Ascending Centenary
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Programme notesBristol Beacon & Bristol Ensemble present THE LARK ASCENDING CENTENARY Programme notes Bristol Beacon and Bristol Ensemble Present The Lark Ascending Centenary Concert Tuesday 15 December 2020 at 7.30pm Filmed at Shirehampton Public Hall Programme Jennifer Pike violin Roger Huckle violin Simon Kodurand violin Helen Reid piano Marcus Farnsworth baritone David Ogden conductor Bristol Ensemble Members of Exultate Singers Dr Jonathan James compère Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending (arr. for violin and piano) J S Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor BWV 1043 Parry Choral song “Jerusalem” Programme notes Fantasia on Christmas Carols Ralph Vaughan Williams This single-movement work for baritone, chorus and orchestra consists of a selection of English folk carols collected in southern England by Vaughan Williams and his friend Cecil Sharp to whom the work is dedicated. From Herefordshire ‘There is a fountain’ and The Truth sent from above; from Somerset Come all you worthy gentlemen and from Sussex On Christmas night all Christians sing. These carols are interposed with brief orchestral quotations from other carols, such as The First Nowell. The piece was first performed on 12 September 1912 at the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford Cathedral, conducted by the composer. The Lark Ascending Ralph Vaughan Williams In the composition of this iconic, 100-year-old work, Ralph From its opening bars, this composition has a magical Vaughan Williams sought an escape from the onset and quality to it. The orchestra plays a soft and peaceful effects of war. His knowledge of violin technique, a love of introduction, then quietly sustains a chord. The solo violin, nature, and folk music combine in a piece that has been which represents the lark, enters tentatively, with four-note popular since its composition. singing motives reminiscent of bird song. Gradually, the notes rise and the violin soars above a gentle and delicate He wrote the first draft in 1914. Initially written for violin orchestral accompaniment. and piano, the piece was called A Romance for Violin, an instrument he had studied in his youth. After completing it, The middle section is more folk-like and restless at times, he put the manuscript away when he enlisted in the army but the change is short-lived, and the lark soon takes to the after the outbreak of the First World War. In 1919, when sky again, gradually spinning and floating out of sight and he returned to composition, he revised the piece and the hearing. first performance took place in Shirehampton, Bristol on 15th December 1920 at a concert of the Avonmouth and In the early 20th century, the sound of the lark in the clear Shirehampton Choral Society. A year later he made an air was a feature of the summer landscape. Written on the orchestral version. eve of a war which was to wipe out a whole generation in the mud and blood of the trenches, the piece depicts a lark The work takes its title from a poem by George Meredith singing in a landscape already devoid of people. The lark (1828–1909), from which Vaughan Williams chose twelve song represents a yearning and nostalgia for the untarnished lines to preface the score: English countryside and lifts us out the turmoil into a place where there is peace and serenity. He rises and begins to round He drops the silver chain of sound Of many links without a break, In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake For singing till his heaven fills, ‘Tis love of earth that he instills And ever wringing up and up Our valley is his golden cup And he the wine which overflows To lift us with him as he goes. Till lost on his aerial rings In light, and then fancy sings. Programme notes Concerto for Two Violins Choral song ‘Jerusalem’ in D minor, BWV 1043 Words: William Blake (1757 –1827) Music: Hubert H. Parry (1848 –1918) Johann Sebastian Bach And did those feet in ancient time is a poem by William Vivace Blake from the preface to his epic Milton: A Poem in Two Largo ma non tanto Books, one of a collection of writings known as the Prophetic Allegro Books written in 1804. Today it is best known as the hymn Jerusalem, with music written by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) composed the Concerto for Two Violins between 1720 and 1730 while The song was quickly taken up by various groups, most Director of Music for Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. It is notably by Millicent Fawcett of the National Union of possible that he wrote the work for the two principal violinists Women’s Suffrage Societies. The song had been taken up in Prince Leopold’s orchestra - Joseph Speiss and Martin by the Suffragists in 1917 and Fawcett asked Parry if it Friedrich Marcus who were both known as talented players might be used at a Suffrage Demonstration Concert on 13 at the time. March 1918. After the concert, Fawcett asked if it might become the Women Voters’ Hymn. Parry wrote back, “I wish Bach was clearly influenced by the collection of violin indeed it might become the Women Voters’ hymn, as you concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, L’estro armonico (The Harmonic suggest. People seem to enjoy singing it. And having the Inspiration). Prime examples of the Baroque concerto grosso vote ought to diffuse a good deal of joy too. So they would form, these pieces feature a solo instrument, or small group combine happily”. of instruments, engaging in continuous dialogue with a larger ensemble. Around 1713, Bach studied Vivaldi’s Concerto for The hymn has been an unofficial national anthem ever since Two Violins in A minor RV 522, transforming it into the Organ being adopted not only by the Woman’s Institute but also by Concerto in A minor BWV 593. While Vivaldi’s ‘double’ schools around the world, and sung at royal weddings, the concerto feels open and breezy, with sunny, virtuosic solo funerals of US Presidents, the London 2012 Olympics, and lines often soaring above a sonic expanse, Bach’s Concerto annually at the Last Night of the BBC Proms. for Two Violins is filled with dense, exhilarating counterpoint and layers of intricate moving parts. The concerto is characterized by a subtle yet expressive relationship between the violins throughout. The first movement (Vivace) springs to life with a vigorous fugue statement, heard first in the second violin, then in the first violin, and finally deep in the basso continuo. Themes emerge in one voice, and then are taken up by another. The second movement has resonances of a Handelian opera duet in its breath and intensity. Propelled forward by the heartbeat of the continuo, the movement begins with a sensuous and lamenting statement in the second violin. The first violin’s answer moves the dialogue to a new world and dimension. The final movement (Allegro) explodes with ferocious, unrestrained energy with the solo violins following closely on each others’ heels in a snarling and playful game of musical tag. In the final moments, the solo violins revel in the pure ecstasy of the harmony, while the orchestra lines rise to the forefront. Programme notes Jennifer Pike Renowned for her unique artistry and compelling insight into music from the Baroque to the present day, Jennifer Pike has firmly established herself as one of today’s most exciting instrumentalists. She made her concerto debut with the Hallé Orchestra aged 11, and her international career was launched the following year when she won the BBC Young Musician and became the youngest major prize winner in the Menuhin International Violin Competition. Appearing as soloist in the world’s top concert halls, she has performed with eminent conductors including Sir Andrew Davis Jirí Belohlávek, Sir Mark Elder, Juanjo Mena, Andris Nelsons, Sir Roger Norrington, Alondra de la Parra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam, Tugan Sokhiev, Mark Wigglesworth and Vladimir Fedoseyev. Her broad repertoire has included performances of Dvor�ák with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Sibelius Her critically-acclaimed discography on Chandos includes with Tokyo Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic and Oslo the Sibelius, Rózsa and Mendelssohn concertos, the Philharmonic, Mozart with Rheinische Philharmonie, Chausson Concert, Brahms and Schumann sonatas, Zurich Chamber Orchestra and Singapore Symphony, Debussy, Ravel and Franck sonatas and the complete Brahms with the Nagoya Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky with violin and piano works of Janáček. Her latest disc for the Tchaikovsky SO of Moscow, Hallgrímsson with the Chandos, of Elgar and Vaughan Williams violin sonatas, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and The Lark Ascending was described as “an irresistible release”, received five- at New York’s Carnegie Hall. She also appears star reviews from major publications and won Limelight regularly with all the BBC orchestras as well as the Royal Magazine’s Recording of the Year award in the Chamber Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, London category. Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony and Royal Liverpool Jennifer Pike is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and Philharmonic. As a guest director her credits include the Foundation for Children and the Arts, and patron of the BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata and English Lord Mayor’s City Music Foundation. In October 2020, Chamber Orchestra. she was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to classical music. She plays a Equally sought after as a recitalist and chamber musician, 1708 violin by Matteo Goffriller. Jennifer Pike has collaborated worldwide with artists including Anne-Sophie Mutter, Nikolaj Znaider, Nicolas www.jenniferpike.com Altstaedt, Maxim Rysanov, Igor Levit, Martin Roscoe and www.facebook.com/jenniferpikeviolinist Mahan Esfahani.