Ely Cathedral Summer Recital Series 2013 Alan Horsey, Organ
in association with Ely Cathedral Summer Recital Series 2013 Alan Horsey, organ - David Hill, conductor Sunday 21 July at 5.15pm Insanae et vanae curae Franz Josef Haydn from HOBXXI:1 (c.1775) 1732-1809 Insanae et vanae curae Distracted with care and anguish, Invadunt mentes nostras. When hearts despairing languish, Saepe furore replent corda, Madly they seek comfort Privata spe. Where it doth ne’er abide. Quid prodest, O mortalis, For us no rest remaineth, Conari pro mundanis, If earth our love retaineth, Si coelos negligas? And heaven we cast aside; Sunt fausta tibi cuncta, Relief he only gaineth, Si Deus est pro te. And peace at last attaineth, Whom God vouchsafes to guide. This vivid chorus was devised originally for a long-neglected oratorio, Il Ritorno di Tobia of 1774/5 composed for a concert to raise money for poor musicians and their families. Copyright difficulties with the composer’s employer followed and the piece remained forgotten for two decades. Revived in 1795, Haydn added the Insanae music as a ‘storm’ chorus. Ten years after this, towards the end of his long life, he added the sacred words and the work has survived in the standard repertoire ever since. There are two sections, each contrasted with the other. Rather strangely, the piece did not achieve immediate popularity though its quality clearly stimulated Haydn’s colleagues – Pizzaro’s aria in Beethoven’s Fidelio, also in D minor, is clearly influenced by Haydn’s prototype. Organ solo: Prelude on ‘Rhosymedre’ Ralph Vaughan Williams no.2 of Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes (1920) 1872-1958 The evergreen prelude on Rhosymedre was written in 1920, by which time Vaughan Williams was established as a cutting-edge symphonist, but at the same time, remained a very willing writer of pleasant, consciously down-to-earth pieces for church services and other occasions.
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