STORM y III. Magic [2.37] JUDITH WEIR (b. 1954) u IV. Spirit [4.17] i V. Mercy [1.59] Total timings: [61.30] 1 All the Ends of the Earth (1999) † [8.56] Micaela Haslam, Elizabeth Poole, Margaret Feaviour, Olivia Robinson soprano soloists Margaret Cameron, Rebecca Lodge alto soloists Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (2011) BBC SINGERS 2 Magnificat [3.53] CHORISTERS OF TEMPLE CHURCH * † 3 Nunc Dimittis [2.52] ENDYMION DAVID HILL CONDUCTOR Missa del Cid (1988) 4 I. Kyrie [3.31] www.signumrecords.com 5 II. Gloria [2.45] 6 III. Credo [5.02] 7 IV. Sanctus [2.11] ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH (1999) become continuous. I retained these syllables 8 V. Benedictus [3.37] (sung by tenors and basses, reinforced by tuned 9 VI. Agnus Dei [2.10] All the Ends of the Earth, for chorus, percussion percussion and harp) placed in exactly the Charles Gibbs narrator and harp, was written for the BBC Singers as same bars as they appear in the Perotin. But I The Song Sung True (2013) part of a Europe-wide radio broadcast on replaced Perotin’s upper voices with completely 0 I. Sing [1.52] Millennium Day, 1 January 2000 celebrating new, free-flowing music for sopranos and q II. Song [2.34] the 1000-year old music of Perotin, on whose altos, who sing (in various solo and chorus w III. Orpheus [2.43] motet Viderent Omnes this composition is based. combinations) a text known as the Alleluyatic e IV. Folk Song [1.26] Sequence, based on Psalm 148 (whose words Perotin’s original, for four male voices, is I have also set elsewhere) which hymns the † Storm (1997) * based on a cantus firmus made up of pillar-like wonders of creation and the natural world. r Ia. Storm – Ib. Shipwreck [5.28] syllables which are widely spaced at first, but The texture, sparse at first, gradually builds t II. Charm [3.22] later succeed each other more rapidly until they into two richly polyphonic climaxes. - 3 - MAGNIFICAT AND NUNC DIMITTIS (2011) and religion. I compiled the text from the memorial to herself to be spirited and unusual. amongst Stephen’s books. I set the words for 13th century Cantar del Mio Cid which takes Not having known Helen personally, I felt that upper voices and an orchestra of winds and Settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis place during the reconquest of Spain from the link between us all was the life-giving timpani; this was first performed by students are a vital part of English choral music, but, the Moors. The swashbuckling hero of this activity of singing; and so all four movements at Sylvia’s school, Haberdashers Askes’ having had very little personal experience of epic, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, seems to enjoy his of The Song Sung True are about singing, and Hatcham (in South London) in 1994. the Anglican liturgy for much of my life, it battles, cheering himself on with frequent lay particular musical emphasis on the words was in a spirit of exploration that I accepted religious expressions; and so I imagined a ‘sing’, ‘sang’ and ‘song’. The first two poems Entranced by the beauty and possibility of an invitation from Andrew Nethsingha to Mass attended by him and his troops (of which come from ‘Glasgow Zen’ by Alan Spence; the these words and musical forces, I started to write a ‘Mag and Nunc’ for St John’s College there is a famous example in the original third is possibly by Shakespeare and Fletcher; write a suite of short Tempest settings for Choir, Cambridge. poem). The resulting Mass text, which enfolds the fourth is an Edward Lear limerick, which SSAA+treble chorus, and a 9-piece ensemble a partial telling of the Cid’s story, is made up gave me the opportunity to attempt some of of flutes, cellos and percussion (out of which, Imagining the music being sung during a of extracts from Latin liturgy, and the Cantar my own ‘puirt-à-beul’ (Gaelic ‘mouth music’). Our Revels became the fourth movement of church service, I saw it as a priority to set the itself, in its original Old Spanish, and five) each attempting to distil one of the extended Magnificat text compactly; writing contemporary English. STORM (1997) concepts of the play. The first performances in four parts (SATB) with no divisi proved the of this larger work were given by the (then key to creating a fast-flowing texture in which THE SONG SUNG TRUE (2013) Ia.Storm – Ib.Shipwreck recently-formed) CBSO Junior and Senior Youth the words were nevertheless clearly audible. II. Charm Choruses, conducted by Simon Halsey. Conversely in the brief Nunc Dimittis the I. Sing III. Magic harmony has the time and space to build slowly II. Song IV. Spirit Sylvia Collins herself died in 2014, and alas into six-part sequences. III. Orpheus V. Mercy won’t be able to hear this premiere recording IV. Folk Song of the work she brought about and continued MISSA DEL CID (1988) Storm has its origins in a very sad event. In to support with her presence at many far-flung The London Lawyers’ Chorus invited me to 1994, a local schoolteacher, Mrs Sylvia Collins, performances. I dedicate it to her memory, and Kyrie – Gloria – Credo – write them a new work commissioned from a asked me to set Shakespeare’s Our revels now that of her son Stephen. Sanctus – Benedictus – Agnus Dei bequest of the late Helen Sibthorp, who had are ended (from The Tempest) in memory of been a solicitor, a longtime Promenader, and her son Dr Stephen John Baldwin, who had The composition of Missa del Cid (for ten solo a singer in the Chorus. The lawyers described recently died in an aircrash in Minnesota in voices and narrator) allowed me to explore their former colleague as a forthright and winter 1993. She had found this text quoted the intriguing relationship between warfare lively person who would have wished any in The Dhammapada, a Buddhist anthology - 4 - - 5 - 1 All the Ends of the Earth Istinc montium Here, let the mountain tops, Celsi vertices sonent There, let the deepest valleys, Viderunt omnes Illinc vallium sound Alleluia Viderunt omnes fines All the ends of the earth have seen Profunditates saltent terrae salutare Dei nostri the salvation of our God Alleluia Jubilate Deo omnis terra Rejoice in the Lord, the whole earth Notum fecit Dominus salutare suum: The Lord has made known to us his salvation: Tu quoque maris You too, jubilant sea depths ante conspectum gentium revelavit justitiam he has shown his righteousness in the sight of Jubilans abysse dic say Alleluia suam the people Alleluia The Alleluyatic Sequence Nec non terrarum Let the vast continents of the earth sing Cantemus Alleluia Let us sing Alleluia Molis immensitates: Alleluia In laudibus aeterni regis In praise of the eternal king Alleluia Resultet Alleluia Resound Alleluia Nunc omne genus Let the entire human race praise, and shout Humanum laudans exsultet Alleluia Hoc beatorum Let the company of the blessed Et creatori Psallat concentus sing it together, Grates frequentans consonent To the creator, let it repeatedly pour forth thanks, Alleluia Alleluia Consonent frequentans Let it repeatedly sing to the creator, Alleluia Alleluia Nubium cursus Let the sweep of the clouds, Ventorum volatus the rush of the winds Hoc denique nomen audire For he delights in hearing this address perpetually Fulgurum coruscatio The flash of lightning Jugiter delectatur Alleluia Dulce consonent simul Alleluia Sound together their sweet Alleluia Alleluia Hoc etiam carmen caeleste Christ himself approves of that celestial hymn Fluctus et undae Floods and billows Comprobat ipse Christus Alleluia Imber et procellae Rain and storms Alleluia Tempestas, serenitas, Tempests and calm, Cantate laetantes Joyfully sing Cauma, gelu, nix, Heat, ice, snow, frosts Alleluia Alleluia Saltus, nemora pangant Alleluia Forests and woods, strike up Alleluia Et vos pueruli And you, children - 6 - - 7 - Respondete semper Answer always 2 - 3 Magnificat & Nunc dimittis Alleluia Alleluia Magnificat Nunc dimittis Nunc omnes canite simul Now all of you together My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, Alleluia Domino Sing Alleluia to the Lord rejoiced in God my Saviour. according to thy word. Alleluia Christo Alleluia to Christ For he hath regarded the lowliness of his For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Laus Trinitati Praise be to the Trinity, handmaiden. Which thou hast prepared Alleluia Alleluia For behold, from henceforth all generations shall before the face of all people; call me blessed. To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, Translation from the Penguin Book of Latin Verse For he that is mighty hath magnified me, and holy and to be the glory of thy people Israel. is his Name. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, And his mercy is on them that fear him and to the Holy Ghost; throughout all generations. As it was in the beginning, is now, He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away. He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel, as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end.