Top of the Stops
A Celebration S u n d a y 2 5 th S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6 S t C a t h e r i n e ’s C h a p e l
WELCOME I am delighted to welcome you to our ‘Top of the Stops’ celebratory evening. Our concert will feature some of our most talented organists, past and present, as well as our young drama students, in a programme of organ pieces, poetry and storytelling which celebrates the return of this beautiful ‘baby’ Willis organ to its home here in Chapel, completely restored to its former glory. I hope you will enjoy hearing the organ in full voice, without its ‘sticky D’! It is much more responsive with a brighter tone. Afterwards, you will be able to visit the organ loft and refreshments will be served in the School Dining Room. With very best wishes,
Alice Phillips Headmistress, St Catherine’s School, Bramley
“To walk down the little cloistered passage into the Chapel was always a special moment of wonder and peace.” E Green, 1952
THE CHAPEL FUND To those of you here today and those unable to join us but who will hear the concert online, thank-you for your support of The Chapel Fund. The generosity of the School community has been exceptional and has enabled us to protect it for future generations to enjoy. The successful fundraising campaign has allowed us to restore our very special 1899 ‘Father’ Willis & Sons organ, repair a number of our Charles Eamer Kempe stained glass windows and make a small contribution to the roof repairs which the School was undertaking. So many feet have passed through the Chapel since 1894 and so many voices have been raised in song through the years. The Chapel truly is a place of worship, peace and calm in our ever-busy School. Gifts have totalled £202,000 with 31% coming from parents, current and former, 29% from alumnae across the globe, 24% from staff and the remainder from community fundraising events. We have also benefited
from the support of The Surrey Historic Buildings Trust and the Surrey Churches Preservation Trust, to whom we are most grateful. Over half of those supporting The Chapel Fund are new donors to the School. If you would like to read more about The Chapel Fund restoration process do visit the blog on the website under Development. You will also find there a wonderful collection of Chapel memories from alumnae from 1910 onwards. On behalf of the girls both present and future, Pippa Carte the Development Director, would like to say a big thank-you to all those who have contributed to protecting the fabric of the Chapel into the future. She would also like to thank those who give generously to the St Catherine’s Annual Fund to enhance the girls’ learning and the School environment and those who offer bright girls the opportunity of a St Catherine’s education through The Bursary Fund.
PROGRAMME
Welcome Alice Phillips, Headmistress Rev’d Dr Benji McNair Scott, Chaplain Fanfare William Mathias
Emily
The success of the Chapel Fund
Pippa Carte, Development Director
See, the Conquering Catherine Hero Comes Judas Maccabaeus George Frederick Handel The Organist in Heaven Francesca T.E. Brown Carolina Chant de Mai Joanna Joseph Jongen
Tuba Tune Annie C.S. Lang Memory of Chapel
Mrs Carol Ayton (1952)
Sortie in Eb Louis Lefébure-Wély
Imogen
‘Father’ Willis drama Tabitha Sofya The Dam Busters’ March Evelyn Tinker (2009) Eric Coates Thank you and Blessing Joseph McHardy, Director of Chapel Music Rev’d Dr Benji McNair Scott, Chaplain
On entry, a selection of music was performed on the violin and spinet by Joanna and Imogen.
“When I play I am in a completely separate bubble from everywhere else.” Joanna
MUSIC PROGRAMME NOTES Fanfare
William Mathias
William Mathias was a Welsh composer who was born in 1934. By the age of seven, he was playing the piano in public and knew very early on that he wanted to become a composer. During his lifetime, Mathias held many prestigious positions and also enjoyed a successful career teaching music at a high level. He was made a CBE in the 1985 New Year’s Honours List. Another notable achievement was his founding of the North Wales International Music Festival in 1972, which he directed until his death twenty years later and which is still running today. Arguably one of his most famous compositions is the anthem Let The People Praise Thee, O God, which was written for and performed at the 1981 wedding of HRH Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. Mathias’s successes were not limited to choral work, however, and he also wrote an opera, numerous orchestral and chamber works, and pieces for solo instruments. Fanfare was commissioned for the inaugural concert for the Christie organ in Barry, Glamorgan, in 1987 and as such is one of Mathias’s final compositions for the organ which makes it a very appropriate piece for today’s concert. Emily
See, the Conquering Hero Comes
Handel
Composed by Handel in 1746, See, the Conquering Hero Comes is from the third act of the oratorio Judas Maccabaeus which is based on a libretto written by Thomas Morell. The oratorio was devised as a compliment to the victorious Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, upon his return from the Battle of Culloden (16th April 1746). It tells the story of the Jews who, under oppression from the Seleucid Empire, were being forced to abandon their beliefs and follow the Greek God Zeus in order to avoid persecution. However, under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus, some did not obey, and this tale depicts the changing moods of the Jewish people as their fortunes vary from dejection to jubilation. The first performance took place on the 1st April 1747 at Covent Garden, and subsequently Judas Maccabaeus became one of Handel’s most popular oratorios. Interestingly, the famous chorus See, the Conquering Hero Comes was composed during the summer of 1747 for Handel’s next oratorio, Joshua. In the wake of its popularity, probably in 1751, Handel added it to Judas Maccabaeus, and so it forms a legitimate part of both oratorios. Catherine
Chant de Mai
Joseph Jongen
Born in Liège on 14th December 1873, Joseph Jongen was a representative composer in modern Belgium. He entered the Liège Conservatory at the age of seven and won his first prize for composition, the Royal Academy of Belgium Prize, at the age of 21. He spent a lot of his time in France, composing in a French style, which can be heard clearly in the Chant de Mai. On his return, he became a professor at the Liège Conservatory as well as a visiting professor at the Brussels Conservatory. He is also one of the most renowned composers in modern Belgium for the strongly neo-classical form in his pieces, with colourful impressionist harmonization, as presented in this piece. Joanna Tuba Tune
C.S. Lang
Tuba Tune in D major Op.15 was written by C.S. Lang (also known as Robin). In 1929, he was appointed Director of Music at Christ’s Hospital school in Horsham. C.S. Lang was apparently determined to awaken “the budding musicianship of every sort of pupil”. Tuba Tune is one of Lang’s most famous organ works.This piece was originally composed to display the tuba stop, however, due to the absence of a tuba stop, the piece will be played with a combination of other stops. Annie
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Sortie in E
Louis Lefébure-Wély
The Dam Busters’ March
Eric Coates
Lefébure-Wély (1817-1870) obtained his first official job as organist at Saint-Roch in Paris at the age of 14 and, after a time at the Madeleine, he became organist at the prestigious Saint-Sulpice in 1863. In the years before his appointment, the great French organ builders Cavaillé-Coll had greatly enlarged and adapted the organ to the ideal of the symphonic organ style which involved many pipes being added to imitate orchestral instruments, creating new tonal worlds for organists to experiment with.
Eric Coates was born in Hucknall, in the Nottinghamshire coalfields. Educated locally and later at the Royal Academy of Music, he had a solid training in orchestral composition, through playing the principal viola in the Queen’s Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood. However, he soon became much better known as the composer of many light music classics. Many were used as signature tunes for programmes on the wireless, most famously Sleepy Lagoon, still used to introduce Desert Island Discs.
During his life, Lefébure-Wély was known primarily as a skilful improviser and a rather eccentric colleague of the other Parisian organists - I believe some of his personality may be conveyed in this piece.
He wrote only a few film scores, and The Dam Busters’ March of 1954 is considered both the finest and the most famous. He was unwilling to write the entire score when asked by the film’s producers, but warmed to the idea of writing a signature march around which the rest of the film’s score was based. In fact, he submitted a piece that he had recently completed, so the famous Dam Busters’ March was not itself composed with the film in mind. The final film score was completed by Leighton Lucas.
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Sortie in E is very unlike anything that was being written for the organ at the time. The whole piece has an almost child-like energy with a chromatic, dancing melody and a continuous accompaniment, invoking the spirit of a carousel ride. It is unclear whether or not this piece was ever to be played as a voluntary in a church or as a jolly addition to an organ recital, but whatever its purpose, I think this piece is a fine example of the more vibrant and exciting side of organ repertoire. Imogen
Evelyn Tinker (2009)
1905
OUR CHAPEL The Chapel is at the very heart and soul of St Catherine’s. Built in 1893 it has served the School community for over 120 years. It has changed little in that time. Its origins In 1889 an anonymous £1,000 donation allowed the School to begin fundraising for a Chapel. Before this time, religious worship took place in “a little Chapel at the top of the house” according to Miss Burnett, the founding Headmistress of St Catherine’s. This space was on the top floor of the main school building that is now boarding accommodation. With successful fundraising in the 1890’s, the Chapel was dedicated in 1894 by the Archbishop of Canterbury whose “train was borne in procession by two chorister boys in scarlet cassocks.” He preached on Hebrews 6, which includes the instruction Let us go on from which our School motto originates. The Chapel was built by Hodgson Fowler and its interior - the furnishings, stained glass windows and the reredos - was designed by pre-eminent glass artist Charles Eamer Kempe. Kempe was a friend of one of the School’s founders, Viscount Middleton. Kempe had wanted to be a vicar but had a stutter so decided to train in adorning churches instead! He is reported to have been a bachelor who had an interesting wit and used to entertain the Royal Family at his home in Sussex. It is to him that we owe our beautiful stained glass windows which were added in the early 1900’s.
The stained glass windows There are two points of note: the clear glass used by Kempe has a specially designed greenish tinge which he believed to be kinder on the eye and helped soften the contrast with the dark interior of Chapel. You will also see the Kempe ‘wheatsheaf’ motif. This is his family coat of arms, which appears on the windows he personally designed. Those windows without the motif were created in his studio but not by Kempe himself. The early benefactors of the School – those whose footsteps you follow in supporting The Chapel Fund – are acknowledged in the East Window – the 1st to the right of the altar, acknowledged by the teachers, pupils and friends of St Catherine’s. The wheel window was a later addition to the Chapel, installed in 1922, and designed by Mr Tower, a colleague
of Kempe. The spokes of the wheel represent the Gifts of the Spirit according to Isaiah XI. The restoration work to this window has included re-pointing and in October specialist craftsman will begin work on the windows of the Saints, two at a time, taking these to the workshop for repairs. We hope the work will be fully complete in early 2017. They will be repairing damage to the leading where water has leaked in and addressing wear and tear to the glass. St Catherine of Alexandria Our School Patron Saint, St Catherine of Alexandria, appears to the right of the narthex, just after the wrought iron gates. She can be seen in the jewelled cloak of royal birth with her book of learning and sword of martyrdom. St Catherine was the daughter of the King of Alexandria. History tells us that she was studious and woo’d by the Emperor Maxentius who had invaded Alexandria to quash the Christians. She resisted his advances saying she was committed to Christ. Maxentius sent fifty of his men to get Catherine to renounce her faith but she resisted and Maxentius subsequently ordered her
“The light on the stained glass windows, the warm glow of the wood and the smell of polish.” S Love, 1983
torture and death on a spiked wheel (the St Catherine’s wheel that appears in our School badge). The wheel broke immediately, her faith protecting her, and Maxentius eventually had her beheaded. Catherine’s body was taken to Mount Sinai where today she is honoured at St Catherine’s Monastery. The organ In 1899 a Fund was launched for an organ to be installed and £342 was raised including £2 for the stool. Our ‘Father’ Willis organ was sourced thanks to the help of one of our Founders, Canon Musgrave, to whom ‘Father’ Willis was recommended. We are most fortunate to have such a pre-eminent Victorian organ-builder’s work in our School Chapel. Henry Willis (given the nickname ‘Father’ after C17th organ builder ‘Father’ Smith, who also founded a dynasty of organ builders) was born in 1821 to an artisan family in Surrey. He played the organ from a young age and at 14 was apprenticed to John Grey with whom he tuned organs, including the organ in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. He then moved to an apprenticeship with Elvey in Cheltenham where he was befriended by Dr Samuel Wesley, the English organist and composer. In 1847 he was commissioned to rebuild the organ in Gloucester Cathedral. His reputation grew and in 1851 he exhibited at The Great Exhibition where Queen Victoria heard the organ play after he tuned it at 5am in readiness! This resulted in a commission for The Royal Albert Hall where he was given carte blanche “The organ now has a brighter tone and a swell reed that doesn’t sound like a tinned bluebottle.” M Greenfield, Director of Music
with the design and specification of the organ which was subsequently played for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Our Chapel organ, built in 1899, is an historic gem - an ‘orchestra in a box’ as our Organ Scholar, Imogen Morgan, described it. Whilst far simpler than many Willis organs, it has remained untouched over the generations and has a richness of tone that is unparralled. The reredos The highly decorative reredos above the altar was given to St Catherine’s by one of our founders, Canon Musgrave, in memory of his wife Frances. It was designed by Kempe and carved in Bavaria. In the centre panel you can see the Virgin Mary & Child, with St Catherine to their left with an open book on her lap and St Anne on their right. Also featured on the reredos are the four great Latin Doctors and fathers of the Church: Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose and Gregory. The cloister windows The windows in the cloister were added after the First World War as memorial windows. They are designated Courage, Sacrifice, Chivalry, Victory and Mercy. Also set in the cloister is a Memorial Roll to those connected with St Catherine’s who lost their lives in that war.
“ The dip in the floor where you stand to ring the bell – so many feet have been there.” P James, 1952
CHAPEL FUND DONORS Thank you for your generous support. The roll of honour in Chapel holds the names of all donors in perpetuity. STOP SPONSORS Caragh and Lucia Bennet – 8’ Open Diapason The Burne Family - 8’ Claribel Flute Mr and Mrs Corrie - Principal Emily Nott – Lieblich Gedact Swell 8’ The Panter Family - 8’ Dulciana Mr and Mrs Phillips and Joanna Phillips – 8’ Cornopean Swell The Prep School PTA - 8’ Dulciana The Senior School PTA - 4’ Principal SOUND SPONSORS Low and Large The Fleming Family Patricia James Jane Kemball Low and Loud Mr and Mrs Kenneth Chan Mr and Mrs James Garthwaite Frances Goff The Goodchild Family The McMonigall Family Lady Marion Morris Anon
Expressive Mr Murray Campbell The Crouch Family The Horan Family Patricia James Jill Lye Dr and Mrs Stapleton Grace Miller Miss J C M Bolton In Memory of Mr Raymond Noel Dunn Helen Auty - In Memory of Jane Hornsby (Davis) WINDOW SPONSORS Faithfulness In memory of Reverend John Bryn-Thomas (Eucharistic Chaplain, 2011-2012) The Carte Family The Eve Family Frances Garvey Miss Helena Hayward Miss G Soper Vincy Wong Anon Wisdom Mr Drummond Rosie Evans The Haywood Family
Peter Johnson in memory of Janet Johnson Anne, Peter, Naomi and Lydia Joshua Hazel Kelly Karen Leung Helen Liu and Regina Liu Hettie Sainsbury Grace Whitmarsh A St Catherine’s Family Anon Counsel In memory of Mrs Kerry Agar-Hynd, the LIII families of 2016 Pippa Carte Jill Cochrane Camilla Lamont Morgan Roberts Understanding Marjory Bayliss Bramley Village Fete Association 2015 The Carte Family Francesca Glenn Anne, Peter, Naomi and Lydia Joshua Miss Wenxin-Ju Miss C. Massey Mrs Alice Phillips Isabelle Russell and Mrs Jane Russell Eva Smith
Caroline and Helen Steel The Walsh Family A St Catherine’s Family Knowledge Miss Philippa Berry Rosemary and Richard Christophers Alicia Glenn Mrs Miranda Greenway The Hudson Family Gemma and Katie Taylor Miss Wenxin-Ju Gill Wright Mrs Susan Wood (Berry) Might Audrey Bayliss Liz Chalwin Philippa Goff Fear of the Lord Jill Cochrane We are also grateful for the following support: The Bramley Bikers Hazelhurst Trust The ON Organ Fund The Pilgrim Trust The Prep School PTA The Senior School PTA
The Surrey Churches Preservation Trust The Surrey Historic Buildings Trust Midleton House Communion Merriman House Communion Musgrave House Donation Stoner House Communion Bramley Parochial Church Council Memories Antiques, Bramley and our 16 anonymous donors FUND SUPPORTERS Vic Alexander Mrs Gillian Allen Anne Angus Carol Ayton Revd Frances Bach Mr and Mrs Bagley Miss Bartholomew Mr and Mrs Bateman Beth Bathurst Mrs Patricia Bento Simone Berry Annabelle Blake Mr and Mrs Boyes Deborah Bowen Mrs Jenny Bristow (Newman) Mr David Brown Nan Brown
Heather Bryn-Thomas Mrs Louise Buckley Mrs Jill Buist (Wylie) Angelique Burns Davina Byrne The Cassar Family N. J. Chatfield (1965 ES-U Scholar) Kay ChaventrĂŠ In Memory of Sarah Clayton Judy Corben Netty Creswell Gill David Jacki Deakin The DeVilliers Family Gill Denyer Mr and Mrs Dibsdall Mrs Gill Dockray Victoria Douglas Annabel Drazin In Memory of Mr L Drew (Head of Chemistry 1989-99) Barbara Edwards Madeleine Edwards Megan, Sian and Mimi Edwards Mrs Wendy Faulkner (Henshaw) Geoff and Katriona Field Fran Flammiger Mrs Frankie Gane
The George Family Avril Gilbert (Kitson) Mrs Jennifer Gillies Jenny Grayson Linda, Rebecca and Victoria Green Rosemary Gunther Sue Hall Mrs Jane Hampshire (Griffith) Antony Harris Susan Harvey Hart Dr and Mrs Rob Hawtin Graham Healy The Hermitage Family Anna Hetherington Mrs Denise Househam The Hume Family Dr Anne Hunter Mrs Clare Jarrett Liberty and Saskia Jones Dr and Mrs Jordan Sam Kelly Sheila Kelsall Michelle Kruger (Wheeler) Anne Lee Ruth Lee Elizabeth Wyand and Marianne Leung (Yang) Mrs J Lever
Jean Long Mrs Diana Lunn Beth MacCulloch Jane Macgillivray Mrs Tessa Manktelow Janet March Deborah Markham Megan Martin Mrs Ann Maughan Kate McDowell Izzy McLean Revd Benji McNair Scott Kirsty Meredith The Moore Family Imogen Morgan and family Lorinda Munro-Faure Mrs Aggie Murch Mrs Josephine Ng Mrs A Nikitina Mrs Jane Nixon Mr and Mrs J Nixon The Normand Family Mrs Ula Oakley Mrs Margaret Parry (Umpleby)
Robert Patterson The Pilkington Family Deirdre Poldervaart (Harris) Mrs Lowri Potts Mrs Beryl Rawkins The Reina Family Dr G Robson Caroline Rose Mrs Rowe Frances Scott Mr and Mrs Richard Seaborne Jane Shenfield Mr and Mrs A Short Susan Shorthose Christine Silver Anne Simpson Ros Smallwood Tyrone Smith Olivia Stalley Judith Standley Mrs Felicity Steele Mrs Andrew Steward Mrs Diane Stewart Anne Stortt
Lucy, Annabel and Emma Strong The Stunt Family Mrs Fiona Thomas The Tiernan Family Mrs Peta Tracey The Turner Family The Vega Family Verity Vinen and Family Anderley Wade The Wakefield Family Izzy and Catherine Weber Rosemary Webster Toppy Wharton Alastair and Amanda White Alexandra White Mr and Mrs Rob Wilkinson Dr Elizabeth Wilson Ms Sarah Wilson The Wong Family Mrs Lesley Wormald Nicola Wynne Mr Ian Young Mr and Mrs P Yung
We take every care to ensure that donor’s titles and names are reported correctly and that all donors have been appropriately acknowledged, either by name or anonymously if they so wish. Should you note any errors or omissions please accept our sincere apology. Your gift is most certainly appreciated and gratefully received.
ENCOURAGING ORGAN MUSIC AT ST CATHERINE’S The Jennifer Bate Organ Academy
Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation
The Jennifer Bate Organ Academy is now in its 13th year. This is a wonderful opportunity for young women organists, aged 1321, to develop their all-round musicianship. The internationally acclaimed recitalist Dr Jennifer Bate OBE leads the course, assisted by a team of outstanding specialists offering masterclasses in Choral Direction, Ensemble Performance, Improvisation, Repertoire, and Service Accompaniment. Applicants are encouraged from all ability levels; the course itinerary is flexible and can be tailored to meet individual needs.
The Foundation believes that in order to maintain vibrancy in the arts, it is critical that the new generation of potential artists are nurtured and encouraged. Recognising that these are difficult economic times to get a start in artistic life, the Trustees are prioritising projects that enable people to develop their abilities and careers. The Trustees chose in 2016 to support St Catherine’s School Jennifer Bate Organ Academy to help young women develop their musical talent, offering bursary support to extend access of this well-respected residential programme. Means tested bursary assistance is available for suitable candidates. The support of the Foundation ensures that the course fee is accessible for all participants and specifically funds full bursaries to extend access to those with musical talent but without the financial means to attend.
th
The 13 Jennifer Bate Organ Academy St Catherine's School, Bramley Tuesday 18th - Saturday 22nd April 2017
More than just playing the organ! This is a wonderful opportunity for young women organists, aged 13-21, to develop their all-round musicianship. This residential course is designed to explore and discover wider performance skills, providing excellent training and a greater breadth of experience, particularly for those considering university or conservatoire applications, as well as candidates for ABRSM examinations and RCO diplomas. A number of previous participants have become organ scholars at Oxford and Cambridge. The internationally-acclaimed virtuoso Dr. Jennifer Bate OBE leads the course, assisted by a team of outstanding specialists offering masterclasses in Repertoire, Service Accompaniment, Choral Direction, Harmony, Improvisation and Ensemble Performance. Applicants are encouraged from all ability levels; the course itinerary is flexible and can be tailored to meet individual needs. Participants will have the opportunity to play St Catherine’s School’s three-manual Vincent Woodstock organ and the newly-restored Willis organ in the School Chapel, as well as other notable local instruments.
For further information please contact Joseph McHardy - JBOA Course Director t: 01483 899647 | e: joseph.mchardy@stcatherines.info
The course is supported by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and meanstested bursary assistance is available for suitable candidates.
St Catherine’s, Bramley, Surrey GU5 0DF Development: 01483 899754 development@stcatherines.info www.stcatherines.info Registered Charity Number 1070858