Programme Arvo Pärt Bogoróditse Djévo Carlo Gesualdo O Vos Omnes Alonso Lobo Versa est in luctum Benjamin Britten Concord (No.2, Choral Dances from ‘Gloriana) Ralph Vaughan Williams The Turtle Dove Soloist: Jonathan Bell John Ireland The Hills Thomas Dorsey arr. Louise Marshall Precious Lord Soloist: Josh Robinson Joanna Marsh An extra day Jaakko Mäntyjarvi Pseudo-Yoik —INTERVAL-- Sergei Rachmaninoff Pridite, poklonimsya (from the All-Night-Vigil) William Harris Bring Us, O Lord God Anton Bruckner Locus Iste Richard Allain Lullaby (World Premiere) Soloist: Anne-Marie Cullum Eric Whitacre With a lily in your hand Bob Chilcott Swimming Over London Soloist: Jeremy James Anders Edenroth Chilli Con Carne Simon & Garfunkel arr. Louise Marshall Bridge over Troubled Water Thank you to In this Room for our 25th anniversary artwork and to NightOwl for our multimedia production.  Programme notes Arvo Pärt Bogoróditse Djévo (Ave Maria) This short (1min), punchy setting of the Ave Maria was Chantage’s opening number in the choir’s winning set at the Adult Finals of BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year 2006. Arvo Pärt was born in Paide, Estonia, a small town near Tallinn where he would later study composition under Heino Eller at the famous Tallinn Conservatory. Pärt earned notoriety in the 1960’s for his use of serial technique and expressionism, but then ceased composing for several years while he studied plainchant and early French and Franco-Flemish polyphony. During this period he developed a new tonal style, based around the idea that the three notes of a triad have a bell-like quality to their sound. He termed this 'tintinnabuli' (from the Latin, “little bells”). The Soviet Union’s occupation of Estonia in 1944 (which would last for almost 50 years) had a profound effect on Pärt’s life and music. Under the occupation all traditional musical forms were completely stifled, and his frustration ultimately forced him, his wife Nora and their two sons, to emigrate in 1980. Since leaving Estonia, Pärt has concentrated on setting religious texts, which have proved popular with choirs and ensembles around the world. This setting of the Bogoróditse Djévo was written in 1990 as a special gift to the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, and their conductor, Stephen Cleobury. Translation: Bogoród̃itse D̃évo, ráduys̃ia Blagodátnaya Mar̃íye, Ghospód s Tobóyu. Blagosloṽénna Tï v zhenáẖ, i blagosloṽén Plod chr̃éva Tvoyegó, yáko Spása rod̃ilá yes̃í dush náshïẖ Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, for Thou hast borne the Savior of our souls - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Carlo Gesualdo O Vos Omnes This strangely intense and sorrow-laden work was the opening piece in Chantage’s first ever concert programme, 25 years ago, at St Martin, Ludgate. Carlo Gesualdo di Venosa (1561 – 1613) is a composer remembered today as much for the spectacular murder of his first wife and her lover as for his music. The renaissance was flourishing in the North of Italy and Gesualdo, a minor aristocrat in the South, himself added “di Venosa” to his name, most likely to try to improve his chances of success as a composer. His approach to O vos omnes, a responsorial intended to be sung during Holy Week, with a text from the Book of Lamentations, is one that maintains a free style and outlines his understanding and application of chromatic harmony. This piece contains rapid stylistic shifts and moments that mirror the contemplation and understanding of this sorrowful text. Translation: O vos omnes qui transitis per viam, attendite et videte Si est dolor sicut dolor meus O all ye that pass by the way, attend and see If there be any sorrow like to my sorrow - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Alonso Lobo Versa est in luctum Alonso Lobo is perhaps best known for his motet Versa est in luctum. This is undoubtedly a masterpiece of its kind, published in a collection of his pieces in 1602. The work was written to mark the death of King Philip II of Spain, though it is unclear as to whether it was first performed at the King’s funeral, or later at a memorial in Toledo. Chantage’s performance of this piece in the Malta International Choral Competition 2015 contributed to a mark of over 95% in the Sacred Music Category, and eventual victory in the competition’s Grand Prix. Translation: Versa est in luctum cíthara mea, et órganum meum in vocem fléntium. Parce mihi Dómine, nihil enim sunt dies mei. My harp is turned to grieving and my flute into the voice of those who weep. Spare me, O Lord, for my days are as nothing. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sergei Rachmaninoff Pridite, poklonimsya (from the All-Night-Vigil) In November 2023, with help from Irina Walters, lecturer on Russian and Eastern European choral music, Chantage gave a candlelit performance of the All-Night-Vigil (sometimes known as the ‘Vespers’) at St Dunstan in the West, the spiritual home of the Romanian Orthodox Church in London for over 50 years. The All-night vigil is a beautiful and moving setting of texts from the Russian Orthodox Church liturgy in 15 movements, of which this is the opening movement; a fourfold call to prayer, in six and then eight parts. It was composed in just two weeks in January and February 1915 shortly before the Russian Revolution, and in the depths of the First World War. However, at the outbreak of world war one most of his time was spent giving charity concerts, and working for the sick and wounded and not composing at all. It is widely regarded as his finest work, and is a profound plea for peace at a time of senseless destruction. Rachmaninoff was so fond of the work that he requested that part of it be sung at his funeral. Translation: Priidite, poklonimsya Tsarevi nashemu Bogu. Priidite, poklonimsya i pripadem Khristu Tsarevi nashemu Bogu. Priidite, poklonimsya i pripadem Samomu Khristu Tsarevi i Bogu nashemu. Priidite, poklonimsya i pripadem Emu. Come, let us worship God, our King. Come let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King and our God. Come, let us worship and fall down before the very Christ, our King and our God. Come, let us worship and fall down before him - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ralph Vaughan Williams The Turtle Dove Soloist: Jonathan Bell English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote his arrangement of this piece in 1919, after he discovered the melody in 1904 while collecting folksongs. It was whilst travelling through Rusper in Sussex that he stopped at the Plough Inn, set up his Edwardian recording equipment, and captured this tune amongst the songs of the pub’s landlord, whose crackled voice and haunting melodies can still be heard today. The text dates back to 1710, which tells the story of two lovers that vow to remain faithful as one travels far from home. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John Ireland The Hills John Ireland, a contemporary of Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music, composed this piece in 1953 as his contribution to A Garland for the Queen, a collection of settings by 10 British composers of 10 contemporary poets commissioned to mark the coronation in June 1953 of Queen Elizabeth II. It sets words by the poet and travel writer James Kirkup (1918 – _2009) and finds beauty, and an almost religious serenity, in nature. Arthur Bliss, Arnold Bax, Michael Tippett, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Lennox Berkeley, John Ireland, Herbert Howells, Gerald Finzi, Alan Rawsthorne and Edmund Rubbra were the composers contributing to this collection of choral songs, which was commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain. These ten, with their respective poets, were asked to create settings for mixed voices in the image of the famous The Triumphs of Oriana (1601), which was presented to Queen Elizabeth I. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Benjamin Britten Concord (No.2, Choral Dances from ‘Gloriana) This choral dance is from Britten’s opera, Gloriana; the name often given affectionately to Queen Elizabeth I. It comes at the opening of act two in the opera, when the Queen has been welcomed to Norwich on a state visit, and is presented with several dances, given by the local people, as a tribute. The first performance of the opera was to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elisabeth II, but the music was badly received by the audience of diplomats and ambassadors who attended, resulting in heavy criticism. Successive performances have improved the opera’s image a great deal, but the choral dances stand alone as a vibrant collection in their own right. This favourite of Chantage features on The First, the choir’s debut CD, and the words are in accord with the spirit of singing in harmony together. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joanna Marsh An extra day Joanna was an undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and subsequently organ scholar at Sidney Sussex College Cambridge. She studied composition with Richard Blackford and Judith Bingham, and has developed a compositional style that is winning awards worldwide to the point of being described in The Guardian as “one of today’s leading composers for the voice”. This charming setting was commissioned by Princeton University Glee Club and written to mark the 29th February, setting the text ‘February 29th’ by Jane Hirshfield (a member of the first graduating class at Princeton University to include women). An extra day-- Like the painting’s fifth cow, who looks out directly, straight toward you, from inside her black and white spots. An extra day-- Accidental, surely: the made calendar stumbling over the real as a drunk trips over a threshold too low to see. An extra day-- With a second cup of black coffee. A friendly but businesslike phone call. A mailed-back package. Some extra work, but not too much-- just one day’s worth, exactly. An extra day-- Not unlike the space between a door and its frame when one room is lit and another is not, and one changes into the other as a woman exchanges a scarf. An extra day-- Extraordinarily like any other. And still there is some generosity to it, like a letter re-readable after its writer has died. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jaakko Mäntyjarvi Pseudo-Yoik Another competition winning piece from Chantage’s repertory, Pseudo-Yoik is a nonsense song, and has nothing to do with the traditional Lappish or Sámi yoik. Instead it is an impression of the stereotype that most Finns associate with Lapland and its people. The meaningless text exists solely to give form to the music, although the laws of probability dictate that there must exist an obscure South American Indian language in which it makes perfectly good sense. Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi describes himself as an eclectic traditionalist: eclectic in that he adopts influences from a number of styles and periods, fusing them into his own idiom; traditionalist in that his musical language is based on a traditional approach and uses the resources of modern music only sparingly. Because he is himself active in making music, his music is very practically oriented; he is a choral singer, and thus most of his works are for choir. Pseudo-Yoik was commissioned by the Tapiola Chamber Choir, a 'semi-professional' group with whom the composer sings, as an encore number, premiered in 1994 William Harris Bring Us, O Lord God
For nearly 20 years, Chantage has rehearsed weekly at the church of St Dunstan-in-the-West on Fleet Street where, announced by a plaque over the vestry door, John Donne was once a vicar. The sense of awe and of infinity he and other Metaphysical poets of the 17th century create, has inspired some of the greatest English choral music of the following centuries. It has been said that Donne gives us a glimpse of heaven through his sublime words, and that Harris reveals even more of its wonder in his setting for double choir: the synergistic combination of words and music shimmers in holy serenity. This piece was composed in 1959, not long before Harris’s retirement from a distinguished career as a teacher and director of music. A renowned choir trainer, the idiomatic part writing and textural mastery that Harris achieves in the work are testament to his tireless efforts at the musical helm of institutions such as New College and Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and St George’s Chapel, Windsor. Bring Us, O Lord God by William Harris, was sung at the Service of Committal of the Queen in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anton Bruckner Locus Iste Anton Bruckner (1824 -1896) was born in Ansfelden, Austria, the son of a village schoolmaster and musician. Bruckner’s father died when Anton was 13, and the family’s circumstances were poor enough that he was sent as an orphan to the monastery at St. Florian. There he trained as a choirboy and organist, eventually becoming the most famous organist of his generation as well as a highly regarded professor of music composition. Bruckner is often remembered as a great symphonist, “a master-builder of cathedrals in sound” who was highly influenced by Wagner’s grand operas and in turn served as an inspiration for Gustav Mahler. However, his sacred vocal output is extremely significant and tremendously popular today. He wrote three Masses, which continued the Viennese tradition of Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert, and around thirty motets, of which this is possibly the most well known. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Richard Allain Lullaby (World Premiere) Soloist: Anne-Marie Cullum Richard Allain is a dear friend of the choir’s and one of Chantage’s greatest competition triumphs was performing his Christ’s Love Song at the Grand Final of BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year in 2006. The performance evoked composer and poet Eugene Skeef to say “You stole my heart away and you encouraged me to search for it by letting me float on the diaphanous cloud of your sound”. We are thrilled that Richard agreed to write this commission for us, to mark our 25th Anniversary, and hope you will enjoy his exquisite setting of the text by W.H. Auden, which encapsulates so very much of the human existence. The work is dedicated to the memory of our very dear friend, Ben Thapa. Lay your sleeping head, my love, Human on my faithless arm; Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave Proves the child ephemeral: But in my arms till break of day Let the living creature lie, Mortal, guilty, but to me The entirely beautiful. Soul and body have no bounds: To lovers as they lie upon Her tolerant enchanted slope In their ordinary swoon, Grave the vision Venus sends Of supernatural sympathy, Universal love and hope; While an abstract insight wakes Among the glaciers and the rocks The hermit's carnal ecstasy. Certainty, fidelity On the stroke of midnight pass Like vibrations of a bell, And fashionable madmen raise Their pedantic boring cry: Every farthing of the cost, All the dreaded cards foretell, Shall be paid, but from this night Not a whisper, not a thought, Not a kiss nor look be lost. Beauty, midnight, vision dies: Let the winds of dawn that blow Softly round your dreaming head Such a day of welcome show Eye and knocking heart may bless, Find the mortal world enough; Noons of dryness find you fed By the involuntary powers, Nights of insult let you pass Watched by every human love. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Eric Whitacre With a lily in your hand Eric Whitacre (b.1970) has become a world-renowned composer of choral music, taking on texts and projects of dramatic scope and receiving international acclaim in the process. He burst onto the scene with pieces like his innovative, a cappella work Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine, as well as Water Night. His choral music is regularly performed around the world, particularly in the USA where With a Lily in Your Hand was commissioned for the California All-State Chorus in 2002. Chantage first encountered Eric Whitacre’s music with his setting of A Boy and a Girl, which the choir performed in the Choir of the Year Competition Adult Final, broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The choir subsequently worked with Eric at the Association of British Choral Directors annual convention in 2007, in Lincoln Cathedral, where he told us we had been responsible for bringing his music to the UK. This piece won great praise for us at the Tolosa International Choral Competition in 2008, and Eric told us that it was a vision of a scene from a Western, an image that really brings the music to life. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bob Chilcott Swimming Over London Soloist: Jeremy James This is the first piece that poet Charles Bennett worked on with composer Bob Chilcott. It sets a poem from 'How to Make a Woman Out of Water', which was adapted and revised for the King’s Singers. The song is described as a vivid musical depiction of the colourful dreamscape created in Charles Bennett’s text. The solo tenor floats over the soft, jazzy harmonies of the other voices as he narrates the journey through London’s sky, noting the ‘blackbirds in the sleeping streets’ and a taxicab slumbering below. The song was selected for our repertoire in 2020 in preparation for the London International Choral Conducting Competition but, sadly, the event was cancelled due to the pandemic. We’re delighted to be hosting the event at last and, to close our season of performances marking our 25th Anniversary, we’ll be performing it on 2nd November from the Duke’s Hall stage at the Royal Academy of Music, for LICCC 2024. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thomas Dorsey arr. Louise Marshall Precious Lord Soloist: Josh Robinson Chantage recorded this fabulous arrangement as the closing number on their debut CD, The First (you should listen out for the secret track that follows it), and it has been a favourite at weddings over the past 25 years. In one day the choir performed it for 20 weddings at the Southbank Centre’s Big Wedding Weekend, and then again the same day on a double decker bus, following the wedding one of our own members, Tomas. Louise Clare Marshall, a recording artist in her own right, has toured with Beverley Knight as a backing vocalist, supporting ‘Take That’ concerts across the UK, and regularly appears with Jools Holland. Louise’s choral arrangements are not yet published, and mostly written for friends and colleagues, such as this arrangement that was written for the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. The solo part, originally sung by Louise herself, is not written into the score, and will tonight be improvised by Josh. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anders Edenroth Chilli Con Carne Written for Sweden’s long standing a cappella ensemble The Real Group, Chilli Con Carne formed a part of Chantage’s concert repertoire during a trip to the Basque Region for the Tolosa International Choral Competition in 2008. It features a whole host of complex rhythms supporting a fully working recipe for everyone’s favourite Mexican dish! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Simon & Garfunkel arr. Marshall Bridge over Troubled Water Paul Simon wrote our final song with Art Garfunkel’s high tenor voice in mind. The songs title ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ is ironic because by the time this song was released, the duo had spilt up because of disagreements with their album. This arrangement is another fabulous choral adaptation by Louise Marshall, sister to the organist Wayne Marshall. It has such an uplifting theme and has been at the heart of many concert programmes Chantage has performed over the years. For many of the choir it is nostalgic, but for all of us it is steeped in camaraderie and joy. The perfect close to our celebrations this evening! Comments are closed.
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