU ES OU P CH OR AL SO CIE T Y OR CH EST RA S AN D 3 JAZ Z BA ND S) TH BA ND S RIV IN G CH A MB ER MU (IN CL UD IN G WI ND SIC PR OG RA MM E SPE CIA MU SIC IAN S E XT EN SIV E L SU PPO RT FO R TA LEN PR OG RA MM E OF CO NC TED ERTS AT HA ILE YB UR Y HE LD IN PR EST IGI OU S WI DE VA RIE T Y OF CO VE NU ES IB, A LE VE L, MU NC ERTS SIC TEC HN OL OG Y, GC SE AN D FO RE IGN TO UR S TO RE GU LA R CD S, MU SIC ALS MA GN IFI CE NT VE NU ES FIV E CH OI RS C LO SE HA SO CIE T Y OR CH EST RA S RM ON Y GR OU P CH OR BA ND S (IN CL UD IN G AL WI ND AN D 3 JAZ Z BA ND PR OG RA MM E S) TH RIV IN G CH A MB ER S) MU SIC
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Haileybury is a co-educational boarding school for 11-18 year olds which has quickly established a reputation for itself as having one of the country’s most exciting senior school music departments.
Scholarships are available at 11+, 13+ and 16+ to boys and girls who are enthusiastic, passionate and dedicated to furthering their own talents and the Music Department and, supplemented with bursaries, can value up to 100% of fees. The Director of Music, Quentin Thomas, would be pleased to meet prospective music scholars. Please contact him on: Tel +44(0)1992 706264 | Hertford SG13 7NU | www.haileybury.com • Special support for talented musicians • Extensive programme of concerts at Haileybury • Wide variety of concerts held in prestigious venues • IB, A Level, Music Technology, GCSE • Regular CDs, Musicals and foreign tours to magnificent venues • Five choirs • Close Harmony group • Choral Society • Orchestras • Bands (including Wind and 3 Jazz Bands) • Thriving chamber music programme • Annual ’Haileybury Week’ celebrating the Arts • 150th Anniversary commemoration in 2012
• • • • •
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Going digital Sarah Lambie investigates how a revolution in online publishing is transforming the sheet music industry
I
’ve been teaching singing to large groups of kids recently. I’ve discovered a few things in the process, one of the main things being that I don’t like teaching singing to large groups of kids. Fortunately I was only covering for a term, because what I lacked in genuine enjoyment, I made up for in near-hysterical enthusiasm. However, I discovered a couple of positive things as well: if they’re all talking so much that no amount of pleading, or standing with hands on hips in disapproving silence will still their tongues, just shout the names of random fruits at them. It stunned them into bemused and slightly terrified silence so effectively the first time that it became a running joke. The little nasties (to remain as polite as possible) would refuse to shut up in all lessons thereafter unless I pranced about before them yelling ‘Strawberry’ or ‘Prunes!’. Out of left field, yes; successful, very. Anyway, the other positive thing I discovered (and herein lies the point) was digital downloadable sheet music. Panicking the night before a class, with my cupboards bare of music to put before them with which they’d actually be able to cope, I ventured online and typed a couple of likely titles into Google (other search engines are available), and Lo! Sheet music can be bought online, and printed instantly: neatly side-stepping the four-to-five working day postage wait when you’ve already left it too late for that, and also saving you the guilty temptation to buy one copy and illegally photocopy it for the whole choir. Not a temptation to which I’ve ever succumbed, needless to say. I may be batty, and fond of fruit, but I’m not a criminal. Setting out in exploration of this new medium, I spoke to Tom Shorter of Shorter House, a very young and relatively small publishing house that is entirely devoted to choral music and to which the digital age has brought its own advantages, both for cost-cutting and artistic integrity.
‘The digital model makes a lot of sense for our customers,’ says Shorter. ‘For busy music directors it offers the flexibility to access music from anywhere at short notice. Plus there are no postage costs. ‘Another advantage of launching Shorter House Digital is that we can shun the commercial restraints that force publishers only to publish titles that will sell in bulk,’ continues Shorter. ‘Music that is of the highest quality but very difficult to sing – limiting its market – has become increasingly unpublishable in terms of the traditional print run. Digital publishing enables us to consider a wider range of good choral music, including less commercial work, which will give customers more choice in their repertoire planning.’ Shorter House is also branching out into subscriber-based releases. ‘We are going to launch a digital subscription to one of our forthcoming anthologies,’ says Shorter. ‘Subscribers will digitally receive at least one seasonal introit per week for a year.’ Dan Burges, a composer whose work has been published by Shorter House, continues: ‘The release schedule will be themed to follow the liturgical year, so that for example, an enterprising church choir could look at what music was needed for a service in two weeks’ time and find a brand new setting downloadable from Shorter House. At the end of the year, we’ll have a big collection of new pieces that will then be published as a nice glossy print volume entitled The Book of New Introits.’ This is the added advantage, too, of an interactive element to this system, as Shorter explains: ‘When we publish the printed collection, we’ll be able to use subscriber feedback to choose the most popular introits to include.’ Shorter House is also planning to complement its digital publishing with a free email subscription service for church music directors. ‘Since church music needs to be programmed on a weekly basis,’ Shorter says, ‘we think that a regular e-bulletin of music and seasonal suggestions will be a welcome tool.’
V
enturing into the realm of larger publishers, Faber Music is the latest major to launch a digital initiative: choralstore.com. The website allows the customer to print choral sheet music from an extensive catalogue, and receive a licence to print up to 30 copies of the work for their choir. The website, as the name suggests, is dedicated to choral music, and its creators have attempted to build into it the unique way in which choirs consume sheet music. ‘By launching choralstore.com,’ Faber’s publicity material states, ‘our ambition is to end the illegal practice of choirs photocopying music from a single purchased copy, by providing them with an affordable alternative and high quality customer service.’ The user is able to search for a work, view the score on screen and, where available, listen to audio clips. On buying the music, you don’t get a download to keep, but rather seven days’ access to an online, printable version. 22 rhinegold.co.uk choral 2012
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Bry Music Ad 11_11_Layout 1 10/11/2011 16:12 Page 1
Sheet music online XX 8notes.com: Offers free sheet music in categories ranging from
world to childrens’ and new music. Many pieces are free, some are members-only XX choralstore.com: Faber Music’s new digital service, currently offering a download and licence for 30 copies for £15 XX freehandmusic.com: More than 125,000 downloadable sheet music titles. Also sells ‘Sheet Music on-a-stick’ products – USB sticks that contain a selection of pieces within a particular genre and allow two print-outs of each title XX musicnotes.com: Almost 190,000 titles. One new free download offered every month XX musicroom.com / sheetmusicdirect.com: Affordable downloadable sheet music, backing tracks and video lessons for a vast array of instruments/ensembles. Also offers a catalogue of useful apps for iPhone and iPad XX music-scores.com: Some free sheet music offered; membership allows for unlimited downloads. All sheet music can be listened to in advance of purchase XX pianostreet.com: More than 30,000 pages of classical piano sheet music in PDF format. ‘Gold’ membership also includes e-books on piano technique, mp3s, access to a forum and other perks XX puresolo.com: Online music recording platform with over 24,000 backing tracks of pop and classical music for singers and instrumentalists. Sheet music also available to purchase XX sheetmusicplus.com: Thousands of titles, more added every week. Music teachers can enjoy 8 per cent rebates on purchases XX shorterhouse.com: Digital downloads of Shorter House titles
I also spoke to Kate Johnson at Music Sales, a company which now encompasses the long-standing British publishing house Novello. Novello marks its 200th anniversary this year with the release of two new choral anthologies, Novello New Choral Series and Novello New Choral Engravings, both of which are available digitally as well as in traditional sheet music form. Music Sales has embraced the digital in all its myriad forms, launching apps, e-books and digital lessons as well as print-ondemand music through musicroom.com and sheetmusicdirect.com. At sheetmusicdirect.com, for example, you can find a score, preview it and – for me the most useful feature – digitally transpose it to a manageable pitch for your students before buying and printing it. Sheet music apps have so far proved incredibly popular for Music Sales: the company’s New York-based director of digital publishing Tomas Wise remarks that ‘Sales of our sheet music-based apps have far exceeded expectations – over half a million musicians have downloaded them, and counting’. Musicroom.com’s collection of digital sheet music is dauntingly extensive and searchable by categories of, for example, ‘two-part choir’, ‘three-part mixed’, ‘choral’, ‘countertenor’, ‘lyrics and chords’ and so on. I was disappointed not to find a category entitled ‘ideas for inexperienced and desperate after-school-club teachers’, but perhaps – mercifully for all those long-suffering children – I’m in a sufficient minority that even the ultra-cheap digital market needn’t bother to cater for me. CM I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until they do.
BRYANSTON
Music enjoys an exceptional reputation at Bryanston. Embraced by a large number of pupils, it has a unique standing at the very heart of the school – academically, socially and spiritually.
A generous number of music scholarships are offered each year at both 13+ and 16+, including a new choral scholarship at 16+, which may be augmented by means-tested bursaries up to the value of 100% of fees for those in financial need.
For more information, please contact the Director of Music, Duncan Emerson, on 01258 484649 or music@bryanston.co.uk
Bryanston School Blandford, Dorset DT11 0PX
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Have you ever considered
a Choral Scholarship
at Royal Holloway,
University of London?
“Truly fabulous” - The Times
“What more could you possibly ask for?” - Gramophone
Choral Scholarships - up to £700
Organ Scholarships - up to £1,500
Did you know that you could be: ~ recording for Hyperion Records ~ broadcasting for BBC Radio 3 ~ ~ performing in prestigious music festivals ~ touring world-wide ~ ~ receiving free singing lessons ~ working with professional orchestras ~ All this and more, plus singing in varied schedule of services and lunchtime concerts, developing your choral technique and sight-reading abilities to a professional standard.
Listen for yourself and download an application form at:
www.chapelchoir.co.uk Application deadline 17th February 2012 Auditions 2nd & 3rd March 2012
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UNIVERSITY CHAPEL CHORAL AND ORGAN SCHOLARSHIPS
Sofia Vokalensemble/Bengt Ollén A Spotless rose frcd 060
Senior and Junior Organ Scholarships and Ten Choral Scholarships (SATB) During term time the Chapel Choir sings a weekly Choral Evensong and for Sunday Sung Eucharists. It regularly performs in Exeter Cathedral and undertakes visits to other churches/cathedrals both in the UK and abroad.
Classical and contemporary Nordic Christmas music performed by the successful Stockholm choir Sofia Vokalensemble. Featuring soprano soloist Jeanette Köhn.
For further details please contact: Professor Anthony Musson (Organist & Director of Chapel Music) Amory Building, University of Exeter, Rennes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4RJ A.J.Musson@exeter.ac.uk
Voces Nordicae/Lone Larsen The Magic Paint Brush frcd 062 This exquisite Stockholm choir pays its tribute to the Danish composer John Høybye. Untitled-1 1
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Voces Nordicae/Lone Larsen What Is Life? frcd 045 Challenging choral music, mostly written for this wonderful ensemble by Gjeilo, Lindberg and others.
Read more, listen and order at www.footprintrecords.com dISTrIBUTION www.discovery-records.com
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find us on Spotify and iTunes
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���������� ������������ ���������������������������� The NCCGB PO Box 116 Alresford Hants SO24 0YN
T: 07894 021279 E: info@nccgb.com
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NEW
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A Sporting Chance
978-0-19-337957-2
£7.25
Scored for unison upper voices (with optional parts), with brass quintet (2 tpt, hn, tbn, tba) and optional percussion
2
A fun and lively choral work on the theme of sport, games, and exercise
Run for gold
✦ Seven movements each describing a different sport
Ice is nice
✦ Exciting choral effects including panting, rapping, and grunting ✦ Opportunities for audience participation ✦ An ideal choice for all young choirs in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics
Game on!
The Underwater World Alright! The clean and jerk Game, set, and match
Buy your copies from your local music shop or from OUP: 01536 452630, music.orders.uk@oup.com To hire the instrumental accompaniment: 01865 353699, music.hire.uk@oup.com www.oup.com/uk/music For a licence to print or project the lyrics: 01865 355077, music.permissions.uk@oup.com Classical Music Nov Sporting Chance 2.indd 1 CHORAL_2011_025.indd 3
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choral
Composers’ Q&A Richard Blackford’s compositional output includes some 200 scores for films, four operas and two musicals. On top of that, he has worked extensively with choirs. Alan Bullard too boasts a diverse catalogue, but predominately focuses on writing for vocal ensembles and regularly acts as an editor of choral collections. Sarah Lambie talks to both composers about their passion for choral writing Richard Blackford
How did you first become involved with choral music?
I wrote my first large choral work at the RCM as a student and was lucky enough to have it conducted by Sir David Willcocks. That led to my first publishing contract and since then I have always been drawn to text setting and to the sonority of choral music. What are its particular challenges/appeals as a composer?
Studied at: Royal College of Music Long-term posts: Composer-in-residence at Balliol College, Oxford Output: Blackford’s work is performed and broadcast all over the world and has been recorded on the Sony, Decca, Argo, Warner Classics, EMI, Quartz and Signum labels Awards: First prize at the Houston Film Festival, the Royal Television Society Award, the Mendelssohn Scholarship and the Tagore Gold Medal. In 2000, a four-hour choral and orchestral score for CNN/BBC’s landmark history series Millennium won an Emmy Award for Best Title Sequence, and Blackford was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music Other notable achievements: 2008 – first ever Composer-inassociation to the Brno Philharmonic 2010 – Blackford’s cantata Mirror Of Perfection (Sony Classical) received its German premiere in Cologne, bringing the total number of performances to over 80 Website: www.blackford.co.uk
I enjoy the challenge of writing in a direct musical style that’s good to sing as well as to hear. You always know in the first five minutes of rehearsal if the chorus is involved and excited by what you’ve written. If they are on your side, their commitment to the performance can produce a thrilling sound that can blow the roof off a concert hall. Have you got a favourite choral work that you didn’t write?
Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass. You’ve done a good deal of composing for theatre, film and tv: what challenges do those disciplines represent and does it alter your methods of composing?
In some respects, writing for film and tv is easier than concert music because you are given an existing structure – namely the film – and you are collaborating closely with the director and editor, so it’s not such a lonely process. But the pressures are far more intense. Time is always short and you have to keep your nerve and believe that what you finally produce will give the film maximum emotional and dramatic impact. Have you a career highlight that you’re able to pick out?
Mirror Of Perfection has been performed
over 80 times. But the most magical performance was by the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and the Florentine Camerata in the Lower Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, Italy, directly above the tomb of the saint. Tell me about the inspiration for and the writing process of your most recent major work, Not in Our Time?
After seeing a tv documentary linking George W Bush’s infamous call for a ‘Crusade against the war on terror’ with the Crusades, I decided to explore the contemporary and historical reasons that people have gone to war in the name of religion. I found extraordinary similarities between utterings of Popes and Muftis in the 11th century with politicians and activists today. The material is intensely dramatic and full of powerful musical potential. When the Cheltenham Festival offered to give its premiere on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, I found the composition took on a new energy and intensity. In the middle of the work is a setting of the reporter Tom Junod’s description of the Falling Man – time stands still as the unfortunate falls to earth from the burning World Trade Centre. During the premiere you could hear a pin drop throughout that movement. But I wanted the work to end on a note of hope and chose a section of Barack Obama’s inspiring speech to students at Cairo University in 2008, telling them that they have the ability to re-imagine, to re-invent the world. Much of Not In Our Time is hard hitting, dramatic, intense, but there are also moments of great lyricism and even celebration. When Michael McManus, Gramophone reviewer, described it as ‘a paean of and to hope, a proclamation of shared humanity’ I thought, ‘Great, he got it!’
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Alan bullard
teenage years, particularly his word-setting, his harmonic language and his instrumentation. Howells was my teacher at the RCM and was the first real composer I came into contact with, and I think his care with detail and maybe some of his harmony rubbed off on me. Are there other composers whose work has had an impact on your own choral writing?
Studied at: Royal College of Music and Nottingham University Long-term posts: Head of composition at Colchester Institute 1975 to 2005 Output: By no means limited to choral works, but has included a great many choral commissions for individual choirs, as well as carols and anthems for Oxford University Press. His choral works are regularly performed and recorded all over the world and his carols recently performed by the BBC Singers, the choir of Kings College Cambridge and The Sixteen Other notable achievements: 2008 – awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Essex Additional information: 21 January 2012 Flexible Anthems: A workshop day for singers and choir leaders exploring this set of anthems edited by Alan Bullard. Led by Arbutus Music and Bullard himself [www.arbutusmusic.net] Website: alan.bullard.tripod.com
How did you first come to compose choral music?
I started writing music for choir when I was about 11 or 12, inspired by the music that we sung at secondary school which had a good choral tradition – in my first year I was bowled over by, successively, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St John Passion and Dyson’s In honour of the City. Tell me about the respective influences of Herbert Howells and Benjamin Britten in your work.
Britten has been an influence since my
There are many – it’s difficult to name names, but certainly mediaeval and renaissance composers as well as more recent ones. In terms of contemporary composers, I particularly admire those who have developed a sense of texture in choral writing and also those who have aimed at simplicity of expression. Do you have a preference for writing for large or smaller choral ensembles, or is there no distinction?
No distinction – there is something very enjoyable in writing a short piece and honing its every detail – like a poem – but also I enjoy the opportunities for dramatic shaping and contrast that a larger-scale work brings. As an editor of choral collections, what can you say about the wider choral scene in the UK at the moment and developments in choral composing?
The choral collections that I’ve edited (The Oxford Book of Flexible Anthems and The Oxford Book of Flexible Carols) had a very specific purpose – resource books for choirs with fluctuating membership containing pieces that can be sung easily by different
choral forces. This imposed limitations on the collections – although their accessibility is their strength, they inevitably could not reflect a number of exciting recent developments in choral music. Even music of the so-called ‘minimalist’ choral school is actually difficult to perform well and effectively, however easy it might look on paper. It needs to be remembered that in the UK, the vast majority of choral singers are amateur and sing because they enjoy it, so most music written for them reflects their needs. Have you had a favourite choral project?
It tends to be the one I’ve just done. So at the moment it is the composition and seeing through to press of Wondrous Cross, my new Passiontide Cantata which has just been published by OUP (November 2011) and is scheduled for recording next year by Regent Records (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, directed by Sarah MacDonald). But looking back over time, the encouragement given to me by Colchester Choral Society and their conductor Ian Ray by commissioning three large-scale works over a 30 year period gave me the enjoyment of not only writing for choir, but also the opportunity to explore a range of exciting orchestral colours. Other highlights have been the broadcast of several of my choral works by the BBC Northern Singers (conductor Stephen Wilkinson) in the 1980s, and more recently, the inclusion of my Glory to the Christ-Child in two successive Kings Nine Lessons and Carols. I shall never forget the honour and delight of sitting in the choir stalls at Kings on Christmas Eve while the sounds of Stephen Cleobury’s choir echoed magnificently CM around the building.
It needs to be remembered that in the UK, the vast majority of choral singers are amateur and sing because they enjoy it, so most music written for them reflects their needs choral 2012 rhinegold.co.uk 27
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listings
UK choirs
A40 Choir t: 01753 886005 e: david.g.meacock@ btinternet.com w: www.a40music.com Contact: David Meacock, founder cond. Entrance requirements: None other than ability to read music. No of members: 40. Aeolian Singers 16 Varney Close, Hemel Hempstead HP1 2LH t: 01442 259447 e: info@ aeoliansingers.org.uk w: www. aeoliansingers.org.uk Contact: Stephen Jones, mus dir; Paul Davies, chair. Entrance requirements: Simple voice check with mus dir. No of members: Approx 75. Altrincham Choral Society c/o Altrincham Methodist Church, Springfield Rd, Altrincham WA14 1HF e: information@altrincham-choral.co.uk w: www.altrincham-choral.co.uk Contact: Pat Arnold, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 100. Anton Bruckner Choir e: chrisdawe@antonbrucknerchoir.org (applications) w: www. antonbrucknerchoir.org Entrance requirements: New members are expected to be a high standard with excellent sightreading skills. Application by CV and/or audition. Armonico Consort t: 01926 800109 e: admin@armonico. org.uk w: www.armonico.org.uk Contact: Christopher Monks, artistic dir; Christine Smeaton, concert mgr; Christopher Monks, mus dir; Peter Mitchell, assoc mus dir. Entrance requirements: Audition or by invitation. No of members: 12-40, depending on works being performed. Ashford Choral Society t: 01233 660559 e: virginiaaw@aol.com w: www.ashfordchoral.org.uk Contact: Virginia Williams, hon sec; Mark Deller, cond. Entrance requirements: Open to all. No of members: 130. Athenaeum Singers 9 The Downlands, Warminster BA12 0BD t: 01985 212017 e: info@ athenaeumsingers.com w: www. athenaeumsingers.com Contact: (Mrs) Paddy Yerburgh, sec. Entrance requirements: Non-auditioning but experience of choral singing is desirable. No of members: 80. Basingstoke Choral Society Hazeley Court, Hazeley Heath, Hook RG27 8LY t: 01252 849966 e: mnsennett@aol.com w: www. basingstoke-choral.org.uk Contact: Mervyn Sennett, committee and i/c publicity. Entrance requirements: Audition after a few weeks’ practice. No of members: 170. Bath Camerata Birch Tree Cottage, Nettlebridge, Oakhill
BA3 5AA t: 01749 841086 e: pauline@ bathcamerata.org.uk w: www. bathcamerata.org.uk Contact: Nigel Perrin, dir; Pauline Perrin, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 22-25. Bath Minerva Choir 30 Fairfield Park Rd, Bath BA1 6JW t: 01225 444190 f: 01225 420588 e: secretary@bathminervachoir.co.uk w: www.bathminervachoir.co.uk Contact: Joanna Wiesner, sec; Paul Feldwick, chair; Gavin Carr, musical dir. No of members: 150. BBC Singers Rm 24, BBC Studios, Delaware Rd, London W9 2LG t: 020 7765 4370/2243 f: 020 7765 2762 e: stephen.ashleyking.01@bbc.co.uk w: www.bbc.co.uk/ singers Contact: Stephen Ashley-King, gen mgr; David Hill, chief cond; Bob Chilcott, principal guest conds; Michael Emery, sr prod; Ruth Potter, co-ord; Amanda Boyle, broadcast asst; Lottie Fenby, mktg asst; Hannah Sander, mus asst; Garth McArthur, learning mgr. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 24. BBC Symphony Chorus BBC Maida Vale Studio, Delaware Rd, London W9 2LG t: 020 7765 4715 f: 020 7286 3251 e: bbcsc@bbc.co.uk w: www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/ symphonyorchestra/about/chorus Contact: Stephen Jackson, chorus dir; Alison Dancer, chorus admin. Entrance requirements: Auditions are held throughout the year. Birmingham Bach Choir t: 01789 763903 e: info@birmingham. bachchoir.com w: www.birmingham. bachchoir.com Contact: Paul Spicer, mus dir; Jonathan Spencer, chair. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 75. Borough Chamber Choir e: rfhanson@btinternet.com w: www. boroughchamberchoir.org.uk No of members: 25. Bournemouth Bach Choir t: 01202 470059 w: www. bournemouthbachchoir.org Contact: Carolyn Butterworth, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 40. Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir Tanglin, Firs Rd, Alderbury, Salisbury SP5 3BD t: 01722 710511 e: nigel. wyatt@dial.pipex.com w: www.bschoir. org.uk Contact: David Gostick, mus dir; Nigel Wyatt, chair. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 30. Bournemouth Symphony Chorus 7 Southbourne Coast Rd, Bournemouth BH6 4BE t: 01202 423429, also fax e: manager@bschorus.co.uk w: www.
bschorus.co.uk Contact: Carolyn Date, sec & mgr; Gavin Carr, chorus dir. Bradford Festival Choral Society 22 Bankfield Drive, Bradford BD18 4AD t: 01274 820510 e: sing@ bradfordfestivalchoralsociety.org.uk w: http://bradfordfestivalchoralsociety.org. uk Contact: Duncan Milwain, chair; Mark Clayton, sec; Thomas Leech, mus dir. No of members: 110. Brighton Festival Chorus 12a Pavilion Buildings, Castle Sq, Brighton BN1 1EE t: 07010 706235 f: 01273 707505 e: info@bfc.org.uk w: www.bfc.org.uk Contact: James Morgan, mus dir; Gill Kay, artistic mgr; Richard Pulham, chair. Brighton Orpheus Choir t: 01273 699107 f: 01273 883100 e: info@brightonorpheus.org w: www. brightonorpheus.org Contact: Annette Bell, chair; Richard Jayawant, sec. Entrance requirements: Age over 16; informal audition after joining. No of members: 80-90. Bristol Bach Choir 10 Roy King Gdns, Warmley, Bristol BS30 8BQ t: 0117 967 4394 e: secretary@bristolbach.org.uk w: www. bristolbach.org.uk Contact: Lisa Lewis, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 60. Bristol Choral Society 9 Cornwallis Crescent, Bristol BS8 4PL t: 0117 973 0696 e: davidandsarah@ ukonline.co.uk w: www.bristolchoral.co. uk Contact: Adrian Partington,mus dir; David Burns, chair. Entrance requirements: Friendly audition. No of members: Approx 170. Bury Bach Choir Southgate Farm, Rushbrooke Lane, Bury St Edmunds IP33 2RR t: 01284 767517 e: marketing@burybachchoir.co.uk; chairman@burybachchoir.co.uk w: www. burybachchoir.co.uk Contact: Louise Martin, chair; Philip Reed, cond. Entrance requirements: New members auditioned after approx 4 rehearsals. No of members: 120. Cambridge Taverner Choir t: 01483 222991 e: cambridgetavernerchoir@hotmail.co.uk w: www.cambridgetavernerchoir.org.uk Contact: Diana Baumann, admin; Owen Rees, dir. Entrance requirements: By invitation or audition. No of members: 25. Camden Choir 117 Cholmley Gdns, London, NW6 1UP t: 020 7794 6300 e: camden_ choir@yahoo.com w: www.camdenchoir. org.uk Entrance requirements: Voice test, inc some sightreading. No of members: 5060. Canticum 34 Ingleway, London N12 0QN t: 020 8445 0322; 020 7681 1046 (tickets) e:
chairman@canticum.org.uk w: www. canticum.org.uk Contact: Mark Forkgen, dir; Jan Trott, chair. Cantorian Sirenian Singers Gwernto Bach, Bwlchgwyn, Wrexham LL11 5YR t: 07973 260180 e: sireniansec@hotmail.co.uk w: www. sireniansingers.org Contact: Sheena Williams, sec, concert sec. Entrance requirements: By invitation or audition. No of members: 50-55. Capital Arts Children’s Choir Wyllyotts Centre, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 2HN t: 020 8449 2342, also fax; 07885 232414 e: capitalarts@btconnect. com w: capitalarts.org.uk Contact: Kathleen Shanks, mus dir. No of members: 60 Cappella Nova t: 0141 552 0634 f: 0141 552 4053 e: rebecca@cappella-nova.com w: www. cappella-nova.com Contact: Alan Tavener, cond; Rebecca Tavener, creative dir. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 4-18 depending on rep. The Cecilian Singers t: 0115 933 2896 e: lynne.holland@ btinternet.com w: www.ceciliansingers. co.uk Contact: Jeremy Jackman, mus dir; Lynne Holland, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 30. Chantage 47 Westcote Rd, London SW16 6BN e: info@chantage.org w: www.chantage.org Contact: James Davey, mus dir; Rachel Tonkin, choir mgr. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 40. The Chantry Singerse t: 01225 333527 e: info@chantry-singers. org.uk w: www.chantry-singers.org.uk Contact: Elizabeth Bates, mus dir; Amina Wright, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. Cheltenham Bach Choir 10a St Luke’s Rd, Cheltenham GL53 7JH t: 01242 580659 e: honsec@ cheltenhambachchoir.org.uk w: www. cheltenhambachchoir.org.uk Contact: Stephen Jackson, cond; Deborah Griggs, chair; John Bristol, sec. The Chichester Singers c/o Gibbs Croft, Westlands Lane, Birdham, Chichester PO20 7HH t: 01243 512385 e: j.selwood@virgin.net w: www.chichestersingers.co.uk Contact: Jill Selwood, hon sec; Jonathan Willcocks, cond. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 140 Choir of London 31 Beechcroft Ave, London NW11 8BJ t: 07812 049209 f: 07971 069788 e: info@ choiroflondon.org w: www. choiroflondon.org Contact: John Harte, gen mgr; Michael Stevens, artistic admin. Choir of Retrospect Ensemble
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The only thing better than singing is more singing Ella Fitzgerald
a member of
Association of Teachers of Singing Teaching : Sharing : Inspiring Join the UK’s leading organisation for singing teachers
Further details and an application form can be found at www.aotos.org.uk or by contacting Heidi Pegler (membership secretary) on 020 8758 9422 membership@aotos.org.uk
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Friends of the Music of St Giles’ Cathedral Edinburgh
Composition Competition 2012 Composers up to and including the age of 30 are invited to compose a work for SATB (with divisions) choir and organ to the text of the Jubilate Deo. There will be two categories: A: 21 and under B: Ages 22 - 30
PRIZE
There will be a first prize of £200 in each category and the winners will be announced at the end of the informal performance (open to the public) concluding the workshop day on Saturday 10 March 2012. In addition all four performances in the informal concert will be recorded and the recordings made available to the composers. This event will be open to friends, relations and members of the public free of charge.
Deadline for entries: 31 January 2012. Full details and entry form at www.stgilescathedral.org.uk
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listings
25 City Rd, Cambridge CB1 1DP t: 01223 321005 e: info@ retrospectensemble.com w: www. retrospectensembe.com Contact: Susan Kodicek, admin. Choir of The King’s Consort The Old Rectory, Alpheton CO10 9BT t: 01284 826044 f: 01284 826041 e: info@tkcworld.org w: www.tkcworld.org Contact: Robert King, artistic dir; Viola Scheffel, gen mgr. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 18-36. Choros 6 Mill Lane, Upper Heyford OX25 5LH t: 01869 232618, also fax e: info@choros.org w: www.choros.org Contact: Janet LincÊ, mus dir. Entrance requirements: Audition. Members should be excellent sightsingers with good musicianship and ens skills. No of members: Approx 30. City Chamber Choir e: rosemary_zoylinski@hotmail.com w: www.citychamber.org.uk Contact: Rosemary Zoylinski, membership sec. Entrance requirements: By audition on application to the membership sec. No of members: 25-30. City of Birmingham Choir 47 Lonsdale Rd, Walsall WS5 3HJ t: 01922 634278 w: www.citychoir.org.uk Contact: Adrian Lucas, cond; Susan Ward, gen sec. City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus CBSO Centre, Berkley St, Birmingham B1 2LF t: 0121 616 6500 f: 0121 616 6518 e: mflower@cbso.co.uk w: www. cbso.co.uk/choruses Contact: Simon Halsey, chorus dir; Andris Nelsons, mus dir; Elen Huws Elis, chorus mgr; Mike Flower asst chorus mgr; Katie Gardner, chorus admin. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 190. The City of Glasgow Chorus t: 0141 332 2333 f: 0141 332 0660 e: taylorsifa@btconnect.com w: www. cityofglasgowchorus.org Contact: Graham Taylor, chorus master. Entrance requirements: Audition. City of London Choir Flat 2, 13 Nevern Sq, London SW5 9NW t: 020 7373 2377 e: mail@ cityoflondonchoir.org w: www. cityoflondonchoir.org Contact: Rob Griffiths, sec; Jenny Robinson, gen mgr; Dan Mansfield, chair. Entrance requirements: Audition then re-audition every 3 yrs. No of members: 120 members, approx 80 sing in a concert depending on venue size. City of Oxford Choir 6 Reliance Way, Oxford OX4 2FU t: 01865 401725 e: chair@oxfordchoir.org w: www.oxfordchoir.org Contact: Tony Brett, chair; Diana Rayner, sec; Duncan Apsden, mus dir; Billy Purefoy, voice
coach. Entrance requirements: Audition during rehearsal. No of members: Approx 40-45. Colchester Choral Society w: www.colchesterchoralsociety.co.uk Contact: Pauline Heselden, sec. Entrance requirements: Voice assessment. No of members: Approx 70. Colla Voce Singers 57 Harp Rd, London W7 1JG t: 07876 236095 e: info@collavocesingers.com w: www.collavocesingers.com Contact: Sebastian Budner, choir mgr. Entrance requirements: By invitation; occasional auditions. No of members: 16-20. The Collegiate Singers 32 Barleycroft Rd, Welwyn Garden City AL8 6JU t: 01707 335315 e: andrew. millinger@virgin.net Contact: Andrew Millinger, mus dir. Entrance requirements: By invitation following audition. No of members: Usually around 40 performing. Collegium Musicum of London 106 Woodside, London SW19 7BA t: 020 8946 9737 e: elizabeth.aram@ btinternet.com w: www.coll-musi-lon.org. uk Contact: Liz Aram, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 25-30 per concert. Commotio (of Oxford) Flat 9, 56 Nightingale Lane, London SW12 8NY t: 07941 137934 e: info@ commotio.org w: www.commotio.org Contact: Matthew Berry, dir; Nick Wenban-Smith, treas. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 25-30. Concordia Singers 22 The Close, Ardingly RH17 6TX t: 01444 891387 e: info@concordia.org.uk w: www.concordia.org.uk Contact: Nicola Muller, publicity offr. No of members: 50+. Conventus 9a The Green, Cheddington, Leighton Buzzard LU7 0RJ t: 01296 662219, also fax; 07885 400855 e: robrsvp@ btinternet.com w: www.patrickhawes.com Contact: Rob Johnston, mgr; Patrick Hawes, dir. Entrance requirements: By invitation only. No of members: 4-48, as required. Crouch End Festival Chorus 46 Ulleswater Rd, London N14 7BS t: 0844 736 5220 e: general.manager@cefc. org.uk; engagements@cefc.org.uk; pr. marketing@cefc.org.uk w: www.cefc.org. uk Contact: David Temple, cond; Pinky Millward, gen mgr; Johnny Mindlin, hiring enquiries; Duncan McAlpine, press. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Up to 145. Croydon Philharmonic Choir 7 Stables End, Orpington BR6 8PD t: 01689 811133 e: barbarawalmsley@ ntlworld.com w: www.philharmonic.org. uk Contact: David Gibson, mus dir.
Entrance requirements: Informal audition. No of members: 90-100. Daytime Voices Music for Everyone, High Pavement Business Centre, 3-5 High Pavement, Nottingham NG1 1HF t: 0115 959 6484 e: admin@music-for-everyone.org w: www.music-for-everyone.org Contact: Rebecca Hooper, admin. Derby Choral Union 24 Elmwood Drive, Breadsall, Derby DE21 4GB t: 01332 550968 f: 01332 541726 e: patricialunn@hotmail.com w: www.dcu.org.uk Contact: David Cole, chair; Richard Dacey, mus dir, Patricia Lunn, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 100. Dulwich Choral Society 28 Half Moon Lane, London SE24 9HU e: chairman@dulwichchoralsociety.org.uk w: www.dulwichchoralsociety.org.uk Contact: Aidan Oliver, cond. Entrance requirements: Voice test on joining. No of members: 95. East London Chorus 102 South Park Rd, Ilford IG1 1SZ t: 020 8553 4404 f: 01707 884267 e: m. stewart@londonproarte.co.uk w: www. eastlondonchorus.org.uk Contact: Murray Stewart, mus dir; Lorraine Dawes, admin. East of England Singers Music for Everyone, High Pavement Business Centre, 3-5 High Pavement, Nottingham NG1 1HF t: 0115 959 6484 e: admin@music-for-everyone.org w: www.music-for-everyone.org Contact: Rebecca Hooper, admin. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 40 Edinburgh Festival Chorus The Hub, Castlehill EH1 2NE t: 0131 473 2027 f: 0131 473 2002 e: chorus@ eif.co.uk w: http://eif.co.uk/edinburghfestival-chorus Contact: Christopher Bell, chorus master; Helen MacLeod, chorus admin. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 125. The Elizabethan Singers of London 32 Leydon Cl, London SE16 5PF t: 07961 148806 e: elizabethan@classicalartists.com; sueheathdowney@hotmail. com w: www.classical-artists.com/ elizabethan-singers Contact: Susan HeathDowney, dir. No of members: 16-20. English Arts Chorale The Warren, 3 Rectory Meadow, Rattlesden, Bury St Edmonds IP30 0RE t: 01449 737766 f: 01449 737372 e: info@englisharts.org w: www.englisharts. org Contact: Leslie Olive, artistic dir; Ian Le Grice, mus assoc; Nyren Scott-Malden, chair, exec committee; Hazel Timbrell, chair, members & friends assoc; Rosemary Scott, membership sec Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 70. English Chamber Choir
8 Alma Square, London NW8 9QD t: 020 7286 3944 f: 020 7289 9081 e: ecc. protheroe@btinternet.com w: www. englishchamberchoir.com Contact: Guy Protheroe, cond; Ann Manly, mgr. English Concert Singers/English Concert Chorus 1 Bazehill Rd, Rottingdean, Brighton BN2 7DB t: 01273 300894 e: engconsing@fastnet.co.uk w: www. engconsing.co.uk Contact: Roy Wales, dir; Christine Wales, admin. English Singers 74 Glenthorne Ave, Shirley, London CR0 7EZ t: 020 8406 1430 f: 020 8406 1232 e: timhorton@blueyonder.co.uk Contact: Sally Burlington, mgr; Tim Horton, mus dir. Ex Cathedra 611b The Big Peg, 120 Vyse St, Birmingham B18 6NF t: 0121 200 1511 f: 0121 200 1522 e: info@excathedra. co.uk w: www.excathedra.co.uk Contact: Jeffrey Skidmore, artistic dir; Peter Trethewey, gen mgr. Entrance requirements: Audition requests by email, both professional and professionally trained amateur singers. No of members: Chmbr choir 35, consort 10. Exmoor Singers of London Chamber Choir 52 Church Lane, London SW19 3HQ t: 020 8543 3506; 07729 807122 e: info@ exmoorsingers.org w: www. exmoorsingers.org Contact: James Jarvis, mus dir; Alison Benbow, admin. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 35. Exon Singers 6 Ashlake Rd, London SW16 2BB t: 020 8677 0882 e: secretary@exonsingers.org. uk w: www.exonsingers.org.uk Contact: Richard Wilberforce, mus dir; Graham Wood, sec. Entrance requirements: By invitation. No of members: 30. Finchley Chamber Choir Trinity Church, Nether St, London N12 7NN t: 020 8815 9422 e: singing@ fcchoir.co.uk w: www.fcchoir.co.uk Contact: Michael Dickinson, chair; Richard Cox, sec; Meryn Nance, treas; Celia Bangham, Making Music rep; Barbara Kilpatrick, publicity. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 30. FineChants Bromley Parish Church, Church Rd, Bromley BR2 0EG t: 020 8466 8470; 07889 569226 e: garysieling2008@ hotmail.com w: www.garysieling.co.uk Contact: Gary Sieling, mus dir. Fulham Camerata 72 Lilyville Rd, London SW6 5DW t: 020 7763 2761 e: admin@ fulhamcamerata.com w: www. fulhamcamerata.com Contact: Christopher Wray, cond; Hermione Ruck
32 rhinegold.co.uk choral 2012
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EX CATHEDRA
THE LONDON WELSH MALE VOICE CHOIR Côr Meibion Cymry Llundain
Great music made in Birmingham
Musical Director: Edward-Rhys Harry Especially written for the London Welsh Festival of Male Choirs, these titles mark the start of an exciting new series of male voice choir arrangements by Edward-Rhys Harry.
From its home in Birmingham, Ex Cathedra has built an international reputation for seeking out the best, the unfamiliar and the unexpected in the choral repertoire, for its thorough research and its dynamic performances.
RHO I’M YR HEDD – RHYS (GRANT ME THE PEACE) Music by W. J. Evans Arranged for TTBB choir and piano
‘wonderful singers who are all a choir should be’
ERH003 £2.25 + p&p
SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER? Music by Robert Lowry Arranged for TTBB choir and piano ERH002 £2.25 + p&p
WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER? Words and Music by Brian May Arranged for TTBB choir and piano
Discover more at www.excathedra.co.uk
ERH001 £2.25 + p&p
BANKS MUSIC PUBLICATIONS
Choir | Consort | Orchestra | Education Artistic Director & Conductor Jeffrey Skidmore
from
Longship
The Granary, Wath Court, Hovingham, York YO62 4NN Tel: 01653 628545 Fax: 01653 627214 Website: www.banksmusicpublications.co.uk Email: info@banksmusicpublications.co.uk
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Choral Music by JOHN HEARNE Dame
Sir
impulse-music.co.uk/hearne.htm tutti.co.uk Longship Music AB51 0LN Tel: 01 651 88 22 74
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listings
Keene, choir mgr. Entrance requirements: No audition for amateur group; audition for semi-pro ensemble. No of members: Amateur group 20; semi-pro group 12. Godalming Choral Society t: 01483 420536 e: christine_mansell@ o2.co.uk w: www.godalmingchoral.org.uk Contact: Christine Mansell, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 130. Goldsmiths Choral Union 125 Malvern Way, Croxley Green, WD3 3QH t: 01923 778779 e: speacock@ semta.org.uk w: www.gcuchoir.org.uk Contact: Brian Wright, mus dir & cond; Sue Peacock OBE, sec. Guildford Chamber Choir Broadlands, South Rd, St George’s Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NA t: 07734 701239 f: 01932 847194 e: gammack@aol.com w: www.guildfordchamberchoir.org.uk Contact: Helen Pritchard, admin; Steven Grahl, cond. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 50. Hackney Singers e: chair@hackneysingers.org.uk; membership@hackneysingers.org.uk w: www.hackneysingers.org.uk Contact: Sheila Ebbutt, chair; Mark Shanahan, mus dir. Entrance requirements: Open door, non-audition policy; new members accepted when space allows (contact membership to enquire). No of members: 200+. Halifax Choral Society t: 01422 374216 e: halchad1817@mac. com w: www.halifaxchoralsociety.co.uk Contact: John Pryce-Jones, mus dir; Ann Copeland, admin. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 120. Hallé Choir t: 0161 907 9031 f: 0161 237 7028 e: halle.choir@halle.co.uk w: www.halle.co. uk Contact: Jo Pink, choral admin; James Burton, choral dir. Harlow Chorus 7 Great Hyde Hall, Sawbridgeworth CM21 9JA t: 01279 726806 f: 01279 726603 e: admin@harlowchorus.org.uk w: www.harlowchorus.org.uk Contact: Val Brockbank, admin; Alexander Chaplin, mus dir. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 100. Harpenden Choral Society t: 07860 823489 e: info@ harpendenchoralsociety.org w: www. harpendenchoralsociety.org Contact: Anne Pringle Davies, chair. Entrance requirements: Open to all with informal audition. No of members: 80. Harrogate Choral Society t: 01423 530764 e: secretary@ harrogatechoral.org.uk w: www. harrogatechoral.org.uk Contact: Ruth Pridmore, sec; Andrew Padmore, mus dir; Brian Kay, principal guest cond. Entrance requirements: Initial audition followed by
re-audition every 3-4 years for the whole choir. No of members: Approx 170. Harrow Choral Society e: gwen@deryckthornley.plus.com; jill@ mans.org.uk w: www.harrowchoral.org.uk Contact: Jill Mans, membership sec; Gwen Thornely, sec Entrance requirements: Prospective members attend a few rehearsals followed by a short informal audition. No of members: 120. Hertfordshire Chorus 28 Fulling Mill Lane, Welwyn AL6 9NS t: 07973 715756 f: 01438 716572 e: chairman@hertfordshirechorus.org.uk w: www.hertfordshirechorus.org.uk Contact: Nigel McNaught, chair; David Temple, mus dir. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 120. Highbury Chamber Choir 9 Conewood St, London N5 1DJ t: 020 7354 1129 e: nicky@lrb.co.uk Contact: Nicholas Spice, cond. Entrance requirements: Simple audition. No of members: 20-25. Highgate Choral Society 31 Lanchester Rd, London N6 4SX t: 020 8883 8740 f: 020 8883 5961 w: www.hcschoir.com Contact: Ronald Corp, mus dir; Chris Ashley, chair; Carolyn Pascall, gen mgr. Holst Singers w: www.holstsingers.com Contact: Stephen Layton, mus dir; James Bowman, pres. Entrance requirements: Auditions held every 2 years, members must reaudition then. No of members: Generally 32-40, sometimes more or less Huddersfield Choral Society 13 Railway St, Huddersfield HD1 1JS t: 01484 536986 e: jim.cowell@ huddersfieldchoral.com w: www. huddersfieldchoral.com Contact: Jim Cowell, gen sec. Entrance requirements: By audition; all voices retested regularly. No of members: 200+. Hull Bach Choir 132 Westbourne Ave, Hull HU5 3HZ t: 01482 446319 e: secretary@ hullbachchoir.org.uk w: www. hullbachchoir.org.uk Contact: Suzanne Brown, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition; ability to sightread is desirable but not essential. No of members: Approx 60. Hull Choral Union 10 Beechdale, Cottingham HU16 4RH t: 01482 849629 e: generalsecretary@ hullchoralunion.org w: www. hullchoralunion.org Contact: Sheila Goring, gen sec; Sam Gardner, cond. Entrance requirements: Audition. The Joyful Company of Singers 12 Bowland Drive, Barton Seagrave, Kettering NN15 6TX t: 01536 724667 e: bridget.howarth@jcos.co.uk w: www. jcos.co.uk Contact: Peter Broadbent, cond; Colin Fleming, chair.
Keighley Vocal Union e: mike_warner@btinternet.com w: www. keighleyvocalunion.co.uk Contact: Shirley Warner, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 65. Kentwood Show Choir 8 Mellow Ground, Haydon Wick, Swindon SN25 1QJ t: 01793 725863 e: info@kentwoodshowchoir.co.uk w: www. kentwoodshowchoir.co.uk Contact: Sheila Harrod, founder & mus dir. Entrance requirements: By application or invitation, then formal audition. No of members: Approx 40. Keswick Hall Choir 35 Grove Walk, Norwich NR1 2QG t: 01603 618904 e: info@keswickhallchoir. org.uk w: www.keswickhallchoir.org.uk Contact: John Aplin, mus dir. Entrance requirements: Audition with the cond. No of members: 45. King’s College, Cambridge King’s Lynn Festival Chorus Wayside, 38 Watlington Rd, Runcton Holme, King’s Lynn PE38 0EJ t: 01553 810116 e: secretary@klfc.org.uk w: www. klfc.org.uk Contact: Mandy Claydon, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 120. Kingston Choral Society 37 Overdale Ave, New Malden KT3 3UE t: 020 8949 4961 e: denis_down@yahoo. co.uk; kmwilkinson@blueyonder.co.uk w: www.kingstonchoralsociety.co.uk Contact: Denis Down, chair; Kimberley Wilkinson, membership sec. Entrance requirements: Application through membership sec. No of members: Approx 120. King William Choir and Orchestra t: 07740 354817 e: voicebox@hotmail. co.uk Contact: Hilary Campbell, dir. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 24, depending on project. Lancaster Singers High Barn, Rabbit Lane, Gressingham, Lancaster LA2 8LP t: 01524 61553, also fax e: high.barn@btinternet.com w: www.lancastersingers.org Contact: Denis McCaldin, cond; Stella Birchall, sec. Laudamus Chamber Choir 6 Kemishford, Woking GU22 0RL e: suray@suray.plus.com w: www. laudamuschamberchoir.org.uk Contact: Susan Smith, hon sec. Entrance requirements: Simple audition. No of members: 22. Leeds Baroque Choir The Gables, 6 Grosvenor Park, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 3QD t: 0113 268 0600 e: jlj@btinternet.com w: www. leedsbaroque.org.uk Contact: Clive McClelland, chorus master; Jillian Johnson, admin; Peter Holman, mus dir. Entrance requirements: By audition and/ or invitation. No of members: 20-25
depending on rep. Leeds Festival Chorus 29 Broomfield, Leeds LS16 6AE t: 0113 261 9731; 0113 278 9490 (concerts organiser) e: secretary@ leedsfestivalchorus.co.uk; concerts@ leedsfestivalchorus.co.uk Contact: Mac Burnell, admin sec; Simon Wright, cond & artistic adviser; Sue Winbolt-Lewis, concerts organiser. Leeds Philharmonic Chorus 1 Victoria Mount, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4PU t: 0113 228 7934 e: enquiries@ leedsphil.org w: www.leedsphil.org Contact: Janet Jurica, hon sec; David Hill, mus dir; Mark Hindley, chorus master. Leicester Philharmonic Choir Rivendell, 37 College Rd, Syston, Leicester LE14 2AQ t: 0116 260 2024 e: tonygeary@btinternet.com w: www. thephil.org.uk Contact: Tony Geary, gen sec; Karl Jenkins, patron. No of members: 120. Liverpool Welsh Choral 78 Ringwood, Prenton CH43 2LZ t: 0151 652 6374 e: mavis@lwcu.freeserve. co.uk w: www.lwcu.co.uk Contact: Mavis Owens, ticket sales mgr; Pam Donaghy, concerts mgr. London Cantata Choir e: admin@londoncantata.com w: www. londoncantata.com Contact: Paul Baxter, admin. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 25 for each event; membership of around 50. The London Chorus t: 020 8858 9311 f: 020 8853 5936 e: info@londonchorus.org.uk w: www. londonchorus.org.uk Contact: Ronald Corp, mus dir; Hannah Williams, admin; Prue Corp, concert mgr; HRH Duke of Gloucester, patron. London Community Gospel Choir London Concert Choir t: 07780 607837 f: 0780 135 5729 e: info@london-concert-choir.org.uk w: www.london-concert-choir.org.uk Contact: Mark Forkgen, cond; Bill Cook, chair; Jennifer Greenway, membership. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 150. London Gallery Quire t: 020 8505 4381 e: stella.hardy@bt.com; francis.roads@gmail.com w: www.lgq.org. uk Contact: Stella Hardy, admion; Francis Roads, mus dir. Entrance requirements: None prescribed. No of members: Approx 40. London Jewish Male Choir 11 Brampton Court, London, NW4 4AJ t: 07956 246659 e: info@ljmc.org.uk w: www.ljmc.org.uk Contact: Dan Jacobs. London Oriana Choir c/o 264 Camberwell New Rd, London SE5 0RP t: 020 7738 7926 e: contacts@ londonoriana.com w: www.londonoriana. com Contact: David Drummond, mus
34 rhinegold.co.uk choral 2012
CHORAL 2012 listings - choral all.indd 34
10/11/2011 10:17:19
ProkofieV’S iVan the terrible
IÈRE
EM WORLD PR
Saturday 28 January 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall, London
Vladimir Jurowski conducts iVan the terrible - an oratorio version of Prokofiev’s film music made by his confidant, levon atovmyan. With Simon Callow, ewa Podles, andrey breus and the london Philharmonic Choir. Performance generously supported by The Serge Prokofiev Foundation
Part of festival
Yannick nézet-Séguin
conducts BRUCKNER TE DEUM
Visit lpo.org.uk/prokofiev for full details tickets £9-£65 Southbank Centre ticket office 0844 847 9920 southbankcentre.co.uk booking fees apply
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Saturday 4 February 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall, London Christine Brewer soprano Mihoko Fujimura mezzo soprano Toby Spence tenor Franz-Josef Selig bass London Philharmonic Choir
“... an impeccable conductor of choral music” The Guardian
09/11/2011 12:52:21
ARS CHORALIS 2012 The 2 International Artistic and Scientific Symposium on Choral Art, Singing and Voice nd
Zagreb, April 12–14, 2012 Croatia Organizer: INTERNATIONAL CHORAL INSTITUTE of THE CROATIAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION www.choralcroatia.com
POTATO MUSIC silly songs for choirs Nine humorous songs for choirs by the composer of
TEQUILA SAMBA (OUP Encores For Choirs)
Including the new show stopper
POTATO MUSIC Available (£10) from www.guyturner.co.uk Launch Concert by Hampshire County Youth Choir The United Church, Jewry Street, Winchester Saturday November 26th at 7.30pm - Tickets £8/£6 from 02380 652037
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listings
dir; Fiona Tong, Simon Funnell, chairs. London Orpheus Choir 2 Tenby Mansions, Nottingham St, London W1U 5ER t: 020 7486 1929 e: info@londonorpheus.plus.com w: www. londonorpheus.plus.com Contact: Colin Evans, chair. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 55. London Philharmonic Choir Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4QH t: 020 7193 1378 e: kdarnell@lpc.org.uk w: www.lpc.org.uk Contact: Neville Creed, artistic dir; Mary Moore, chair; Kevin Darnell, choir mgr. Entrance requirements: Membership by audition. No of members: 200. London Symphony Chorus 230 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4QH t: 01708 731324 e: lscadmin@tiscali.co.uk w: www.lsc.org.uk Contact: Joseph Cullen, chorus dir; James Warbis, chair. London Welsh Chorale / Côral Cymry Llundain 157-163 Grays Inn Rd, London WC1X 8UE e: info@londonwelshchorale.org.uk w: www.londonwelshchorale.org.uk Contact: Susan Craig, sec. No of members: Approx 100. Maida Vale Singers 7b Lanhill Rd, London W9 2BP t: 020 7266 1358, also fax e: maidavalesingers@ cdtenor.freeserve.co.uk w: www. maidavalesingers.co.uk Contact: Christopher Dee, dir & chorus master. Malcolm Sargent Festival Choir 34 North End Rd, London W14 0SH t: 020 7602 6818/7352 6805 f: 020 7602 8162 e: malcolm.sargent@virgin.net w: www.malcolmsargent.org Contact: Sylvia Darley OBE, chair. Entrance requirements: Voice test. No of members: 120 The Manchester Chorale 161 Radcliffe New Rd, Whitefield, Manchester M45 7RG t: 0161 767 9226 e: concerts@manchesterchorale.org.uk w: www.manchesterchorale.org.uk Contact: Ged Cavanagh, concert sec; Jill Henderson-Wild, mus dir. Manchester Lesbian and Gay Chorus e: itsec@mlgc.org.uk; chair@mlgc.org.uk; membership@mlgc.org.uk; pr@mlgc.org. uk; events@mlgc.org.uk w: http://mlgc. org.uk Contact: Jon Atkin, chair; Mike Lake, membership; Kay Bastin, Gaz Booker, Michael Colclough, PR team; Hannah Roberts, events. Entrance requirements: No auditions. No of members: 70. Midland Festival Chorus PO Box 9351, Leicester LE41 9GA t: 0116 267 1680 e: info@ midlandfestivalchorus.org w: www. midfestchorus.org Contact: Malcolm Goldring, mus dir; Donovan Cattell, chair; Dirk Tinbergen, singers’ sec. No of members: Approx 230.
The Monteverdi Choire Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra Ltd, Level 9, 25 Cabot Sq, London E14 4QA t: 020 7719 0120 f: 020 7719 0099 e: info@ monteverdi.org.uk w: www.monteverdi. co.uk Contact: Sir John Eliot Gardiner, artistic dir; Riitta Hirvonen, gen mgr; Julian Clarkson, choir mgr; Sophie Palent, tour mgr. Entrance requirements: By invitation. No of members: Approx 30. Newcastle Bach Choir International Centre for Music Studies, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU t: 0191 236 5147, also fax e: johna.smith@dsl.pipex.com w: www.newcastlebachchoir.org.uk Contact: Eric Cross, artistic dir; John Smith, chair; Susan Coulson, sec. Entrance requirements: By audition. No of members: 80-100. New London Chamber Choir t: 01273 470068 e: info@nlcc.org.uk w: www.nlcc.org.uk Contact: Liz Webb, promotions mgr. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Varies, average 32. New London Singers c/o 76a Milton Park, London N6 5PZ t: 01732 464836 e: chairman@ newlondonsingers.org.uk w: www. newlondonsingers.org.uk Contact: James Young, chair; Ivor Setterfield, cond. Northern Sinfonia Chorus The Sage Gateshead, St Mary’s Sq, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead NE8 2JR t: 0191 443 4666; 0191 443 4661 (ticket office) f: 0191 443 4551 e: fiona.gill@ thesagegateshead.org w: www. thesagegateshead.org/sinfonia/sinfonia_ chorus Contact: Fiona Gill, chorus admin; Alan Fearon, chorus master; Simon Halsey, principal cond, choral programme. North Yorkshire Chorus t: 01609 772944 e: hazel.sumsion@ virgin.net w: www.northyorkshirechorus. org.uk Contact: Hazel Sumsion, gen sec; Greg Smith, cond & chorus dir; Tony May, chair. Nottingham Festival Chorus Music for Everyone, High Pavement Business Centre, 3-5 High Pavement, Nottingham NG1 1HF t: 0115 959 6484 e: admin@music-for-everyone.org w: www.music-for-everyone.org Contact: Rebecca Hooper, admin No of members: 200+ Nottingham Harmonic Choir 60 Meadow Rd, Nottingham NG9 1JT t: 0115 922 8433 e: GenSec@ NottinghamHarmonic.org w: www. nottinghamharmonic.org Contact: John Whittle, gen sec. Entrance requirements: Entry audition and re-audition every 5 yrs. No of members: 180-200. Occam Singers t: 01403 734918 e: chair@occamsingers. co.uk w: www.occamsingers.co.uk
Contact: Stephanie Comley, chair. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 40. The Oxbridge Singers t: 07984 193518 e: alexander@oxbridgesingers.com w: www.oxbridge-singers.com Contact: Alexander Campkin, principal cond. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 12. Oxford Bach Choir Wisteria Cottage, 2 Brook St, Benson, Oxon OX10 6LQ t: 01491 201977 e: chris.evers@community.co.uk Contact: Nicholas Cleobury, cond; David Weston, chair; Chris Evers, gen sec; David Lowe, assoc cond; Martin Peters, artistic admin. Oxford Harmonic Society 1 Poplars Close, Preston Bissett MK18 4LR t: 01280 848275 e: robert_secret@ fastmail.fm w: www.oxfordharmonicsoc. org.uk Contact: Robert Secret, cond; Anthony Walters, concert mgr. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 130. Oxford Pro Musica Singers 15 Parker’s Hill, Tetsworth OX9 7AQ t: 01844 281427 e: michael.smedley23@ btinternet.com w: www.opms.org.uk Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 30-40. The Philharmonia Chorus t: 020 8788 6305; 020 7609 8813 (auditions) e: enquiries@ philharmoniachorus.co.uk; membership@ philharmoniachorus.co.uk (auditions) w: www.philharmoniachorus.co.uk Contact: Stefan Bevier, chorus master; Richard Harding, chair. Philharmonia Voices 2 Mulberry Close, London SE22 0HZ t: 020 7921 3900 f: 020 7921 3950 e: aidan.oliver@westminster-abbey.org w: www.philharmonia.co.uk Contact: Aidan Oliver, dir. Plaxtol Scholars PO Box 308, Sevenoaks TN15 0ZW t: 01732 811036 e: mcarboni@ carbonimedia.com w: www. plaxtolscholars.org Contact: Marius Carboni, dir. No of members: 25. The Portsmouth Chorus t: 01243 373946 (sec); 01329 310876 (recruiting) e: secretary@ theportsmouthchorus.com w: www. theportsmouthchorus.com Contact: Sue Underwood, sec; Ian Gore, recruiting. Entrance requirements: Audition after approx 3 rehearsals. No of members: 7580. Portsmouth Festival Choir c/o 34 Balmoral Ct, 45 Clarence Parade, Southsea PO5 2ES t: 023 9273 7470 w: www.portsmouthfestivalchoir.org.uk Contact: Diana Wren, sec; David Truslove, mus dir. The Purcell Singers t: 020 8466 5900 e: info@purcellsingers.
org w: www.purcellsingers.org Contact: Mark Ford, cond. Entrance requirements: Audition No of members: 35 Reading Bach Choir t: 0118 987 1452 e: rachelkershaw@live. co.uk w: www.readingbachchoir.org.uk Contact: Rachel Kershaw, sec; Matthew Hamilton, mus dir. Entrance requirements: Audition by mus dir. No of members: 40-50. Reading Festival Chorus t: 0118 978 5829 e: tony@skuse.net w: www.readingfestivalchorus.org.uk Contact: Tony Skuse, sec. Entrance requirements: Short audition. No of members: 60+. The Renaissance Singers Cathedral Office, Cathedral Close, Blackburn BB1 5AA t: 01254 503082 f: 01254 689666 e: linda.bruce@blackburn. anglican.org w: www.blackburn.anglican. org Contact: Linda Bruce, mus admin. Royal Choral Society Studio 9, 92 Lots Rd, London SW10 0QD t: 020 7376 3718 f: 020 7376 3719 e: virginia@royalchoralsociety.co.uk w: www.royalchoralsociety.co.uk Contact: Virginia Edwyn-Jones, admin. Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir Philharmonic Hall, Hope St, Liverpool L1 9BP t: 0151 210 2895 f: 0151 210 2902 e: rlpc@liverpoolphil.com w: www. liverpoolphil.com Contact: Ian Tracey, choir master; Rosemary Barton, admin. RSVP VOICES 9a The Green, Cheddington, Leighton Buzzard LU7 0RJ t: 01296 662219, also fax; 07885 400855 e: rob@rsvpvoices. com w: www.rsvpvoices.com Contact: Rob Johnston, dir. Entrance requirements: Audition or by recommendation. No of members: 1-200, as required. Salford Choral Society t: 01706 670251 f: membership@ salfordchoral.org.uk w: www. salfordchoral.org.uk Contact: Diane Dunning, membership sec. Entrance requirements: Very informal audition; enthusiastic and committed new members always welcom.e No of members: 100. The Scottish Chamber Choir 3 Mortonhall Park Loan, Edinburgh EH17 8SN t: 0131 664 4386 e: info@ scottishchamberchoir.org.uk w: www. scottishchamberchoir.org.uk Contact: Marjory Lobban, treas. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 30. Scottish Chamber Chorus 4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh,EH7 5AB t: 0131 478 8335 f: 0131 557 6933 e: tammo.schuelke@sco.org.uk w: www.sco. org.uk Contact: Tammo Schuelke, chorus admin; Gregory Batsleer, chorus master. Entrance requirements: New members audition; members re-auditioned every 2 yrs. No of members: Approx 50.
36 rhinegold.co.uk choral 2012
CHORAL 2012 listings - choral all.indd 36
10/11/2011 10:17:49
“
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sheet music, practice mp3’s and accompaniment recording (karaoke) for choirs & vocal groups Adele Rolling in the deep
Listen both versions online
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07/11/2011 12:43:33
Amy Winehouse Valerie
FREEs X-ma ! ballad
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20/10/2011 19:03:58 10/11/2011 15:51:38
listings
Sense of Sound Singers The Bluecoat School, School Lane, Liverpool L1 3BX t: 0151 702 7799 e: jenny@senseofsound.net w: www. senseofsound.org Contact: Jennifer John, choir mgr. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 45. Sheffield Bach Society t: 0114 268 3812 e: boxoffice@ sheffieldbachchoir.org.uk w: www. sheffieldbachchoir.org.uk Contact: Jenny Cowling, treas; Alison Down, sec; Liz Arnesen, membership sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 60. Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus Shechem, Old Brampton, Chesterfield S42 7JQ t: 01246 568004 w: www. sheffieldphil.org Contact: Stephen Knight, gen sec; Julie Smethurst, chair; Darius Battiwalla, mus dir. Singscape 2 Church St Cottages, Upton OX11 9JB t: 01235 850488 e: singscape@aol.com w: www.singscape.org.uk Contact: Sarah Tenant-Flowers, cond. Entrance requirements: By invitation. No of members: 20-30. The Sixteen Raine House, Raine St, London E1W 3RJ t: 020 7488 2629 f: 020 7488 4905 e: info@thesixteen.org.uk w: www. thesixteen.com Contact: Harry Christophers, cond, mus dir; MarieSophie Willis, gen mgr; Suzanne Doyle, admin. Somerset Chamber Choir t: 01392 432931 @somersetchamberchoir.org.uk w: www. somersetchamberchoir.org.uk Contact: Lin Winston, chair; Luisa De Gregorio, recruitment. Entrance requirements: Experienced singers may apply, attend a rehearsal day and audition at the end of the day. No of members: 60-70. South Bucks Choral Society Waldens, 6 Westanley Ave, Amersham, HP7 9AZ t: 01494 433013 e: southbuckschoral@btinternet.com w: www.bigfoot.com/~southbuckschoral Contact: Gwenda McInnes, hon sec; Iain Ledingham, mus dir. Entrance requirements: Audition. Must have reasonable knowledge of music and sightreading. No of members: 120. South West Festival Chorus (incorporating Frome Festival Chorus) 30 Fairfield Park Rd, Bath BA1 6JW t: 01225 444190 f: 01225 420588 e: jmw. concerts@btinternet.com Contact: Jason Thornton, mus dir; Gavin Carr, chorus master, Joanna Wiesner, admin. St Bartholomew’s Hospital Choral Society 15 Fountain Pl, Barbourne WR1 3HW t: 01905 27134 e: secretary@bartschoir.
com w: www.bartschoir.com Contact: Peter Sheeran, sec; Ivor Setterfield, cond. St Michael’s Singers St Michael’s Vestry, Cornhill London, EC3V 9DS t: 01737 244604, also fax; 07799 641699 e: jonathanrennert@ hotmail.com Contact: Jonathan Rennert, mus dir. Entrance requirements: Audition. Sussex Chorus 11 Barrowfield, Cuckfield RH17 5ER t: 01444 454091, also fax e: secretary@ sussexchorus.org w: www.sussexchorus.org Contact: Rosemary Pardey, hon sec; Neil Jenkins, cond. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 130+. The Syred Consort t: 07759 599042 e: info@thesyredconsort. co.uk w: www.thesyredconsort.co.k Contact: Ben Palmer, mus dir. Entrance requirements: By invitation or recommendation. Occasional auditions held. No of members: Approx 8-25 depending on project. Tallis Chamber Choir Cavick House, Wymondham NR18 9PJ t: 07769 705366; 01953 608028 e: tallischamberchoir@hotmail.co.uk Contact: Philip Simms, dir; Judith Lawrence, admin. Entrance requirements: By invitation. No of members: 16-40. Tamesis Chamber Choir 17 Collis St, Reading RG2 0AE t: 0118 931 4279 e: lourap@gmail.com w: www. tamesischamberchoir.co.uk Contact: Louise Rapple, mus dir. Entrance requirements: Annual audition for all choir members and potential choir members. No of members: Approx 25. Tenebrae 84 Weymouth Ave, London W5 4SB t: 07973 886232 e: info@tenebrae-choir.com w: www.tenebrae-choir.com Contact: Nigel Short, admin. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 20. Thames Philharmonic Choir 18 Kingswood Ave, Hampton TW12 3AU t: 020 8979 4355 e: secretary@ thamesphilchoir.org.uk w: www. thamesphilchoir.org.uk Contact: John Bate, artistic dir; Sylvia Walker, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 100. Three Spires Singers 4 Compton Terrace, Truro TR1 1HL t: 01872 227331 e: priscilla.reeve@ googlemail.com w: www. threespiressingers.org.uk Contact: Priscilla Reeve, chair. Entrance requirements: Audition and annual subscription. No of members: Approx 100. Trianon Music Group 24 Haughley Drive, Bixley Farm, Rushmere St Andrew, Ipswich IP4 5QU t: 01473 320337 e: simon.i.fisher@ btinternet.com w: www.tmg.org.uk Contact: Simon Fisher, chair; Susie Mawson, vice chair; Christopher Green
OBE, artistic dir. University of Warwick Chamber Choir Music Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL t: 024 7652 3799 f: 024 7652 8136 e: music.centre@warwick. ac.uk w: www.uwcc.co.uk Contact: Lucy Griffiths, asst dir of mus. Entrance requirements: By audition only. No of members: 30-50. University of Warwick Chorus Music Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL t: 024 7652 3799 f: 024 7652 8136 e: music.centre@warwick. ac.uk w: www.warwick.ac.uk/musiccentre Contact: Paul McGrath, Lucy Griffiths, cond. Entrance requirements: Nonauditioned, open to all ages and abilities. No of members: Approx 200. Valentine Singers c/o J Kenning, 93 Third Ave, Dagenham RM10 9BE t: 020 8517 5230 e: info@ valentinesingers.org w: www. valentinesingers.org Contact: Christine Gwynn, mus dir; Tim Smith, accomp; John Kenning, chair, exec committee. Entrance requirements: None, although an informal audition may be arranged when necessary. No of members: 60+. Vasari Singers PO Box 46778, London, SW17 9YL t: 07712 386465 e: secretary@vasarisingers. org w: www.vasarisingers.org Contact: Jeremy Backhouse, cond; Nicola Balzan, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: Approx 35 singers per concert. Vox dicentis 14 Roselands Court, Chester Rd, Lavister, Wrexham LL12 0DD t: 01244 571987 f: 01244 571857 e: m. needham@btinternet.com Contact: Marian Needham, admin. Entrance requirements: Audition or by invitation. No of members: Approx 16. Wakefield Festival Chorus Lacy Villa, Moorlands Rd, Dewsbury WF13 2LF t: 01924 468032; 01924 476721 e: Kennethknsng@aol.com w: www.wdco.org Contact: KG Keeping, chair; M Hampshire, hon sec. Entrance requirements: No audition; ability to sightread is desirable but not essential. No of members: Approx 45. Whitehall Choir c/o British Expertise, 10 Grosvenor Gdns, London, SW1W 0DH t: 020 7824 1933 f: 020 7824 1929 e: info@whitehallchoir. org.uk w: www.whitehallchoir.org.uk Contact: Graham Hand, chair; Ben Nicholls, sec. Entrance requirements: Simple audition. No of members: 70. Whitstable Choral Society t: 01227 282163 f: 01227 282177 e: secretary@whitstablechoral.org.uk w: www.whitstablechoral.org.uk Contact: Rosemary Simmonds, hon sec. Entrance
requirements: Voice test. No of members: 130. Wimbledon Choral Society 50-51 High St, London SW19 5AX t: 020 8605 2266 e: marketing@ wimbledon-choral.org.uk w: www. wimbledon-choral.org.uk Contact: Tilly Richardson, publicity offr; Neil Ferris, mus dir; Deborah Raymond, sec, Neil Dennis, chair. No of members: 150. Wimborne Choral Society 10a Merley Lane, Wimborne BH21 1RX t: 01202 884207 e: wimbornechoralsociety@hotmail.co.uk w: www.wimbornechoralsociety.org.uk Contact: Tony Britnell, Making Music rep, webmaster. Entrance requirements: No audition; occasionally waiting list for sop and alt. No of members: Approx 100. Worcester Festival Choral Society 47 Jay Park Cres, Kidderminster DY10 4JP t: 01562 820409 e: lbellerby@tiscali. co.uk w: www. worcesterfestivalchoralsociety.org.uk Contact: Adrian Lucas, mus dir; Lesley Bellerby, sec. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 150. Writtle Singers 22 Jacksons Lane, Billericay CM11 1AH t: 01277 651970 e: info@writtlesingers. org w: www.writtlesingers.org Contact: Frances Quintrell. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 25-30. Yorkshire Bach Choir 11 Bootham Terrace, York YO30 7DH t: 01904 652799 e: peter.seymour22@ york.ac.uk w: www.yorkshirebachchoir. org.uk Contact: Peter Seymour, cond. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 45. Yorkshire Philharmonic Choir 94 Manygates Lane, Sandal, Wakefield WF2 7DW t: 01924 255835 e: manygates1@blueyonder.co.uk w: www. yorksphilchoir.co.uk Contact: Andrew Padmore, cond & artistic dir; Graham Heley, sec; Roz Cochrane, choir admin. Entrance requirements: Audition. No of members: 94. The Zemel Choir 120 Oakleigh Rd North, London N20 9EZ t: 07770 345679 e: marketing@ zemelchoir.org w: www.zemelchoir.org Contact: Anthony Cohen, mktg mgr. No of members: 52.
Listings are selected from the British & International Music Yearbook. For thousands more listings covering every aspect of the UK classical music industry, visit www.rhinegold.co.uk/directories 2012 edition available from January in printed and digital formats.
38 rhinegold.co.uk choral 2012
CHORAL 2012 listings - choral all.indd 38
10/11/2011 10:18:19
HELBLING CHORAL MUSIC XXI
R U Si n CwHP eO rspectives Ne en Perspektiv
neuer
CHORUS XXI
cappella SSAATTBB a
ic Choral Mus k Chormusi
MICHA
RZ EL OST
New Perspectives in Choral Music
YGA
Iuppiter
CHORUS
XXI
New Perspe P e r s p e k t i v ctives in Choral Mus ic en neuer Chormusik
SATB a capp ella
RUPERT GOTTFRIED FRIEBERGER
u12seit
erna_Ne C5846 Lux_Aet
29.01.2007
13:35 Uhr
XXI
ic Choral Mus k Chormusi Ne en neuer Perspektiv
◆ Simon Wawer, Jubilate Deo
in festa Pe ntecostes
a cappella SATB divisi
R U Si n CwHP eO rspectives
◆ Rupert G. Frieberger, Veni creator spiritus ◆ Harald Feller, O magnum mysterium
Ve n i c r e a t o r s p i r itus
Seite 1
Choral works by contemporary composers:
◆ Michael Ostrzyga, Iuppiter
C - 5920
ZOG M. HER FRANZ
◆ Franz M. Herzog, Lux aeterna
Lux aeterna
◆ EL
Raphael, Asi Sea – El mar del amén
◆ Christoph Hiller, Adorar al Niño ◆ and many more …
C - 6220
MASTERWORKS OF CHORAL MUSIC The new MCM series offers you short sacred and secular masterpieces of choral music from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Both the great highlights and fascinating new discoveries are made newly accessible in attractive new editions which have been edited with great scholarly care while at the same time giving every consideration to the needs of practical choral work.
lla S AT B d i v i s i a c a p p e
Vor wo rt
Edward MacDowell 1896 hoch war nicht nur herau in seiner geachteter Profes srage Pre fac e als bedeuGeburtsstadt New sor für Musik an nder Pianist und der York, sonde Heute gilt tendster Komponist Edward MacD rn wurdeColumbia Unive ab er als der mierte Tonkü owell was erste in dender Vereinigten zu Lebzeiten rsity 1896 onwa auch not only nstler. Staate USA Student University rds, a highly an outsta des berüh 1876 wurde er geborene intern n angesehen. weitere Entwi mten Conse in Paris als ationa to be the in his native city regarded music nding pianist and, rvatoire; 16-Jähriger l renomverbrachte. cklung aber from own lifetimmost distinguish of New York, professor at Colum entsch Dort Kompositio lernte er die Jahre 1878–1888,eidend prägt jüngster internationae. Today he is ed composer of but was also consid bia en seine die er in Deuts consid the lly renow faszinierten nen nicht zuletzauch Franz Liszt student ned comp ered to be the United States inered of the famou Klavierlehre . Wieder zurüc t aufgrund des kennen, den MacDchland oser. first Amer his 1878– individuellen k in den s ConservatoiIn 1876 he becam 1888 owells ican-b tete: Das r in Boston niede USA, ließ ment decisi that he spent re at the e the youngorn er sich als Personalstils cierte in 1881 gegründete r, wo ihn ein reiche age of 16; est was fascin vely. There he in Germany shape Pianist und kurzer Zeit Boston Symp the years made s ated by Musikleben d his zum bedeu the acqua latter’s individ MacD MacD erwarintance of further developtendsten hony Orchestra ual perso owell’s comp gen. Regelowell schuf mit himself as etwa Orche Franz a pianist nal style. Retur ositions not least Liszt who wohl als mäßig befasste Ausnahme der Operster der Staaten. avanmusic ning to and al life due Komponist er sich somit Werke aller liefert: Bereit in 1881, awaited him: piano pedagogue the USA, he estabto the wie The Bosto in Boston s im zweit auch als Dirige auch mit Vokal Gattunlished University orchestra advanced within n Symp nt, where musik en wie Jahr rief hony of the Unite a a er einen seiner Anste Gary P. Wilso , soge vom d States short time to theOrchestra, foundrich Universitäts With n über‘college 3. 12. 1897 „for chor ins llung an der Colum most promi ed all genre the exception of . bia nent er 1896–songs’, but music the purpose of Leben, laut einer both as as. He became involvopera, MacDowell Worten 1898 den Mend of a high order singing not the Anzeicomposed already in composer and as ed with vocal ordinary “. Darüb works of good funzufolge viel Freud elssohn Glee Club er hinau he starte the second year a conductor, likemusic on a regula of his appoi und hatte s leitete r basis, Gary In dreimal and the men e daran: „The Mend Decemberd a university choir, act well ntment at P. Wilson report eigenen elssoh 3, 1897 mit diesemzwei aufeinander and according Columbia s: ‘college songs “for folgenden work for me n Glee Club is und ameri Männerchor meist ’, but music the purpose to an announcemUniversity like the Mend Konze of singin ent from of a high Werke zeitge rten pro Jahr demons.“ ge Stücke kanischer Komp g not with it in elssohn Glee Club order führte onisten auf nössis his own in 1896– “. In addition, the ordinary sollte der dafür. Wie er seinem and the men und schrie cher europäischeer words: “The 1898 he Chor condu and he was b auch selbst „lyrica Stude r auch als cted act well Mend two succe nützlicher l“ und „floating nten John Erskin einissive conce and work for elssohn Glee Club very pleased Two North Interp “ singen mostly works e schilderte, me like demo rts per year is – ein Klang gemischtenern Songs op. retationshinweis by ns.“ In good fun he performed sers and ideal, für 43 dient, wrote a contemporary Europ Inspiration Chor a cappe with this three times MacDowelldie 1891 publiz das to his stude number ean and men’s choir ierten s einzige of pieces nt John Erskin Poetischen für die Musik lla. Sein Credo American “fl Werk oating for , und sein it e dass „das ” manner e, as comp für diese solle“ (Maria diesen beide in the interp – a sound the choir should well. As he descri onne Betz),wiederum Komm Poetische (Das Bächl n, auf eigen sing in a bed in 1891 and retation of the ideal that serves entar zeigt “lyrical” and Two North (Schlaflied) ein, Helbling e Texte komponiert sich exemplarisc des as MacDowell credo that ern Songs a helpful refere ’s only pieces zierter, kunstop. 43/2, mit HI-C6724) op. 43/1en Stücken The h in music, on “the poetic shoul for mixed op. 43, publis nce denen ihm voll und Slumb Brook wahre Juwel (Marianne the other hand, d be inspiration choir a cappe hed Zur Bezeic geschaffener Chorm er Song should be for the music lla. His en fein differ hnung North leicht sein usik gelan (Helbling Betz) shows exem a enHI-C6724) and the plarily in commentary for Grieg, dem Faible für Norw ern Songs animi gen. on their own op. egen und erten MacD Widm texts; with 43/1 and Slumbthese two songs the poetic” sonaten. of finely er The these he Im Slumbungsträger der letztedie Freundscha owell vieldifferentiate Linie inhalt succeededSong op. 43/2, compBrook er Song ft mit d, artistically n beide Perhaps in composing osed ein Winte liche Aspekte: entsprechen dieser n seiner vier Edvard MacDowell created pieces Songs true rbild Im Klavie by jewels ersten Absch Titulierung mit Kälte, . raber nicht Grieg to his partiality forwas inspired to Eis, in erster whom the title his Norway fällt es dembedrohlich, sonde Schneefall undnitt nämlich zeichn The design pieces North and his last two wachsenen Kleinkind auch rn sanft-beruh leichtem Nordw et er ern to aspec ation of the title of his four piano friendship with ind, das nicht schwe igend ersche Edvar sonatas are neuen Gast einzuschlafen part he ts with regard to Slumber Song int. r, dedicated.d paints a relate the conte mittelbaren schon erwar und in ein Traum auf der Schulter Deshalb light north winter impre nts: That s first and forem tet. Nicht land des Wech über das is to ssion ost nur durch zu gleiten, das Erin a gently erly wind which gesamte sel von fis-Moll und den den oftma enters, notwith cold, ice, say, in the first soothing weitere inspir Stück for the young Fis-Dur, ein snowfall ligen mann in a ierte Kunst hinweg bis in die Übergang Charakteris uninto a dream child to fall er. For this reasomenacing way, but and a griffe Coda n it is not rather Stimmung vom Wach- in den gelingt es MacD , sondern durchtikum only throu land that is asleep on the adult’ diffi draußen Traumzustan owell, zugle viele zen zu verbin s shoulder cult at all in Töne zu Major andgh the frequent,already waiting ich d und diesen auch for the new and to slip fassen und teren Stimm den: Passend piece up F-sharp minor immediate altern so beides die winterliche guest vortragen, en durchgehen für ein Wiegenlied, zu einem distinctly to the coda – – a characterist ation between . Not d summen Ganbut also ic throughout F-sharp dem zentra wodurch in Verbin transition inspired techniques, und nur lässt er die drei throu den Sopra dung unVerharren len Gestaltungs MacDowellgh the use of the entire assemblingfrom awaking im leisen many more element mit der originellen n den Text to a succe the winte steht. Einen Bereic in a new entity ry scene dreamy state and,eds in molding die Winte h ein faszin diesem Stück, undHarmonik, Eindruck outside into at the same this hum throu . Fitting to mit dem hinterlassen rlandschaft ierender Klanghinter Fortschreitu time, whereby ghout the songa lullaby, he has sounds, thereby wiederum widerspiegelnden grund entngen, creating and only the gung in with the a fascinating sound the sopra three lower voices der Altstimdie sich häufig die eindringlichen etwas herben original harmo cher Akkor no perfo durch eine background me ergeb harmo piece – and rms ny – the chromatisch nischen dem setzt de und verzögerte en, die Überl central comparises in the the text, monic progr the continuance e ageru MacD Bewe Tonfolgen ngen unter owell in Basslinie movement essions which in the muted ositional featurblending in sphere. The e in are frequ dielinie anzwei Quartsprün expressiver Stimm einzelnen Stimmschiedliand delaye in the alto voice, ently the insistent this T. 31f) auf allen melodischge hintereinander führung in Takt en. Zuharhand, leaved tone progression the superimpos result of the chrom ten Auftre subtile Weise. In ähnlichen Phras und variiert diese8 in der atic winter landscbehind a some s in the individ ition of variou enend ten dieser schön Melos chords ual voices sprung, wodu ape. In additi what austere Schlusswen er Wirkung ernieden (T. 15f, T. the bass , on impre dung den Einsatz des rch sich ein ssion that the other rigt er beim 23f, a subtle line, MacDowell on, in expressive zweiten Quart mirrors the letzsets two voice leadin rest an dieserThemenkopfessanfterer D7-Akkord endings way varies this melod fourth leaps - zum g und melod Stelle ebens ergibt. Dies entsp hin zum letztm Terzy line in succe in bar 8 in the secon(bar 15f, bar 23f, bar 31f). on all melodically ssion and in d fourth terz a nochische Pendeln ino wie davor (T. 29f) richt dem Text aligen phrase, which leap In a fine sinks to fis-Moll (durch das milde executionsimilar phrase Auflichtun zusätzlich hervo results into a third in the last harmo the princi die he decre a sind das g in die gleich rgehoben) und Verdopplung dernische ases point as pal theme. This gentler D7 chord appearance in namig aufgrund corresponds this at Achtel, Punkt vielfältiger e Durtonart. die folgende plötzlMollswaying well as the previo to the textthe last entrancefinal Ferner iche to F-shar rhythm teter Wend ierung, Triole of sinks to rest of the minor p minor us (bar 29f) innerhalb ischer Elementehervorzuheben at this Grundthemaungen im Melod third a) and (additionally mild harmonic and von zwei (gewöhnlich the corres emph ieverlauf Takten sowie die melodic men der a result ponding major the subsequent asised by the doubl ausgesproc ) und unerw e gewa Fichte gte of the multif key. Furthe sudde arnsche Modu hen artikuliert dotted rhythm rmore, to n brightening ing aceted rhythm werden sollite deutlich fühlbalation ab T. 25, einprägsame Sopran kreise s, triplet die das Glimand turns wie die Harm r macht ic eleme be emphasised into s nde melod und – as as well as in the melody –within two bars) nts (common ische Figur oniewechsel in ebenso präzis e immer wiede T. 13f, die smoulderin the bold modu is the remarkably and unexpectedeighths, Quelle (note r neu beleu die im cisely articug of the pine lation starting at catchy principal twists chten Two Northe ntext) / Source logs . Dr. Micha (Score): and again lated just as the palpable and bar 25; this maketheme el Aschauer © Mit freundrn Songs. No. 2. illuminates likewi harmo s the licher Geneh Slumber Song. the circlin nic change in se should be preArthur P. migung / bar g melodic Fotokopieren Schmi By courte figure in 13f, which time sy of ILL-DD dt 1891 (APS.2 grundsätzlich the sopra Photocopying 248-1) /IRRC • Univer gesetzlic h this copyrigh English transl Dr. Michael no. sity of Illinois verboten t ation: Const Aschauer at Urban material Edward AUSTRiA: is a-Champaig MacDowell ance Stöhs Kaplanstras illEgAl n, 784.3 , Slumb se
M USIC M ASTERW ORKS OF C HORAL
MCM
Edva rd Grieg
Ave, maris stella
To religiøse kor 2
ella S S AT T B a c a p p
r Song SATB_
6seitig.indd
1
umber Song
M14S er Song • 9, 6063 Rum/i SATB • © 2011 Alle Recht nnsbruck | gERM e vorbehalten AnY: P.O. HElBling Box 10075 / All rights 4, 73707 reserved Essling
en
n Songs op.
43/2
Opus musicum 1/8
S AT B a cappella
M USI C
Two Norther
Edward MacD owell gilt als borene intern der ational renom erste in den USA geFranz Liszt mierte Tonk Edward MacD hochgeschätzt ünstl owell is cons befreundet, und mit Edva er. Von Americanidered to knüpfte er rd Grieg born be the first an die europ tradition des Admired great internationally renow äische Musi 19. Jahrh ned composer. ly by Franz kaber einen underts an, with Edvard ganz eigen entwickelte Grieg, he conti Liszt and close friend en Stil. Die Songs op. s tradition of nued the Europ beiden North 43 The Broo the 19 th centu ern ean music k (Das Bäch HI-C6724) own perso ry, but still und Slumber lein, Helbl nal style. developed ing Song (Schl einzigen A-ca Both his The afl North ied) Brook (Helb ppella-Werke ern Songs sind seine ling HI-C6 und Juwelen op. 43 für are his only 724) and fein differenzie gemischte Stimmen Slum a cappella Im Slumber rter Chormusi works for mixe ber Song are jewels Song k. of finely differ d voices and ckender, ergre zeichnet MacDowel entia In Slumber l in beeindruted choral ifender Weis Song MacD music. ein Kind auf e musikalisc owell musi a poignant der h nach, wie cally manner, how in den Traum Schulter eines Erwa a state of a child gentl traces, in chsenen sanft zustand gleite dreaming y eases into Winter herrs t, während on an adult winter holds cht. Einem draußen der ’s shoulder, sway outsi MacDowel Wiegenlied while lullaby, MacD de. In keep l die drei unter gemäß lässt owell has ing with en Stimmen samte Stück the a throughout über hinw the entire piece lower three voices hum ein faszinieren eg summen und bilde das gea fascinatin and with them des harmonisc t mit ihnen g harmonic 1 builds up hes Fund maris stella SATB divisi.indd foundation C5945_Ave ament. .
RK S OF C HO RA L
Jerusalem gaude
MCM
HI-C5945
Ed w ar d M ac Do w
Slumber Son Two Northern
g
Songs op. 43
/2
20.12.10 11:30
s Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, Stabat mater s Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Jauchzet dem Herrn
ww w.h elbl
ingc hor.
ww w.h elbl ingc hor HI-C5933
s Camille Saint-Saёns, Les fleurs et les arbres
com
al.c om
s Edvard Grieg, Ave maris stella
HI-C6725
gaude SSATTB.indd
s Jacobus Handl (Gallus), Jerusalem gaude s Antonio Soler, Laudate, pueri, Dominum
05.01.11 13:18
C5933_Jerusalem
el l
These editions, in octavo format, each contain a piano part for rehearsals, comprehensive editorial comments, details of the compass of the individual voices and an informative preface.
ISMN M-502 02-480-2
1
9 7 9 05 02
s Charles Villiers Stanford, The Blue Bird
02 4802
HI-C6725
02.08.11
09:58
s Edward MacDowell, Slumber Song s and many more …
Further information:
www.helblingchoral.com
1069_11_11_InsClassicalMusic Magazine.indd 1 Untitled-1 1 CHORAL_2011_039.indd 3
Helbling Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H. 6063 Rum/Innsbruck, AUSTRIA Kaplanstrasse 9, P.O.Box 12 Telephone 0043 512/26 23 33-0 Fax 0043 512/26 23 33-111 e-mail: office@helbling.co.at
1069/11-11
C6725_Slumbe
Edw Macllus Dowell)(~1 (Ga dl ard 860–1908) Jac obu s Han Sl
M AS TER WO
C HORA L M USIC M ASTER WORK S OF
MCM
11.11.11 10:21 11/11/2011 10:24:33 10:26:52
King’s School Ely ‘Music is the beating heart of King’s. It lifts our regular worship; punctuates the rhythm of the school year and provides the golden thread that binds our community together’.
Head Mrs Sue Freestone ‘Be a Chorister Day’: Boy Chorister Auditions: Saturday 14 January 2012 Girl Chorister Auditions: Saturday 21 January 2012 (pre-auditions available) Charity no.802427
New sixth form choral scholarship for 2012 enquiries@kings-ely.cambs.sch.uk www.kingsschoolely.co.uk
GIRLS AND BOYS 3-18, DAY AND BOARDING FROM AGE 8 CHORAL_2011_040 2
10/11/2011 15:52:26