Rachmaninoff: All Night Vigil
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Rachmaninoff Great Vespers All-Night 1 Priidite, poklonimsia 2 Blagoslovi, dushe moya, Ghospoda 3 Blazhen muzh Vigil 4 Svete tihiy 5 Nine otpushchayeshi 6 Bogoroditse Devo Organ: The Winkleigh Singers Requiem No. 7 from Faust directed by Roland Smith Petr Eben Matins 7 Shestopsalmiye: Laura Trayhurn Slava v vyshnikh Bogu 8 Hvalite imia Ghospodne Mezzo Soprano 9 Blagosloven yesi, Ghospodi 10 Voskreseniye Khristovo videvshe 11 Velichit dusha moya Ghospoda Oliver Kuusik 12 Slavosloviye velikoye Tenor Organ: Psalm Prelude from Set 2 No. 3 Herbert Howells Andrew Daldorph 13 Tropar Dnes spaseniye Organ Organ: Psalm Prelude from Set 1 No. 1 Herbert Howells St Michael and All 14 Tropar Voskres iz groba Angels Church Organ: Ite, Missa Est Great Torrington Kenneth Leighton First Hour Saturday 17th March 2007 15 Vzbrannoy voyevode Programme.pmd 1 13/03/2007, 21:05 Laura Trayhurn trains at the Royal Rutter, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Handel’s Academy of Music under the tutelage of Messiah, Rossini’s Petite Messe Julie Kennard and Jonathan Papp. A Solemnelle, Perglesi’s Stabat Mater, music graduate and choral scholar of Durufle’s Requiem, Charpentier’s Te King’s College London, Laura has a Deum, Mozart’s Solemn Vespers and repertoire that spans a wide range of Coronation Mass and Andrew Carter’s musical periods and styles. Recitals have Musick’s Jubilee, in a concert for the included arias from Mozart’s Le Nozze di composer. Figaro and La Clemenza di Tito and Laura’s most recent performances have Walton’s The Bear as well as Bellini’s Tre included Mozart’s Requiem in St.Martin- Ariette, Britten’s A Charm of Lullabies and in the-Fields and St. Botolph’s, Aldgate, a selection of songs by Mahler and the and the role of Storge in Handel’s Jephtha Spanish composer Montsalvatge. in Crawley. Forthcoming performances During her time at the Royal Academy, include Bach’s St. John Passion in Hull Laura has participated in many and a charity concert of sacred music in masterclasses, notably with the counter- her home county of Somerset. tenor James Bowman, who provided Laura would like to thank the expert advice on her interpretation of the Josephine Baker Trust for their continued alto arias in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. support. She has also performed in a number of opera scenes, taking the roles of Oliver Kuusik studied at the Estonian Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, Academy of Music under voice teachers Second Lady in another of his famous Pille Lill and Virgilijus Noreika, works Die Zauberflote, Hedwige in transferring to The Guildhall School of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell and Charmian in Music and Drama, London, in 2003 to Barber’s Anthony and Cleopatra. study under Rudolf Piernay and Despite maintaining a keen interest in graduating as MMus and GMSD. He opera, oratorio and sacred choral music continued at the Guildhall after continue to play a key role in her vocal graduation where he undertook the repertoire and she has appeared as a Opera Course. His competition successes soloist in the Requiems of Fauré and include first prize in the H. Krumme Programme.pmd 2 13/03/2007, 21:05 Singing Competition, Kuressaare (2006), Andrew is the director of the semi- winner The Best Estonian Young Singer, professional choir Musica Prattica and is Tallin (2001) and second prize (2001) in also conductor of the East Devon Choral the M. Saaar Romance Competition and Society and the Exeter Chamber Choir. (2000) T Kuusik Singing Competition, He also teaches organ and piano privately both in Tallin, Estonia. and at Exeter School. To relax, Andrew Whilst at the Guildhall he took roles enjoys playing jazz piano with his trio at in a varied repertoire of operas, and has functions across the UK and abroad. sung oratorio solos (from Vivaldi to Pärt) throughout England, Norway, Finland, Roland Smith has been singing since the Latvia and his native Estonia. age of seven, starting with more than Solo recitals have taken him to Finland, twenty years in the church choir at Holy Sweden, Russia, France and England. An Trinity, Cookham-on-Thames, where he accomplished linguist, he has been also had his first taste of choir directing. Estonian and Finnish Langauage coach to During the last few years he was in the BBC Singers (2005), and a member Berkshire, Roland also sang with Palace of Savonlinna Opera Festival Chorus Chorale in London and as a guest with Le (2000) Madrigal de Paris. This year, 2007, Oliver has sung Gaston On moving to Devon, he founded the in Verdi’s La Traviata, and later in the year Winkleigh Singers and has sung with a will perform Beppo in Il Pagliacci number of distinguished choirs including (Leoncavallo), Borsa, (Rigoletto, Verdi), Schola Aquae Sulis, The South West Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola, Rossini), all Cathedral Singers, The Richard Roddis with Estonian National Opera, and Don Singers, and Exeter Festival Chorus . He Ottavio (Don Giovanni, Mozart) with now devotes his singing time to Somerset European Opera Centre in Liverpool. Chamber Choir. He has attended conducting workshops and masterclasses Andrew Daldorph graduated with a first led by a number of leading choral class honours degree in music from the directors, including Mike Brewer, Bob University of Southampton in 1993. He Chilcott and Jane Glover. then took up the post of Organ Scholar at Guildford Cathedral and subsequently gained Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists. Andrew took lessons from this country’s most eminent organists, including Peter Hurford, David Hill, David Sanger and Dame Gillian Weir. On the harpsichord he has studied under Richard Woolley. He frequently gives recitals and has played for services and concerts in cathedrals and concert halls throughout the country. Recent appearances include Exeter and Guildford Cathedrals, Bath Abbey, l’Auditoria de Girona, Spain. Programme.pmd 3 13/03/2007, 21:05 All music of the Orthodox Church is sung It has been praised as Rachmaninoff’s unaccompanied, using only the musical finest achievement and “the greatest instrument God himself created: the musical achievement of the Russian human voice; no organ or other Orthodox Church”. It was one of instruments of any kind are permitted. Rachmaninoff’s two favourite Our excuse for interspersing the sections compositions, along with The Bells, and of the All Night Vigil with organ music is the composer requested that one of its threefold: firstly, this concert movements (the fifth) be sung at his performance is being given in an funeral. Anglican Church; secondly, this church is In accordance with Orthodox practice blessed with a fine organ; and thirdly, to (before composing the Vigil, give the choir’s voices a rest in what Rachmaninoff had studied ancient chant would otherwise be more than an hour under Stepan Smolensky, to whom he of continuous singing! dedicated the piece), he based this Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (1873- music on traditional chants, movements 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 14 being based on and conductor, one of the last great znamenny chants (traditional ancient champions of the Romantic style of Russian Orthodox chants, znamenny European classical music. meaning “written in signs”), four and The fifteen a cappella pieces making five on ‘Kiev’ chant (a Ukranian up the All-Night Vigil were written in less variation of the znamenny style chants), than two weeks in January and February numbers two and fifteen on Greek chant 1915. Rachmaninoff had set the Liturgy and movements 1, 3, 6, 10, and 11 of St John Chrysostom in 1910, and a where the chants were, in the performance which he conducted in 1914 composer’s words, ‘conscious convinced him that he should write counterfeits’ which he himself invented. another and (to him) more satisfactory The work is written for a four-part work for the Russian Orthodox Church. choir, with a very low bass part. The All-Night Vigil was an immediate However, in many places there is three, success at its premiere by the Moscow five, six, or eight-part harmony; at one Synodal Choir in 1915, but the point in the seventh movement, the suppression of the Church following the choir is divided into eleven parts. 1917 revolution prevented it achieving Movements four and nine each contain wide recognition until the 1960s. brief tenor solos, while movements two and five feature lengthy solos for alto and tenor, respectively. The fifth movement has gained notoriety for its ending, in which the low basses must negotiate a descending scale that ends with a low B flat (the third B flat below middle C). When Rachmaninoff initially played this passage through to Kastalsky and Danilin in preparation for the first performance, Rachmaninoff recalled that: “Danilin shook his head, saying, Rachmaninoff Programme.pmd 4 13/03/2007, 21:05 ‘Now where on earth are we to find such Herbert Howells (1892-1983) was born basses? They are as rare as asparagus at in Lydney, Gloucester. In 1912 he won a Christmas!’ Nevertheless, he (Danilin) scholarship to the Royal College of Music did find them. I knew the voices of my where he studied composition with countrymen…” Stanford and was considered the best of Following the Revolution, Sergei his generation of composers. He started Rachmaninoff took the opportunity of a his musical career as a cathedral organist concert journey to Scandinavia to leave and in 1936 succeeded Gustav Holst as his country for ever. He lived in Paris for director of music at St Paul's Girls' School a time and then spent most of the rest of in London. He taught composition for his life in America. many years at the Royal College of Music, The All Night Vigil will tonight be sung where Gordon Jacob was one of his pupils.