Saturday 30 November 2024 at 7:30pm
St Gabriel's Church, Billingshurst
Our next concert will be our Advent Concert on Saturday 30 November 2024 at 7:30pm.
The Programme includes:
Anon: Gaudete
Britten: Ceremony of Carols
Buxtehude: In Dulci Jubilo
Janáček: Otčenáš
Praetorius: Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen
Rutter: Angels’ Carol, Candlelight Carol, Nativity Carol
Saint-Saëns: Quam Dilecto
The following text provides an introduction to some of the music we will be performing:
Janáček’s Otčenáš (Our Father)
Leoš Janáček was the most significant Czech composer of the generation that followed Smetana and Dvořák. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavik music, including Eastern European folk music to create an original modern musical style. He was born in 1854 in Hukvaldy, Moravia, in the Austrian Empire and died in 1928 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. He is known for being one of the most important exponents of musical nationalism in the 20th century.
Janáček began his musical career as a choir boy and later studied at Prague, Leipzig and Vienna conservatoires. In 1881, he founded a college of organists in Brno, which he directed until 1920. He also conducted the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 1881 to 1888 and later became professor of composition at the Prague Conservatory in 1919. Rather like Elgar, Janáček was a late developer, whose first opera of distinction, Jenůfa, was first performed when the composer was 50 and he went on to write his greatest operas after the age of 65.
BCS will be singing Janáček’s cantata Otčenáš as part of their Advent Concert programme. It was originally called Moravsky Otčenáš (Moravian Our Father) and it is a setting of The Lord’s Prayer. The choir was very relieved to learn that its conductor, Marcio da Silva, had decided that the cantata would be sung in English rather than in the original Czech.
The first version was performed in 1901 as an accompaniment to a series of tableau vivants (often shortened to tableau, French for ‘living picture’). It was scored for mixed chorus, tenor, piano and harmonium. This was never published and in 1906, Janáček revised the work for mixed chorus, tenor, harp and organ. The work lasts for approximately 15 minutes and it falls into five self-contained sections:
- Our Father, which art in heaven, andante, in A-flat major
- Thy will be done, moderato, in B-flat minor
- Give us this day our daily bread, con moto, in E-flat major
- Forgive us our trespasses, adagio, in A-flat major
- Lead us not into temptation, energico moderato, in E-flat minor
A Ceremony of Carols - Benjamin Britten
Part 1
Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976) was a central figure of 20th century music. He is best known for the opera Peter Grimes, his War Requiem and The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
Britten was a pacifist and on the eve of World War II, he left England with his partner, the tenor Peter Pears and went to live in America. The pair never really settled and in 1942, they made the long and perilous Atlantic Crossing back home on a Swedish cargo vessel. The journey lasted for a month, as it called at various ports before landing and Britten spent the entire voyage composing music. This included a number of carols which would make up the 11-movement A Ceremony of Carols. It was originally written for the high, clear voices of boy trebles or a women’s choir, and harp. BCS will be singing the arrangement for SATB by Julius Harrison.
The first movement is entitled Procession and begins with Hodie Christus natus est (Christ is born today). It’s a quasi-liturgical opening with a theological point being made that ‘God becomes human’. Originally, the choir processed in singing this and at the end of the piece, Britten had written that the last few lines could be repeated until all of the choir were assembled.
The second movement, Wolcum Yole! is introduced by amazingly strident chords from the harp and goes straight into a rowdy, bawdy tavern-type atmosphere… Welcome Everyone! A complete change of pace and timbre from the first movement. Britten makes a strong contrast between God transcending in the language of the church and God imminent in the dirt and dust of the stable.
The mood changes again for the third movement, a hymn to Mary, becoming more reverent, gentle and prayerful. There is no rose of such vertu, As is the rose that bare Jesu, based on a 14th century poem, the author is unknown. This carol compares Mary to a rose and uses a combination of languages, in this case Latin and English in alternate lines. This is known as a macaronic carol. Referring to Mary as ‘The Rose’, it relates to classic medieval doctrinal belief that Mary redeems the sin of Eve. Eve causes the Fall in the Garden of Eden because she listens to the serpent and eats the apple. Christ then redeems the sin of Adam, who is representative of the whole human race. A rose, of course, has thorns: the beauty and the pain. The elation Mary experiences at her son’s birth and the pain she must endure when he is put to death.
Mary is centre stage now and the next two movements are sung by her (soprano solo and harp). The first (4a) is a cross between a lullaby and a lament That yongë child when it gan weep. With song she lulled him a-sleep’. This chant-like melody is similar to the first processional piece. The second carol (4b) entitled Balulalow is a carol of commitment: I shall rock thee to my heart, and never more from thee depart. Musicologists who have studied Benjamin Britten and his compositions will state that he was not a deeply religious man, but his music certainly takes him closer to spirituality. It is true to say that the music resonates completely with the meaning of the words.
Movement five, As Dew in Aprille, brings Spring in December. In this carol the sun is out and reminds us of the Annunciation. The focus is very much on Mary and it’s as if the sunshine comes out in the depths of Winter.
Part 2
The first performance of A Ceremony of Carols was conducted by the composer in December 1942 and sung by the Fleet Street Choir. After that performance, Britten composed a new solo piece, That Yongë Child and the harp interlude, and came to the conclusion that he would prefer the sound of a boys’ choir. The following Christmas, he introduced the final version with the Morriston Boys’ Choir. The piece became so popular that the publisher, Boosey and Hawkes, asked another composer, Julius Hairston, to provide a four-part arrangement for mixed choir, which BCS will be performing on 30th November.
Continuing on from part 1, the article posted last week, movement six: This Little Babe is yet another huge contrast to the previous movement (As Dew in Aprille). It literally takes off at a rip-roaring speed with consonants tumbling over each other, which makes it very exciting to sing. As a piece, it is much darker and describes Christ’s battle with Satan and the Forces of Evil.
Next follows movement seven, entitled Interlude, which is the harp solo, that recaps previously heard themes and is very beautiful and ethereal. Harpists have said that it was one of their favourite pieces to play, written all in ‘flats’. The pedals are all up and Britten instructs the harpist to use harmonics that give the bell-like sound.
In Freezing Winter Night is the title of movement nine and the metaphor of the coldness helps us understand the sense of foreboding which is in the stable. This child doesn’t stay an innocent baby in the manger for very long. This child disrupts, is persecuted, then executed and the shape of the cross to come is very powerful. The choir sings in a round to create an echoing effect. The singers and the harp progress through the movement at contrasting paces and, over the duration of the piece, gradually synchronise until both move at the same speed just before the ending, when the music fades out.
The tenth movement entitled Spring Carol, has echoes of Britten’s Spring Symphony (Opus 44) which is a choral work, first performed in 1949.
This carol is on a text which was set by William Cornysh in the 16th century. Britten arranged it as a duet between two sopranos that depicts the signs of Spring. Musicologists state that Britten was a wonderful word setter – the best we’ve had since Purcell. This movement ends with a call to thank God, which transitions appropriately to the final movement… Then we always to Him give praise, and thank Him then.
The final movement, Deo Gratias – Adam lay i-bounden is based on a macaronic poem of the 15th century. Adam lay i-bounden tells of the events that happened in chapter 3 of Genesis, the ‘Fall of Man’ as Eve was tricked into eating the fruit of sin. The coming of Christ then changes everything … Deo Gratias (thanks be to God) for Christ has redeemed the sin of Adam. The vocal part is written with short snappy rhythms which are wonderful to sing.
So… what is the lasting appeal of this piece? It is the way that it celebrates the world we live in and the story of Christ through music. It is certainly true to say that it appeals to Christians and non-believers alike.
Why an Advent Concert?
For the past number of years, BCS has always produced a traditional Christmas Carol Concert in December. However, this year it’s time to ring in the changes and the Choral Society will show off its singing prowess with an Advent Concert on Saturday, 30th November at St. Gabriel’s Church, Billingshurst. The music chosen is both dynamic and demanding, and entirely appropriate for this season.
Christians who celebrate Advent see it as time of expectation and preparation for Jesus’ arrival, which happened first at the Incarnation and will happen again at his return. For some of us, Advent is a reminder to find rest in a season notoriously wrought with materialism, busyness and exhaustion. It is a time to open a door on a calendar or light a candle while still embracing the wonder of Christmas. Regardless of how you observe Advent, our concert will be an opportunity to shut out much of the Christmassy commercialism and focus on what really matters to you!
The Programme includes:
Anon: Gaudete
Britten: Ceremony of Carols
Buxtehude: In Dulci Jubilo
Janáček: Otčenáš
Praetorius: Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen
Rutter: Angels’ Carol, Candlelight Carol, Nativity Carol
Saint-Saëns: Quam Dilecto
Over the next nine weeks leading up to the performance we will feature one piece of music from the above programme and its composer.
We hope that you will join BCS for their Advent Concert to soak up the beautiful choral music during this special season. Tickets are now available, follow the link at the top of this page.
BCS is pleased to be supporting Midhurst Palliative Care as its charity for the season.
