18 – 19 DECEMBER 2019
SCO CHORUS CHRISTMAS CONCERT – A ROSE IN WINTER –––––
2019/2020 CONCERT PROGRAMME SCO.ORG.UK
SEASON 2019/20
A WARM WELCOME
––––– I am truly delighted to be returning to Scotland to conduct the SCO Chorus in concert! I spent seven very happy years as their director when we lived in Scotland in the mid-1990’s, and I remember fondly the last time I worked with them; in Barcelona for a performance of Handel’s Messiah almost to the day fifteen years ago. The Christmas season always offers a great opportunity to create imaginative and atmospherically themed programmes. For these concerts, we have set the focus on the Virgin Mother, Mary – A Rose in Winter – with movements of Thomas Tallis’ wonderful six-voice pre-Reformation setting of the Mass ‘Puer natus est nobis’ providing the concert’s framework. I am always keen to make concert programmes as varied as possible, with a wide range of styles and genres. Tonight’s repertoire covers over 900 years of music celebrating the birth of Christ, from plainchant by the 11th century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen, through rich high-Romantic motets by Anton Bruckner to works by contemporary Scottish composers Sally Beamish, Sir James MacMillan and Judith Weir. A big thank you to the SCO for inviting me up once more for these concerts, and I hope you enjoy the atmosphere and vibrancy of some special seasonal choral music in the approach to Christmas. Ben Parry Conductor
THANK YOU
FUNDING PARTNERS ––––– Thank you to everyone who financially supports the work of the SCO, from the Scottish Government to local authorities, our Benefactor, Business Partners and Patrons to many charitable trusts and foundations. The generosity of our funders allows us to create truly world-class music, events and projects both here and abroad.
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PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE ––––– Our Principal Conductor’s Circle is made up of individuals who love great music and who share the SCO’s vision to bring the joy of music to as many people as possible. We would like to extend our grateful thanks for playing such a key part in the future of the SCO.
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Steve King Sir Ewan and Lady Brown
PRINCIPAL CELLO Philip Higham The Thomas Family
SUB-PRINCIPAL CELLO Su-a Lee Bryan Wade
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SUB-PRINCIPAL DOUBLE BASS Adrian Bornet Jo and Alison Elliot
SUB-PRINCIPAL FLUTE Claire and Mark Urquhart
PRINCIPAL OBOE Robin Williams Hedley G Wright
PRINCIPAL CLARINET Maximiliano Martín Stuart and Alison Paul
PRINCIPAL TIMPANI Louise Goodwin Geoff and Mary Ball
SEASON 2019/20
SCO CHRISTMAS CONCERT – A ROSE IN WINTER ––––– VON BINGEN Hodie aperuit (plainchant) WEIR Drop down ye Heavens TALLIS Missa Puer natus est nobis: Gloria Reading 1: All the days of Christmas
#mySCO
POSTON Jesus Christ the Apple Tree MACMILLAN O Radiant Dawn Reading 2: Christmas for two prisoners of war TALLIS Missa Puer Natus est nobis: Sanctus/ Benedictus ANDREW Hevene Quene interval of 20 minutes
BRUCKNER Ave Maria; Virga Jesse Reading 3: Two poems by George Mackay Brown PARRY There is no rose RIZZA Mary Slept TALLIS Missa Puer natus est nobis: Agnus Dei Reading 4: The Christmas Truce BEAMISH In the Stillness PRAETORIUS arr SANDSTRÖM Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
There will be a Retiring Collection for Re-Engage (formerly known as Contact the Elderly) ––––– SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA CHORUS BEN PARRY – Conductor REBECCA WILKIE – Reader ––––– Wednesday 18 December 2019, 7.30pm Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews Thursday 19 December 2019, 7.30pm Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh –––––
4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB +44 (0)131 557 6800 • info@sco.org.uk sco.org.uk The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is a charity registered in Scotland No. SC015039. Company registration No. SC075079.
YOUR CHORUS GREGORY BATSLEER – Chorus Director STUART HOPE – Associate Chorus Master JENNY SEARLE – Chorus Manager DR PATRICIA MacMAHON – Vocal Coach ALAN BECK – Vocal Coach SOPRANO Naomi Black Nancy Burns Sally Carr^ Morven Chisholm Mairi Day Joanne Dunwell Lucy Forde Ruth Hoare^ Lesley Mair Katie McGlew Jenny Nex Alison Robson Eilidh Thomson^ Alison Williams ALTO Shona Banks Madeleine Baron^ Sarah Campbell Gill Cloke Judith Colman Liberty Emeny Claire Goodenough Anne Grindley Caroline Hahn Fiona Haldane Melissa Humphreys Rachel Kemp Helen Leigh Elizabeth McColl Hilde McKenna Jan Raitt Linda Ruxton
^ SCO Chorus Young Singers' Programme The Chorus list was correct at the time of going to print.
TENOR Matthew Andrews Andrew Carvel David Ferrier Colin French Brendan Glen Keith Main Anthony Mudge David Nelson Michael Scanlon Paul Vaughan BASS Mathew Brown Patrick Callaghan Gavin Easton Robin Hiley Richard Hyder Jamie Lewis^ Donald MacLeod Sandy Matheson Richard Murphy Kenneth Murray Douglas Nicholson David Paterson Peter Silver Stephen Todd Roderick Wylie
ARE YOU A HEARING AID USER?
Please use the Induction Loop systems provided by the venues if available. Hearing aids can cause feedback (a whistling effect) which may be heard by the musicians and other members of the audience.
MOBILE PHONES AND ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Please ensure your mobile phone and any electronic devices are switched off during the concert. The use of cameras and recording equipment is forbidden.
TONIGHT'S REPERTOIRE
WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO HEAR HILDEGARD VON BINGEN (1098-1179) Hodie aperuit (plainchant)
ANTON BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Ave Maria; Virga Jesse
JUDITH WEIR (b. 1954) Drop down, ye Heavens, from above
BEN PARRY (b. 1965) There is no rose
THOMAS TALLIS (1505-1585) Missa Puer natus est nobis: Gloria
MARGARET RIZZA (b. 1929) Mary Slept
ELIZABETH POSTON (1905-1987) Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
THOMAS TALLIS (1505-1585) Missa Puer natus est nobis: Agnus Dei
JAMES MACMILLAN (b. 1959) O Radiant Dawn THOMAS TALLIS (1505-1585) Missa Puer natus est nobis: Sanctus, Benedictus KERRY ANDREW (b. 1978) Hevene Quene
SALLY BEAMISH (b. 1956) In the Stillness MICHAEL PRAETORIUS (1571-1621) arr SANDSTRÖM (b. 1954) Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
––––– This evening’s programme draws together a selection of music and words spanning over 1000 years. Incorporating medieval chant, Renaissance polyphony, Romantic motets and more contemporary works, it presents a sequence that explores the mystery and beauty associated with the Christmas story. The programme focuses particularly on the perspective of Mary, meditating on themes that still resonate in the 21st century. Hildegard von Bingen was born in the final years of the 11th century, in a small town near Mainz in modern-day Germany. At the age of 8 she entered the Benedictine monastery of Disibodenberg, where she would have sung daily, and later took her vows as a nun. Shortly afterwards, she began experiencing spiritual visions, which God apparently instructed her to write down. These were compiled in her Scivias (‘Knowledge of the Ways’). The majority of Hildegard’s musical compositions most likely date from after 1163. Hodie aparuit is a short yet sublime antiphon, its text
Hildegard von Bingen
Judith Weir
referring to the image of virginity as a closed garden, in which a flower blooms – a trope known as hortus inclusus, often deployed by medieval poets in association with Mary. Master of the Queen’s Music, Judith Weir is one of the world’s best-known composers of choral music. She possesses a rare ability to reference familiar musical language in rendering new and enchanting creations. Drop down, ye heavens combines the plainsong of the Advent prose – the sequence appointed to be sung on the first Sunday of Advent – with freshsounding harmonies, which emphasise its irrepressible message of hope. While relatively little is known about Thomas Tallis’s early life or his religious leanings, his legacy as the most accomplished English composer of the sixteenth century is assured. Tallis exhibited an unusual ability at responding musically to both Latin and English texts. He produced music throughout the reigns
Thomas Tallis
of the century’s four monarchs (Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I), each of whose administrations promoted
the BBC’s Third Programme, which would later become BBC Radio 3. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is a setting of an anonymous
their own religious and aesthetic priorities. After successive periods of employment at Dover Priory, St Mary-at-Hill, Waltham Abbey and Canterbury, Tallis eventually became a Gentleman-in-Ordinary at the Chapel Royal, England’s foremost musical institution.
text first printed in London, but which later found popularity in American hymnals after being included in New Hampshire minister Joshua Smith’s 1784 publication Divine Hymns, or Spiritual Songs: for the use of Religious Assemblies and Private Christians. The tree is a common allegorical representation of Jesus, who is described throughout the Bible as ‘the tree of life’. Poston’s setting is disarmingly touching, based around a simple C-major melody that could easily be mistaken for a folk tune.
Tallis’s Missa Puer natus est nobis dates from the Marian period (1553-8), when Catholicism and Latin music were briefly restored in England. Placing the plainsong melody for one of the propers for Christmas Day (‘Unto us a boy is born’) at the centre of the texture, Tallis’s mass harks back to the music of Robert Fayrfax and John Taverner, composers of the previous generation whose music Tallis would have grown up singing. Omitting the Kyrie eleison in common with English practice, Tallis makes use of seven different vocal lines in creating a rich and stable soundworld – but with the text always at the foreground. Tallis was perhaps still adhering in some ways to the injunctions issued by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer during the preceding Protestant regime, which advocated that music should not be "full of notes, but, as near as may be, for every syllable a note, so that it may be sung distinctly and devoutly."
In his motet O Radiant Dawn, Scottish composer James MacMillan sets an English translation of one of the seven Advent antiphons (O splendor lucis aeternae). It likens the coming of the Messiah to the rising of the sun, in bringing the light and warmth necessary for all life. One of MacMillan’s Strathclyde Motets, it was composed in 2007 for choir at St Columba’s Church in Glasgow’s Maryhill, where the composer directed the music for several years. Drawing on the rich tradition of chant and polyphony that forms the backbone of the Catholic musical tradition, it makes imaginative use of similar techniques to those employed by earlier composers, including Tallis.
Elizabeth Poston led a multi-faceted career as a composer, pianist, writer, broadcaster and administrator. Poston studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and received early encouragement and guidance from Peter Warlock and Ralph Vaughan Williams. In
Kerry Andrew is a London-based composer whose work reflects her interests in jazz, folk and pop music. She studied at the University of York and performs regularly with the vocal trio Juice, as well as with the folk group You Are Wolf. Hevene quene sets a late 13th-century Marian devotional text in
1947, she was instrumental in establishing
Middle English, combining this with a
Elizabeth Poston
James MacMillan
single Latin line ('O virgo splendens'), in a way that seeks – in the composer’s own words – to reflect "both the divine and human qualities of the Virgin Mary." It opens and closes with two plainsong-like passages, between which Andrew brings the text’s vivid imagery to life in her own characteristic style, at once pleading and pensive. Though his fame rests chiefly on his symphonies, Anton Bruckner also made a significant and original contribution to 19th-century choral repertoire. Bruckner’s motets were written at a time during which music in the German-speaking Catholic Church witnessed a number of reforms (known as the Cecilian Movement). The movement’s leaders sought to recover the purity of the Renaissance polyphony and chant that had largely disappeared from liturgical performance. Bruckner’s Ave Maria is scored for seven-part choir and is equally notable for its moments of lush grandeur as it is for its tender sincerity. Virga Jesse is a later work, and was first performed at the Hofburgkapelle in Vienna on 8 December 1885, under the composer’s direction. Like the Ave Maria, its carefully wrought counterpoint shows
Kerry Andrew
Anton Bruckner
the extent of 16th-century influences on Bruckner, with the work building slowly before culminating in a series of ecstatic proclamations of ‘Alleluia’. Ben Parry is one of the most distinguished and versatile musicians active in choral music today. Having read music at Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar in the choir of King’s College, he later sang with and became musical director of the Swingle Singers. Moving to Scotland, Ben took up the position of director of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus and co-founded Dunedin Consort. He is currently Artistic Director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and Assistant Director of Music at King’s College, Cambridge. In addition to his work as a director and teacher, Ben has developed a highly individual voice as composer, with a style that unites diverse stylistic strands. There is no rose sets an anonymous English carol text thought to date from the 14th century, combining a beautifully lyrical melody with increasingly compelling chromatic inflexions. Having enjoyed a distinguished career as a singer working with conductors
including Stravinsky, Bernstein and Britten, Margaret Rizza was drawn to composition later in life. Her choral music is
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen is essentially a collaborative work, between the 17th-century German master Michael
characterised by an innate understanding of the human voice, and explores the fascinating range of sonorities voices are capable of producing collectively. Commissioned by The Sixteen, Mary Slept is based on a poetic text by the Trappist monk Thomas Merton that depicts both the Annunciation and the Incarnation. Rizza’s setting expresses the sheer sense of wonderment latent in Merton’s words.
Praetorius and contemporary Swedish composer Jan Sandström. Sandström studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where his teachers included Pår Lindgren and Brian Ferneyhough. In Es ist ein Ros, Sandström divides the choir in two, with the first choir taking up Praetorius’s four-part harmonisation of the medieval German carol, while the second is divided into eight and required to hum a soft accompaniment. The result creates a sort of harmonic extension to the Praetorius, which seems to become progressively more luminescent as the work unfolds. Together, the two choirs engage in a subtle yet profound dialogue, as past speaks to present, offering a timely prompt to meditate upon the essence of the Christmas story. © David Lee
Sally Beamish is a familiar name to Scottish musical audiences, having been Composer in Residence with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (and, previously, a member of the orchestra), as well as receiving numerous commissions from ensembles including Scottish Opera and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. A short but evocative vignette, In the stillness sets a poem by Scottish writer Katrina Shepherd, lucidly painting the picturesque setting of a placid church amidst a wintry landscape.
Ben Parry
Margaret Rizza
Sally Beamish
Michael Praetorius
TEXTS Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) Hodie Aperuit Text: Antiphon to the Virgin Mary Hodie aperuit nobis clausa porta quod serpens in muliere suffocavit unde lucet in aurora flos de Virgine Maria.
By suffocating the snake (in the Garden of Eden), woman, and therefore the Virgin Mary (as a flower) shines as a beacon in a new day.
Judith Weir (b. 1954 ) Drop Down, ye Heavens, from Above (1984) Text: Isaiah 45:8 (The Advent Prose) Drop down ye heavens from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people; My salvation shall not tarry. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions. Fear not, for I will save thee; For I am the Lord thy God, The holy one of Israel, thy redeemer. Drop down ye heavens from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness.
Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) Missa Puer natus est nobis : Gloria Gloria in excelsis Deo Et in terra pax hominibus, bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine deus, rex coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens. Domine Fili unigenite Jesu Christe Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
Glory to God in the highest And on earth peace to men of goodwill. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you. We give thanks to you for your great glory.
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
Who takes away the sins of the world,
Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
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miserere nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Have mercy on us. For you alone are the Holy one,
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris.
You alone are the Lord, You alone are the most high, Jesus Christ,
Amen.
with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Reading 1: Phyllis McGinley (1905-1978) All the days of Christmas
Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987) Jesus Christ the Apple Tree Text from Divine Hymns or Spiritual Songs Compiled by Joshua Smith, New Hampshire, 1784 The tree of life my soul hath seen, Laden with fruit and always green: The trees of nature fruitless be Compared with Christ the apple tree. His beauty doth all things excel: By faith I know, but ne'er can tell The glory which I now can see In Jesus Christ the apple tree. For happiness I long have sought, And pleasure dearly I have bought: I missed of all; but now I see 'Tis found in Christ the apple tree. I'm weary with my former toil, Here I will sit and rest awhile: Under the shadow I will be, Of Jesus Christ the apple tree. This fruit doth make my soul to thrive, It keeps my dying faith alive; Which makes my soul in haste to be With Jesus Christ the apple tree.
James MacMillan (b. 1959) O Radiant Dawn Text : Antiphon for 21 December O Radiant Dawn, Splendour of eternal Light, Sun of Justice: Come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Isaiah had prophesied, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone�. Amen.
Reading 2: Anne Wolridge Gordon Entertaining Prisoners of War From A Suffolk Christmas compiled by Humphrey Phelps
Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) Missa Puer natus est nobis: Sanctus, Benedictus Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth, Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Osanna in excelsis.
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini,
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Osanna in excelsis.
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Kerry Andrew (b. 1978) Hevene Quene Text: Anon, English, late 13th century Trans: Kerry Andrew O virgo splendens; edi beo thu, hevene queen. Thou asteye so the daiy rewe the deleth from the deorke nicht. Splendens hevene queen, of the sprong an leomme newe that all this world haveth iliyt Mi swete levedi her mi bene and reu of mi if they wille is; O virgo splendens.
Blessed be you, queen of heaven, You rose up like daybreak From the dark night. From you sprang a new sunbeam Which has lit all the world. My sweet lady, hear my plea And take pity on me if it be your will, O queen of heaven.
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) Ave Maria; Virga Jesse Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus tecum Benedicata tu in mulieribus Et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, mater Dei
Hail Mary, full of grace The Lord is with thee Blessed art thou amongst women And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae
Pray for us sinners Now, and in the hour of our death.
Virga Jesse floruit: Virgo Deum et hominem genuit, Pacem Deus reddidit, In se reconcilians ima summis.
The rod of Jesse has blossomed: A virgin has borne God – and man – God has restored peace Reconciling in Himself the lowest and the highest. Allelujah.
Allelujah.
Reading 3: George Mackay Brown A Winter King and Christmas Poem from The Wreck of the Archangel
Ben Parry (b. 1965) There is no rose Text: Anon, 15th century English There is no rose of such virtue As is the rose that bare Jesu. Allelulia (Praise the Lord). For in this rose contained was Heaven and earth in little space. Res miranda (Wonderful thing!) By that rose we may well see There be one God in persons three. Pares forma (Equal in form). The angels sungen the shepherds to Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory to God in the highest) Gaudeamus (Let us rejoice!). Leave we all this wordly mirth, And follow we this joyful birth. Transeamus (Let us go across!).
Margaret Rizza (b. 1929) Mary Slept Text: from The Ascent to Truth by Thomas Merton (1915-1968) And far beneath the movement of this silent cataclysm, Mary slept in the infinite tranquillity of God; And God was a child, curled up, who slept in her, And her veins were flooded with his wisdom Which is night, which is starlight, which is silence, And her whole being was embraced in him Whom she embraced. And they became tremendous silence.
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Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) Missa Puer natus est nobis: Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
Reading 4: Carol Ann Duffy (b.1955) The Christmas Truce
Sally Beamish (b. 1956) In the Stillness Text: Katrina Shepherd In the stillness of a church Where candles glow, In the softness of a fall of fresh white snow, In the brightness of the stars that shine this night, In the calmness of a pool Of healing light, In the clearness of a choir That softly sings, In the one-ness of a hush Of angels’ wings, In the mildness of a night By stable bare, In the quietness of a lull Near cradle fair, There’s a patience as we wait For a new morn, And the presence of a child Soon to be born.
Michael Praetorius (1571-1621) arr. Jan Sandström (b. 1954) Es ist ein Ros entsprungen Text: Anonymous, 15th or 16th century Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, aus einer Wurzel zart, als uns die Alten sungen, von Jesse kam die Art Und hat ein Blümlein bracht mitten im kalten Winter, wohl zu der halben Nacht
A rose has sprung up From a tender root, as the old ones sang to us, its strain came from Jesse and it has brought forth a little flower in the middle of the cold winter at midnight.
Our retiring collection tonight is for Re-engage, a charity committed to tackling the problem of loneliness, one of the most invisible but debilitating issues in society today. Re-engage provide regular Sunday afternoon tea parties for over 75s. Once a month each older guest is collected from their home by a volunteer driver, and taken to a volunteer host’s home, where they join a small group for tea, cake and companionship. Scotland-wide there are more than 140 groups with more than 1000 guests whose lives are often transformed through this simple solution of some kindness and company over a cup of tea. ‘This tea party has made me feel alive again with such kindness shown. I really cannot wait until we do it again’. Join us on our campaign to bring dignity and respect to people as they age Contact Lorna Dunbar at lorna.dunbar@reengage.org.uk or on 01738 730249
GREGORY BATSLEER CONDUCTS
SPEM IN ALIUM MUSIC BY TALLIS, MACMILLAN, POULENC, PURCELL AND WHITACRE
29 FEBRUARY 2020, 7.30pm GREYFRIARS KIRK, EDINBURGH BOOK NOW AT SCO.ORG.UK
SCO CHORUS
––––– The Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus, under the direction of Gregory Batsleer since 2009, has built a reputation as one of Scotland’s most vibrant and versatile choirs. Widely regarded as one of the finest orchestral choruses in the UK, it celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016. Members enjoy a unique opportunity to perform with one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras, working with international conductors including Maxim Emelyanychev, Harry Bicket, Richard Egarr, Phillipe Herreweghe, John Storgårds, Emmanuel Krivine and Peter Dijkstra. The Chorus appears regularly with the Orchestra in Scotland’s major cities. Recent concerts have covered a wide range of music including MacMillan Seven Last Words from the Cross, Stravinsky Mass, Handel Messiah and Theodora, Haydn Creation and Seasons, Beethoven ‘Choral’ Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Berlioz Béatrice et Bénédict, Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem and a rare performance of Schumann Requiem. The Chorus also appears on its own in a capella repertoire and its annual Christmas concerts have quickly established themselves as a Season highlight. Other recent out-of-Season appearances have included a critically-acclaimed debut at the BBC Proms in Handel’s Jephtha in August; a dramatised performance of Parry’s Songs of Farewell in 2017, devised by stage director Jack Furness and Chorus Director Gregory Batsleer; and the world premiere of David Lang’s RPS Award-winning Memorial Ground at the 2016 East Neuk Festival. Gregory Batsleer will direct the SCO Chorus in three concerts during ‘Celebrate 400’ – a celebration of four centuries of community and worship at Greyfriars Kirk (1620-2020). The next SCO Chorus concert, on Saturday 29 February, encompasses music of redemption, salvation and hope from Henry Purcell to Eric Whitacre and concluding with Tallis’s magnificent 40-part motet, Spem in Alium. The SCO Chorus Young Singers’ Programme is kindly supported by The Baird Educational Trust.
— Collection in aid of
JOSEPH SWENSEN CONDUCTS
NEW YEAR GALA CONCERT INCLUDING MUSIC BY J STRAUSS II, GRIEG, NIELSEN and LUMBYE HARRIET EYLEY – Soprano
1,3,4 & 5 JANUARY 2020 EDINBURGH | DUMFRIES | AYR | DUNDEE BOOK NOW AT SCO.ORG.UK
CONDUCTOR
BEN PARRY
––––– Ben Parry studied Music and History of Art at Cambridge University, and was a member of King’s College Choir. In the mid-1980s he joined The Swingle Singers as a singer, arranger and music director, toured globally and performed with some of the world’s greatest musicians including Stephane Grappelli, Pierre Boulez and Dizzy Gillespie. Moving to Edinburgh in 1995, he co-founded the Dunedin Consort, which has gone on to establish itself as Scotland’s premiere Baroque ensemble. He also took up posts as Director of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus, Director of Choral Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and conductor of Haddo House Opera. He moved back to England in 2003, becoming Director of Music at St Paul’s School, London, then of Junior Academy at the Royal Academy of Music, and subsequently his current position as Artistic Director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. As co-director of London Voices he has performed in major concert houses around the world as well as conducting many major film soundtracks including Harry Potter, The Hobbit, and Avengers. Parry is Assistant Director of Music at King’s College, Cambridge, where he is responsible for the mixed choir, King’s Voices. He is also Music Director of Aldeburgh Voices, the resident choir at Snape Maltings in Suffolk. As an orchestral conductor he has worked with the Academy of Ancient Music, Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Seville Royal Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic and BBC Concert Orchestras. His own compositions and arrangements include the popular Faber Carol Book and a burgeoning catalogue of choral music for Peters Edition and OUP. He has enjoyed commissions from, among others, the St John’s College, Cambridge, BBC Singers, Chelmsford, Ely, Norwich and Worcester cathedrals, and his music has been heard at the BBC Proms and on the TV and radio. Ben Parry features on the credits of well over 100 recordings, appearing variously as singer, conductor, co-director, director, producer, chorus master and composer. www.benparry.net
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7-9 FEBRUARY 2020
PERTH | EDINBURGH | GLASGOW Music by PAUL RISSMANN Written and Illustrated by JASON CHAPMAN Narrated by CHRIS JARVIS
Narrated by TV presenter CHRIS JARVI S BOOK NOW AT SCO.ORG.UK
EXPLORE BEETHOVEN | MUSICAL CREATIVITY AND DEAFNESS SATURDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2020, 10AM – 1.15PM ST CECILIA’S HALL AND MUSEUM, EDINBURGH Join us for a morning of talks and performances by a Scottish Chamber Orchestra string quartet as we explore Beethoven’s life as a deaf musician and composer. There is a loop system in the hall and all talks will be BSL-interpreted.
–––––– Full details, including ticket prices and how to book, can be found on our website: sco.org.uk Or you can email: joanna.burns@sco.org.uk or call Joanna on 0131 478 8342
LEGACIES
A LEGACY FOR GENERATIONS TO COME ––––– The SCO would like to thank everybody who has supported our work and we acknowledge with special gratitude those who were kind enough to leave us a final, and deeply thoughtful, gift. All legacies make a positive difference, no matter the size, and help us to fulfil our mission to make incredible music accessible to as many people as possible in the most creative and engaging way. Over the last few years, we have been immensely grateful to these friends of the SCO whose thoughtful foresight in leaving a gift in their Will has made such a valuable contribution in so many wonderful ways:
Tom Bruce-Jones, Glasgow Helen Caldwell, Edinburgh Joyce Denovan, Glasgow Robert Durham, Dundee Herman Gawlik, Glasgow Ian Hogarth, Edinburgh Donald Hopkins, Glasgow Mattie Hutchinson, Glasgow Helen Kelbie, Aberdeen David Lee, Glasgow Evelyn McNab, Glasgow Ian Mitchell, Glasgow Judith Pickles, Edinburgh Alice Woodward, Aberdeenshire
THANK YOU
SCO PATRONS ––––– Join our family of Patrons by contacting Laura Hickey on 0131 478 8344 or laura.hickey@sco.org.uk DIAMOND
GOLD
Malcolm & Avril Gourlay
The Batsleer Family
Dr Caroline Hahn
Caroline & Colin Bryce
James & Felicity Ivory
Lord Matthew Clarke
Chris Jarvis
Lucinda Coulthard
Sir George & Lady Mathewson
Dr Clive Criper & Mrs Myint-Su
Vincent & Clair Ryan
David & Sheila Ferrier
William Samuel
Iain Gow
Alan & Sue Warner
Judith & David Halkerston Ian Hutton
PLATINUM
Gordon Kirk
Eric G Anderson
Roy & Svend McEwan-Brown
David Caldwell in memory of Ann
June Miller
Tom & Alison Cunningham
Alan Moat
Gail & Lindsay Gardiner
John & Liz Murphy
Carola & Martin Gordon
Alison & Stephen Rawles
John & Jane Griffiths
Mr & Mrs J Reid
Carol & Shields Henderson
George Rubienski
J Douglas Home
Irene Smith
Audrey Hopkins
Ian S Swanson
Norman & Christine Lessels
John-Paul & Joanna Temperley
Chris & Gill Masters
Michael & Joan Wareham
Duncan & Una McGhie
Catherine Wilson
Anne-Marie McQueen
Neil & Philippa Woodcock
James F Muirhead
G M Wright
Patrick & Susan Prenter
Bruce & Lynda Wyer
George Ritchie Martin & Mairi Ritchie Colin & Elaine Ross Jill & Brian Sandford Ian Stewart & Family Michael & Elizabeth Sudlow Robert & Elizabeth Turcan Tom & Natalie Usher Anny & Bobby White Ruth Woodburn
SILVER
Barry Laurie in memory of Richard Green
Fiona Addison
Mary Law
Roy Alexander
Graham & Elma Leisk
Joseph I Anderson
Geoff Lewis
Pamela Andrews & Alan Norton
Nancy Macneil of Barra
Dr Peter Armit
James McClure in memory of Robert Duncan
Joseph & Patricia Banks
Gavin McCrone
Timothy Barnes & Janet Sidaway
Iain McEwan
Peter & Kay Black
Brian Miller
Alan Borthwick
James & Helen Moir
Jane & Michael Boyle
Margaret Mortimer & Ken Jobling
Mary Brady
Andrew Murchison
John Brownlie
Hugh & Gillian Nimmo
Laura Buist
David & Tanya Parker
Robert Burns
Hilary & Bruce Patrick
Janet Cameron
Maggie Peatfield
Isabel J Clark
Ian & Sheila Percy
Sheila Colvin
Fiona Reith
Tony Cook
Alan Robertson
Lorn & Camilla Cowie
Andrew Robinson
Lord & Lady Cullen of Whitekirk
David Robinson
Jo & Christine Danbolt
Olivia Robinson
Caroline Denison-Pender
Hilary E Ross
Dr Wilma Dickson
Catherine Steel
Jean Donaldson
Jean Sutherland
John Donaldson
Ian Szymanski
Sylvia Dow
Marion Thomson
James Dunbar-Naismith
Douglas & Sandra Tweddle
Dr & Mrs Alan Falconer
Margaretha Walker
Sheila Ferguson
James Wastle
Chris & Claire Fletcher
C S Weir
Dr James W E Forrester
Alan Welsh
Dr William Fortescue
Bill Welsh
James Friend
Professor Frank Whaling & Mrs Margaret Walsh-Whaling
Archie & Ellen Gibson
Andrew Wilson
Andrew Hadden
Roderick Wylie
J Martin Haldane
–––––
Ronnie & Ann Hanna Ruth Hannah Robin Harding Norman Hazelton Ron & Evelynne Hill Clephane Hume Archie & Pat Hunter Robert & Leila Inglis David & Pamela Jenkins Sir Raymond & Lady Johnstone Marty Kehoe Professor Christopher & Mrs Alison Kelnar David Kerr Allan Kirton Dr & Mrs Ian Laing Janey & Barrie Lambie
Thanks also to our Bronze Patrons and Patrons, and to all those who wish to remain anonymous.
ABOUT US
––––– The internationally celebrated Scottish Chamber Orchestra is one of Scotland’s National Performing Companies. Formed in 1974 and core funded by the Scottish Government, the SCO aims to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to hear great music by touring the length and breadth of Scotland, appearing regularly at major national and international festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, BBC Proms, and by touring internationally, as proud ambassadors for Scottish cultural excellence. Making a significant contribution to Scottish life beyond the concert platform, the Orchestra works in schools, universities, colleges, hospitals, care homes, places of work and community centres through its extensive Creative Learning programme. The SCO has long-standing associations with many eminent guest conductors including Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen, Principal Guest Conductor Emmanuel Krivine, François Leleux, Pekka Kuusisto, Richard Egarr, Andrew Manze and John Storgårds. The Orchestra also enjoys close relationships with many leading composers and has commissioned almost 200 new works, including pieces by the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Sir James MacMillan, Martin Suckling, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Nico Muhly and Associate Composer Anna Clyne. An exciting new chapter for the SCO began this Season with the arrival of dynamic young conductor Maxim Emelyanychev as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor. This was a position previously held by Robin Ticciati from 2009-2018. Ticciati and the SCO made a series of outstanding recordings (Linn Records) of works by Haydn, Schumann, Berlioz, Strauss and Wagner. Their last recording – the complete Brahms Symphonies – has been internationally acclaimed. The SCO and Emelyanychev recently released their first album together (Linn Records) to critical acclaim. The repertoire – Schubert’s Symphony No 9 in C major ‘The Great’ – is the first symphony Emelyanychev performed with the Orchestra in March 2018. sco.org.uk
Patron HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay
BOARD
Life President Donald MacDonald CBE
Chairman Colin Buchan
Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev
Joanna Baker
––––– –––––
Cllr Christina Cannon Glasgow City Council
Principal Guest Conductor Emmanuel Krivine
David Cumming
Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen
Jo Elliot Rachael Erskine
Chorus Director Gregory Batsleer
Cllr Rosemary Liewald Fife Council
Associate Composer Anna Clyne
Cllr Donald Wilson City of Edinburgh Council
Alison Paul Zoë van Zwanenberg ORCHESTRA ADVISORS TO THE BOARD Adrian Bornet, Peter Franks, Donald Gillan and Su-a Lee
MANAGEMENT –––––
Chief Executive Gavin Reid Projects and Administrative Assistant Elsa Morin Concerts Director Judith Colman Concerts & Projects Manager Louisa Stanway Orchestra Manager Laura Kernohan Stage Manager Pete Deane Orchestra Librarian Amy Brown Chorus Manager Jenny Searle Marketing & Communications Director Gareth Beedie Data Services Manager Adam James Marketing and Press Officer Catherine Gillespie Marketing Officer Sophie Sim
Design & Publications Magnus Fraser Creative Learning Director Kirsteen Davidson Kelly Education Officer Atzi Muramatsu Community Engagement Officer Joanna Burns SCO and University of St Andrews Graduate Trainee Fiona Croal Head of Development Lucinda Coulthard Partnerships Manager David Nelson Development Officer Laura Hickey Trusts Officer Rebecca Smith Finance & Administration Director Ian White Finance Officers Mary Gibson Heather Baird
YOUR SAY HAYDN HARMONY MASS CONCERT MARKS 10 YEARS WITH CHORUS DIRECTOR A superb pairing of Stravinsky’s Mass and Haydn’s Harmoniemesse at @CHGlasgow, conducted by FV’s musical director @gregbatsleer on his tenth anniversary as Chorus Director of @SCOmusic Chorus. Thrilling playing and singing all round.
Pick of the week
PICK OF THE WEEK
Festival Voices @festivalvoices
Big Ears, Little Ears returned to St Cecilia’s Hall in Edinburgh last weekend with SCO players performing two interactive concerts with over 100 babies, toddlers and grown-ups participating. Exceptional concert from @SCOmusic tonight. Life-affirmingly exhilarating Haydn. A real privilege to hear a performance so full of ideas with such attention to detail. Please do a Hummel Mass because nobody...ever...does!
Jack Johnson @jack_richard_
@SCOmusic play a haunting rendition of Stravinsky’s mass, a bright Bach then Haydn’s Harmony mass #Glasgow #CityHalls
Allison Littlejohn @allisonl
CHAMBER SUNDAY WITH SCO WIND SOLOISTS Utterly beautiful playing from @SCOmusic & @RCStweets Wind Soloists @queens_hall this afternoon. Glorious #Strauss and some real gems from #Britten, #Nielsen & #Seiber
Julian Appleyard @JulianAppleyard
SHARE YOUR CONCERT EXPERIENCE –––––– Sign up for our email newsletter For all our latest news, films, photos, blogs and special offers, visit SCO.ORG.UK/LATEST Email us Sophie Sim, Marketing Officer sophie.sim@sco.org.uk Comment on Facebook facebook.com/scottishchamberorchestra Share your experience on Twitter @SCOmusic Share your experience on Instagram @scottishchamberorchestra #mySCO