Concerts at St Andrew's Presents: & Joseph Middleton A Century of Song

PROGRAMME

Saturday 26th June 2021, 7.30pm St Andrew’s Church, Bedford

Welcome...

“Welcome to Concerts at St Andrew’s. I feel particularly privileged to be Patron of this series of concerts having grown up in Brickhill and Putnoe and even having been a member of the St Andrew’s Girl Guides. Only now I realise how lucky I was with the opportunities I had in Bedford be it at school or in the county music scene taking part in Orchestras, Choirs and Youth Operas! It is testament to Bedfordshire that so many of us went on to make careers in Music ( and Rebecca Bottone to name but two). These concerts are so valuable for inspiring everyone: young people, who may be interested in finding their way into music (possibly inspiring future professionals!) and for those loyal St Andrew’s concert audience members who appreciate music and the way it can guide us on our own private journey. These concerts also inspire me and my colleagues being able to sit back and enjoy being inspired by someone else’s music making! For as much as the musicians standing before us are interpreting, so too are we as an audience. The music belongs to each and every one of us. We are so grateful to those who support the concerts as ‘Quavers’ - without your generous financial support, these artists simply could not appear at this venue - thank you. If you’d like information on how to offer your support, details are in this programme. So, I really am thrilled to be able to welcome you, the audience, and of course to welcome the performers here today. I wish you all an inspiring evening sharing music.”

Carolyn Sampson - Patron Programme Dominick Argento: Six Elizabethan Songs: 1. Spring 2. Sleep 3. Winter 4. Dirge 5. Diaphenia 6. Hymn Richard Strauss: Das Rosenband Heimliche Aufforderung Morgen John Anthony Ireland: When I am dead and gone : Nature, the gentlest mother Dear March, come in! Eric Coates: Birdsongs at eventide

Interval Refreshments will not be served, but if you brought some with you please enjoy these in your seats, or if weather allows feel free to make your way outside.

Leonard Bernstein: I Hate Music! Penelope Thwaites: The Lord is my Shepherd Cheryl Frances-Hoad: Something more than mortal Poulenc: La dame de Monte-Carlo : Send in the Clowns : Bill : The Physician Errol Garner: Misty Programme Notes Dominick Argento: Six Elizabethan Songs: 1. Spring 2. Sleep 3. Winter 4. Dirge 5. Diaphenia 6. Hymn

Dominick Argento was born in 1927 and is considered one of the leading American composers of our day. Argento studied at both the Peabody Conservatory and Eastman School of Music, earning a PhD at Eastman in 1957. The composer has given us 13 operas and was one of the founders of Minnesota Opera. In 1958, Argento was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and spent the year in Florence. It was in this year that Six Elizabethan Songs was first published for high voice and piano; the work was revised in 1962 for soprano and Baroque ensemble.

The text of the cycle is somewhat unusual for Argento since it is taken from traditional poetry. Other works use diary entries and letters written by various composers.

The first of the six pieces is "Spring." The song features an active accompaniment that is punctuated by crisp, detached octaves in the bass. With a charming middle section, this opening piece is exciting and pure fun for the singer and pianist.

"Sleep" follows with beautiful harmonies centred in the lower register. An aggressive middle section arrives unexpectedly, marked with sharp and chilling passages in the right hand against a legato vocal line.

"Winter," the third piece of the cycle, sounds as though it may be the most virtuosic of the set. The song's opening with an unaccompanied vocal line sets it apart from the others of the cycle.

"Dirge" is one of the simpler songs of the cycle. The chords are simple, reminiscent of church bells. The chords reinforce the dissonance between the piano and the voice and seem to make use of tritone relationships throughout. "Diaphenia" returns to the joyful sounds of the opening song; its fast sequential passages are similar to "Spring" and were not that interesting on first hearing. One of the challenges the cycle will present is establishing clear differences of mood between "Spring", "Winter", and "Diaphenia."

The closing "Hymn" presents another challenge. With its chordal accompaniment that is often constructed in two-note phrases, it will require some careful planning to insure that the piano's melodic line remains in tact despite the interruptions that occur due to rests and/or sound decay.

Perhaps the most challenging ensemble issue for Six Elizabethan Songs will be found in the attempt to maintain the desirable balance between voice and piano. Whether because of the rapid passages, low piano registers, or thickly textured chords, constant attention will need to be given to the piano's dynamics in relation to the singer.

Richard Strauss: Das Rosenband Heimliche Aufforderung Morgen

During his lifetime Richard Strauss wrote around two hundred songs, many bound as Lieder albums. They were usually composed with certain singers in mind, his wife being the most notable. They are taxing to the singer and require good breath control to cope with the extended phrasing. In today’s colleges they continue to be part of a singer’s curriculum and are popular as a result.

Das Rosenband in A (The Rose Garland) is a setting of a poem by Klopstock, used previously by Schubert. It was conceived first as an orchestral song, before Strauss made his own transcription for voice and piano. Any detail lost in the transition is made up for by the intimacy of the relationship between the two, especially when they intertwine during the final bars.

The song Heimliche Aufforderung in B flat (Secret Invitation) is one of a volume of four given to Pauline de Ahna on their wedding day. It refers to a secret sign which the lovers wait to receive for their tryst in the garden.

The well known, Morgen in G (Tomorrow) is believed to be one of Strauss’s most beautiful songs. Its rapturous and dreamy evocation of love’s bliss with harp ornament is quite enchanting.

Das Rosenband The Rose Garland Im Frühlingsschatten fand ich sie; I found her in the spring shade, Da band ich Sie mit Rosenbändern: And bound her fast with a rose garland: Sie fühlt’ es nicht und schlummerte. Oblivious, she slumbered on. Ich sah sie an; mein Leben hing I gazed on her; with that gaze Mit diesem Blick an ihrem Leben: My life became entwined with hers: Ich fühlt’ es wohl, und wußt’ es nicht. This I sensed, yet did not know. Doch lispelt’ ich ihr sprachlos zu, I murmured wordlessly to her Und rauschte mit den Rosenbändern: And rustled the garland of roses: Da wachte sie vom Schlummer auf. Then she woke from slumber. Sie sah mich an; ihr Leben hing She gazed on me; with that gaze Mit diesem Blick’ an meinem Leben, Her life became entwined with mine, Und um uns ward Elysium. And Paradise bloomed about us. Heimliche Aufforderung Secret invitation Auf, hebe die funkelnde Schale Come, raise to your lips empor zum Mund, the sparkling goblet, Und trinke beim Freudenmahle And drink at this joyful feast dein Herz gesund. your heart to health. Und wenn du sie hebst, so winke And when you raise it, give mir heimlich zu, me a secret sign, Dann lächle ich, und dann trinke Then I shall smile, and drink ich still wie du ... as quietly as you ... Und still gleich mir betrachte And quietly like me, look um uns das Heer around at the hordes Der trunknen Schwätzer—verachte Of drunken gossips—do not sie nicht zu sehr. despise them too much. Nein, hebe die blinkende Schale, No, raise the glittering goblet, gefüllt mit Wein, filled with wine, Und laß beim lärmenden Mahle And let them be happy sie glücklich sein. at the noisy feast. Doch hast du das Mahl genossen, But once you have savoured the meal, den Durst gestillt, quenched your thirst, Dann verlasse der lauten Genossen Leave the loud festfreudiges Bild, of happy revellers, Und wandle hinaus in den Garten And come out into the garden zum Rosenstrauch,— to the rose-bush,— Dort will ich dich dann erwarten There I shall wait for you nach altem Brauch, as I’ve always done. Und will an die Brust dir sinken And I shall sink on your breast, eh’ du’s gehofft, before you could hope, Und deine Küsse trinken, And drink your kisses, wie ehmals oft, as often before, Und flechten in deine Haare And twine in your hair der Rose Pracht— the glorious rose— O komm, du wunderbare, Ah! come, O wondrous, ersehnte Nacht! longed-for night! Morgen! Tomorrow! Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder And tomorrow the sun will shine again scheinen And on the path that I shall take, Und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen It will unite us, happy ones, again, werde, Amid this same sun-breathing earth ... Wird uns, die Glücklichen, sie wieder And to the shore, broad, blue-waved, einen We shall quietly and slowly descend, Inmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde ... Speechless we shall gaze into each Und zu dem Strand, dem weiten, other’s eyes, wogenblauen, And the speechless silence of bliss Werden wir still und langsam shall fall on us ... niedersteigen, Stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen, Und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes Schweigen ...

Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

John Anthony Ireland: When I am dead and gone

When I am dead, my dearest is a plea by the poet, Christina Rossetti once more, that her death should carry no burden of remembrance to those left behind. Although its date of composition is given as 1924, the music carries the dedication: 'To A.G.M: Cerne Abbas, June 1925'. 'A.G.M.' was Arthur Miller, the son of a Chelsea antiques dealer who enjoyed Ireland's regular custom. Miller the younger was a close friend of Ireland and the dedicatee of several of his works, which were usually composed to mark Miller's birthdays on 22 February. Given the song's date, it is unclear whether or not this is another birthday gift, but at least we are offered the serendipitous information that Ireland seems to have holidayed in Dorset in the summer of 1925. The apparent simplicity of the song shouldn't mask Ireland's masterly economy of means and his skill at the deft placement of chords in the accompaniment. This song also exists in Ireland's own version for string quartet. A further 1924 Rossetti setting, What art thou thinking of? belongs alongside the Mother and Child cycle, reflecting as it does a child's vision of heaven, and pleasure at the thought of living there now. from notes by Andrew Green © 1999

Aaron Copland: Nature, the gentlest mother Dear March, come in!

In the first song, "Nature, the gentlest mother," Dickinson speaks of all the beautiful and peaceful aspects of nature. In this song, Copland uses lots of "little" notes in the rhythm such as: grace notes, dotted eighth-notes to thirty- second notes, and sixteenths to dotted eighths (a technique called scotch snaps). These rhythms create rhythmic energy throughout the entire piece, suggesting the delicate aspects of nature. Listeners can hear the fluttering of wings of a bird on the word "bird" in the right hand of the piano, and can see the "rampant squirrel" running up and down a tree in the ascending and descending motions of the accompaniment

In "Dear March, come in!" the poem expresses a welcome return of spring and all that the season brings with it. Copland directs the piece be performed with exuberance, and specifies the dotted quarter note to equal 116-120 (beats per minute). He uses fast, dance-like rhythms that make the song very exciting and playful, showing the happiness and newness of spring. The piece travels back and forth between the 6/8 meter and the 9/8 meter, adding to this lilting and dance-like feeling. The voice, on the other hand, is sung in a 2/1 meter, creating a dialogue between the voice and the piano. He also uses text painting to reflect the idea of being "pursued." The rhythms starting in measure 82 drive forward slightly increasing in tempo then calming back down a few measures later

Eric Coates: Birdsongs at eventide

This lovely ballad by Eric Coates—with its gentle mood of introspection and longing—was written in 1926 . ‘Royden Barrie’, who wrote the words (and also the words to A brown bird singing) was in fact Rodney Richard Bennett, the father of Richard Rodney Bennett. Born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, Coates had over 130 published songs to his credit, most of them before he made an even deeper impression as the master of elegantly tuneful light orchestral music. Barrie inspired Coates to some of his most successful songs, as witness the easy melodic invention of this example. This song, too, enjoyed popularity in French translation.

Leonard Bernstein: I Hate Music!

Leonard Bernstein’s charming song cycle I Hate Music! was dedicated to Edys Merrill, with whom he shared an apartment in New York City in the 1940s. As a young composer, conductor, and soloist, Bernstein often vigorously practiced piano and coached opera singers in the apartment. The incessant musical activity apparently drove Merrill to her breaking point on numerous occasions. She would run about the apartment with her hands over her ears exclaiming, “I hate music!” Amused by the declaration, Bernstein borrowed it for this unique collection of five brief songs. Each offers a perspective on the world around us through the eyes of a young girl. At times, the underlying maturity of these observations cleverly belies the innocence and inexperience of the narrator. Bernstein wrote the poems used for the text of the cycle, and the songs explore a wide variety of topics and emotions. The collection opens with a confident introduction by our protagonist (My Name is Barbara) after plunging into the inevitable question of where babies come from. Moving seamlessly from biology to astrophysics, in the second song, (Jupiter Has Seven Moons) Barbara jauntily demonstrates her knowledge of celestial bodies and wonders why Earth has received short shrift. The third song serves as the centerpiece and namesake of cycle. Declaring “I Hate music! But I like to sing,” Barbara shares her plain view of the rarefied world of classical music. The fourth song (A Big Indian and a Little Indian) is a musical setting of a clever riddle that plays on the assumptions of grownups, and the final song (I’m a Person Too) is a poignant observation on youthful curiosity and the sometimes complex relationship between children and adults. Jennie Tourel, a noted mezzo-soprano and friend of Bernstein, chose to include I Hate Music! in the program she sang for her famed New York City recital at Town Hall on November 13, 1943. A New York critic called it “Witty, alive, and adroitly fashioned.” It was an important time in Bernstein’s early professional life, for the very next day he gained instantaneous acclaim as a conductor when he stepped in at the last minute for an ailing Bruno Walter to conduct a nationally broadcast performance by the New York Philharmonic.

Penelope Thwaites: The Lord is my Shepherd

For many enthusiasts, the name Penelope Thwaites is associated with one composer — Percy Grainger, who’s complete piano music she admirably recorded for Chandos.

Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’, is perhaps the most loved of all psalms, with its depiction of the shepherd guarding his flock. Thwaites’ setting was made as a Christening gift for her twin niece and nephew in 1978.

Cheryl Frances-Hoad: Something more than mortal

Something More than Mortal was commissioned by Frances M Lynch as part of Electric Voice Theatre’s Minerva Scientifica project. The work sets excerpts of letters written by Ada Lovelace and takes melodic and rhythmic inspiration from the mathematics on which Ada worked, and the notes of her name. It was premiered by Frances at The Book Club in Shoreditch, London on the 1st August 2016.

Poulenc: La dame de Monte-Carlo

Pierre Bernac retired from the concert platform in 1959. Soon afterwards Poulenc created a duo with the soprano Denise Duval (born 1921) who was to be his recital partner until his death. Apart from Duval singing the leading roles in the composer’s two operas Les mamelles de Tirésias and Dialogues des Carmélites, Poulenc was to write three works for her: the role of ‘Elle’ in his one-woman ‘tragédie lyrique’, La voix humaine (Cocteau, 1958), the song cycle La courte paille (1960), and La dame de Monte-Carlo, dedicated to Duval, a ‘monologue for soprano and orchestra’, often performed with piano, and with which Poulenc significantly concludes his Journal de mes Mélodies. The poem is taken from Jean Cocteau’s Théâtre de poche, a collection of fourteen small dramas; La dame de Monte-Carlo had been written for the singer-actress Marianne Oswald (1901–1985) and recorded by her in 1936, a mannered recitation where only the ‘Monte-Carlo, Monte-Carlo’ refrain (appearing three times) is sung and accompanied by piano. In his Journal de mes Mélodies. Poulenc wrote: ‘This monologue delighted me because it brought back to me the years 1923–1925 when I lived, together with Auric, in Monte Carlo, in the imperial shadow of Diaghilev [the composer was there preparing the première of his ballet Les biches]. I have often enough seen at close quarters those old wrecks of women, light-fingered ladies of the gaming tables. In all honesty I must admit that Auric and I even came across them at the pawnshop where our imprudent youth led us once or twice.’ For this portrait of a woman d’un âge avancé, addicted to gambling, down at heel and also fatally down on her luck, Poulenc creates a scène in various sections with a main tempo of Lent et triste—faster, edgier and more nervous at times, but basically sad and pathetic amidst her displays of outrage. The woman is almost stoically set on suicide when there seems to be no other financial option. Poulenc abbreviates Cocteau’s second and third refrains by ignoring the ‘etc.’ written after the words ‘Monte-Carlo, Monte-Carlo’. We might imagine the woman jumping into the sea as she cries out that name, sacred to all gamblers, one last time—the final staccato in the piano signifying a small inconsequential splash. One can certainly see in the background to this choice of scenario signs of the composer’s own depression, his fear that he had written himself out, and that he too was scarcely able to contemplate a future when he was less in command of his powers than he always had been. from notes by Graham Johnson © 2013 La dame de Monte Carlo The lady of Monte-Carlo

Quand on est morte entre les mortes, When you’re dead amongst the dead, qu’on se traîne chez les vivants when you’re withering in the land of lorsque tout vous flanque à la porte the living, et la ferme d’un coup de vent, when everything kicks you out ne plus être jeune et aimée… and the wind slams the door shut, derrière une porte fermée, when you’re no longer young and il reste de se fiche à l’eau loved … ou d’acheter un rigolo. when behind a closed door Oui, messieurs, voilà ce qui reste there’s nothing left but to drown pour les lâches et les salauds. or buy a pistol— Mais si la frousse de ce geste Yes, gentlemen, that’s what’s left s’attache à vous comme un grelot, for cowards and bastards. si l’on craint de s’ouvrir les veines, But if the thought of suicide on peut toujours risquer la veine makes you tremble like a leaf, d’un voyage à Monte-Carlo . if you baulk at slashing your veins, Monte-Carlo! Monte-Carlo! you can always take the gamble of a trip to Monte Carlo. J’ai fini ma journée. Monte Carlo! Monte Carlo! Je veux dormir au fond de l’eau de la Mediterranée. I’ve done with life. Monte-Carlo! Monte-Carlo! I want to sleep on the bed Après avoir vendu à votre âme of the Med. et mis en gage des bijoux Monte Carlo! Monte Carlo! que jamais plus on ne réclame, Having sold your soul, la roulette est un beau joujou. and pawned your jewellery C’est joli de dire: “je joue”. once and for all, Cela vous met le feu aux joues roulette is a pretty plaything. et cela vous allume l’œil. It’s fun to say: ‘I gamble’. Sous les jolis voiles de deuil It makes your cheeks flush on porte un joli nom de veuve. and lights up your eyes. Un titre donne de l’orgueil! Beneath your fine widow’s veil, Et folie, et prête, et toute neuve, you’ve a fine widow’s name. on prend sa carte au casino. Such a title gives you pride! Voyez mes plumes et mes voiles, Crazy, prepared, and wholly restored, contemplez les strass de l’étoile you take out your card at the casino. qui mène à Monte-Carlo. Just look at my feathers and my veils, behold the bejewelled star, La chance est femme. Elle est jalouse leading to Monte Carlo. de ces veuvages solennels. Sans doute ell’ m’a cru l’épouse Luck is a woman. She’s jealous d’un véritable colonel. of these solemn widows. J’ai gagné, gagné sur le douze. She no doubt took me for the wife Et puis les robes se decousent, of a real colonel. la fourrure perd des cheveux. I won, won on the twelve. On a beau répéter: “Je veux”, Dresses then become unstitched, dès que la chance vous déteste, fur loses its hair. dès que votre cœur est nerveux, No matter how often you say: ‘I want’, vous ne pouvez plus faire un geste, once fortune hates you, pousser un sou sur le tableau once you’re highly strung, sans que la chance qui s’écarte you can no longer make a move, change les chiffres et les cartes push a coin on the board, des tables de Monte-Carlo. without luck beating a retreat and changing numbers and cards Les voyous, le buses, les gales! on the tables at Monte Carlo. Ils m’ont mise dehors… dehors… et ils m’accusent d’être sale, The scoundrels! The fools! The scabs! de porter malheur dans leurs salles, They threw me out … threw me out … dans leurs sales salles en stuc. They accuse me of being dirty, Moi qui aurais donné mon truc of bringing misfortune to their saloons, à l’œil, au prince, à la princesse, to their dirty stucco saloons— au Duc de Westminster, au Duc, I, who would have told them my trick parfaitement. Faut que ça cesse, for free, to the Prince, the Princess, qu’ils me criaient, votre boulot! the Duke of Westminster, Votre boulot?... this must stop, this has to stop, they screamed at me, Ma découverte. this business of yours! This business? J’en priverai les tables vertes. … C’est bien fait pour Monte-Carlo, Monte-Carlo. My discovery— Et maintenant, moi qui vous parle, I’ll deprive the green tables of it. je n’avouerai pas les kilos que j’ai Serves Monte Carlo right. Monte perdus, que j’ai perdus Carlo. à Monte-Carle, Monte-Carle, ou And now, I who am talking to you, Monte-Carlo. I shan’t admit how many kilos I’ve lost Je suis une ombre de moi-même... at Monte Carle, Monte Carle, or Monte les martingales, les systèmes Carlo. et les croupiers qui ont le droit I am a shadow of myself … de taper de loin sur vos doigts The martingales, the systems quand on peut faucher une mise. and the croupiers who have the right Et la pension où l’on doit to rap your knuckles, et toujours la même chemise when you’re about to pinch the stake. que l’angoisse trempe dans l’eau. And the money you owe at your digs, Ils peuvent courir. Pas si bête. and always the same wet night-shirt Cette nuit je pique une tête drenched with anguish. dans la mer de Monte-Carlo, Monte- Let them pursue me. I’m not that Carlo. stupid. Tonight I’ll hurl myself head first into the sea at Monte Carlo, Monte Carlo.

Translation © Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000) Stephen Sondheim: Send in the Clowns

"Send In the Clowns" is a song written by Stephen Sondheim for the 1973 musical , an adaptation of 's 1955 film . It is a ballad from Act Two, in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she looks back on an affair years earlier with the lawyer Fredrik, who was deeply in love with her but whose marriage proposals she had rejected. Meeting him after so long, she realises she is in love with him and finally ready to marry him, but now it is he who rejects her: he is in an unconsummated marriage with a much younger woman. Desirée proposes marriage to rescue him from this situation, but he declines, citing his dedication to his bride. Reacting to his rejection, Desirée sings this song. The song is later reprised as a coda after Fredrik's young wife runs away with his son, and Fredrik is finally free to accept Desirée's offer. Sondheim wrote the song specifically for Glynis Johns, who created the role of Desirée on Broadway. The song is structured with four verses and a bridge, and uses a complex compound meter. It became Sondheim's most popular song after recorded it in 1973 and ' version charted in 1975 and 1977. Subsequently, numerous other artists recorded the song, and it has become a standard.

Jerome Kern: Bill

"Bill" is a song heard in Act II of Kern and Hammerstein's classic 1927 musical Show Boat. The song was written by Kern and P.G. Wodehouse for their 1917 musical Oh, Lady! Lady!! for Vivienne Segal to perform, but withdrawn because it was considered too melancholy for that show. However, when Kern and Hammerstein were at work on the serious and somewhat tragic Show Boat, they decided that the song would be perfect for a nightclub scene in the show. Hammerstein revised Wodehouse's original lyrics somewhat (though he would always give full credit to Wodehouse for the song and take none for himself), and the song was given to real-life nightclub singer Helen Morgan, who portrayed the mulatto Julie in Show Boat, to sing.

The song is rendered only once in the show and is highly emotional, with the singer supposedly on the verge of tears. It is sung in an audition scene in Act II. At the Trocadero, a local Chicago night club, Julie LaVerne, the former leading lady of the show boat, is the featured singer. Julie, who is mixed race, has been permanently abandoned by her white husband, Steve Baker, years after the two were forced to leave the show boat because of their interracial (and at therefore at the time illegal) marriage. Despondent, Julie has taken to drink and is quickly becoming an alcoholic. At the urging of Jim Green, the nightclub manager, Julie rehearses the song "Bill", which is a woman's confession of deep love for a less-than-perfect man named Bill, and it is clear that the emotion that Julie puts into the song comes from the fact that she is really thinking about her husband as she sings.

"Bill" became one of Helen Morgan's signature songs, and onstage she sang it in her trademark style sitting atop a piano. Although the song is heard only once in Show Boat and never reprised, it became one of the musical's most famous.

Cole Porter: The Physician

Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. The song The Physician is from his show Nymph Errant. In this, Porter’s rhymes for various anatomical parts are not only very clever, but often very funny—as is the constant double-entendre!

Errol Garner: Misty

Misty is a jazz standard written in 1954 by the pianist Erroll Garner. Originally composed as an instrumental following the traditional 32-bar format and first recorded for Garner's 1955 album Contrasts, the tune was later paired with lyrics by Johnny Burke and became the signature song of Johnny Mathis, appearing on his 1959 album Heavenly and reaching number 12 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart later that year. Country and pop singer Ray Stevens had a number 14 hit with his cover version of Misty in 1975 on the . The song has been recorded many times, including versions by such artists as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and . Carolyn Sampson - Soprano Equally at home on the concert and opera stages, Carolyn Sampson has enjoyed notable successes in the UK as well as throughout Europe and the US. On the opera stage her roles have included the title role in and Pamina in The Magic Flute for English National Opera, various roles in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen for Glyndebourne Festival Opera (released on DVD) and both Anne Truelove The Rake’s Progress and Mélisande Pelléas et Mélisande in Sir David McVicar’s productions for Scottish Opera. Internationally she has appeared at Opéra de Paris, Opéra de Lille, Opéra de Montpellier and Opéra National du Rhin. She also sang the title role in Lully’s Psyché for the Boston Early Music Festival, which was released on CD and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy in 2008. Carolyn’s numerous concert engagements in the UK have included regular appearances at the BBC Proms, and with orchestras including Britten Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, English Concert, Hallé, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, , and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. A consummate recitalist, Carolyn appears regularly at the Wigmore Hall where she was a “featured artist” in the 14/15 season. She has given recitals at the Oxford and Leeds Lieder, Saintes and Aldeburgh Festivals as well as at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Barcelona, Freiburg, Oper Frankfurt, Vienna Konzerthaus, and recently her debut recital tour of Japan. Recent and future highlights include tours with Freiburger Barockorchester, and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century; concerts with the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia, and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestras, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and at the Salzberger Festpiele. Recital highlights include those at Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, de Singel, Antwerp and Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin. Joseph Middleton - Pianist

Highly acclaimed pianist Joseph Middleton specialises in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music. He is Director of Leeds Lieder, Musician in Residence at Pembroke College Cambridge and a Professor at his alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music.

Joseph collaborates with many of the world’s finest singers in major venues worldwide, and has an award-winning and fast- growing discography. He is a regular guest at New York’s Alice Tully Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Zürich Tonhalle, Köln Philharmonie, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Musée d’Orsay in Paris and London’s Wigmore Hall. Recent seasons have also taken him to the Aldeburgh, Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Ravinia, and Stuttgart Festivals.

Joseph collaborates with internationally established singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Ian Bostridge, Sarah Connolly, Lucy Crowe, Iestyn Davies, Wolfgang Holzmair, Christiane Karg, Katarina Karnéus, Simon Keenlyside, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman, John Mark Ainsley, Kate Royal, Carolyn Sampson and Roderick Williams. His critically acclaimed discography includes discs with Carolyn Sampson (Radio France’s Disc of the Month & nominated for a Gramophone Award), Ruby Hughes (BBC Music Magazine’s Recording of the Month), Dame Felicity Lott, Amanda Roocroft, Clara Mouriz, Matthew Rose and Allan Clayton. Joseph made his BBC Proms debut in 2016 with Iestyn Davies and Carolyn Sampson. The Quaver Page Supporters of Concerts at St Andrew’s

Bill Anderson Lionel & Brenda Mayoh Diane Barlow Fiona McLeod Sheila Bissell Frank & Susan Middleton Jean, Jack & Christopher Peter & Julie Parry Okeden Brown Ursula Pearson Tony & Pauline Brown James & Joanna Reveley Margaret Buckingham Gill Rowland Jeremy & Wendy Carter Gerry Rowland Ben Clackson Adèle Rowlands Suzanne Clackson Patricia Skelton Margaret Clark Ian & Sue Smith Christopher Clarke Diana Smyly Lynn Clarke Patricia Stark Christine Cox Rosemary Stanbridge Diana Cox Christine & Bruce Taylor Jenny Cox Jean Tipple Lynne Faulkner Jenny Tomlinson Ann & Andrew Francis Joy Wakeling Atalie Gaines Diana Whittemore Richard & Angela Gallivan Mavis Wiltshire Sandra Gardner Carol Wood Lynne & Dennis Gound Jean Woolgrove Nigel Haughton Joanna & Nick Wood Patricia Hind Mary Wright Nan Hixon Rob & Angela Huddart Your name could be here... Valerie Johnston Andrea, Bruce, Cecelia & Hanna Kilpatrick To find out more about becoming Deirdre Knight a Quaver and supporting future Elizabeth Lacey concerts go to: Sue Lazenby www.standrewsbedford.org/ Bob & Jill Main concerts Support Concerts at St Andrew’s - Become a Quaver! “Each has a single note, together we create a masterpiece” We could not put on such a splendid series of concerts without the continuing help of our supporters, The Quavers. A guaranteed income enables us to plan ahead, and to sponsor outstanding players. We run ‘The Quavers’ scheme as a way to help fund the concerts - please join us if you can! For a minimum annual donation of £10, as a Quaver you receive • Quavers Membership Card • Half price programmes for all concerts • Reserved concert seats (as requested at time of ticket booking) • Pre-concert reception at the final concert of the year • Name listed in the programme

For more information, please email: [email protected] To become a Quaver today, complete the form below and return it to the church office with a cheque, cash or payment via BACS .

Full Name:

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I am a UK tax payer and would like to Gift Aid my donation

Please make cheques payable to St Andrew’s Church For BACS payments please use: St Andrew’s Church, CAF Bank Sort Code 40-52-40 Account Number 00016030 Reference: Quaver2021 Thank You! The Concerts at St Andrew’s Committee would like to thank our audience and everyone who helps make the concert series possible - We hope to see you again soon!

We also wish to thank all the Staff at St Andrew’s Church; Carolyn Sampson - Patron; the Front of House and Publicity Teams and our Quavers for their valuable and continued support for all our concerts.

Concerts at St Andrew’s Committee: Stephen Rogers (Chairman), Carol Wood (Secretary), Lynn Clarke, Diana Cox, Chris Ridley, Miriam Rose, Elisabeth Thorne, and Paul Searle-Barnes.

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