Conductor: Alexander Douglas • Registered Charity Nº 507768

Winter Concert 2016

A seasonal entertainment featuring the music of local composers

with…

Clifton Handbell Ringers Compère SIMON LINDLEY& Organist

Saturday, 3rd December, 7·30pm St Paul’s Hall, University Campus, Huddersfield 2016 GCSE students achieved Creating the perfect 100% picture. Every Day is of A* to C grades in 5 or more inc. an ‘Open Day’. Mathematics & English Language

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Tel: 01484 424549 | www.huddersfield-grammar.co.uk

Follow us on facebook *With 62% of all grades awarded at A* or A SIMON LINDLEY

Compère, Organist and Accompanist Simon Lindley is Organist Emeritus of Minster, where he served as Master of the Music between 1975 and September 2016. He is also Leeds City Organist at Leeds Town Hall. Dr Lindley came to after service in the City of and at Westminster and St Albans Cathedrals. At St Albans he was the frst full-time assistant to Dr Peter Hurford OBE. Extremely active in the felds of organ playing and choral direction, Simon lives at Fulneck, just south of Pudsey, at the confuence of the West Riding’s industrial and rural heartlands. His father’s family came from Shepley and his mother’s from Belgium. His grandparents were friends and colleagues of Elgar, who wrote settings for reciter and orchestra as part of the First World War efort to aid the Belgian nation at its darkest hour. Simon’s great-grandmother, Marie Brema, sang the role of the Angel in the frst performance of Te Dream of Gerontius at the 1900 Birmingham Festival; his own connection with Elgar’s music included a live broadcast performance from the 1975 Promenade Concerts in the . He is the long-serving Music Director of St Peter’s Singers and Conductor of Shefeld Bach Choir, Doncaster Choral Society and Overgate Hospice Choir, Halifax, and is the recipient of Honorary Doctorates from the University of Huddersfeld (2012) and Leeds Beckett University (2001) as well as Honorary Fellowships from a number of musical bodies including the Royal School of Church Music, the Guild of Church Musicians and Leeds College of Music.

Acknowledgements Te Huddersfeld Singers extend their thanks to the volunteers who have helped in the production of this concert by providing refreshments in the interval, selling tickets and programmes at the door, and being of general assistance behind the scenes. Teir contribution has been invaluable. On this occasion the choir expresses particular thanks to: Simon Lindley for all manner of generous musical assistance; Darius Battiwalla and Alan Simmons Music for special access to his arrangements; Pam Sykes and Pete Smith for supplying the drinks; and Jez Raby of RiverDigital for helping to avert a technological crisis.

3 CLIFTON HANDBELL RINGERS Director: David Sunderland Te original Clifton Handbell Ringers group was formed in around 1890, composed of male members of Clifton Parish Church. Under the guidance of James Fearnley, a Clifton joiner, the band began by playing a few simple tunes with about two dozen bells belonging to St John’s, Clifton Parish Church. Teir eforts proved popular and their membership grew, as did their fame, and in around 1895 the team began to enter local and national handbell competitions. A larger set of bells was bought by public subscription, and there were enough members to make two teams of around twelve ringers each; eventually the group owned around two hundred bells. Te start of the Great War in 1914 brought about the demise of the original Clifton Handbell Ringers: the team disbanded on 21st February 1915 and its bells were put into storage at a local mill. Te bells remained there for sixty years until they were rediscovered by Peter Fawcett, who was researching the history of the original team. He realised that ffty bells were missing, but he cleaned and repaired what bells he could and gathered together a small group of enthusiasts. Te present Clifton Handbell Ringers was re-established in 1975, and a junior team was formed just three years later.

4 1909

Tat junior team is still in existence, but is now called the Clifton Village Handbell Ringers. Te team of eight plays of a square table using the traditional Yorkshire ‘of the table’ style of ringing. Te group has been successful at a number of music festivals in the North of and entertains a wide variety of audiences in venues as prestigious as the Harrogate International Conference Centre and the Bridgewater Hall, . In 1996 the Clifton Village Handbell Ringers represented the country at an International Symposium of Handbell Ringing in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Recently the group appeared on BBC Look North with Harry Gration. To ensure the future of the organisation, an ambitious fund-raising efort raised enough money for 140 new handbells to replace the set from 1908.

Photobooks Photo Gifts Calendars Wall Art

Do something with your digital pictures FREE PHOTOBOOK SOFTWARE Download from iprintphoto.co.uk PROGRAMME YORK O come, O come, Emmanuel ‥‥‥ 15th-century French arr. Andrew Carter with audience participation in verse 5—see page 10 Hodie Christus natus est ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Andrew Carter

Mary’s Magnificat ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Andrew Carter Lynne Ninkovic, Soprano Can I not syng but hoy? ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Francis Jackson Chris Smith, Baritone Two Spanish Carols ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Spanish trad. arr. Andrew Carter 1: Spanish Lullaby 1i: Spanish Carol Simon Lindley, Organ and Piano

CLIFTON HANDBELL RINGERS Walking in the Air ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Howard Blake Te Shepherds’ Farewell ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Hector Berlioz Pop Looks Bach (Ski Sunday theme) ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Sam Fonteyn SIMON LINDLEY, ORGAN Sleigh Ride ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Leroy Anderson arr. Tomas Trotter

LEEDS Jacob’s Ladder ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ English trad. arr. Simon Lindley Andrew Coote, Tenor Philippa Robinson, Soprano Chris Smith, Baritone How far is it to Bethlehem? ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ English trad. arr. Simon Lindley Catherine Styring, Soprano Simon Lindley, Organ ✯ INTERVAL ✯

6 WAKEFIELD Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Kenneth Leighton Catherine Styring, Soprano An ode of the birth of our Saviour ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Kenneth Leighton Catherine Styring, Soprano Simon Lindley, Organ

HUDDERSFIELD AND THE HOLME VALLEY Lullaby Carol (Rocking) ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Czech trad. arr. Darius Battiwalla Meltham Carol (Tenderly Sleeping) ‥‥‥‥ Local trad. attrib. Caleb Simper Te Earth Has Grown Old ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Sir Edward Bairstow Simon Lindley, Organ

SIMON LINDLEY, ORGAN Marche des Rois Mages ( Pièces pour Orgue, no ) ‥‥‥ Téodore Dubois CLIFTON HANDBELL RINGERS Hark! the herald angels sing ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Felix Mendelssohn O Holy Night ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Adolphe Adam Troika (from Lieutenant Kijé) ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Sergei Prokofev

Colne Valley Carol ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Local trad. In Dulci Jubilo ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥German trad. arr. Philip Honnor

Hail, Smiling Morn ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Reginald Spoforth Away in a Manger ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Normandy trad. arr. Darius Battiwalla Te Yorkshire Shepherds ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ Richard Hallas A setting of While shepherds watched their focks to the traditional melodies Cranbrook, Shaw Lane, , Sweet Chiming Bells and Winchester Old with audience participation at the end—see page 10 Simon Lindley, Piano

7 PROGRAMME NOTES

ne of the nicest aspects of working with Te Huddersfeld Singers has Obeen the opportunity to learn more about life on this side of the county border, and tonight’s concert explores and celebrates the music of our region. Our journey begins in the county town, YORK, with music by Andrew Carter, a York-based composer, former chorister and founder of the Chapter House Choir. O come, O come, Emmanuel contains some very interesting major/minor juxtapositions corresponding to theological depths in the text (originally from Latin Advent antiphons). We take the opportunity for the audience to sing the fnal verse accompanied by the on-stage choir, culminating in a quite majestic ending—gloriously rich in harmonic colour. Bright syncopation characterises Hodie Christus natus est, an uplifting doxology flled with rhythmic propulsion. We continue with the short commission for Hereford Cathedral, Mary’s Magnifcat, a narrative setting depicting Mary’s emotions as a soprano soloist sings the opening phrases of the traditional Magnifcat setting. An unusual yet evocative ‘lullaby’ ending sets up an image of Mary rocking the Christ child to sleep, underlaid by the praise language of the Magnifcat: the one who was promised has now come. We cannot visit York without calling on the former organist of York Minster, Francis Jackson, who, at the formidable age of 99, is surely the county’s most senior and distinguished active living composer. Can I not syng but hoy? combines an old text with rather more contemporary musical language. Tis is the frst reference to shepherds searching for the Christ child this evening, and while it seems unlikely that any of the shepherds recorded by the gospel writers went by the name of Joly Wat, his ofer to ‘Jhesu’ of ‘my pype, my skyrte, my tarbox and my scrype’ captures the spirit of the season. We take our leave of the regional capital with a last adieu to Andrew Carter, whose Two Spanish Carols we sing in English. Te haunting and evocative Spanish Lullaby lulls us into a false sense of security before the following Spanish Carol asks us to attempt to make a sound like a famenco guitar… Making our way down the A64 to LEEDS, we are delighted to perform two of Simon Lindley’s pieces this evening: the unusual carol Jacob’s Ladder (whose melody bears a more than passing similarity with the English folk song, Te Oak and the Ash) and his charming arrangement of Frances Chesterton’s Children’s Song of the Nativity, also known as How far is it to Bethlehem?, set to the traditional English melody, Stowey. 8 After the interval we take a half-hour trip down the A61 to WAKEFIELD and pay a visit to one of my favourite English composers, Wakefeld-born Kenneth Leighton. To my mind this is the richest music in tonight’s programme. One of our more knowledgeable choir members has referred to ‘Leighton’s brand of beautiful crystalline depression,’ and I understand the æsthetic observation behind that epithet. But the pieces we are performing tonight are examples of Leighton in more afrmative mood, and ofer a space for refection on matters of life and faith. Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child is enduringly popular and covers a great deal of ground in a short time, begging the question of what on earth Matthew’s account of Herod’s massacre of children aged two and under is doing in a Christmas carol. Perhaps it doesn’t hurt for us to recall that there’s a lot more to the Christmas story than we commonly choose to acknowledge. Te rarely performed An ode of the birth of our Saviour is a setting of a text by Robert Herrick in which the writer and composer juxtapose Western opulence with the lowly circumstances of Jesus’ birth before taking the narrative into a very interesting place: ‘from year to year’ Jesus is (re)born; but is this really for ‘love’ as opposed to ‘pity’? Te ambiguity and latent agnosticism is shattering—and yet, there is real hope inherent in the questions being posed, and that is part of what makes these short pieces so amazing. At last we come home to HUDDERSFIELD AND THE HOLME VALLEY, where we begin with the frst of two arrangements by talented local musician Darius Battiwalla: the Czech traditional Lullaby Carol (otherwise known as Rocking) with gently stirring harmonies. Te following Meltham Carol (also known as Tenderly Sleeping or Jesus, the Lord, is Born) is a reminder of our local context, which becomes even more local as we sing Sir Edward Bairstow’s Te Earth Has Grown Old, the text of which (written by Phillips Brooks) is wonderfully conceived. Bairstow was himself a Huddersfeld man (he was born in Trinity Street), and – in a nice link with the frst section of this concert – was both a teacher of Francis Jackson and his predecessor as Organist of York Minster. Te attractive and very local Colne Valley Carol is followed by a superlative arrangement of In Dulci Jubilo by the choir’s former conductor, Philip Honnor. Finally, we enter the home straight with the regionally very popular Hail, Smiling Morn and come to an end with the Normandy-tune version of Away in a Manger set by Darius Battiwalla. We close out the evening with Te Yorkshire Shepherds—specially written for this concert by Richard Hallas (please note that you will be singing yourselves out of the venue…!). —Alexander Douglas 9 AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION O come,# O come, Emmanuel (fnal verse): ## œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & œ œ ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ œ :‹; f 5. O come, O come, thou Lord of Might, who to thy tribes on Si - nai’s # # # Œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ :‹; height, In an-cient times did give the law In cloud and ma-jes - ty and # U ## Œ œ ˙™ œ ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙™ :‹; awe: ff Re- joice! Re- joice! Em- ma - nu-el Shallcome to thee, O Is - ra - el.

While Shepherds Watched (end of Te Yorkshire Shepherds): # j # j ™ œ™ & œ œ™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ ˙ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙™ :‹; œ œ 1. While shepherds watched their focks by night, All seated on the ground, Te angel of the Lord came down, And glory shone around. 3. ‘To you in David’s town this day Is born of David’s line A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord; And this shall be the sign:’ 5. Tus spake the Seraph; and forthwith Appeared a shining throng Of angels praising God, who thus Addressed their joyful song: 6. ‘All glory be to God on high, And on the earth be peace; Goodwill henceforth from heaven to men Begin and never cease.’

ne of the notable musical features of this region is its long-established Ocarolling tradition, centred on villages between Holmfrth and Shefeld, in which singers and instrumentalists gather in pubs, chapels, halls, homes and the open air to perform hearty renditions of carols to a wide variety of tunes. While shepherds watched their focks by night, in particular, is sung to a vast array of melodies. Te Yorkshire Shepherds was written to pay light-hearted tribute to the local carolling tradition by presenting this carol set to a number of its most popular alternative melodies. Since just four verses (1, 2, 3, 6) are usually sung by Shefeld carollers, this arrangement sets those verses, each to a diferent tune. Te accompaniment uses fragments of ‘the tune that everyone knows’ (Winchester Old ) as interludes between the verses, and then we ask you, the audience, to round of the concert by singing with us a diferent selection of verses to that same, familiar tune, now presented in full. —Richard Hallas 10 Bookings 100 Club Wedding? Celebration? Special service? Much easier to win than the National Lottery! The 100 Club is a fun way to support the choir and maybe win some cash! Pay £1 weekly for a ticket. Numbers are drawn monthly and three prizes awarded: 1st: £50 2nd: £30 3rd: £20

can provide you with that all-important The Club gives a valuable boost to choir vocal element to make your event even funds, and enables us to present more more special, whether you require the exciting programmes with fine guests. full choir or a smaller ensemble taken Please join; the more participants there are, from its ranks. the bigger the prizes can be! For more details, contact the Secretary, For more details, contact the Treasurer, Ruth Wilson, on (01422) 822342 Pete Smith, on (01924) 848624

WHY NOT JOIN ? The choir is always very keen to welcome

“Blow Your Own Trumpet” new members of all voice parts. If you have a “Playing by Ear” good voice and can sight-read, come along to Do you have a MUSICAL EAR? a rehearsal. The Huddersfield Singers ofers: Is singing PIANO your FORTE? Perhaps you have the Challenging, varied music Do you prefer VOICE OF AN ANGEL? BEETHOVEN to the BEATLES? Three annual concerts High musical standards A friendly atmosphere Rehearsals take place on Mondays, 7:30pm at Huddersfield Methodist Mission, HD1 1QA For more information, please speak to a choir member or find full details on our website: http://www.HuddersfieldSingers.com/ “Singing by Ear” “Earwig van Beethoven”

11 NEXT CONCERT: SPRING 2017 An Easter Journey Bach Jesu, Priceless Treasure Be not afraid Praise the Lord Haydn Te Deum in C Grieg Dona Nobis Pacem with Alex Woodrow, Organ Saturday, 1st April 2017 at 7:30pm St Barnabas’ Church, Crosland Moor, Huddersfield

THE HUDDERSFIELD SINGERS President Conductor Accompanist Susan M. Wilkinson Alexander Douglas Sue Ogden

Vice Presidents Pam Cooksey Hilary Pollard John Horrocks-Taylor Heather Powell Laurence Jones Gordon Sykes

Registered Charity Nº 507768

Web Site http://www.HuddersfieldSingers.com/

Programme design: Richard Hallas [email protected] • www.hallas.net • (01484) 460280 Programme printing: RiverDigital Ltd [email protected] • www.riverdigital.co.uk