A NOTE FROM NIGEL SHORT FOOTSTEPS OWAIN PARK ’s Path of Miracles has provided Of the younger generation of talented composers with something unique both musically in the UK Owain Park has already made a PATH OF MIRACLES and vocally and, in turn, something distinctive name for himself with some beautiful choral JOBY TALBOT for our audiences in terms of a concert works. In creating Footsteps Owain has achieved experience. This inspiring work draws on all our goal of giving of all abilities the the qualities which I aim for in a Tenebrae opportunity to come and sing with Tenebrae performance and it is why we have chosen to in concert. There are still technical challenges re-release Path of Miracles, together with a new for all of us, but both Tenebrae and its partner commission, to mark our fifteenth-anniversary have moments of great harmonic beauty 1 Footsteps Owain Park [16.56] season. On many occasions I was asked by and stillness contrasting with music that featuring the Fellows of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain members of our audiences who were keen drives relentlessly forward with rhythmic amateur singers if there was anything like energy and drama that will surely captivate Path of Miracles Joby Talbot Path of Miracles that they could try – but new audiences for many years to come. We 2 Roncesvalles [17.23] that wasn’t perhaps quite so technically had a wonderful time discovering Footsteps, 3 Burgos [15.04] challenging – I had to honestly say there rehearsing and then recording it with the 4 Leon [11.45] wasn’t anything I knew of. And so an opportunity fantastic Fellows of the National Youth Choirs 5 Santiago [18.13] arose to commission someone to provide us of Great Britain. I hope you enjoy listening with something inspired by Joby’s choral to, and indeed , this new significant

Total timings: [79.22] extravaganza, but that would be totally new addition to the ever-growing repertoire of and offered the chance for any singer to great British choral music. take part in a performance of a new work alongside Tenebrae.

TENEBRAE NIGEL SHORT CONDUCTOR

www.signumrecords.com - 3 - A NOTE FROM OWAIN PARK FOOTSTEPS of the stanza, “Must thrust the tears away” spring”. The questioning lone countertenor in the lower voices. An alto soloist introduces concludes this section, with an unresolved I was delighted to be asked by Nigel to write a The narrative for Footsteps is a fusion of the “Time to leave” section, accompanied melody that contains the opening of the main piece for Tenebrae to be performed alongside texts by eight different authors, five of whom by a drone in the lower voices. The simple, fugue theme. The semi-chorus bid “Farewell” Path of Miracles. Tenebrae’s recording of contribute to the introduction of the work. direct melody is imitated by the semi-chorus, to Autumn with an interjection comprising Joby’s piece is one of my absolute favourites; On Leaving by Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda joined by high sopranos sirening above the tune. sad, romantic harmonies. I remember being bowled over by the is a sonnet reflecting on the author’s moving instrumental quality of the opening and from Cuba to Spain; “Sea Pearl” could be The semi-chorus now take over and lead us The devil’s interval of a tritone outlines the the combination of ancient chant with the describing the author’s homeland, but here, into Autumn. The traveller is slightly disturbed melody for the next section, as the wind returns. composer’s own modern voice. When I met when fused with “the wanderer’s guiding by the wind (reflected later in the piece by Counterpoint builds up from the low basses, with Nigel we spoke about the possibilities for star” (E. Brontë) alludes to the moon. Longer the fallen cherry blossoms), being alone and capturing the weather in flowing compound this new work; it would need to be much phrases which rise and fall in the upper parts exposed to the elements. After this gentle time quavers. A more gentle section ensues, shorter than Path of Miracles, but hopefully of the semi-chorus are imitated more quickly lull, a mini-fugue inspired by Walton opens with lilting leaves gently falling, as the contain many complimentary themes, namely in the main choir. the first verse of Thomas Hardy’s poem, The tritone transforms from a pivot point to the travel, solitude and journeying. Footsteps is Year’s Awakening. References to the “pilgrim raised fourth in a major scale. The chords are the result of many months of researching After the introduction, the narrative changes track” and “belting zodiac” give this forward not grounded as root positions, and so the texts to structure a narrative that cycles the to the first person. The Sun originates from momentum, which only later becomes questioning. harmony is not allowed to completely settle seasons through the view of a lonely traveller Sanskrit Poetry, compiled around 1100 by a Repeating rhythms on a single pitch return, until the open fifth on “midnight”. As the who is constantly being moved on before being Buddhist scholar, Vidyakara, and was written around which three-part harmonies weave. moonlight shines on St. Paul’s, the melody allowed to settle, finding comfort in the sky up to 400 years earlier. After an energetic reflects the earlier part of the work, with and stars above. first set of statements from the main choir, Then, sudden outbursts represent rays of the interval of a seventh prominent alongside the first line, “I praise the disk of the rising sunshine bursting through clouds. The repeating distant non-harmony notes. Owain Park sun” is passed around the upper voices in quick rhythms come to rest by heading downwards motion as “Where every bird is bold to go” to reside on a mixed major-minor chord. As The second “Time to leave” section is in a (E. Dickinson) is sung to slower rhythms in Gabriel Crouch notes about Path of Miracles, lower key than the first, and is initially sung the lower voices. There is a sudden change in “The insistent discords of the second by a bass soloist over a low bass drone. The texture for “The foreigner before he knocks”, movement reflect...the hardships of the semi-chorus repeat the material, with the as the movement stops and two parts are road”. These chords are briefly used in a short sopranos extending upwards before retreating left hovering above, highlighting the last line quotation before reverting back on “tinct of to a new harmony for “The cherry blossoms”,

- 4 - - 5 - a particularly evocative and beautiful text, A Note from Joby Talbot I’d heard that day, and that never had I been so PATH OF MIRACLES tinged with sadness. Four-part chords with confident and excited before the premiere of a a descending contour in the main choir are It’s been twelve years since Tenebrae brought big new piece. The next day, however, London The world’s most enduring route of Catholic refuted by an upward-moving soprano soloist, Path of Miracles to life for the first time and, ground to a halt. Ambulance sirens wailed pilgrimage was first formally acknowledged who concludes with her own rendition of the though I’ve had many wonderful and exciting and police helicopters whirred overhead before as such by Bishop Diego Gelmirez in the early main theme. compositional adventures since then, I can an unreal, numbing silence descended. With 12th Century, but it has always belonged to honestly say that nothing has come close to the entire centre of town cordoned off, public a wider fellowship even than the Catholic As the work begins to come to a close, the the experience of hearing this extraordinary transport suspended, and all flights diverted church. Long before the body of St James music for the “Holy paths” pays homage to choir perform my music. I say ‘my music’ but away from the city, the only sound I could hear was discovered in Iria Flavia in the early 9th and his work The Veil of the really it’s their music now…and the music of from my publishers’ office in Soho where I Century, and brought to its final resting place Temple – its scale and scope with unrelenting all the other choirs and audiences around the waited to hear whether the premiere would go in Santiago; before the Saint even began his praise for the divine. A little of his language world who have performed and listened to the ahead, was the distant tolling of Big Ben, normally life of service, first as an apostle, and later features in the climax of this section, as parallel piece. Its continuing success is in no small part inaudible under the roar of the busy metropolis. as a preacher in Spain, the ‘Camino Frances’ chords with consonant scalic melodies form the thanks to the commitment of Signum Records was under construction. Part of the route still bedrock around which flow quavers in contrary who captured this unique recording just days The recording sessions had been scheduled for runs along the sturdy Roman roads which were motion. Unworldly harmonies for “ceilings of after the original premiere had been postponed the following weekend, however, and now the used to subdue and colonise northern Iberia. To diamonds” lead into the recapitulation, as the as a result of the terrible London bombings of atmosphere in the room was more complicated. the pre-Christians, this road followed the path “pearl bowers” transform to the “sea pearl”. July 7th 2005. Excitement at the opportunity to capture what of the Milky Way, and took its travellers to As the opening ideas return, the sonorities we knew was going to be an extraordinary the end of the earth. Centuries later, it was are slightly different with the use of D major On July 6th we were rehearsing at St performance was tempered by feelings of used by the Moors to reach Spain’s northern in addition to the white notes of C major. Bartholomew-the-Great church in central London. confusion, anger, fear, compassion and deep, outposts, only to be pushed back along it by A lyrical soprano melody over the top of At lunchtime the news came through that deep sadness. I think you can hear all of that Charlemagne, and served as an arterial route the previous texture leads into the final few London had won the right to host the 2012 in this recording, and maybe it serves to point for the establishment of the Roman Rite and phrases, with the harmony evoking the Olympics. There was a palpable sense of up what for me is the ultimate message of this the purging of its Hispanic predecessor. Today unfinished dominant seventh as the footsteps positivity and joy in the room and, at the end music and music generally: hope for humanity it is used by tourists, travellers and explorers, are left continuing. of the rehearsal, I asked if I could say a few and love for this beautiful world in which we live. as well as by confirmed Catholics and the words to the choir. I said that I had never spiritually curious. © Owain Park experienced anything like the dedication, Joby Talbot attention to detail, and sheer unalloyed musicality

- 6 - - 7 - The musical traditions of the Pilgrimage can the Dum Pater Familias. It is this hymn which Galicia: and as the landscape transforms, so texts (principally the Codex Calixtinus and a be traced to the mid-12th Century, when a establishes the universality of the cult of St does the pilgrim. A pilgrim writes: 15th Century work in the Galician language - compilation of texts attributed to Pope Calixtus James, interspersing latin verses in praise of the Miragres de Santiago) are woven together II was created, all devoted to the cult of St Saint with a multilingual refrain representing the You have left behind the life you lived before... with passages from the Roman liturgy, and James. This so-called ‘Codex Calixtinus’ was many languages heard on the road to his shrine: Dates become meaningless; a day is merely lines of poetry from Robert Dickinson, the work’s specifically designed to serve the needs of the passing of the sun from one hand to the librettist. Talbot introduces his work with a worshippers and pilgrims in Santiago, and Herr Santiagu, Grot Santiagu, other, from behind you to in front... Then you vocal effect based on the Bunun aboriginal consisted of five books. The first volume Eultreya esuseya, Deius aia nos. slough off your worries. There is only one thing ‘Pasiputput’ from Taiwan, in which low voices contains liturgical settings, including those to worry about now and that is whether you rise in volume and pitch over an extended for the two feast days devoted to St James: The ‘Camino Frances’ is the central axis of a and your feet will last the day. period, creating random overtones as the voices the Feast of the Passion of St James on the network of pilgrimage routes to Santiago. Its © Andrea Kirby, 1996 move into different pitches at fluctuating 25th of July, and the Feast of Translation of the travellers gather in Roncesvalles, a small town rates. After a dramatic exclamation of the Apostles remains on the 30th of December. at the foot of the Pyrenees which in the spring Somewhere between 50 and 200 thousand pilgrim’s hymn from Dum Pater Familias, the The second and third volumes describe the 22 becomes a veritable Babel as pilgrims from people arrive at the gates of Santiago’s beheading of St James by the sword of King miracles of St James and the journey of the across the world assemble, before setting off Cathedral each year, at least eighty percent of Herod is briefly described in Greek, Latin, Saint’s body to Santiago. Book Four recounts in a southwesterly direction. The pilgrims carry them on foot. A good number of these continue Spanish, Basque, French, English and German, Charlemagne’s defeat of the Moors in Spain, a special passport - often this is one of the on to Capo di Finisterre, a further 85 kilometres initially sung by a lone countertenor rising and the final volume leads the would-be only possessions not discarded on the journey to the west, to reach what Europeans pre- above the choir’s sustained chord clusters. An pilgrim through the routes, dangers and customs - and engage in the 850 - year - old tradition Columbus considered to be the end of all account of the discovery of the Saint’s body of the pilgrimage. Of comparable importance of following the yellow arrows and seeking westward journeys. An item of clothing is placed in Compostella follows, some eight hundred to all this is an appendix which contains out the images of shells placed over pilgrim on a beach-fire to symbolise the old life years after his death in Jerusalem and the music composed using a technique which - friendly boarding houses. On the way, they left behind. subsequent translation of his body on a was just beginning to gain a foothold in stop off at any of a large number of shrines, rudderless boat made of stone. certain parts of Europe at this time. most important among which are the The four movements of Path of Miracles are Notwithstanding the fact that it rarely cathedrals of Burgos and Leon, and at the titled with the names of the four main staging The insistent discords of the second movement uses more than two voices, this is a highly foot of an iron cross near Astorga they may posts of the Camino Frances, though the reflect both the hardships of the road, keenly significant collection of polyphony. And here, cast a stone from their homeland. The road textual themes within the movements extend felt by this time after some initial euphoria in within this final section of the Codex, can be takes them across the desert lands between beyond the mere geographical. Throughout Roncesvalles, and the composer’s own sense found the most famous of Jacobean chants - Burgos and Leon and the rainy, hilly terrain of the work, quotations from various mediaeval of discomfort on visiting Burgos.

- 8 - - 9 - The music trudges uneasily through this most arrived in the relative major, fused with the Footsteps hoists sails, and ready winds awkward part of the journey, stopping regularly refrain which retains its original key. Mystical rush from your fiery ground.7 to recover breath and ease feet. There are events are again spoken of, but this time with Sea pearl 1 The wanderer’s guiding star 2 stern warnings of human mischief and inhuman no sense of danger. Even the relentless sun, AUTUMN devilry, interspersed with musings on the though it may dazzle, does not burn. The stars come nightly to the sky; There has been no change mystical nature of the Saint’s translation. 3 but I am no longer young. Meanwhile in Galicia the temperature cools, The tidal wave unto the sea. Robbery, lynching and illness are the least of Autumn wind blows and the altitude rises and the rain falls. Towns pass a pilgrim’s problems; for just as the Saint can They did not dare to tread so soon about, I am disturbed as before. 8 by like shadows as the road seems to climb take the form of a pilgrim, so can the devil Though trembling, in the footsteps of the sun. 4 himself take the form of a Saint. As the laments and climb, though Leon’s contented mood How do you know that the pilgrim track and the warnings subside, the movement lingers. There seems no doubt that the journey Along the belting zodiac SUMMER concludes with a line from Psalm 61, delivered will end, and at the first sight of Santiago, Swept by the sun in his seeming rounds I praise the disk of the rising sun 5 in desolate, motionless tones from the lower miles down from the summit of Monte de Gozo, Is traced by now to the Fishes’ bounds voices: ‘A finibus terrae ad te clamavi’ - From the music initially draws inward, before Where every bird is bold to go, And into the Ram, when weeks of cloud the end of the earth I cry to you. bursting out in an explosion of joy. The pilgrim’s And bees abashless play, Have wrapt the sky in a clammy shroud, hymn is heard again, performed with the The foreigner before he knocks And never as yet a tinct of spring Joby Talbot describes the third movement as reverence and reflection of one who has finished Must thrust the tears away. 6 Has shown in the Earth’s apparelling; a ‘Lux Aeterna’; and like the interior of the such a long journey, and is quickly transformed O vespering bird, how do you know, magnificent Cathedral of Leon, it is bathed in into a spring revel from the Carmina Burana. Time to leave. The eager crew, How do you know? 9 light. The journey is more than half complete, to wrench me from my earth, Path of Miracles, like so many pilgrimages, the pain barrier has been crossed and the does not finish in Santiago. The journey to pilgrim’s worries have indeed been sloughed 1 On Leaving, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda. Translated from Spanish by Frederick Sweet. Finisterre, to where the walls of heaven are off. A mediaeval French refrain, an ode to the 2 The Visionary, Emily Brontë. thin as a curtain, has a reflective, epilogic 3 sun in the key of C minor, punctuates simple Waiting, John Burroughs. tone, a benign hangover from the party in 4 A Sea-Side Walk, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. observations of land traversed and hardships Santiago. Here the pilgrim’s hymn is heard 5 The Sun – Sanskrit Poetry, compiled approx. 1100 AD by a Buddhist scholar, Vidyakara, who drew his material from a large library in overcome. As with the previous movement, there the monastery of Jagadda. for a final time, now in English, endlessly is a steady, almost hypnotic walking pulse, 6 Part Four: Time and Eternity, Emily Dickinson. repeating and disappearing over the horizon. 7 but the steps have lost their heaviness. By On Leaving, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda. Translated from Spanish by Frederick Sweet. 8 Shinkokinshū, Princess Shikishi, d.1201. Translated from Japanese by Hiroaki Sato. the end of the movement the verses have © Gabriel Crouch 9 The Year’s Awakening, Thomas Hardy.

- 10 - - 11 - Fare well, my happy land, my Eden. SPRING PATH OF MIRACLES Um dieselbige Zeit legte der König Herodes die Hände Wherever angry chance may force my path The cherry blossoms an, etliche von der Gemeinde, sie zu peinigen. Er your sweet name will soothe my ear. 10 have lost their fragrance. 1. Roncesvalles tötete aber Jakobus, den Bruder des Johannes, mit You should have come dem Schwert. before the wind. 14 Herr Santiagu Before this death the Apostle journeyed, WINTER Grot Sanctiagu And when our bottles and all we Eultreya esuseya preaching the word to unbelievers. The wind is cold. Returning, unheeded, Are fill’d with immortality, Deius aia nos. Leaves one by one to die in Jerusalem – are cleared from the Then the holy paths we’ll travel, a truth beyond Gospel. night sky. The moon Strew’d with rubies thick as gravel, bares the garden. 11 Ceilings of diamonds, sapphire floors, Jacobus, filius Zebedaei, frate Johannis, High walls of coral, and pearl bowers. 15 Hic Spaniae et occidentalia loca praedicat, 1 Midnight. I hear the moon Eodem autore tempore misit Herodes rex manus 12 foy el o primeiro que preegou en Galizia 2 Light chiming on St Paul’s. Sea pearl 16 ut adfligeret quosdam de ecclesia occidit autem 17 Iacobum fratrem Iohannis gladio. Time to leave. The huge sail crackles, The wanderer’s guiding star Herod rots on a borrowed throne, while the saint is translated the anchor lifts, the anxious ship The stars come nightly to the sky; En aquel mismo tiempo el rey Herodes echó mano 13 to Heaven and Spain, cuts the waves and flies in silence. The tidal wave unto the sea. 18 a algunos de la iglesia para maltratarles. Y mató a espada a Jacobo, hermano de Juan. the body taken at night from the tomb, They did not dare to tread so soon about, the stone of the tomb becoming the boat Though trembling, in the footsteps of the sun. 19 Aldi hartan, Herodes erregea eliz elkarteko batzuei gogor erasotzen hasi zen. Santiago, Joanen anaia, that carries him back ad extremis terrarum, ezpataz hilarazi zuen. back to the land that denied him in life. 10 On Leaving, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda. Translated from Spanish by Frederick Sweet. 11 Shinkokinshū Princess Shikishi, d.1201. Translated from Japanese by Hiroaki Sato. Huius beatissimi apostoli 12 Ver ce temps-là, le roi Hérode se mit à persécuter The Night City, W. S. Graham. sacra ossa ad Hispanias translata; 3 13 On Leaving, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda. Translated from Spanish by Frederick Sweet. quelques-un de membres de l’Église. Il fit mourir par 14 Shinkokinshū, Princess Shikishi, d.1201. Translated from Japanese by Hiroaki Sato. l’épée Jacques, frère de Jean. 15 Pilgrimage, Sir Walter Raleigh. Et despois que o rrey Erodes mãdou matar en 16 On Leaving, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda. Translated from Spanish by Frederick Sweet. Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth Iherusalem, trouxerõ o corpo del os diçipolos por mar 4 17 The Visionary, Emily Brontë. his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed a Galiza 18 Waiting, John Burroughs. James, the brother of John with the sword. 19 A Sea-Side Walk, Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

- 12 - - 13 - From Jerusalem to Finisterre, At night on Lebredon 2. Burgos Unhurt on a gallows for twenty-six days. from the heart of the world by Iria Flavia to the end of the land the hermit Pelayo Innkeepers cheat us, the English steal, His jaw is in Italy, yet he speaks. in a boat made of stone, at prayer and alone The devil waits at the side of the road. The widower robbed in Pamplona: without rudder or sail. We trust in words and remnants, prayers and bones. Told by the Saint how the thief saw in the heavens Fell from the roof of a house to his death. Guided by grace to the Galician shore. a ring of bright stars We know that the world is a lesson shining like beacons As the carved apostles in the Puerta Alta His arm is in England, yet the boy, abandonnant à la Providence over the plain Dividing the damned and the saved are a lesson. The pilgrim’s son they hanged in Toulouse la soin de la sepulture, 5 We beat our hands against the walls of heaven. Was borne on the gallows for twenty-six days and as in Bethlehem And called to his father: Do not mourn, O ajutor omnium seculorum, the Magi were guided St. Julian of Cuenca, For all this time the Saint has been with me. O decus apostollorum, the hermit was led Santa Casilda, pray for us. O beate Jacobe. O lus clara galicianorum, by this holy sign O avocate peregrinorum, Remember the pilgrim robbed in Pamplona, Innkeepers cheat us, the English steal. Jacobe, suplantatur viciorum for this was the time Cheated of silver the night his wife died; We are sick of body, worthy of hell. Solve nostrum given to Spain Remember the son of the German pilgrim Cathenes delitorum for St. James to be found Hanged as a thief at the gates of the town, The apostles in the Puerta Alta E duc a salutum portum. after eight hundred years Hanged at the word of an innkeeper’s daughter. Have seen a thousand wonders; The stone floor is worn with tears, O judge of all the world, in Compostella, by the field of stars. Innkeepers cheat us, the English steal, With ecstasies and lamentations. O glory of the apostles, The devil waits at the side of the road. We beat our hands against the walls of heaven. O clear light of Galicia, Herr Santiagu We trust in words and remnants, prayers and bones. O defender of pilgrims, Grot Sanctiagu Santiago Peregrino: James, destroyer of sins, Eultreya esuseya Santiago Peregrino: deliver us from evil and lead us to safe harbour. Deius aia nos. The devil waits in a turn in the wind His arm is in England, his jaw in Italy In a closing door in an empty room. 1 James, son of Zebedee, brother of John, at that time preached in Spain and the western places. - Breviarium apostolorum, C8th. And yet he works wonders. A voice at night, a waking dream. 2 He was the first to preach in Galicia - Miragres de Santiago, C15th (Gallegan). The widower, the boy on the gallows – 3 The sacred bones of the blessed apostle taken to Spain - Floro, C8th. He did not fail them. Traveller, be wary of strangers, 4 After King Herod killed him in Jerusalem, his disciples took the body by sea to Galicia - Miragres de Santiago. One given a horse on the road by a stranger, Sometimes the Saint takes the form of a pilgrim, 5 Abandoning to Providence the care of the tomb - Legenda (Fr). One kept alive for twenty-six days, Sometimes the devil the form of a saint.

- 14 - - 15 - Pray to the Saints and the Virgen del Camino, We know that the world is a lesson Li soleus qui en moi luist est mes deduis, We pause, as at the heart of a sun To save you as she saved the man from Lyon As the carved apostles in the Puerta Alta Et Dieus est mon conduis. 8 That dazzles and does not burn. Who was tricked on the road by the deceiver, Dividing the damned and the saved are a lesson. Tricked by the devil in the form of St. James We pray the watching saints will help us learn. Rumours of grace on the road, 4. Santiago And who killed himself from fear of hell; Of wonders: Ora pro nobis, Jacobe, The road climbs through changing land. The devil cried out and claimed his soul. A finibus terrae ad te clamavi. 6 The miracles of Villasirga, Northern rains fall Weeping, his companions prayed. The Virgin in the apple tree. On the deepening green of the slopes of the valley, Saint and Virgin heard the prayer 3. Leon Storms break the summer’s heat; And turned his wound into a scar, The Apostle on horseback – At Foncebadon a pass can be lost, From mercy they gave the dead man life. Li soleus qui en moi luist est mes deduis, A journey of days in one night. In one night, to the snow. Et Dieus est mon conduis. 7 Innkeepers cheat us, the English steal, God knows we have walked The road climbs for days through the highlands We are sick of body, worthy of hell. We have walked In Jakobsland: of Bierzo, We beat our hands against the walls of heaven In Jakobsland: to the grassland and rocks And are not heard. Through the Gothic Fields, of the Valcarce valley. We pray for miracles and are given stories; Over river and sheep track, From Castrogeriz to Calzadilla, White broom and scrub-oak, Bread, and are given stones. By hospice and hermit’s cave. Laburnum and gorse We write our sins on parchment Calzadilla to Sahagun, Mark the bare hills To cast upon his shrine We sleep on the earth and dream of the road, Each day the same road, the same sun. Beside the road. In hope they will burn. We wake to the road and we walk. Quam dilecta tabernacula tua, Dominum virtutem. 9 At O Cebreiro, mountains. We pray to St. Julian of Cuenca, Wind from the hills The road follows the ridgetop To St. Amaro the Pilgrim, Dry as the road, Here is a miracle. By meadows of fern, by fields of rye. To Santa Casilda, That we are here is a miracle. To San Millan and the Virgin of the Road. Sun overhead, By Fonfria del Camino, by Triacastela. We pray to Santiago. Too bright for the eye. Here daylight gives an image of Towns are shadows The heaven promised by His love. The road leaves behind. It moves over the slate hills 6 From the end of the earth I cry to you - Psalm 61. Beate, qui habitant in domo tua, Domine; Palas do Rei. Potomarin. 7 The sun that shines within me is my joy, and God is my guide. - Anon, C13th. In saecula saeculorum laudabant te. 10 The names are shadows.

- 16 - - 17 - Then, from the stream at Lavacolla Jacobo dat parium At the Western edge of the world Santiago, primus ex apostolis, To the foot of Monte de Gozo, Omnis mundus gratis We pray for our sins to fall from us Defender of pilgrims, warrior for truth, A morning; Ob cuius remedium As chains from the limbs of penitents. Take from our backs the burdens of this life, From the foot of Monte de Gozo Miles pietatis To the summit of Monte de Gozo Cunctorum presidium We have walked out of the lives we had What we have done, who we have been; The road climbs, Est ad vota satis. 12 And will return to nothing, if we live, Take them as fire takes the cloth Before the longed-for final descent Changed by the journey, face and soul alike. They cast into the sea at Finisterre. To Santiago. O beate Jacobe Virtus nostra vere We have walked out of our lives Holy St James, great St. James, Herr Santiagu Nobis hostes remove To come to where the walls of heaven God help us now and evermore. Grot Sanctiagu Tuos ac tuere Are thin as a curtain, transparent as glass, Eultreya esuseya Ac devotos adibe Robert Dickinson Deius aia nos. Nos tibi placere. 13 Where the Apostle spoke the holy words, Where in death he returned, where God is close, Ver redit optatum Jacobo propicio Where saints and martyrs mark the road. Cum gaudio, Veniam speramus Flore decoratum Et quas ex obsequio Purpureo; Merito debemus Aves edunt cantus Patri tam eximio Quam dulciter, Dignes laudes demus 14 Cantus est amoenus Totaliter. 11

8 The sun that shines within me is my joy, and God is my guide. - Anon, 13th century. 9 How admirable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts. Psalm 84. 10 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they will still be praising be. - Ibid. 11 Longed-for spring returns, with joy, adorned with shining flowers. The birds sing so sweetly, the woods burst into leaf, there is pleasant song on every side. - Carmina Burana. 12 The whole world freely gives thanks to James; through his sacrifice, he, the warrior of godliness, is a great defence to all through their prayers. - Dum pater familias. 13 O blessed James, truly our strength, take our enemies from us and protect your people, and cause us, your faithful servants, to please you. 14 James, let us hope for pardon through your favour, and let us give the worthy praise, which we rightfully owe to so excellent a father.

- 18 - - 19 - PERFORMERS

FOOTSTEPS PATH OF MIRACLES

Tenebrae Tenebrae

Sopranos Altos Basses Sopranos Altos Tenors Basses Jessica Cale Nancy Cole * David de Winter Jimmy Holliday Grace Davidson Mark Chambers Paul Badley Matthew Brook Rosemary Galton Daniel Collins * Matthew Long Stephen Kennedy * Julia Doyle David Gould Andrew Busher Joseph Cullen Katy Hill Hannah Cooke James Robinson Andrew Mahon Joanna Forbes Alice Hulett John Bowley Eamon Dougan Emilia Morton * Tom Lilburn Tom Robson Theo Platt Juliet Fraser Peter Gritton Jeremy Budd William Gaunt Bethany Partridge Richard Savage Amy Haworth Amy Moore Richard Butler Simon Grant Ruth Massey Thomas Guthrie * denotes soloist Timothy Travers-Brown Dan Jordan David Porter-Thomas Adrian Peacock Fellows of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain

Ana Beard Fernández soprano Soloists Hannah King soprano Movement I: Mark Chambers Countertenor – Adrian Peacock Bass – Richard Butler Elspeth Piggott soprano Movement II: Mark Chambers and Peter Gritton Countertenors – Alice Hulett and Amy Moore Sopranos Helena Cooke alto Movement III: Julia Doyle Soprano William Searle tenor Movement IV: Peter Gritton Countertenor Ben Inman tenor Robert Brooks Jamie Wright bass-baritone

- 20 - - 21 - TENEBRAE and “the English choral tradition at its zenith” Nigel Short Artistic Director (Richard Morrison, Chief Music Critic, ). In 2014 the choir’s recording of “Signum’s current roster includes many excellent Russian Orthodox music was launched ensembles but the choral jewel in the crown on its own label, Bene Arte, receiving is surely Tenebrae – Nigel Short’s outstanding glowing reviews and reaching number 1 in chamber choir.” – Gramophone Magazine the UK Specialist Classical Chart. In 2016 Tenebrae received its second BBC Music Described as “phenomenal” (The Times) and Magazine Award for a recording of Brahms “devastatingly beautiful” (Gramophone Magazine), and Bruckner Motets, the profits from the sale award-winning choir Tenebrae, under the of which benefit Macmillan Cancer Support. direction of Nigel Short, is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles renowned for its passion Tenebrae is a dedicated advocate for and precision. contemporary composers having worked with Judith Bingham, Ola Gjeilo, Alexander L’Estrange, Tenebrae’s ever-increasing discography has Alexander Levine, Paweł Łukaszewski, Paul brought about collaborations with Signum, Mealor, Owain Park, Hilary Tann, Joby Talbot, Decca Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Sir John Tavener and Will Todd. The choir is Classics, LSO Live and Warner Classics. In renowned for its highly-acclaimed interpretations 2012 Tenebrae were the first-ever ensemble to of choral music with repertoire ranging from © Sim Canetty-Clarke be multi-nominated in the same category for hauntingly passionate works of the Renaissance Tenebrae and Nigel Short co-curate a Holy ‘Passion and Precision’ are Tenebrae’s core the BBC Music Magazine Awards, securing the through to contemporary choral masterpieces. Week Festival at St John’s Smith Square, London, values. Through its continued dedication to accolade of Best Choral Performance for their together with regular concerts throughout performance of the highest quality, Tenebrae’s recording of Victoria’s Requiem Mass, 1605. The Tenebrae is regularly engaged with the world’s the UK, Europe and the USA. Alongside vision is to deliver dramatic programming, following year the choir’s recording of Fauré’s finest and has appeared at major concert performances, the choir presents its flawless performances and unforgettable Requiem with the London Symphony national and international festivals including the inspirational workshop method, The Tenebrae experiences, allowing audiences around the was nominated for the Gramophone Awards, BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Effect, designed to challenge and advance world to be moved by the power and intimacy having been described as “the very best Three Choirs Festival, Leipzig Gewandhaus (Germany) every participant by instilling skills essential of the human voice. Fauré Requiem on disc” (Gramophone Magazine) and Montreux Choral Festival (Switzerland). to a Tenebrae performance.

- 22 - - 23 - NIGEL SHORT JOBY TALBOT

Award-winning conductor Nigel Short has built Joby Talbot was born in Wimbledon in 1971. up an enviable reputation for his recording He studied privately with Brian Elias and at and live performance work with leading Royal Holloway and Bedford New College before orchestras and ensembles across the world. completing a Master of Music (Composition) at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Simon A singer of great acclaim, Nigel was a member Bainbridge. of the renowned vocal ensemble The King’s Singers from 1994–2000. Upon leaving the Talbot’s diverse catalogue includes a group, he formed Tenebrae, a virtuosic choir concerto for and the Royal Liverpool that embraced his dedication to passion and Philharmonic Orchestra (Desolation Wilderness, precision. Under his direction Tenebrae has 2006); a 60-minute a cappella choral journey © Johann Persson collaborated with internationally acclaimed © Sim Canetty-Clarke along the Camino de Santiago for Nigel Short’s orchestras and instrumentalists and now as part of the City of London Festival. Other Tenebrae (Path of Miracles, 2005); arrangements Talbot has also written the madrigal The enjoys a reputation as one of the world’s finest orchestral recordings include Mozart’s Requiem of songs by Detroit rock duo The White Wishing Tree (The King’s Singers, 2002), vocal ensembles. and Ave Verum Corpus with the Chamber Stripes alongside existing works for Wayne the orchestral Sneaker Wave (BBC National Orchestra of Europe and two discs of music by McGregor’s (, 2006); Orchestra of Wales, 2004) and an arrangement To date, Nigel has conducted the Aurora Will Todd with the English Chamber Orchestra. and, as a co-production between The Royal of Purcell’s Chacony in G minor for the BBC Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English Ballet and National Ballet of Canada, Proms (BBC Symphony Orchestra, 2011). Chamber Orchestra, English Concert, London Nigel has vast recording experience having ’s Alice’s Adventures Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity was Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of conducted for many of the world’s major in Wonderland (2011), the first full-length commissioned in 2012 for the Philharmonia Enlightenment, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra labels including Decca Classics, Deutsche narrative ballet score to be commissioned by Orchestra’s interactive digital installation, and the Scottish Ensemble. He has directed Grammophon, EMI Classics, LSO Live, Signum The Royal Ballet in 20 years. A second such Universe of Sound, as an addition to Holst’s the London Symphony Orchestra alongside and Warner Classics. As a Gramophone award- collaboration with Wheeldon and the same . Tide Harmonic (2009), a work for Tenebrae in a live recording of Fauré’s Requiem, winning producer, Nigel works with many of two companies culminated in the April 2014 large ensemble, began life as the score for which was nominated for the Gramophone the UK’s leading professional choirs and vocal premiere of The Winter’s Tale, adapted from Eau by choreographer Carolyn Carlson and Awards (2013), and since then, he has ensembles including Alamire, Ex Cathedra, Shakespeare’s play. CCN Roubaix. Other significant works written conducted the orchestra at St. Paul’s Cathedral Gallicantus and The King’s Singers. or adapted for dance include Fool’s Paradise

- 24 - - 25 - (Christopher Wheeldon and Morphoses, 2007), Snow Child (2016), was performed over five an arrangement of Talbot’s 2002 silent film nights at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. score The Dying Swan; Genus (Paris His compositions have won awards from Ballet, 2007); Entity (Wayne McGregor and organisations including the National Centre for Random Dance, 2008); and Chamber Symphony Early Music (Sweet Day, 2010) and his music FELLOWS OF THE for Chamber by choreographer Medhi has been broadcast on BBC Radios 3 and 4, NATIONAL YOUTH CHOIRS Walerski (Residentie Orkest/Nederlands Dans and Classic FM. OF GREAT BRITAIN Theater and Norwegian Opera and Ballet, 2012). Owain began his musical journey with the Launched in 2015, the National Youth Talbot premiered his first opera, the one-act , later becoming a chorister at St Mary Choirs of Great Britain’s Fellowship Programme work , with the Dallas Opera in January Redcliffe Church in Bristol, before joining the aims to create the most highly skilled 2015, followed in 2016 by his most recent National Youth Choir of Great Britain. He and multi-talented young choral musicians work for the screen, the score for the animated was assistant conductor of the RSCM in the UK. Each year, eight singers aged feature film Sing. © Hannah King Millennium Youth Choir before founding his 22-25 selected at open audition benefit composition and orchestration with John own ensemble, The Gesualdo Six, who were from a unique 50-day professional training OWAIN PARK Rutter, before undertaking a Masters in St John’s Smith Square Young Artists programme designed to develop outstanding Composition under Jeremy Thurlow and 2015-16. Owain was appointed as Cambridge skills in performance, education and leadership. “Park has a desire to test and stretch the Richard Causton. Chorale’s new director in summer 2016. Fellowship holders are supported by generous borders of conventional tonality and metre, but He is a Fellow of the Royal College of individual bursary awards. also to etch out the contrast by resolving back Recent works include a reflection on the Organists (FRCO), and was awarded the into broodingly conventional triadic harmonies Sanctus of William Byrd’s Mass for Five voices Dixon Prize for improvisation, having been The NYCGB Fellowship Programme is principally and regular pulse.” – The Arts Desk for ORA and Suzi Digby (Upheld by Stillness, Senior Organ Scholar at Wells Cathedral and supported by ABRSM and Dunard Fund, with 2015), and a piece for The Countess of Trinity College Cambridge. additional support from the D’Oyly Carte Owain Park was born in Bristol in 1993. His Wessex, commissioned by the Wells Cathedral Foundation, the Ofenheim Trust, the Stanley works are published by Novello and have Chorister Trust (Beati quorum via, 2014). The Picker Trust, the Fidelio Trust, and I Fagiolini been performed internationally by ensembles Choir of Trinity College Cambridge included Charitable Trust. including , the Aurora The Wings of the Wind (2015) in their tour Orchestra and the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir. programmes to the United States, Australia www.nycgb.org.uk/fellowship While at Cambridge University he studied and Hong Kong, and his chamber opera, The

- 26 - - 27 - CELEBRATING TENEBRAE’S 15th ANNIVERSARY YEAR WITH SIGNUM RECORDS

- 28 - - 29 - Tenebrae would very much like to register its lasting gratitude to the late Barbara Pollock for the commission of Path of Miracles, and Leroy and Fran Harvey for all their assistance at the time. Also Kathryn McDowell for originally programming this extraordinary work at the City of London Festival and Signum Records for their continued support. Footsteps Recorded at All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London 4 November 2016 Producer - Adrian Peacock Footsteps would not have been possible without the support of Kate Johnson and Music Engineer - Andrew Mellor Sales Ltd. together with Leslie Ferrar CVO and grants from the following organisations: Editor - Claire Hay and Andrew Mellor

Path of Miracles was premiered at the City of London Festival in July 2005, performed by Tenebrae, conducted by Nigel Short and directed by Ceri Sherlock.

Recorded at All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London 8-11 July 2005 Producer - Gabriel Crouch Engineer & Editor - Limo Hearn

Cover Image – Shutterstock Santander Discovery Foundation Grant The Fidelio Charitable Trust Design and Artwork – Woven Design www.wovendesign.co.uk

P 2017 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Signum Records Ltd © 2017 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Signum Records Ltd

Footsteps by Owain Park is published by Novello & Co Ltd. Footsteps Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording of Signum Compact Discs constitutes an infringement of copyright and will render the infringer liable to an action Music by Owain Park by law. Licences for public performances or broadcasting may be obtained from Phonographic Performance Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced, stored Path of Miracles by Joby Talbot is published by © Copyright 2016 Novello & Company Limited. in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Signum Records Ltd. Chester Music Ltd. Chester Music Ltd and Novello & Co Ltd All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured SignumClassics, Signum Records Ltd., Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road, Perivale, Middx UB6 7JD, UK. are part of the Music Sales Group of Companies. +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 E-mail: [email protected] musicsalesclassical.com Path of Miracles www.signumrecords.com Words by Robert Dickinson Music by Joby Talbot © Copyright 2005 Chester Music Limited. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

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