BY the WATERS of BABYLON Australian Chamber Choir Directed by Douglas Lawrence

BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON Australian Chamber Choir Directed by Douglas Lawrence

‘By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept...’

The text of Psalm 137 depicts the grief of the Israelites captured and driven into Babylonia following the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in about 600 BCE. It is a cry of despair mixed with rage. The despair is not just personal – these were court musicians and singers, respected and admired, mourning the destruction not only of their homes, but the home of their God, Solomon’s Temple. This the psalmist promises never to forget, and never to forgive.

Many poets and composers have taken this moving text as the starting point for their contemporary expression of the experience of loss, dislocation, and grief. Others have explored the misery inherent in losing one’s own culture, religion or identity, and being expected to perform for one’s captors. The great American anti-slavery campaigner Frederick Douglass compared the lament of these exiled musicians to the plight of American slaves on the Fourth of July. He asked how slaves could celebrate Independence Day in a country that held them captive and denied them independence.

Douglas Lawrence has developed a program in which several works explore these themes, including two newly commissioned works. As the program shows, courage and hope are always part of the story too. The Israelites returned and rebuilt the Temple, and those who did not return discovered that they didn’t have to – they had taken their culture with them. The strength and optimism seen in so many refugees and asylum seekers reminds us of this, as does JS Bach in the program’s closing motet.

AN WASSERFLÜSSEN BABYLON (Chorale, BWV 267) Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

JS Bach knew little of exile or loss of homeland from his own experience. In fact, he would occasionally try to get away from home, staying away for months at a time without leave, in order to visit another town, hear the work of other composers, and play other organs. These adventures never took him far: his whole life was lived in an area of Germany that can now be toured by car in a few days. But he knew a good deal about the meaning of the psalm, understood in Christian hindsight as part of a redemptive journey towards the rebuilding of the Temple. In this chorale, and the organ prelude of the same name, the text is treated with a mixture of solemn respect and spiritual confidence. The hymn tune on which it is based is attributed to Wolfgang Dachstein, a monk who converted to Protestantism, an organist and preacher in Strasbourg, and the editor of the first Strasbourg Hymnal in 1525. Bach famously showed his mastery of different styles by improvising on the theme for nearly half an hour on the organ of St Catherine’s Church in Hamburg in1720.

An Wasserflüssen Babylon By the waters of Babylon Da sassen wir mit we sat down and wept, Schmerzen, when we remembered thee O Als wir gedachten an Zion, Zion. As for our harps we Da weinten wir von Herzen. hanged them up upon the Wir hingen auf mit trees that are therein. schwerem Muth Die Harfen For there they that led us und die Orgeln gut An ihre away captive required of us Bäum’ der Weiden, Die then a song, and melody in drinnen sind in ihrem Land; our heaviness: Sing us one of Da mussten wir viel the songs of Sion. Schmach und Schand’ How shall we sing the Lord’s Täglich von ihnen leiden. song in a strange land?

In Sydney, the next work is replaced by: I SAT DOWN UNDER HIS SHADOW Edward Bairstow (1874–1946)

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MAGNIFICAT AND NUNC DIMITTIS Herbert Howells (1892–1983) The Anglican service of Evensong begins with a call for help ‘O God make speed to save us’, and includes a prayer for protection at the closing of the day: ‘Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night.’ But at the heart of the service are these two set Canticles, the Song of Mary (Magnificat) and the Song of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis). Both are expressions of fearless faith in what is to come, and hope for all humanity. Herbert Howells wrote 16 settings of the Canticles, mostly with specific buildings and choirs in mind, including King’s College Cambridge, where he was for some years organist. He was not himself an orthodox Christian, but loved churches and cathedrals and the richness and beauty of choral sound; it is for his contribution to English church music that he is best known now. This setting was written for St Paul’s Cathedral in 1951. Like much of his other work, it combines subtleties of rhythm and syncopation with the modal qualities of the Gregorian past, seeming to hold ancient and modern in creative tension. In contrast with the exciting Gloria that ends the Magnificat, the Nunc Dimittis is marked ‘slowly and tenderly’, and proceeds by slow interweaving of the voices until it too concludes in glory.

Magnificat My soul doth magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth : all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath magnified me : and holy is his Name. And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout all generations. He hath shewed strength with his arm : he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the rich he hath sent empty away. He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel : as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever, Amen

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Nunc Dimittis Now, Lord, lettest Thou thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people, Israel. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

In Geelong, Macedon and Bowral only:

CHORALE PRELUDE ON AN WASSERFLÜSSEN BABYLON (BWV 653) Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Ria Angelika Polo – organ

PATER NOSTER Jacob Handl (1550–1591) Also known as Gallus, a Latin version of his birth name, Jacob Handl was born in Slovenia and educated at a Cistercian monastery. Leaving there for Austria, he eventually became choirmaster to the Bishop of Olomouc, now in the Czech Republic, and for the last six years of his life was organist to the Church of St John on the Balustrade in Prague. He was a hugely prolific composer, credited with more than 400 works, both sacred and secular. From what is known of his life he was a supporter of the Catholic counter-reformation, and in his use of polyphony there is the reverence for clarity in the text that was held to be essential in restoring sacredness to the Catholic liturgy. In this Pater Noster for eight voices, two choirs echo one another’s harmonies, creating a dialogue between high and low that beautifully conveys the intended meaning of the prayer. 4

Pater noster, qui es in coelis Our Father, who art in heaven sanctificetur nomen tuum; hallowed be Thy name; ad veniat regnum tuum; Thy kingdom come, fiat voluntas tua, Thy will be done, sicut in coelo, et in terra. on earth as it is in heaven. Panem nostrum quotidianum da Give us this day our daily nobis hodie, bread, et dimitte nobis debita nostra, and forgive us our trespasses sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus as we forgive those who nostris, trespass against us. et ne nos inducas intentationem; Lead us not into temptation, sed libera nos a malo. but deliver us from evil. Amen. Amen.

SUPER FLUMINA BABYLONIS Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525–1594) Palestrina (known by his birthplace) rose to prominence through the patronage of the Bishop of Palestrina, who became Pope Julius III. Palestrina served as musical director at St John Lateran and St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where he composed prolifically at a time when most sacred music composition was taking place outside Italy. He is said to have saved church music. Amid growing dissatisfaction with sacred music because of its apparent disregard for the meaning of the text, it was argued that polyphony was to blame. An Italian Bishop complained at the time of the Council of Trent, during the counter-reformation debate about liturgical music, that ‘when one voice says “Sanctus” and another says “Sabaoth”... they more nearly resemble cats in January than flowers in May.’ Palestrina is said to have demonstrated that it was possible to reconcile clarity of text with interesting and rich music, persuading the churchmen of Trent not to abolish polyphony altogether. This account is probably grounded more in legend than anything else, but there is no doubting the power of music to explore and express the deepest meaning of words. This famous motet is an example of the way in which Palestrina characteristically gave to each phrase a distinct musical treatment. In telling the story, conveying the grief of the Israelites and their lament for Zion, the piece unfolds in a seemingly effortless progression, asserting a calm and confident worldview.

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Super flumina Babylonis By the waters of Babylon llic sedimus et flevimus we sat down and wept, Dum recordaremur tui Sion. when we remembered thee o Zion. In salicibus in medio eius As for our harps we hanged them up Suspendimus organa nostra upon the trees that are therein.

ICH LASSE DICH NICHT (BWV Anh 159) Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) There has been considerable scholarly debate about the authorship of this motet for double choir, caused mainly by uncertain documentary evidence and nineteenth century speculation that it should be attributed to Johann Christoph Bach. More recent scholarship has settled the authorship, locating it as the work of JS Bach, possibly dating from his time at the court in Weimar. The text for the first part is drawn from the Genesis account of the return of Jacob from Egypt to confront his brother Esau, from whom he had fled years before. Beside a stream he meets a mysterious figure – angel or wraith – who wrestles with him all night and is eventually overcome. Jacob insists: ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ At that moment, in the act of blessing him, the figure gives Jacob his new name: ‘Your name will be Israel...because you have struggled with God’. Bach takes the liberty of recasting the text to refer instead to a plea for the blessing of Jesus, placing the ancient story in a new and solidly Christian context. The chorale that follows is a setting of a verse from a Lutheran hymn, on which he also based a cantata (BWV 138).

Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest I will not let you go, until you bless me, mich denn, Mein Jesu ich lasse dich nicht, du My Jesus, I will not let you go, until you segnest mich denn! bless me! Weil du mein Gott und Vater bist, Since you are my God and father, dein Kind wirst du verlassen nicht. You will not abandon your child, du väterliches Herz! You who have a father’s heart! Ich bin ein armer Erdenkloß, I am a poor clod of earth, auf Erden weiß ich keinen Trost. On earth I know no consolation.

6 Dir, Jesu, Gottes Sohn, sei Preis, To you Jesus, God’s son, be praise, daß ich aus deinem Worte weiß, That from your word I know was ewig selig macht! What makes blessed forever Gib das ich nun auch fest und true Grant also that I may be firm and faithful in diesem meinem Glauben sei. In this faith of mine. Ich bringe Lob und Ehre dir, I give praise and honour to you daß du ein ewig Heil auch mir That you have won an eternal salvation for durch deinen Tod erwarbst. me through your death Herr, dieses Heil gewähre mir, Lord, may you grant me this salvation und ewig, ewig dank ich dir. And may I always, always thank you English Translation by Francis Browne http://www.bach-cantatas.com

FERN HILL Luke Hutton (born 1989, Melbourne) This composition was commissioned by Bernard Towson, in memory of his brother Ron, to be performed by Douglas Lawrence and the ACC. “For my brother Ron, a special man.”

This is Luke’s second commission for the ACC. The first was Unspoken (2015), in which two speeches, prepared in anticipation of momentous world events that never took place, were combined in counter-commentary. This was warmly received by audiences and reviewers. Now undertaking a Master of Music Composition at the University of Melbourne, Luke has also been recognised for instrumental compositions, including his award winning Piano Trio, characterised by Clive O’Connell in The Age as ‘a striking work, welcome for its infectious optimism’. This new choral work is based on the 1945 poem of the same name by Dylan Thomas, the wild Welshman who burned through his life before the age of forty – but not without leaving us some of the most evocative poems of the twentieth century. Fern Hill is a song in praise of innocence, a look back at the limitless freedom of a boy let loose in the countryside, and the utter pleasure of being alive. All this is lost, the poem appears to say, in the adult awareness of approaching death. Yet in the face of this truth, the poem continues to sing ‘like the sea’ and is less about loss or death than about the joy of life intensely lived. A current member of the ACC, Luke has enjoyed the stimulating, if nerve-wracking, process of hearing the work fully realised.

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First Movement

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green, The night above the dingle starry, Time let me hail and climb Golden in the heydays of his eyes, And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves Trail with daisies and barley Down the rivers of the windfall light.

And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home, In the sun that is young once only, Time let me play and be Golden in the mercy of his means, And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold, And the sabbath rang slowly In the pebbles of the holy streams.

All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air And playing, lovely and watery And fire green as grass. And nightly under the simple stars As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away, All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars Flying with the ricks, and the horses Flashing into the dark.

And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all Shining, it was Adam and maiden, The sky gathered again And the sun grew round that very day.

8 Second Movement

So it must have been after the birth of the simple light In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm Out of the whinnying green stable On to the fields of praise.

And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long, In the sun born over and over, I ran my heedless ways, My wishes raced through the house high hay And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs Before the children green and golden Follow him out of grace,

Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand, In the moon that is always rising, Nor that riding to sleep I should hear him fly with the high fields And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land. Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means, Time held me green and dying Though I sang in my chains like the sea.

INTERVAL

Our VENICE concerts (28 October to 12 November) are selling fast. Box office staff are ready to help you to reserve your seats today. Or take a little piece of Venice home with you. Buy our SOUL CD with music by Monteverdi, Lotti, Gabrieli, Schütz and Handl. Credit cards welcome.

9 UNCERTAIN JOURNEYS Tom Henry (born 1971, Melbourne) Following the highly successful Kakadu Man, which the ACC presented internationally on its European tour in 2015, Tom was commissioned to compose a new work in response to the theme of ‘waters of Babylon’. After reflecting on Psalm 137, with its mixture of yearning for homeland and righteous indignation, he set out to find other stories of loss and displacement beyond the Judeo-Christian context of these scriptures. The text he has assembled, Tom writes, ‘places at the foreground contemporary accounts of separation from home, culture and family, so common to the refugee experience – the fear and desperation involved in crossing the oceans to find a new land, the deeply painful waiting and uncertainty in a foreign country, and the search for a new homeland and the possibility of freedom.’ In this work can be heard the voices of people who have endured hardship, terror and loss, sustained only by faith and the hope of a better future. In parallel, Tom has included text from other sources. Some text is drawn from Psalm 22 (RSV) and Psalm 69 (King James Version); other extracts are from the Ghazals (short sonnet-like poems) of the fourteenth century Persian poet known as Hafiz of Shiraz (1415–1390). These poems are a jewel of Persian literature, widely known and revered in Iran and Afghanistan, memorised by children and treasured for life. Against the foreground of the contemporary words of refugees, these texts were selected to show the timeless commonality of human needs and desires, across different religions and cultures. In completing this commission, Tom expresses ‘deep gratitude to those people whose stories I have borrowed, all too briefly, to share them in a universal way in musical form.’

For their support to the creation of this work, the ACC is grateful to Ondru, a non-profit arts organisation that develops projects through which the marginalised or silenced can be heard, and to those who granted permission to use their words – Lysophony C, Vanna C, Menhaj G, Desh Balasubramaniam – and Abdul Farid Sufizada, along with Rosemary Sayer and Margaret River Press, for permission to use extracts from ‘Farid’s Story’ in More to the Story – Conversations with Refugees. Further acknowledgments are made at the end of the program booklet. 10 1 My story, our story

My story…our story…why would you want to know such a painful story? – Lysophony C, in Voiceless Journeys, Ondru:2016

My story is about the struggles of a flower wanting to blossom. There are tears... – Vanna C, in Voiceless Journeys

Like a plant uprooted from its earth, taken away to the unknown, on an uncertain journey... – Desh Balasubramaniam of Ondru (adapted)

Salva me [Save me]

2 The waters are come into my soul

Salva me...

Everyone was crying. Without any motion, the boat began to list and take on water...Twenty men with buckets would bail for an hour, then another twenty men would take over and so on. It was either that or drown. – Abdul Farid Sufizada in More to the Story

Save me, O God; for the waters are come into my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. – From Psalm 69

The waves run high, night is clouded with fears, And eddying whirlpools clash and roar; How shall my drowning voice strike their ears Whose light-freighted vessels have reached the shore? – From the first Ghazal of Hafiz (trans. Gertrude Lowthian Bell)

11 3 Waiting for life to arrive

I am alone here. My family is back home – five children and my wife. I am always waiting here. Waiting and waiting, waiting for a long time ... Waiting for life to arrive. – Menhaj G, in Voiceless Journeys

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. – From Psalm 22

I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. – From Psalm 69

4 Feeling freedom

Farid’s wife Fauzia and children are reunited with him after many years apart.

I stood still and turned my face up to the sky to let the raindrops fall on it [me]... I will never forget how it felt on my skin and the smell of the wet soil. I looked at [my husband] Farid and my boys and laughed out loud. I told them I needed a few minutes to just stand in the rain and feel freedom. – Fauzia in More to the Story

The days of absence and the bitter nights Of separation, all are at an end! Where is the influence of the star that blights My hope? – From the twenty-fifth Ghazal of Hafiz

From Canaan Joseph shall return, whose face A little time was hidden: weep no more – Oh, weep no more! In sorrow’s dwelling-place The roses yet shall spring from the bare floor! – From the twenty-ninth Ghazal of Hafiz

12 FULL FATHOM FIVE Frank Martin (1890–1974)

Shakespeare’s The Tempest has fascinated many composers, with close to fifty operas having been based on it, and a huge range of other orchestral and vocal music. The play includes a number of songs as well as being lyrical in its spoken poetry, and many song settings have been commissioned for use in the theatre. Two of the original settings from Shakespeare’s day still survive. But it is also the play itself – the chaos and disorientation into which its shipwrecked characters are plunged, and the fantastical creatures who inhabit the desert island on which they wander – that offers such scope to musical and theatrical imagination. Drawing on both French and German influences, notably the serialism of Arnold Schönberg, the Swiss composer Frank Martin developed his own musical style – highly expressive and formally abstract at the same time. One of five Songs of Ariel completed in 1950, this piece begins with interweaving lines sung by the sopranos and altos on an octatonic scale, a scale of eight notes arranged in alternating tones and semitones. This creates strange and beautiful harmonies, perfectly evoking the underwater forest of which the invisible and deliberately confusing spirit speaks (the father referred to is lost, but not drowned). At the point of describing a ‘sea-change’, a phrase still with us today, there is a complete transformation. The texture of the music becomes entirely chordal for the first time and the chord changes are dazzling and unexpected. Steve Hodgson, an occasional ACC member who has also conducted the work, says: ‘I fell in love with this piece. Navigating the octatonic pitch is difficult – choristers are used to singing in major and minor keys with seven notes, not eight! And between the chord changes and the constant swapping of places in the underlying harmony – it’s a wonderfully challenging and beautiful piece to sing.’

13 Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong. Hark! now I hear them — Ding-dong, bell.

THREE SIXTEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH MOTETS In about 1300 the medieval scholar Johannes de Grocheo commented in a treatise that motets ought not to be offered to vulgar people, who will not understand their refinements and will get no pleasure from hearing them. Be that as it may, the Renaissance saw remarkable growth in the writing of motets, alongside their more secular relative, the madrigals. The distinction between the two was not rigid and might be more a matter of language than form. Motets were used for choral settings of Latin texts, not connected to specific days in the church year, and available to be sung at any time. By contrast, similar works in the vernacular, celebrating secular love and other poetic subjects, were set down as madrigals. The mixing of these forms, so disturbing to the church, was stimulated by the development of commercial music printing in about 1500. A new middle class was rising, with large numbers of amateur musicians eager to hear and sing Italian madrigals, but also interested in newly published sacred music. The flow of new music into England in the later reign of Elizabeth must have contributed to what is still seen as a golden age of artistic expression. The three composers here all had royal appointments in England in the reign of James I (1603– 1625) or the very beginning of that of Charles I, and made a distinctive contribution to English sacred music. But their use of sacred texts does not imply any lack of wit, vitality or expressiveness in the music, or any lack of pleasure for the listener.

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FACTUM EST SILENTIUM Richard Dering (1580–1630)

Factum est silentium in caelo, There was silence in heaven Dum committeret bellum draco When the dragon fought with cum Michaele Archangelo. the Archangel Michael. Audita est vox millia millium The voice of a thousand dicentium: thousand was heard saying: Salus, honor et virtus Salvation, honour and power omnipotenti Deo. Alleluia. be to almighty God. Alleluia.

AVE VERUM CORPUS William Byrd (c.1542–1623)

Ave verum corpus, Hail, true body, Natum de Maria virgine; Born of the virgin Mary; Vere passum immolatum Who has truly suffered In crucis pro homine. On the Cross for humanity. Cuius latus perforatum Whose side was pierced, Unda fluxit sanguine. Pouring out water and blood. Esto nobis praegustatum Be a foretaste for us In mortis examine. During our ordeal of death. O dulcis, o pie, O sweet, O holy, O Jesu Fili Mariae, O Jesus Son of Mary, Miserere mei. Amen. Have mercy on me. Amen.

ALMIGHTY AND EVERLASTING GOD Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625)

Almighty and everlasting God, Mercifully look upon our infirmities, And in all our dangers and necessities Stretch forth thy right hand to help and defend us Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

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FÜRCHTE DICH NICHT (BWV 228) Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) ‘Do not be afraid’ is a powerful theme in both Old and New Testament scriptures. From the very beginning Abraham is offered this assurance in Genesis; Moses offers it to the Israelites at the Red Sea, when they face apparently certain destruction at the hands of pursuing Egyptians. Successive prophets speak of freedom from fear, and Angels and Messengers rarely speak without first saying: ‘Fear not!’ In this motet for double choir, Bach uses two quotations from Isaiah on this theme along with two verses from a 1653 hymn by Paul Gerhardt. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries motets were fully identified with liturgical uses, but while Catholic motets continued to be in Latin, Protestant ones were set to words in the vernacular. The text is still paramount, less for the purpose of poetic word play than for scriptural understanding. By Bach’s time motets were used for introits and special occasions, but during his years at St Thomas’s Church in Leipzig the introit time slot was by local tradition used for existing works. So he used motets for occasions such as funerals, when he had more forces than the usual school choristers available and could field a double chorus and up to eight parts. For the first Isaiah text the two choirs are in dialogue and then combine in block chords. The second is set to a three- part fugue sung by the lower voices of the two choirs, while the sopranos of both choirs combine to sing the hymn verses as the cantus firmus or fixed melody. The motet concludes with a return to eight separate voices, this time to emphasise the comforting message of identity and belonging: ‘Do not be afraid, you are mine.’

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1. Chor 1. Chorus Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir; Do not fear, I am with you; weiche nicht, do not recoil, denn ich bin dein Gott; for I am your God; ich stärke dich, ich helfe dir auch, I will strengthen you, and help you ich erhalte dich durch die rechte as well, I sustain you with the right Hand meiner Gerechtigkeit. hand of my righteousness.

2. Chor (A,T,B); Chorale (S) 2. Chorus (A,T,B); Chorale (S) Fürchte dich nicht, Do not fear, denn ich habe dich erlöset; for I have redeemed you; ich habe dich bei deinem Namen I have called you by your name, gerufen, du bist mein. you are Mine. Herr, mein Hirt, Brunn aller Lord, my Shepherd, fount of all Freuden! Du bist mein, joy! You are mine, ich bin dein, I am Yours, niemand kann uns scheiden. no one can part us. Ich bin dein, weil du dein Leben I am Yours, since Your life and und dein Blut, Your blood, mir zu gut, for my sake, in den Tod gegeben. You have given to death. Du bist mein, You are mine, weil ich dich fasse since I seize You und dich nicht, and do not, o mein Licht, O my light, aus dem Herzen lasse! let you out of my heart! Laß mich, laß mich hingelangen, Let me, let me arrive there, wo du mich where You und ich dich and I will lieblich werd umfangen. lovingly embrace each other.

Isaiah 41:10 (mov't. 1); Isaiah 43:1 and Paul Gerhardt 1653 (mov’t. 2) ©Pamela Dellal www.emmanuelmusic.org

Program notes by Alma Ryrie-Jones © Australian Chamber Choir Inc 2017

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The AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER CHOIR was established by Douglas Lawrence in 2007. In its first ten years, the choir has made five CDs and given over 200 concert performances, many of which were recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM or 3MBS FM. By the Waters of Babylon will be performed in 20 concerts in four countries:

Australia Bowral, Geelong, Macedon, Middle Park, Melbourne, Preston, Sydney Austria Klagenfurt, Stams, Vienna, Villach Germany Bonn, Darmstadt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Nördlingen, Tübingen, Wangen Italy Florence, Rome

This year, during their sixth international concert tour, Douglas Lawrence and the ACC will celebrate their tenth birthday and their 100th performance in Europe. Other tours have taken them to Poland, Switzerland, France and Denmark. In 2015 at the choir's concert in the Sorø International Music Festival, the ACC was made an Honorary Member of that festival and took its place alongside such luminaries as Wilhelm Kempff, Anton Heiller, Gaston Litaize and Julian Bream. In Australia, they have supplemented regular performances in key Victorian centres with interstate visits, performing in Canberra, Sydney, Albury, Bowral and Wagga Wagga. In 2016, the choir expanded its regular commitments by undertaking to present all its a cappella programs in Sydney and Bowral.

‘They created a sound as pure as crystal, beautifully blended, clearly articulated and unanimous in execution…’ SoundsLike Sydney, August 2016

‘Scots’ Church was a fitting venue for the Australian Chamber Choir’s program celebrating the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, with a performance replicating the musical content of the Coronation Service.’ Janette Wells, Classic Melbourne: A London Coronation, 5 April 2017

‘…Douglas Lawrence, Founder and Musical Director of The Australian Chamber Choir is already very well known to Melbourne concert audiences and rose to his expected high standard…The Coronation Gloria delivered a triumphal entry to the program with bold brass accompaniment and the choir in full and confident voice. The spine tingles started here. The choir then slid effortlessly into the disciplined and restrained … style required for Let my Prayer Come Up, by Sir William Harris. But when brass and organ accompaniment joined the choir in the majestic I Was Glad by Sir Hubert Parry it nearly raised the roof’ Classic Melbourne, April 2017

‘Australian choir in super league’ Dagbladet, Denmark, July 2015

‘The many listeners …were totally captivated by the marvellous sounds conjured by the Australian Chamber Choir. At the end there were several minutes of standing ovation…’ Schwäbische Zeitung, Germany, July 2015

18 The singers today

Sopranos Pippa Andrew*, Elspeth Bawden*, Grace Cordell, Amelia Jones*, Elizabeth Lieschke, Jennifer Wilson- Richter Altos Elizabeth Anderson, Hannah Spracklan-Holl, Ria Polo, Isobel Todd Tenors Alastair Cooper-Golec or Michael Dimovski, Joshua Lucena, Ben Owen, Linton Roe Basses Lucien Fischer or Mitchell Relf, Luke Hutton, Alasdair Stretch, Lucas Wilson-Richter

* Soloist

Organist Ria Angelika Polo

AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER CHOIR INC ABN 49 434 510 467 434 Brunswick Rd, West Brunswick VIC 3055 www.AusChoir.org

CHAIRMAN Dr Robin Batterham AO VICE CHAIRMAN Stuart Hamilton AO SECRETARY Geoffrey Scollary TREASURER Richard Bolitho PATRONS Barry Jones AC John Griffiths, Oficial de la Orden de Isabel la Católica ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Douglas Lawrence OAM MANAGER Elizabeth Anderson

19 PLANNED GIVING / BEQUESTS We warmly acknowledge bequests from the following people: Rosemary Gleeson Margaret Lawrence Lorraine Meldrum

DONATIONS We are grateful to our many wonderful donors

Major Donors Dr Merrilyn Murnane and the Rev Max Griffiths

$25,000+ Robin Batterham $15,000+ the late Bob Henderson

$10,000+ Thorry Gunnersen Alana Mitchell Peter Kingsbury Elsie Valmorbida

$5,000+ Sally Brown John Griffiths and Berni Moreno Patricia Duke the late Hector Maclean Michael Elligate Schapper Family Trust Hellen Fersch Janet and Mark Schapper

$3,000+ Iris and Warren Anderson Sarah and Peter Martin Bruce and Jennie Fethers Philippa Miller Arwen Hur Alma Ryrie-Jones Cheryl and John Iser Geoff and Angela Scollary Barbara Kristof Harry Williams Caroline Lawrence

$1,000+ James & Barbara Barber Cathy Scott Heather and Ian Gunn Stephen Shanasy Stuart and Sue Hamilton David and Lorelle Skewes George and Anne Littlewood Brian Swinn Rowan McIndoe Frank West Kate and Barry Michael Glen Witham Leonie Millard and Matthew Pryor Robert and Helen Wright the late Elisabeth Murdoch

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$500+ Elizabeth Burns, Margaret Callinan, Barry and Nola Firth, Dianne Gome, Ferdi Hillen, Richard Hoy, Paul Nisselle, Joan Roberts, Annette and David Robinson, Muharrem Sari, Pauline Tointon.

$200+ David Beauchamp and Lynn Howden, Jennifer Bellsham-Revell, Jane Bland, Barbara Braistead, Madge and Tony Correll, Michael Edgeloe, Mary-Jane Gething, Anne Gilby, Tom Gleisner and Mary Muirhead, Robert and Susan Gribben, Alan Gunther, Herb and Eve Hahn, Tom Healey and Helen Seymour, Alan Larwill, Marian and Graham Lieschke, Pamela Lloyd, Heather Low, Cathy Lowy, Bradley Maclarn, Penelope Maddick, Chris Maxwell, Mary McGivern-Shaw, Hilary McPhee, Stephen Newton, Ian Phillips, Anna Price, Lenore Stephens, Eric Stokes, Robert Stove, Ross Telfer, Mel Waters, Jenny and Wallace Young, Margaret and Paul Zammit.

Other donors 1 January 2016 to 12 June, 2017 Rae Anstee, Gordon Atkinson, Rita Bagossy, Mary Barlow, Helen and Brian Bayston, Maggie Bell, Howard Bishop, Robert Boelen, Elizabeth Braithwaite, Margot Breidahl, Roderick Brown, Ken Cahill, Nicholas Capes, June Cohen, Greg Coldicutt, Christine Cronin, Bernadette Day, Noel Denton, Michael Dolan, Margaret Flood, Pamela Furnell, Sylvia Geddes, Christine George, Craig Giddon, Stephen Gray, Clare Green, Jean Hadges, Penny Hamilton, Carol Harper, Mark Higginbotham, Trang Hoang, Jane Hockin, Annemarie Hunt, Carole Hynes, Anthea Hyslop, Margaret Irving, Lester Johnson, Huw Jones, Garry Joslin, Diana Killen, Jerry Koliha, Dawn and Peter Lord, Rosaleen Love, Dorothy Low, Sue Lyons, Mary Malone, Dubravka Martin-Hanson, Anthony McClaran, Jack Mckenzie, Maryanne Molenaar, Rosemary and Bruce Morey, Ailsa Morgan, Evelyn Mortimer, Malcolm Nagorcka, Ross Nankivell, Margaret Newman, Christine Newman, Omar Nuhoglu, Jeremy Oats, Julianna O’Bryan, Margaret O’Dowd, Jacqui Oldham, Ross Philpott, Margaret Price, Julie Reid, John Rivers, Angela and Michael Rodd, Zena Roslan, John Rowe, Cynthia Rowe, Linda Russell, Avril Skurnik, Robin Stretch, Gabrielle Tagg, Andrew Turner, Mark Tweg, Myfanwy Van De Meene, Chris Van Rompaey, Ronald Wells, Angela Were, Rodney Wetherell, Christopher White, Charles Williams, Wendy Wright, Susan Wright and anonymous donors.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The program notes draw on biographical and musicological information available at Oxfordmusiconline.com, including Groveonline.com, and sources in the public domain.

The text of Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas is used by permission of The Trustees for the Copyrights of Dylan Thomas.

Tom Henry extends his sincere gratitude to the following people, for their support in the process of composing Uncertain Journeys: Lysophony C, Vanna C and Menhaj G for permission to use their words in Voiceless Journeys (Ondru: 2016); Desh Balasubramaniam, CEO and Artistic Director of Ondru, for his words and enthusiastic support; Abdul Farid Sufizada, author Rosemary Sayer and publisher Caroline Wood, for permission to use extracts from ‘Farid’s story’ in More to the story – conversations with refugees (Margaret River Press: 2015); Douglas Lawrence OAM and Elizabeth Anderson for their assistance in preparation of the score; Patrick Lawrence of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre for assistance with research; and Andrea Simpson, for her unfailing support and patience.

Extracts from the Ghazals of Hafiz are drawn from translations by Gertrude Lowthian Bell, in Poems from the Divan of Hafiz, William Heinemann, London, 1897.

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