VCH Organ Series: If With All Your Hearts

IF WITH ALL YOUR HEARTS Programme

HANDEL Selections from Messiah* 9’ Thy rebuke hath broken His heart Behold, and see if there be any sorrow He was cut off out of the land of the living But Thou didst not leave His soul Their sound is gone out

HAYDN The Creation* 5’ Mit Würd’ und Hoheit angetan ("In Native Worth and Honour Clad")

MENDELSSOHN Elijah, Op. 70* 4’ Ye people, rend your hearts If with all your hearts

St. Paul, Op. 36* 4’ Sei getreu bis in den Tod ("Be Thou Faithful unto Death")

STANFORD Selections from Bible Songs Op. 113# 12’ A Song of Freedom A Song of Hope A Song of Peace

IRELAND Sursum Corda 5’ Alla Marcia 3’ SPONSORED BY

20 May 2019 Victoria Concert Hall Evelyn Ang, soprano# Joshua Chang, tenor* Phoon Yu, organ

Phoon Yu, organ Organist Phoon Yu is active both in Singapore and in the United States. He has performed in concerts in Singapore (playing in the previous two VCH Organ Series), the United States, and the Netherlands. He is also a composer – composition premieres of his include works for various solo instruments, chamber groups, and orchestras performed in Singapore, China and the US. Phoon Yu is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance at The Juilliard School with Paul Jacobs. Previously, he studied at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and the Peabody Institute. Previous teachers include Donald Sutherland and Dr. Evelyn Lim (organ) and Associate Professor Ho Chee Kong and Dr. Oscar Bettison (composition).

Evelyn Ang, soprano Singaporean Soprano, Evelyn Ang is an alumni of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). She attained her BA(Hons) in Music, majoring in Voice with NAFA in collaboration with the University of Wales in 2010 and her final year saw her being awarded the Tan Ngiang Kaw/Tan Ngiang Ann Music Merit Award. She has gone on to give countless recitals and performances both overseas and locally and has also co-founded the Spot Pocket Opera Theatre. Evelyn’s recent collaborations have seen her working alongside the SAF, The Esplanade, The National Arts Council, The German Embassy, Quinnuance, Ding Yi Music Company, Voce, JK Music Entertainment, Flamenco Sin Fronteras, leading Indian Carnatic Musician, Dr Bhagya Murthy and renowned composers and conductors such as Dr Robert Casteels and Mr Eric J.Watson.

Joshua Chang, tenor Kok Sieng (Joshua) Chang, is a first-year doctoral student in the Voice Performance at Claremont Graduate University studying with Charles Roe. Originally from Penang, Malaysia, Joshua holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree of Church Music in Piano Performance from Singapore Bible College(SBC). Encouraged by his mentors at SBC, He went on to pursue another Master degree in Voice Performance at Northwestern University. During his studies, he was invited to perform as a Tenor soloist for Messiah, Bach Cantatas, and other sacred works. As a choral music enthusiast, he enjoyed singing with Northwestern Baroque/Contemporary Ensemble under the direction of Grammy winner conductor Donald Nally. Apart from that, he was hired to sing professionally for Madison Choral Project and also as a tenor section leader at First Presbyterian Church Evanston.

Programme Notes Wagner, while in London in 1855, wrote, “an oratorio attracts the public far more than an opera.” The oratorio was a central feature of 19th century British musical life, and no composer was more central to it than George Frideric Handel (16851759), whose Messiah still dominates public imagination to this day. Taking Jesus Christ – the cornerstone of Christianity – as its subject, Handel musically illustrates His earthly existence: His Father’s rebuke, the beholding of His sorrow, and His being cut off from the living are portrayed in a sorrowful fashion, while His liberation from Hell and the sound of His good news are markedly more upbeat.

Oratorios on biblical subjects were not solely Handel’s preserve. Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), hearing Handel’s oratorios in Westminster Abbey, was inspired to write The Creation. ‘Mit Würd’ und Hoheit angetan’ deals with a key moment – the genesis of the first man and woman – that Haydn portrays with melodic flourishes supported by repeated notes. Likewise, Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) Elijah and Saint Paul deal with the eponymous biblical characters. Obadiah’s exhortation to honour God ‘With all your Hearts’ is depicted with an alternation between arpeggi and repeated chords, while Paul’s steadfastness is contrasted with the fluid and mutable nature of the melody line in ‘Sei getreu bis in den Tod.’ Towards the end of the century, the music of British-born composers found prominence alongside the earlier Teutonic imports. Charles Villiers Stanford’s (1852-1924) Bible Songs depicts human aspirations and experiences through a biblical lens, blending Stanford’s melodies with those of hymns and other musical material. John Ireland (1879-1962), a student of Stanford’s, was also known for his choral music, but he also had an affinity for the organ. The meditative nature of his Sursum Corda (a phrase meaning ‘lift up your hearts’) prepares the believer for Holy Communion, while the exuberant Alla Marcia bears witness to the pomp and splendour of Imperial Britain.

Programme notes by Phoon Yu

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