Winter 2016: a Yorkshire Christmas
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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 * 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 Leeds 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 Yorkshire after service in the City of London 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 Henry Wood Promenade Concerts in the Royal Albert Hall. 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 England and entertains a wide variety of audiences in venues as prestigious as the Harrogate International Conference Centre and the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. 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, Liverpool, 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 York Minster 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.