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Entente Cordiale Entente Cordiale 20th Century Choral Masterpieces from England and France Saturday 6th September 2014 Founded by graduates from Cambridge chapel choirs, the Godwine Choir was set up to capture the atmosphere of chamber music at university and bring it to London as part of professional life. The group is comprised of twenty talented young singers who rehearse together weekly at St George the Martyr in Borough. We encourage every member to develop vocally by selecting a wide range of challenging repertoire, both well-known and little- heard. This evening, The Godwine Choir performs an eclectic programme of 20th century repertoire. Entente Cordiale features evocative a capella works from both sides of the Channel. We hope this voyage will soothe, amuse and exhilarate in equal measure. We're incredibly excited to perform these pieces in St George the Martyr, a church of great majesty with a reverberant acoustic. Find out more about us at godwinechoir.org PROGRAMME Bring us, O Lord God | William Harris Les Fleurs et les Arbres | Camille Saint-Saëns Heraclitus | Charles Villiers Stanford O Magnum Mysterium | Francis Poulenc Ubi Caritas | Maurice Duruflé My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land | Edward Elgar Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orléans | Claude Debussy INTERVAL Nicolette | Maurice Ravel There is an Old Belief | Charles Hubert Hastings Parry Hymne à la Vierge | Pierre Villette Justorum Animae | Gabriel Jackson Trois Beaux Oiseaux du Paradis | Maurice Ravel Valiant-for-Truth | Ralph Vaughan Williams La Blanche Neige | Francis Poulenc And So It Goes | Billy Joel arr. Bob Chilcott Our concert begins with William Harris' (1883-1973) rich but ethereal motet for double choir, Bring Us, O Lord God. After a quietly intense opening, Harris unfolds the text of John Donne's prayer with interwoven antiphonal writing to present a truly transcendental vision of heaven; the two choirs, separated through most of the piece, are brought together in a thrilling climax. Les Fleurs et les Arbres is the second of a pair of choruses by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), who also wrote the text for both pieces. The works are ostensibly charming descriptions of Nature and its relationship with Art, but Les Fleurs et les Arbres also focusses on the consolation offered by the natural world. In contrast, the poem set by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) in Heraclitus has an unusual provenance: it was written around 260BC by Callimachus of Cyrene as an epitaph for a friend, then translated and adapted by the Victorian schoolmaster William Johnson Cory. Yet Stanford's music beautifully matches the words, giving a subtle painting of grief, nostalgia and acceptance. Haunting and atmospheric, O Magnum Mysterium was written by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) in 1952, shortly before he began composing Dialogues des Carmélites, the opera which would dominate his life until 1956. In this first of four Christmas motets, Poulenc gives us a delicate, intimate picture of the Nativity. Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) was known as an outstanding organist throughout his life, working at Notre-Dame and St-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris. As a composer, he was deeply self-critical and so only a handful of pieces were produced in his long career. A set of motets is one of only four published choral works; all are based on Gregorian chants, and the first is the peaceful Ubi Caritas. Today, the part-songs of Edward Elgar (1857-1934) are often sadly neglected, but the most famous is perhaps My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land. Elgar's lyrical writing wonderfully dramatises Andrew Lang's vivid narrative, leading us from its opening sadness to a moment of warmth, before an utterly desolate conclusion. Claude Debussy's (1862-1918) Trois Chansons are settings of three Medieval poems by Charles, Duke of Orléans. All are strikingly different: the first is a languid, adoring love- song, the second a percussive call to a dance, and the third a furious outburst at the cruelty of winter. But in each of them, Debussy cleverly uses modal harmonies to reference the Middle Ages. The final song, Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain, accelerates into a chaotic finale to finish our first half. We commence the second half with a coquettish miniature detailing the misadventures of young Nicolette. This cautionary tale wittily rephrases a well-known fairy story. The music follows the text with comic aplomb, exploiting unusual vocal techniques to great effect. Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) penned both the words and the score in late 1914, dedicating them to his poet friend Tristan Klingsor. Sir Charles Parry’s (1848-1918) unique and profound sound world emerges from the remarkable fusion of German romanticism and Renaissance polyphony. The beautiful result is showcased in his 1908 motet There is an Old Belief, scored for 6 voices. Here he meditates on spirituality, life and death via exquisite melody and chromatic harmony. The work was performed at Parry’s funeral in St. Paul’s Cathedral, adding further poignancy to the sanguine closing chords. Pierre Villette (1926-1998) is perhaps the least famous of our composers this evening. A gifted musician, he wrote some eighty-one pieces for choir, orchestra and chamber ensemble. Undoubtedly his most celebrated opus is the Hymne à la Vierge, which he completed in 1955. This strophic setting is deceptively complex, incorporating cross rhythms and jazz harmony. First performed at Wells Cathedral in 2009, Justorum Animae is a minimalist vision of heaven. Cluster chords and intertwining rhythms combine to create a nebulous mood, angelic yet veiled. The central section introduces a dynamic urgency which mirrors the uncompromising pace of modern life. Such precisely crafted choral writing is quintessentially Gabriel Jackson (b 1962). Musically trained at Canterbury Cathedral and the Royal Academy, Jackson is currently Associate Composer with the BBC Singers. Maurice Ravel only ever published three choral works. Trois Beaux Oiseaux du Paradis was his second. Composed in early 1915, this piece is an impressionist reflection on the deep sadness of World War I. Haunting solo melodies create a spine-tingling melancholy, intensified by the delicate choral legato. Gradually the initial warmth of sound and text melts away, leading us to the inevitable chilling climax. Another wartime composition, Valiant-for-Truth has a decidedly more optimistic air. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) set John Bunyan’s text during the darkest days of World War II. Frequent recitative passages carry the voice of the narrator, while the full choir speaks as Mr. Valiant-for-Truth. The motet culminates in an onomatopoeic evocation of entry into paradise, replete with vocal trumpet fanfares. We next rediscover the unique surrealism of Francis Poulenc. This animated setting of Guillaume Apollinaire’s La Blanche Neige was Poulenc’s first foray into the unaccompanied choral medium. His musical deftness and attention to detail belies this inexperience. Crisp quaver passages and sparkling short phrases conjure crystal clear images of the perfect winter’s day. We finish with a well-loved arrangement of Billy Joel’s 1983 ballad And So It Goes. The text and music are deeply affecting in their simplicity, distilling the very essence of heartbreak. The British composer Bob Chilcott (b 1955) completed this version for the King’s Singers’ 25th anniversary. The hushed tones of twenty unaccompanied voices are devastatingly bittersweet, finally fading into silence. Bring us, O Lord God William Harris Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening into the house and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light; no noise nor silence, but one equal music; no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession; no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity, in the habitation of thy glory and dominion, world without end. Amen. Les Fleurs et les Arbres Camille Saint-Saëns Les fleurs et les arbres, The flowers and the trees, Les bronzes, les marbres, The bronzes, the marbles, Les ors, les émaux, The golds, the enamels, La mer, les fontaines, The sea, the waterfalls, Les monts et les plaines The mountains and the plains Consolent nos maux. Console our pain. Nature éternelle Eternal nature, Tu sembles plus belle You seem more beautiful Au sein des douleurs, To a heart in sorrow, Et l'art nous domine, And art reigns over us, Sa flamme illumine Its flame illuminates Le rire et les pleurs. The laughter and tears. Heraclitus Charles Villiers Stanford They told me, Heraclitus, they told me you were dead; They brought me bitter news to hear and bitter tears to shed; I wept, as I remembered, how often you and I Had tired the sun with talking, and sent him down the sky. And now that thou art lying, my dear old Carian guest, A handful of grey ashes, long, long ago at rest, Still are thy pleasant voices, thy nightingales, awake; For Death, he taketh all away, but them he cannot take. O Magnum Mysterium Francis Poulenc O magnum mysterium, O great mystery, et admirabile sacramentum, and wonderful sacrament, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, that animals should see the new-born Lord, jacentem in praesepio! lying in a manger! Beata Virgo, cujus viscera Blessed is the Virgin whose womb meruerunt portare was worthy to bear Dominum Christum. Christ the Lord. Alleluia. Alleluia. Ubi Caritas Maurice Duruflé Where charity and love are, God is there. Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Christ's love has gathered us into one. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor. Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him. Exsultemus, et in ipso jucundemur. Let us fear, and let us love the living God. Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum. And may we love each other with a sincere Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
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