Honorary President Raymond Calcraft

Conductor Peter Gambie and Karen Kingsley – Piano Present CHORAL WONDERS A 40th anniversary concert Schofield: Stream of Life – World Première Plus Best of Byrd, Towering Tallis, Vibrant Victoria and Macmillan’s Miserere Mei

Saturday 16th July, 2016 7.30 pm Church of the Holy Spirit, Southsea Welcome from Peter Gambie Conductor since 1992

I’ve had a passion for Renaissance music from around the age of twelve, so a phone call back in 1992 asking me to conduct a concert with the elite Renaissance Choir was a golden opportunity.

Not much later, I was to audition for the permanent conductor’s post and I went through an evening of exquisite agony and ecstasy – agony as each member held pencil and paper to judge the candidates’ rehearsal skills, and ecstasy as I realised the empathy between us was astonishing. Never before had I conducted a choir which was so talented and so responsive to my interpretation. I fell in love with the choir then and, 24 years later, that love continues unabated.

In 1993, we visited Prague. Our very uncomfortable 24-hour coach journey was enlivened just once when the driver fell asleep at the wheel! On this trip, I recall experiencing the family atmosphere of a group of very supportive, close friends for the first time. That characteristic has prevailed over the years and is a real strength; new members have often remarked on how welcoming everyone is.

The choir has always really enjoyed a challenge. For many years, performance standards have been exceptionally high for an amateur group and frequently match the achievements of (professional) cathedral choirs and their ilk. This doesn’t happen by accident and is only achieved by the astonishing commitment to practising by the singers. Allegri’s Miserere Mei and Barber’s Agnus Dei were two of our early “Mount Everests” – but these now seem like gentle hillsides when compared with some of our recent repertoire of Poulenc, Tallis and MacMillan.

Singing Tallis’s 40-part Spem in Alium in Hungary in 2006 was one of our ascents of this particular Everest. This was a joint performance with the Budapest Monteverdi Choir. This world-class choir sang 15 out of the 40 parts, leaving the lion’s share to us. The conductor of this world-class choir was astonished at the standards of RC members and was also very complimentary about the passionate performances which we gave. Being able to sing with choirs from other countries has been a feature of our many international tours and is always very rewarding. Invariably, we note that the international language of music transcends barriers of language, culture and politics.

2 The choir’s passionate sound has been one of our hallmarks. Renaissance music is often sung with a gentle reserve, with many conductors feeling it to be an appropriate interpretation. My view, Rachmaninov which is shared by choir members, is that vespeRs such a commonly-held belief is mistaken. Much of tonight’s programme is enthusiastic or celebratory: music where gentle reserve is simply not the best method of conveying the composer’s intention. We also focus heavily on blend and balance in order to produce a sound which some audience members have likened to The Sixteen. More recently, Conductor Peter Gambie RACHMANINOV PRELUDES choir members have been developing Karen Kingsley piano Venue - St Peter’s Church, Petersfield advanced interpretation skills. The Saturday 24th October at 7.30pm empathy which I mentioned in my first Tickets £12, £10 (conc) and £2 (students) available from One Tree Books, by telephone to paragraph is now almost as strong as 023 9247 5259, online from www.renaissancechoir.org.uk or on the door. mind-reading, with a unique, single- minded interpretation being the result.

Peter Gambie with Ian Schofield The choir has received many local and international plaudits. In 2014, we were delighted to be awarded Best Classical Act by The News. Our recent tour to Rome (which included singing in the Vatican) and to Palestrina Cathedral was received with deep gratitude and respect from the internationally renowned Palestrina Foundation, who are effectively responsible for the continued survival of the music of the “father” of Renaissance music, G. P. da Palestrina. It is both our privilege and founding principle to ensure the continued flowering of the beauties of Renaissance music.

3 The origins and early days of The Renaissance Choir by Raymond Calcraft – Founder Conductor (1976-86) and Honorary President

Considering the bizarre or even frankly rather pretentious names adopted by some present-day musical groups - ‘The Tallis Scholars’, ‘I Fagiolini’, ‘The Cardinall’s Musick’, ‘Stile Antico’, ‘Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique’ - the decision by a group of singers in 1977 to name themselves ‘The Renaissance Choir’ would seem at first glance to have been admirably straightforward and unambiguous. During its first year, from 1976-77, the choir was known as ‘The Highbury Singers’, but only because the newly formed group had found a rehearsal venue at Highbury College in Portsmouth. But both the venue and the name were temporary, and when a definitive title for the choir had to be decided upon a year later, various possibilities were discussed before a new name was suggested and agreed.

Given that it was necessary to find a name that was not already used by another choir, we were delighted to discover that (in 1977) the only other ‘Renaissance Choir’ in existence, as far as we were aware, was in Canada! But ‘The Renaissance Choir’ as a title meant more than a rebirth of a group which had existed under a different name only for the previous twelve months. Nor even that its founding members had mostly come from the Havant Choral Society, where many had sung for several years. The new name indicated the intention of both conductor and singers to place the music of Renaissance composers at the heart of its repertoire, together with works inspired by the renewed interest in and appreciation of that music during the 19th and 20th centuries. So works by Palestrina or Heinrich Schütz would soon be heard beside those of Bruckner or Manuel de Falla.

I had the great privilege of conducting the Choir from 1976 to 1986. There were concerts throughout the Portsmouth area, of course; an Oaklands Messiah with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta; excursions to London, Oxford, and Derby (in a snow- storm!); and two concert tours to Spain. Both the 1979 tour of Andalucía and the 1983 circuit of Castile and Extremadura were remarkable for the warmth of the receptions we received everywhere. Vivid memories of those tours include standing in the open air to take part in a Good Friday ceremony in Salamanca, or the sight of a thousand people or more listening to us sing Guerrero in Granada Cathedral.

The most high-profile events of the decade were the appearances at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, first in 1983, and then in the Joaquín Rodrigo Festival in 1986, when we gave the world première of the Cántico de San Francisco de Asís.

4 Having performed that work since on several occasions, with both Spanish and English choirs, and in Madrid and Barcelona as well as in this country, that first- ever performance set a standard by which I felt all others had to be judged.

My last concert with the Choir took place in 1986 at St John’s Cathedral in Portsmouth, where the programme included Palestrina’s Sicut cervus and Schütz’s Ich bin ein rechter Weinstock. The second half was devoted to the Fauré Requiem, and it was fitting that the two soloists should have been the same ones who had appeared in the first concert by ‘The Highbury Singers’, ten years before.

It is a delight for me to be with you on the occasion of The Renaissance Choir’s 40th Anniversary. My warmest congratulations on achieving this remarkable milestone in your history. And may you continue to bring pleasure and inspiration to your audiences for many years to come.

5 Renaissance Choir trips 1976-2016 Abroad UK including ‘away-days’

Date Destination 2016: 28.5 – 4.6 Italy : Rome + Palestrina 2014: 24-31.5 Spain: Coruña + Betanzos + Santiago de Compostela 2013: 4-6.10 Gloucester + Highnam Church, Cricklade 2011: 11-12.6 Exeter + Stockland 2010: 6.11 Brighton: Unitarian Church (Brighton Festival) 2010: 10.7 Arundel Cathedral 2010: 30.5-6.6 Poland: Krakow + Mogila + Kazimierz + Wieliczka 2009: 2.8 Arundel Cathedral 2009: 29.5-31.5 Bath, Bathwick, Compton Dando 2008: 25-31.5 Portugal: Lisbon + San Roque + Alcobaça + Pedreira + Sintra 2007: 27-28.10 Canterbury + St Paul’s, St Peter’s 2006: 27.5-4.6 Hungary: Budapest + Szentendre + Gödöllö + Székesfeherva 2005: 28-29.10 Battle in East Sussex 2004: 30.5-5.6 France: Chartres, Versailles, Maurepas, Paris 2003: 25-26.10 Wales, Brecon Beacon 2002: 19.10 2002: 20.4 Southampton, St Michael’s Church 2002: 27.3-3.4 Spain : Javea + Alcoy + Valencia 2001: 30.6 Arundel Cathedral 2001: 26-27.5 Devizes, Edington 2001: 10.3 Winchester : St Peter’s 1998: 24.8 Winchester : St Cross (+ choir from Bari, Italy) 1999: 2-6.4 Italy : Bari + Lecce 1999: 20.2 Isle of Wight : Ryde – Holy 1998: 8.8. France : Carentan 1998: 19.4 Norwich : + Bungay + Hingham 1997: 24-28.5 France: Carentan, La Haye-du-Puits, Valognes, St-Germain-sur-Ay 1996: 25-26.5 Gillingham + Yeovil – Whitsuntide concerts 1995: 13.8 Wandsworth, London, St Michael’s Church

6 Date Destination 1995: 27-29.5 France : St Aubin + Honfleur + Caen 1994: 15.10 Beaulieu Abbey recital 1994: 29.5 Cheltenham, Gloucester, Hartpury, Bourton-on-the-Water 1993: 18.12 Beaulieu Abbey - Christmas concert 1993: 19.9 Southampton, St Michael’s Church 1993: 30.5-2.6 Czech Republic : Prague + Sporilov 1992: 18.7 Dorchester Abbey recital (Conductor: Cecilia Gordon Clark) 1992: 30.5 Beaulieu Abbey recital 1990: 22.4 Southwark Cathedral, London – sung Eucharist 1988: 29.5-3.6 Germany (Aachen, Sittard, Cologne, Bonn) + Belgium (Brussels) + Holland (Eindhoven) 1988: 24.4 Guildford Cathedral – sung Eucharist + Matins 1987: 19.12 Warminghurst Church, nr Horsham 1986: 12.10 Guildford Cathedral sung Eucharist 1986: 3.7 Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 1986: 15.3 Queen Elizabeth Hall, London (Rodrigo Festival) 1985: 29.6 Eynsham, Oxford (recording at Abbey Recording Co.) 1983: 3.7 Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 1983: 2.4 Spain: Salamanca University + Ciudad Rodrigo, Cáceres, Toledo 1983: 19.3 St John’s, Smith Square, London + G. Woolf 1983: 12.3 Warwick university + G. Woolf 1981: 12+13.12 Chesterfield + Derby: Christmas celebration G. Woolf 1981: 5.7 New College, Oxford 1981: 11.4 St John’s, Smith Square, London 1980: 13-14.12 Matlock, Derbyshire: Christmas celebration G. Woolf 1979: 2.12 Warwick University, Christmas celebration G. Woolf 1979: 16-19.4 Spain: Seville + Cordoba + Granada 1978: 3.12 Warwick University, Christmas celebration G. Woolf 1978: 27.5 Arundel Cathedral

Long service Shirley Cowell and Mary Gambie sang at the inaugural concert in Oaklands School Hall, Waterlooville on 27 November 1976 and are still singing with the Choir.

20 members have been singing in the choir for between 15 and 35 years.

7 FOOD OF LOVE Classical choral music for lovers. Music by Whitacre, Rutter and Lassus.

Piano solos by Karen Kingsley

St John’s Cathedral, Portsmouth. Saturday April 20th at 7.30pm. THE RENAISSANCE CHOIR THE RENAISSANCE

Tickets £10, £8 (concessions) and £2 (students) available at the door or in advance by telephone to 02392 475259, via the website www.renaissancechoir.org.uk

8 CONCIERTOS dE MÚSICA CORAL OBRAS de GUERRERO VICTORIA BYRd TALLIS ROdRIGO A CORUÑA, Capilla de la Venerable Ordén Tercera de San Francisco de Asís, 25 de mayo Misa 20:00h y concierto posterior. Con Ludus Tonalis BETANZOS, Iglesia de San Francisco 26 de mayo 20:00h SANTIAGO dE COMPOSTELA Iglesia de San Francisco 29 de mayo 21:00h Catedral – 30 de mayo 12:00h Participación coral en la Misa del Peregrino y concierto posterior

www.renaissancechoir.org.uk

FOOD OF LOVE Classical choral music for lovers. Music by Whitacre, Rutter and Lassus. Rachmaninov

Piano solos by vespeRs Karen Kingsley

Conductor Peter Gambie RACHMANINOV PRELUDES Karen Kingsley piano St John’s Cathedral, Portsmouth. Venue - St Peter’s Church, Petersfield Saturday 24th October at 7.30pm Saturday April 20th at 7.30pm. THE RENAISSANCE CHOIR THE RENAISSANCE

Tickets £12, £10 (conc) and £2 (students) available from One Tree Books, by telephone to Tickets £10, £8 (concessions) and £2 (students) available at the door 023 9247 5259, online from www.renaissancechoir.org.uk or on the door. or in advance by telephone to 02392 475259, via the website www.renaissancechoir.org.uk

9 The Renaissance Choir Conductor: Peter Gambie Piano: Karen Kingsley

Choir Laetentur coeli William Byrd WORLD PREMIÈRE Stream of Life: Ian Schofield 1. My Song 2. Little Flute 3. Stream of Life Piano solo Twilight Romance Op. 12 Arthur Sullivan Clair de Lune Frank Martin Choir Sing joyfully William Byrd Laudibus in sanctis William Byrd Great God of love Robert Pearsall Lay a garland Coelos Ascendit Hodie Charles Villiers Stanford Ave Maria Tomás Luis de Victoria

Interval

Choir Salvator Mundi Thomas Tallis Exsultate Deo Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Stream of Life: Ian Schofield 4. Peace, My Heart 5. Light, My light Piano solo Birthday Gifts Ralph Vaughan Williams A birthday gift A winter piece for Genia Pezzo ostinato

Elizabeth from Shulbrede Tunes Charles Parry Choir Miserere Mei James Macmillan Ne Irascaris William Byrd

10 Concert notes

William Byrd (1543 - 1623) was, with Tallis, the greatest English Peter Gambie writes: “When I was a music student at Dartington, the composer of his generation, comparable in stature to his most influence of Rabindranath Tagore was pervasive. His philosophy ran distinguished continental contemporaries. Although remaining deeply amongst the students as many of us espoused his beliefs in a , loyalty that cost him considerable trouble in times of the cyclical nature of birth, life and death, with love at the centre. For persecution in , he served as a member of the Chapel Royal, Tagore, death was a beginning of a new phase of existence. When providing music for the liturgy of the and, on a the choir decided to commission a composition to celebrate its more private scale, for his fellow-Catholics. 40th anniversary, I suggested Tagore’s poetry and that Ian Schofield Laetentur coeli is a five-voice motet published in the Cantiones should be asked to set it to music.” Ian Schofield writes: “This sacrae of 1589 commission was certainly a challenge! The texts are of great beauty, Rejoice, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth. but their frequent changes of mood and irregularity of metre, both Give praise, O hills, for our Lord shall come and show within and between verses provides a considerable challenge to mercy to His humble people. any composer and I hope that my setting does them the justice There shall rise up in those days justice and abundance of peace. Psalm 95:11 that they deserve. I have used four of the five poems chosen by Both Sing Joyfully and Laudibus in sanctis display choral Peter and these make up the first four numbers of the sequence. “orchestration” and counterpoint as well as imitations of the various For the fifth number, Light, my light, I have taken the opening lines instruments named in the text. from Tagore’s poem of the same name, and to that, I have created a Sing joyfully unto God our strength. Sing loud unto the God of Jacob. narrative, utilising references to ‘light’ taken from other texts by him.” Take the song and bring forth the timbrel, the pleasant harp and the viol. My Song Blow the trumpet in the new moon, ev’n in the time appointed, and at This song of mine will wind its music around you, my child, like the fond our feast day; arms of love. for this is a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. Psalm 81:1 - 4 This song of mine will touch your forehead like a kiss of blessing. Laudibus in sanctis When you are alone it will sit by your side and whisper in your ear, when O praise God in his holiness: you are in the crowd it will fence you about with aloofness. praise Him in the firmament of His power. My song will be like a pair of wings to your dreams, it will transport your Praise Him in his noble acts: heart to the verge of the unknown. praise Him according to his excellent greatness. It will be like the faithful star overhead when dark night is over your road. Praise Him in the sound of the trumpet: My song will sit in the pupils of your eyes, and will carry your sight into the praise Him upon the lute and harp. heart of things. Praise Him in the cymbals and dances: And when my voice is silent in death, my song will speak in your living heart. praise Him upon the strings and pipe. Little flute Praise Him upon the well-tuned cymbals: Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou Praise Him upon the loud cymbals. emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life. Let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord. Psalm 150 This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast The final piece in this evening’s programme, Ne Irascaris, from breathed through it melodies eternally new. Cantiones Sacrae, published in 1589, expresses Byrd’s torment at the At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy religious situation. and gives birth to utterance ineffable. Be not angry, O Lord, Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages and remember our iniquity no more. pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill. Behold, we are all your people. Stream of life Your holy city has become a wilderness. The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs Zion has become a wilderness, through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. Jerusalem has been made desolate. Isaiah 64:9-10 It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves Ian Schofield was born in the Lancashire town of Oswaldtwistle of leaves and flowers. in 1949. He studied Composition at the University of Southampton It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, under Dr. Eric Graebner and Prof. Peter Evans. He has lived and in ebb and in flow. taught in Portsmouth since 1972 and was, until retirement, a I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. lecturer on the specialist pre-professional music course at South And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood Downs College. this moment. His Te Deum, commissioned by Jonathan Willcocks and the Peace, my Heart Portsmouth Choral Union, has been performed widely in the UK. Peace, my heart, let the time for parting be sweet. The Christmas sequence Illuminare Jerusalem has had numerous Let it not be a death but completeness. performances throughout Great Britain, including the Royal Albert Let love melt into memory and pain into songs. Hall – as well as in Westbourne with the Renaissance Choir in 2014. Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest. Tonight we present the World Premiere of Stream of Life, a work Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night. for unaccompanied choir, which the Choir has commissioned, Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence. comprising five poems of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way. Though virtually unknown in the west, Tagore was prolific as a Light, my light poet, playwright, philosopher, composer and writer on political and Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart- social issues. He was native of Calcutta, India, who wrote in Bengali sweetening light! and often translated his own work into English. He was the first Light in my heart the evening star of rest and let the night whisper to non-European recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. me of love. Tagore broke barriers in Bengali art, poetry and drama, ushering in Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark. a new era. He stood up for freedom; he stood up for India. Ghandi Some day I shall sing to thee in the sunrise of some other world. and Nehru were his friends: he also had meetings with Einstein. His I have seen thee before in the light of the earth, in the love of man. poetry transcends generations and social barriers, weaving together Death is not extinguishing the light, it is only putting out the lamp the beautiful and powerful tapestry of Indian culture. because the dawn has come.

11 Concert notes (continued)

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 - 1611) was born in Avila. He knew was an English composer. Although best known for his series of Palestrina and possibly studied with him. In 1565 he received a grant 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, he also from Philip II to travel to Rome, where he became a priest and singer wrote 23 operas, 13 major orchestral works, eight choral works at the German College, being appointed choirmaster in 1573. From and oratorios, two ballets, incidental music to several plays, and 1578 to 1585 he was a chaplain at San Girolamo della Carità, followed numerous hymns and other church pieces, songs, and piano by sixteen years as chaplain to the dowager empress María, Philip II’s and chamber pieces. Twilight Romance for solo piano, op. 12 was sister. He was one of the greatest composers of his time, noted for published in 1868. his expressive settings of the mass and other sacred Latin texts. Ave Maria à 8 was first published in Venice in 1572 and Victoria – ever Frank Martin (1890-1974) was born in Geneva, but spent most of his the perfectionist - edited no less than eight times for re-publication, life in the Netherlands. He composed operas, ballets, symphonies the last time in 1600. and chamber music. Clair de Lune was written in 1952. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed be the fruit of thy womb, Robert Lucas Pearsall was born in Clifton in 1795. He was called Jesus Christ. to the Bar in 1821. In 1825, abroad for the benefit of his health, he Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of settled at Mainz and studied music under Josef Panny, remaining our death. Amen. there until 1829, when he returned for a year to England. He subsequently moved once more to Karlsruhe in Germany. In 1842 he Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 - 1585) began his career as organist at the bought Wartensee Castle on Lake Constance. He published about Benedictine Priory at Dover, followed by similar service at Waltham 60 part-songs and madrigals. He understood the madrigal form Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540. He was then thoroughly, but did not confine himself to the strict rules practised organist at and in 1543 became a Gentleman in the Elizabethan period. Works such as “Great God of Love” and of the Chapel Royal, a position he retained until his death. In 1575, “Lay a Garland” are real masterpieces of the form. Queen Elizabeth granted to him and his pupil William Byrd a 21-year Lay a garland was written on 4 June 1840. The text is taken from monopoly for polyphonic music and a patent to print and publish the song in Beaumont and Fletcher’s play The Maid’s Tragedy. music, which was one of the first arrangements of that type in the Lay a garland on her hearse country. Tallis and Byrd used their monopoly to produce Cantiones of dismal yew. quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur in 1575, including Salvator Mundi: Maidens, willow branches wear, O saviour of the world, say she died true. who by thy cross and precious blood hast redeemed us, Her love was false, but she was firm save us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord. Upon her buried body lie lightly, thou gentle earth. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525 – 1594) was one of the Great God of Love was also written in 1840. finest and most groundbreaking composers of the Renaissance Great God of love, some pity show, period. He was born in Palestrina, near Rome (hence his name) and on Amarillis bend thy bow. wrote some heavenly music during his long lifetime. Do thou, we pray, her soul inspire, He was a hugely influential musician whose works had a sizeable and make her feel the self-same fire, impact on the late Renaissance period of classical music. that wastes her lover’s heart away. The young Palestrina apparently used to sing on the streets of Rome, where he sold produce from his parents’ farm. One day, so legend Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852 - 1924) was a teacher of has it, the choirmaster of Santa Maria Maggiore heard him – and composition without equal. A list of his many pupils at the Royal immediately offered to teach him music. College of Music reads like a Who’s Who of early twentieth-century In the mid-16th century, Palestrina was appointed a member of the British music: Vaughan Williams, John , Gustav Holst, Herbert Papal Chapel, as a reward for his many compositions for the Catholic Howells, Arthur Bliss, Gordon Jacob, to name only the most well- Church. This was a controversial move: the at the time turned known. He was a prolific and highly regarded composer himself, a blind eye to the fact that Palestrina was not in Holy Orders, and with seven symphonies and five concertos to his name, as well as waived the rule that he must take a rather taxing entrance exam. string quartets, operas, oratorios and numerous other compositions. That, coupled with the fact that many existing members of the Papal Although there has been a revival of interest in some of the Choir thought Palestrina’s voice wasn’t nearly as good as theirs, led symphonies and chamber music, most of these works are now to quite a storm of protest. A subsequent Pope adopted a more largely forgotten. stringent approach and Palestrina was asked to leave the choir The Three motets, Op.38 for unaccompanied choir were published permanently, with only a small pension. in 1905 but probably date from 1892, the year in which Stanford The range of Palestrina’s musical output was staggering: as well as gave up his post as organist of Trinity College, Cambridge. The third masses, he composed secular madrigals, hymns, and a set of rather motet, Coelos ascendit hodie, is an Ascensiontide motet, scored for wonderful motets. double choir, and makes much use of dramatic interplay between The choir was recently privileged to visit Palestrina, where we the two choirs. The superb final ‘Amen’ grows ever outwards from were able to sing a motet in his living room, which is now a world one single note, concluding on a vibrant eight-part chord. research centre for his music. We also performed a concert in Today Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, has ascended into the heavens, Alleluia! Palestrina cathedral, under the auspices of the internationally He sits at the father’s right hand, ruling heaven and earth, Alleluia! respected Palestrina Foundation. We were thrilled to receive a Now are David’s songs fulfilled, now is the Lord with his Lord, Alleluia! standing ovation at the end of the concert. He sits upon the royal throne of God, in this his greatest triumph, Alleluia! Exsultate Deo is an another setting of the first 4 verses of Psalm 81 Let us bless the Lord; let the Holy Trinity be praised, (like Byrd’s Sing Joyfully) let us give thanks to the Lord, Alleluia! Amen.

12 Concert notes (continued)

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 –1958) was an English composer. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and According to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. symphonies, written over nearly fifty years. Recently discovered For I know my transgressions: and my sin is always before me. among the composer’s papers, three short pieces entitled Birthday Against you only have I sinned, and done evil in your sight: Gifts extend the idioms of the major works into the intimate world so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. of the keyboard. The first piece is a study in sarabande rhythm; the Surely I was sinful at birth: second, Molto lento, a frosty evocation of Winter. A rousing Pezzo sinful from the time my mother conceived me. ostinato - a favourite form, completes the collection. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, (1848 –1918) was an English Cleanse me with hyssop and I shall be clean; composer, teacher and historian of music. His orchestral works wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. include five symphonies and a set of Symphonic Variations, but he Let me hear joy and gladness; is best known for the choral song Jerusalem, the Coronation anthem let the bones you have crushed rejoice. I was glad and the hymn tune Repton (Dear Lord and Father of Hide your face from my sins Mankind). One of his two daughters married Arthur Ponsonby, owner and blot out all my iniquity. of Shulbrede Priory, so Parry composed Shulbrede Tunes, a series of Create in me a pure heart, O God, portraits of members of the Ponsonby family. Elizabeth was Parry’s and renew a right spirit within me. granddaughter. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Sir James MacMillan (born 1959) is one of today’s most successful Restore to me the joy of your composers and is also internationally active as a conductor. His and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish Then will I teach transgressors your ways, heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection and sinners will turn back to you. with Celtic folk music, blended with influences from Far Eastern, Save me from bloodguilt, o God, the God who saves me, Scandinavian and Eastern European music. and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. The huge popularity of Allegri’s 1638 setting of the Miserere for O Lord, open my lips, the Sistine Chapel has tended to cast a shadow over subsequent and my mouth will declare your praise. settings of this text. While MacMillan’s (published in 2009) seems to You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; inhabit a very different harmonic world in its opening stages, before you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. long it, too, falls into the Allegri sequence of simple plainchant and The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: interpolated episodes. No celestial high Cs here but something a broken and contrite heart , O God, you will not despise. much more chorally unified and harmonically rich – and every bit as In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; effective. build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar. Psalm 51

Current members of the Choir: Sopranos Altos Tenors Basses Miriam Anscombe Judith Bee Stuart Donnan Greg Ansell Shirley Cowell Diana Harris Alastair Forrest Jeremy Ball Isabella van Elferen Alison Horncastle Malcolm Keeler Andrew Dickinson Pam Ewing Jane Jones Andrew Lundie David Harris Mary Gambie Catherine Marshall Robin McInnes Bob Jones Sue Ingram Barbara Mosse Simon O’Hea Graham Smith Alison Siriol Seabrook Paul Walland Simon Willis Christine Liddle Catherine Ingram-Smith Geoffrey Whittington Val Stamp Melissa Wingfield Jo Walker Dot Warren Susan Yarnall

13 Biographies

PETER GAMBIE Peter Gambie has been The Renaissance Choir’s conductor since 1992, providing him with some of his richest musical experiences. Many wonderful moments have been shared by Peter and the choir in their quest for musical perfection. Peter encourages professional standards and understanding in his singers, constantly challenging them with music of increasing complexity.

Peter encourages his singers to learn works conceptually and emotionally, ensuring the composer’s intent is understood and interpreted. Empathy between conductor and choir is central to high quality performances: both parties are fortunate that this quality is developed to an advanced degree. Karen Kingsley He holds some unusual beliefs amongst choral conductors. agree. She is a local favourite and is now a national celebrity Firstly, he views vibrato as an aberration - particularly in following her debut on BBC TV in April 2010 accompanying Renaissance music – believing that stillness in a voice provides Sam Moffitt in the Brass Section Final of the BBC Young beauty. As a result, most opera stars would fail an audition for Musician competition and on BBC Radio 3 in 2011 with this choir. He also believes that the widest variety of emotion Robert Blanken and Richard Moore playing the World should be presented in performance (sacred Renaissance Premiere of Anthony Hedges’ trio called Three Humours for music is often interpreted with deep reverence but little Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano. passion). Underpinning Peter’s belief is that we often forget that composers have the same range of emotions as the rest Karen first performed with The Renaissance Choir in 2002, of us: feelings of great joy and despair; of love and anger; at Romsey Abbey, when the Choir first sang the Vespers, and of piety and irreverence. The music of J. S. Bach, for and Karen played Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. example, is often performed starkly, in the mistaken belief Since then, she has joined us regularly, both as soloist that, as a master craftsman of mathematical music, he was an and accompanist, in works such as Poulenc’s Gloria and unemotional man. Bach also had 20 children, which hardly Beethoven’s Mass in C. marks him out as a man without passion! Other people that make a special contribution to In our current age of celebrity, it is common to lionise The Renaissance Choir: performers and conductors. Peter’s view is that, when we do this, we fail to acclaim the most central person to MALCOLM KEELER: OUR ASSISTANT MUSICAL DIRECTOR a performance – the composer. Of course, it’s not easy to Malcolm graduated with a degree in Music from Royal express our thanks to Mozart but we hope that, should Holloway College, University of London, where he studied you think our performances are worthy of applause, you’ll Organ with John Porter. As a member of their Schola remember the genius responsible for creating it. Cantorum he sang in many of the cathedrals in Southern Peter also conducts the Southampton Choral Society which England. For eleven years he was organist and choirmaster specialises in larger choral works with orchestra. of St Mark’s church in Portsea. He has performed as a soloist for the Lee Singers and for the Midhurst Music Society. He KAREN KINGSLEY has accompanied visiting choirs at a number of Cathedrals Karen gained her GRSM and LRAM diplomas in piano and including Manchester, Durham, Newport, Llandaff and piano accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music, where Salisbury. Besides being the Assistant Musical Director of she was awarded several prizes and commendations. Whilst at the Renaissance Choir, Malcolm is the conductor of the the Academy she performed Gershwin’s piano concerto and Portsmouth Choir. Shostakovich’s 2nd concerto. She has played in masterclasses with John Barstow, Peter Katin and Roger Vignoles. ALEX POULTON: OUR VOCAL COACH Alex gives regular 20-minute singing lessons to everyone in A graduate of and prize-winner at the Royal Academy of Music, the Choir, during the course of rehearsals, to improve vocal Karen had the privilege of playing to Lutoslawski, the Polish technique. Alex has performed in recital in major festivals composer and playing concertos with the college ensembles. and leading concert venues around the world including Wigmore Hall in London and De Doelen in Rotterdam. His According to a press report, Karen is a ‘soloist with a smile on core repertoire includes the three Schubert’s song cycles. her face and a smile in her heart’ – a statement with which He also sings art songs for BBC television and has appeared listeners to any of her performances will wholeheartedly on TV. His operatic roles include Figaro in Rossini’s Barber of

14 Seville, Falke in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Doctor and Marquis for us. James is a musician in The Band of HM Royal Marines in Verdi’s La Traviata, for Focus Opera, Papageno in Mozart’s Portsmouth, The Royal Band, and has performed on TV, The Magic Flute, Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni for Zeist radio, albums and on stage around the world. He has Opera Festival, The Indian in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride recently appeared on the ITV This Morning show, Ant & for the Mid Wales Opera, Cascada in Lehar’s The Merry Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Strictly Come Dancing, the Widow and Sharpless in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly for a US Queen’s Christmas Day Speech, Channel 4’s Gogglebox Tour presented by Columbia Artists. and on the BBC coverage of The Festival of Remembrance. James’ works have seen world premieres in the Royal Albert JAMES DUNLOP: OUR GUEST COMPOSER Hall, London, as well as performances at venues including We are delighted to have recently performed a number of the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, KKL Luzern, Southampton’s James Dunlop’s works, some of which have been written O2 Guildhall.

Friends of The Renaissance Choir

Why not join our ‘Friends of The Renaissance Choir’ scheme? Benefits (as before): We appreciate the support we receive from our regular • An opportunity to support the choir in its advancement of patrons and we like to keep in touch with our audience. fine choral music Our Friends scheme has been running since 2003, and the • An opportunity to support the choir and its recitals on Choir’s committee has decided that it is time to modernise tours both in the UK and abroad if space allows it. Our aim is to make it easier to use and more accessible in • Complimentary concert programme, in which, if you are the digital world, and also to streamline its administration. happy to have it, your support is acknowledged. Since its inception the membership subscription has remained at £15 per annum, and we are launching a new We have tried to respond to the various suggestions we scheme in September 2016. have received about the existing scheme and are particularly grateful to our current Friends for their continued support However, application forms are available on the door (some have been Friends since the beginning!). We also tonight, and signing up will give you, or one of your friends hope that people will take the opportunity of supporting (if being given as a gift), Friends membership from now until some of the new options such as giving membership as a end August 2017. gift to their friends.

A summary of the new scheme is shown below: Diana Harris has decided that this is the right time to bow • 1 complimentary ticket per year to use at any full-price out of running the Friends scheme. We would like to concert formally thank Diana for the enormous support she has • An opportunity to give a Friends subscription as a gift to given over the years in running the scheme. someone else • Opportunity to pay subs/donations via internet banking Should you have any questions or need further information • Friends will pay an annual subscription of £30 then please visit the Friends page on our website • No membership cards needed (www.renaissancechoir.org.uk) or contact Simon Willis • Reduced paperwork for all! (02392 460919) who will administer the new scheme going forward.

Friends of The Renaissance Choir include:

Elizabeth Bowden Mr & Mrs A Lowes Howard and Nicky Sherlock Anne Bray Mary Marsh Dr Helen Swinburn Pippa Dice and Peter Sutton Mr and Mrs J Martin Dee Townsend Ray Fiander Sue Moss Susan Wheatley Paul Flynn Jenny Owens Jules Willis Dinah Lawson Nigel & Diana Roberts

15 Future Concerts by The Renaissance Choir

French Sanctus ...and by the Connection Southampton Choral Society Programme includes Poulenc’s Programme includes Sanctus Conductor: Peter Gambie Gloria, Cantique de Jean Racine and Movements from Bach’s B minor mass, Verdi Requiem music by Howells and Harris. Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Mass in C. with the Portsmouth Choral Union With Karen Kingsley (piano) With David Gostick (organ)

Saturday 29th October 2016, 7.30pm Saturday 8th April 2017, 7.30pm Saturday 19th November 2016, 7.30pm St Peter’s Church, Petersfield St Peter’s Church, Petersfield Southampton Guildhall

We encourage you to visit our website at The Choir wish to thank the Rector and Interested in joining us? www.renaissancechoir.org.uk and Staff of the Church of the Holy Spirit Whilst The Renaissance Choir is usually subscribe to the Choir Newsletter by for their help and co-operation in this full, vacancies do occur from time-to- entering your email address on the evening’s concert. time. If you’d like us to inform you of a home page to keep up-to-date with vacancy, please give your name to any our activities. We are also grateful to all those who choir member or email the secretary, help with tickets, programmes and Alison Horncastle, at If you prefer not to use the Internet, refreshments. [email protected]. information can also be obtained from the Secretary on 01243 775020.