High Sheriff of Bristol’s Sainsbury’s Dingles are proud to support the High Sheriff’s Concert. 2014 Concert

Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra City of Bristol Choir Sainsbury’s Dingles Opening times Bristol Schools Chamber Choir 46-56 Queen’s Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1RE Monday to Friday 07:00 - 22:00 Telephone Saturday 07:00 - 21:00 0117 922 1693 Sunday 12:00 - 18:00 Bristol Cathedral 7.30pm Saturday 7th June

In aid of The High Sheriff’s Fund and Bristol Cathedral Trust The High Sheriff’s Welcome

I’m delighted to welcome you to Bristol Cathedral for an evening celebrating the wonderful period of British music that immediately preceded the First World War. We now think of that period as an age of innocence, perhaps because of what we know followed, but it was also the Your trusted beginning of the modern age, a time of rapid change and the high point of British power and confidence - as well as a period of rich creativity by British composers. The earliest piece in tonight’s programme, Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens, was commissioned for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The Wasps Overture was written by Parry’s pupil Vaughan Williams in 1909 and A Shropshire Lad by Vaughan Williams’ great friend George Butterworth adviser in 1913. The second half of the concert is devoted to Elgar’s most popular work, from 1898/9, the . Butterworth was to die on the Somme in 1916. Vaughan Williams and Elgar were greatly affected by the war and it changed their later work. But tonight’s music Local support, international reach comes from a very different place. I’m very grateful for the participation in this evening’s concert of three Bristol institutions - the City of Bristol Choir and the Bristol Schools Chamber Choirs (both led by another Bristol institution, David Ogden) and the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra. The members of all Accountancy and audit three give their time and skill for nothing other than the pleasure of music making. The purpose of this annual concert is to raise funds for the High Sheriff’s charity, Bristol Corporate and international tax Youth Community Action (BYCA), which supports holiday activities for young people from some of our most disadvantaged communities; and Bristol Cathedral Trust, which supports Corporate finance the fabric and work of our beautiful Cathedral. You’ll find more information about each later in this programme. Employee benefits and HR consulting This concert is only possible because of the commitment and generosity of our sponsors Michael Bothamley, and advertisers. My grateful thanks to them, to all of you, and to those who were unable to The High Sheriff of Bristol Investment management Image Neil Porter come but have sent generous donations. I hope very much that you enjoy the evening’s music. Personal tax and financial planning Michael Bothamley Restructuring and recovery From the Dean

Siegfried Sassoon had been one of the most scathing of the war poets and a critic of The value of investments may fall as David Hoyle, The Dean of Bristol military leadership and the waste of life. He was equally savage about the business of well as rise and you may not receive remembrance, once describing the Menin Gate memorial as a ‘sepulchre of crime’. However, back the original amount invested. some of his later poems which appeared in 1920 had a different feel. Among them were some lines that often get into anthologies For more information please contact: Everyone suddenly burst out singing; And I was filled with such delight Mike Lea, Managing Partner, Bristol Office As prisoned birds must find in freedom t: 0117 376 2143 Sassoon’s ravaged memory of war found relief in music. In this building, where music is e: [email protected] a part of our daily life, we too know its power and its potency. Tonight, we are privileged to listen to music brought to us by some wonderful musicians in a programme which will help us reflect on our history in this centenary year. This is a splendid night for city and cathedral www.smith.williamson.co.uk/bristol and behind it all is the High Sheriff’s deep commitment to generosity towards those in need. Great as this city is, it is still a place of hardship and even despair for some. So tonight we reflect, rejoice and renew our commitment to build a better world. I am delighted that you Smith & Williamson LLP Regulated by the Institute of Smith & Williamson Investment Management are here, I thank you for your support and, with you, I extend my thanks to our dedicated and Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for a range LLP Authorised and regulated by the financial gracious High Sheriff. I will leave you with the end of Sassoon’s poem of investment business activities. A member of Nexia conduct Authority. The Financial conduct International. Smith & Williamson Financial Services Authority does not regulate all of the products …and the song was wordless; Limited Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct and services referred to here. the singing will never be done. David Hoyle Authority. Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance Limited The word partner is used to refer to a Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. member of Smith & Williamson LLP A member of the London Stock Exchange. A member of and Smith & Williamson Investment M&A International. Management LLP. 3 Programme of Music Music Notes

This varied programme celebrates the work of British composers who were Part 1 active in the period before the start of the Great War, performed by some of Vaughan Williams - Wasps Overture Bristol’s leading musicians of all ages.

Elgar - Great is the Lord (Psalm 48) Ralph Vaughn Williams: Wasps Overture Butterworth - A Shropshire Lad (Rhapsody for Orchestra) Born in 1872, Ralph Vaughan Williams came from an affluent middle-class background and was related to both Josiah Wedgewood and Charles Darwin. He wrote the Wasps Overture Parry - Blest Pair of Sirens in 1909. The title refers to a comedy by the Greek playwright Aristophanes which ridicules 5th century BC Athenian politics. Its story, which is fairly absurd, involves a man addicted to

Garden and central tower. jury duty, his frustrated son, a mock trial between two dogs and a kidnapped flautist! Vaughan Vaulting above the aisles - INTERVAL Williams composed his incidental music for a production of the play at Cambridge University a ‘flash of genius’ Pevsner. and the review in The Musical Times of the 1st of January 1910 was very positive, commenting Part 2 Cathedral verger on the composer’s “liberal use of folk-music” and “sound scholarship.” The incidental music is Bristol Cathedral choristers rarely heard these days, but the overture continues to be popular. The opening trills create an Parry - I was Glad aural sensation of actual wasps, taking literally Aristophanes’ metaphor for senile Athenians! Elgar - Enigma Variations : Great is the Lord (Psalm 48) Parry - Jerusalem orchestra, choirs and audience Although Edward Elgar is often regarded as the archetypical English composer, most of his musical influences were not from England but from across Europe. Elgar felt himself to be an outsider, not only musically, but socially. In musical circles dominated by academics, he was And did those feet in ancient time a self-taught composer; in Protestant Britain, his Catholicism was regarded with suspicion by Walk upon England’s mountains green? some; and in the class-conscious society of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, he was acutely And was the holy Lamb of God sensitive about his humble origins even he achieved recognition. On England’s pleasant pastures seen? Shortly after the first performance of his in 1910, Elgar began work on this setting of Psalm 48, although it was not completed until 1912. The work was first And did the Countenance Divine performed at Westminster Abbey in July of that year at a service commemorating the 250th Shine forth upon our clouded hills? anniversary of the Royal Society. Though relatively brief, Great is the Lord is presented in as And was Jerusalem builded here many as seven distinct sections, each exploring an individual emotional plane. The psalm’s Among these dark Satanic mills? opening statement of affirmation is set to an appropriately expansive Elgarian melody. After an animated section as the kings assemble themselves, the baritone soloist introduces a more reflective mood at “We have thought on thy loving kindness, O God”. The final section Bring me my bow of burning gold: concludes with a triumphant re-affirmation that “this God is our God”. Bring me my arrows of desire: Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold! George Butterworth: A Shropshire Lad (Rhapsody for Orchestra) Bring me my chariot of fire. A close friend of both Vaughan Williams and Cecil Sharpe, George Butterworth was heavily influenced by English folk music and was the first composer to set to music the poems I will not cease from mental fight, of A E Houseman. This orchestral rhapsody is based on a theme from one of the songs from Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand Houseman’s Shropshire Lad cycle and was first performed in Leeds in 1913. Till we have built Jerusalem The onset of war in Europe in August 1914 saw Butterworth enlist as a Lieutenant in the In England’s green and pleasant land. Durham Light Infantry’s 13th Battalion. Before departing for France however, Butterworth 4 5 took care to destroy all of his work which, in his opinion, fell short of excellence. Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations Consequently his published musical output is very scarce and just two other orchestral Although this work is commonly known by the title Enigma, the great unanswered pieces, together with a further song cycle, form the entire output of this most English of question is exactly what the puzzle is supposed to be. In pencil, Elgar wrote the word ‘enigma’ composers who, had he lived longer, would surely have become a household name. by the theme after having completed composition of the entire work, and he later said that Butterworth’s two years of service saw him both mentioned in despatches and also awarded the riddle’s “dark saying must be left unguessed.” The work owes its lasting popularity to its the Military Cross for successfully defending a trench at Pozieres during 17-19th July 1916. A colourful orchestration and its brilliantly defined characters. man with a reputation for bravery, Butterworth was killed leading his men in a raid during the The theme itself is built on two contrasting though interwoven ideas; the first, in the Somme Offensive at Pozieres just three weeks later. Butterworth’s body was never found and minor, is patterned sequentially over a firm rising bass; the second is more flowing and his name is consequently among the 73,357 listed on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing rhapsodic in the major key. A cadence in the major leads into the first of the fourteen who died on the Somme and who have no known grave. He was aged just 31 at his death. variations. Each variation is accompanied by initials or a nickname, referring to an acquaintance of Elgar’s whose personality is ostensibly represented. But this provides no Hubert Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens mystery: the people in question can be easily identified. Sir Hubert Parry was one of several important British composers who came to Causing some consternation among music scholars is Elgar’s comment that “through and prominence just before Elgar achieved lasting fame. Blest Pair of Sirens was written in 1887 over the whole set another and larger theme goes, but is not played.” This has led some to and consists of a setting of Milton’s Ode, At a Solemn Musick. It was first performed by speculate that the ‘enigma’ theme is itself derived from another melody, perhaps one from a the Bach Choir, conducted by Sir Charles Stanford. It proved to be a milestone in Parry’s different composition, or even by a different composer. Yet no convincing candidate theme fortunes and the revival of English music, as its originality, passion and fluent technical has been offered in support of this theory. Whatever the case, Elgar either lost interest in the mastery were quite unprecedented at that time. Notwithstanding the importance of fine ‘enigma’ gimmick or simply decided that the answer was best left unknown, since in his later composers such as Boyce and Wesley, England had not produced a composer of truly national life he referred to the work only as “my Variations.” Regardless, the great success of the piece reputation since Purcell’s death two hundred years earlier and this single work did much to catapulted the composer to widespread renown: he received an honorary doctorate from reverse England’s international reputation as a country that did not produce significant music. Cambridge the year after the work was first performed in 1899, and he came to be regarded Visitors to Bristol Cathedral The opening words of Milton’s ode may sound somewhat quaint to modern ears, but it is almost overnight as the finest composer England had yet produced. Cathedral tapestry powerful verse which Parry sets to noble, energetic and athletic music. The ode describes Central tower seen from College Green the experience of listening to sacred music and may even be based on a specific performance Hubert Parry: Jerusalem Group visiting cathedral which Milton attended. The listener is invited to consider ‘verse’ and ‘voice’ as heavenly “And did those feet in ancient time” is a short poem by William Blake dating from 1808. sisters and earthly music performances are portrayed as attempts to echo the heavenly Today it is best known in the form of the popular anthem ‘Jerusalem’, with music written by harmonies of cherubim and seraphim singing before God’s throne. Parry’s music is in perfect Parry in 1916. symphony with Milton’s text and reflects the three-part structure of the poem. The rich The poem was inspired by the apocryphal story that a young Jesus, accompanied by Joseph choral writing and lush orchestration undoubtedly influenced the much-loved works of Elgar of Arimathea, travelled to what is now England and visited Glastonbury. In the most common and Vaughan Williams - in fact Vaughan Williams declared this work to be his “favourite interpretation of the poem, Blake implies that a visit by Jesus would briefly create heaven in piece of music written by an Englishman”. England, in contrast to the ‘dark Satanic Mills’ of the Industrial Revolution. Blake’s poem effectively asks four questions rather than asserting any historical truth. Hubert Parry: I was Glad Parry’s setting would seem, on the face of it, to be entirely characteristic of the composer’s Although Parry was a gifted organist, he never held any church music appointment and, public image. Yet there is something revealing about this particular choice of text. Its since his professional career as educator and administrator kept him away from day-to-day popular associations of national pride belie the passionate anger within Blake’s poem, as these involvement in church music, it is natural that the best known of his choral works should are the words of an idealist and radical which must have exerted a powerful attraction to a have been written in response to commissions for special occasions. man of Parry’s convictions. Parry’s famous coronation anthem I was Glad was originally written for the coronation of The first performance took place at a ‘Fight for Right’ meeting at the Queen’s Hall on the Edward VII in 1902. The choir for that performance contained 430 voices and was so spread 28th March 1916, since when the work has been performed countless times at both private out that several sub-conductors had to be used to keep them together. It has been sung at and ceremonial occasions, including, memorably, the opening ceremony of the recent every coronation since; a distinction it shares with Handel’s Zadok the Priest, written in 1727 London Olympics. for George II’s coronation.

6 7 The Performers

David Ogden is a professional conductor, composer and an Associate of the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM). He conducts Exultate Singers, City of Bristol Choir, the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir, the RSCM Chamber Choir, the Royal Mail Choir and, in his post of

Head of the Bristol Choral Centre, the Bristol Schools Chamber Choirs. He is also Director Stained glass detail of Music at Holy Trinity Church, Westbury-on-Trym. For over 25 years he has worked with numerous professional and amateur groups of all shapes and sizes in many fields of music making, including church music, concerts, musical theatre and opera, community projects, primary and secondary level educational workshops, from small children’s groups to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He works extensively with the RSCM and the BBC, conducting choirs across their radio stations and as musical advisor on programmes such as Songs of Praise, Call The Midwife, The Choir: Sing While You Work. David’s compositions are performed in schools and churches worldwide and broadcast

David Ogden Image Louise Broom frequently on BBC radio and television. In April 2008 one of his anthems was performed City of Bristol Choir at St George’s Brandon Hill by a 250-strong choir in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI as part of a Papal Mass in the Washington Nationals Baseball Stadium in Washington DC, with a congregation of 40,000 City of Bristol Choir was founded in 1991 and appointed David Ogden as Music Director people in attendance. In 2004 David was made an Associate of the RSCM in recognition of in 2000. The choir enjoys a busy seasons of concerts and events. Recent seasons have his services to church music. included performances of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with His www.davidogden.co.uk; @mrdavidogden.co.uk Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornetts, Britten’s War Requiem, Symanowski’s Stabat Mater, Brahms’ Requiem, Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert, Fanshawe’s African Sanctus, Mozart’s Requiem and Ewa Strusinska´ is Music Director and Principal Conductor at Szczecin Philharmonic Mass in C Minor and the first performance in Bristol of Howells’Hymnus Paradisi. The choir Orchestra. Prior to that, she was the first female assistant conductor of a British orchestra has appeared on BBC Songs of Praise, BBC Radio 2’s Sunday Half Hour and has toured Germany, when working with Manchester’s Hallé Orchestra. She has an extensive operatic and ballet Spain, Portugal and Italy. In the autumn of 2013 they released their debut CD, Realms of Glory. Bristol Schools Chamber Choirs repertoire with the Polish National Opera and Polish National Ballet and has international www.cityofbristolchoir.org.uk; www.facebook.com/cityofbristolchoir @bristolchoir experience with acclaimed ensembles including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Organ Stops Ewa Strusinska´ Johannesburg Philharmonic and the Warsaw National Opera Philharmonic. Bristol Schools Chamber Choirs are run by Bristol Plays Music, a partnership between She is a regular visitor to Bristol, performing at St Georges with BHCO. She has Bristol Music Trust, Bristol City Council and Colston Hall Education. This partnership Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra been given the ‘Ambassador of Stalowa Wola’ by her home town in recognition of her continues the work of Bristol Arts and Music Service in delivering high quality music achievements in Poland and abroad. education to over 8,000 children a year. Bristol Schools Chamber Choirs include choirs for juniors for children aged from 7 to 11 Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra (BHCO) is considered to be one of the best amateur and seniors for singers aged from 12 to 18. The choirs have a wide repertoire from West End orchestras in the UK. Formed in 1987 by four Bristol-based musicians it began life as a musicals to classical works and take part in three concerts per year. Rehearsals take place on string orchestra and has now grown into a 50 player strong ensemble. Their repertoire Friday afternoons at Cotham School. encompasses Baroque to contemporary. The orchestra has worked with many conductors If you, or someone you know, would be interested in joining, please contact David Ogden. who are widely respected internationally and has accompanied many great soloists including [email protected] Julian Lloyd-Webber, Colin Carr, Bernard d’Ascoli, Tim Hugh, Marianne Thorsen, and www.bristolschoolschamberchoir.org.uk www.facebook.com/bristolscc Thomas Bowes. www.bristolplaysmusic.co.uk

8 9 We have our lives

Co-educational day school Bristol Cathedral remembering the First World War for ages 4–18 Come and visit us We hold regular Open events and taster sessions during term-time with tours taking place most days. Contact us For further information or to request a prospectus, please contact Hollie Skerritt on 0117 933 9885 or visit the School website at www.bristolgrammarschool.co.uk Sombre the night is. Thirteen students with offers for Oxbridge in 2014. And though we have our lives, we know What sinister threat lurks there. Isaac Rosenberg Bristol War Poet d. 1st April 1918

The title of our project comes from the lines written by Isaac Rosenberg, a Bristolian War Poet who died on the Western Front in 1918. His words remind us of the fragility of life and freedom and of the immeasurable sacrifice made by his generation of young men and women. Bristol Cathedral, as the Mother Church of the Diocese and as a focal point in the city, plans to provide a space where memories of the fallen are gathered from the local community and Glasgow Edinburgh honoured through shared remembrance. For each month of the war, we will mark the death A growing law of a different fallen soldier or civilian from the Diocese of Bristol; from Private to Generals, from those who were awarded the Victoria Cross and those who were executed for desertion. firm, committed Our stories will come from south Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon and north Wiltshire. to client service. Belfast Manchester A central part of the project, is public participation - and we would love to hear from you. If you, your family, your club, your Church, your friends have stories, photos or simply a name that you’d like us to remember, please get in touch with Mike Hoyle at [email protected] Bristol As well as creating a Book of Remembrance, we will be hosting a series of requiem masses during which these names are spoken aloud and remembered. There will also be a host of London special events, services and talks throughout this period. Please visit www.bristol-cathedral.co.uk to find out more.

Supporting business and individuals TLTsolicitors.com • 0117 917 7777 10 11 BYCA

The High Sheriff of Bristol funds a range of activities for young people in communities of disadvantage to provide opportunities for positive and constructive engagement in play to reduce crime and youth offending in those communities. These activities include sport, drama, art, caving, climbing, canoeing and many others. Bristol Youth and Community Action (BYCA) enriches the lives of young people from Advertising diverse communities and from a range of backgrounds. Holiday funding will be allocated to offer extra support to partnerships operating in areas of the city that have been identified Burleigh Portishead as lacking accessible provision for school holiday activities for young people. Most of the projects and activities receiving funds take place during the half-term or summer school holidays. BYCA makes two types of award; one provides the holiday activities described above while the other provides for Community Action Grants where young people influence the type of activity that takes place. From the feedback we receive in our post-activity evaluation, it is clear that BYCA funds generate a large reservoir of goodwill by encouraging volunteering, the free use of premises and by providing positive alternative opportunities for young people. In areas where few out-of-school activities are found and where there is no funding from local or other government money, BYCA can assist community-based organisations to apply for funding to support their programmes. BYCA provided funding for or 35 partnerships during 2013/14. These holiday schemes will have engaged many young people in activities that build skills, challenge their prejudices, Having enhance their self-esteem and much more besides. a Party? Bristol’s Why not hire our historic Oldest Wine cellars for your private event? BYCA in action, Images: BYCA Merchant CULV Bristol Cathedral Trust E R S TR Vaulted ceiling and bosses Visit Averys Cellars E E T T E P E R Since the twelfth century, Bristol Cathedral has been a place of daily prayer and has Whether you want wine for a dinner party or a bottle for yourself, we T S

E R O become an extraordinary building, created for the glory of God. The architectural historian have an unrivalled range in our historic cellars under Park Street. PARK STREET M OG FR Nikolaus Pevsner described Bristol Cathedral as ‘superior to anything else built in England Discover exclusive wines including the renowned and reasonably priced Averys ST GEORGES RD and indeed in Europe at the same time’. We want the life and work of our Cathedral to be a Pioneer Range, small batch whiskys and English cider brandy. In a hurry? We UNITY ST FROG LANE “glimpse of of Heaven” in the heart of Bristol and the Diocese. have chilled wine and Champagne available; avoid the crowds by making use Bristol Cathedral Trust is the charitable arm of Bristol Cathedral. We raise funds and of our free customer car park. If you’re looking for a large venue for an event, 9 Culver Street, Bristol, BS1 5LD or a private tasting then please don’t hesitate to contact us. The vaulted lower Free parking available build relationships on behalf of Bristol Cathedral which help us to achieve our ambitious cellar is full of character with separate access to Frogmore Street. Situated in the city centre, just off aim. We create partnerships with charitable trusts and grant-making organisations. We Park Street, opposite The Hatchet Pub. foster relationships between the Cathedral and the corporate and charitable communities of Bristol. We invite and build relationships with individuals wanting to become more Details of our monthly tasting events are available in the shop, or online. involved, through the social membership group, The Fitzhardinge Society, and on a personal Call on 0117 921 4146 or email [email protected] and individual basis. 12 13 Our thanks to:

Without the help of all sponsors, advertisers and volunteers and the many who have provided services in kind, the High Sheriff’s Concert could not be the musical event that it is. This support – and the support from you, our audience this evening – represents an enormous boost for the charities which are the beneficiaries. We and they are profoundly grateful.

Michael Bothamley, High Sheriff

Sponsors and Advertisers Averys Bristol Grammar School

The Bristol Port Company The first High Sheriff of Bristol, John Rolls Royce plc Viel from Robert Rickart’s Kalendar. BurleighPortishead Image courtesy of the Bristol Museums Galleries & Archives. Business West DAC Beachcroft LLP Sainsbury’s Dingles S H Fiske Smith and Williamson TLT Wessex Water Dame Violet Wills Trust Contacts

Bristol Cathedral offers a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven in Bristol’s city centre. The Cathedral is open every day and admission is free. For more information on how to visit us and what is going on please visit www.bristol-cathedral.co.uk For information about either of this evening’s charities or to make a donation, please contact:

Bristol Cathedral Trust charity number 801008 t: 0117 946 8184 e: [email protected] www.bristol-cathedral.co.uk/support-us

High Sheriff’s Fund administered by Quartet Community Foundation charity number 1080418 t: 0117 989 7700 e: [email protected] www.quartetcf.org.uk/byca

www.bristol-cathedral.co.uk Photographs by Dave Pratt, unless otherwise stated www.daveprattphotography.co.uk Designed by Roland Harmer Architectural Illustration www.rolandharmer.co.uk Printed by BurleighPortishead www.burleighportishead.co.uk 15