Francis Poulenc

CORO CORO Palestrina – Volume 6

“Christophers artfully moulds and heightens the contours of the polyphonic lines, which ebb and flow in a liquid tapestry of sound...[The Sixteen] are ardent and energetic in ‘Surge amica mea’, radiant in ‘Surgam et circuibo FRANCIS POULENC civitatem’, painting and animating the words to vibrant effect.” ***** Performance ***** Recording Mass in G BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE cor16133 Choral & Song Choice October 2015 Un soir de neige James MacMillan: Litanies à la Vierge Noire Stabat Mater Edmund Rubbra “A masterpiece.” “Harry Christophers balances Quatre motets pour artsdesk the soaring soprano of Julie le temps de Noël Cooper caressingly against “A haunting and the ensemble singers, in a Quatre motets pour powerful new performance which achieves choral work.” ecstasy without any element un temps de pénitence of overstatement.” guardian cor16150 cor16144 bbc music magazine

To find out more about The Sixteen, concert tours, and to buy CDs visit The Sixteen www.thesixteen.com cor16149 HARRY CHRISTOPHERS oulenc is a composer who has fascinated me Whilst the death of his friend Ferroud had a devastating impact on Poulenc, the poetry Pever since I was a schoolboy struggling with the of Paul Éluard gave him inspiration beyond measure. Poulenc grew up with him and technical difficulties of his clarinet sonata. His music once said that ‘Éluard was my true brother – through him I learned to express the most always bears a human face and he himself felt he put his secret part of myself’. They both felt the savagery of WWII deeply, the social anguish, best and most authentic side into his choral music; the internal conflict and ignominy of the Nazi occupation. However, it gave them both an American composer Virgil Thomson said that Poulenc inner strength. Un soir de neige, composed in December 1944, reflects ‘both the inner

was ‘incontestably the greatest writer of melodies in our Borggreve Marco Photograph: feeling of peace generated by Christmas and the bleak solitude of another winter of time’ and few would disagree. My singers love singing occupation in France’. his music. With his renewed Catholic faith, Poulenc composed sacred music of unique quality Francis Poulenc was born and bred a Catholic but lapsed that for me makes him stand out among more recent composers. Of the Agnus Dei during and after the First World War, preferring to live from his Mass in G, Poulenc said that the high soprano solo ‘symbolises the Christian a witty and hedonistic life in 1920s Paris, where he took soul, confident of a life after death’. But it was his Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence great delight in tweaking the noses of the powers-that- which Poulenc himself regarded as a major turning point. They are totally individual, be at moribund establishments. Aged 18, he had been rejected by the director of the powerfully subjective and I really get the feeling that he lives every emotion in this Paris Conservatoire: the director said to the student Poulenc: ‘Your music stinks, it is music. Claude Rostand once said of him: ‘In Poulenc there is something of the monk nothing but a load of balls. Are you trying to make a fool of me? Ah, I see you have and something of the rascal’. I rather like that, and it comes across in his music, especially joined the gang of Stravinsky, Satie and co. Well then: I’ll say goodbye’. Some statement in the way he sets his liturgical and secular texts. Every sentence has a different inflection, that … and, ironically, Poulenc enjoyed huge popular success. He never really looked a personal stamp – he’s telling us ‘this is what these words mean to me’. back until he received the devastating news in 1936 of the death in a horrendous car crash of his friend, Pierre-Octave Ferroud. He sought solace in a pilgrimage to the holy shrine of the Vierge Noire at Rocamadour, and as a result he regained his faith. On his return, he composed his Trois Litanies à la Vierge Noire de Rocamadour. Here we get an insight into the way Poulenc treats text and the sheer variety of vocal declamation. Tempos fluctuate according to the emotion, fierce dissonances are followed by calm, but then that calm is interrupted by dramatic outbursts for ‘priez pour nous’ (pray for us). 2 3 FRANCIS POULENC (1899-1963)

1 Salve regina (1941) FP 110 4.30 Un soir de neige (1944) FP 126 bm De grandes cuillers de neige 1.23 Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence (1938-9) FP 97 bn La bonne neige 1.34 2 Timor et tremor 2.44 bo Bois meurtri 2.25 3 Vinea mea electa 3.28 bp La nuit le froid la solitude 1.06 4 Tenebrae factae sunt 3.59 5 Tristis est anima mea 3.19 bq Ave verum corpus (1952) FP 154 2.31

6 Litanies à la Vierge Noire (1936) FP 82 8.38 Mass in G (1937) FP 89 br Kyrie 3.15 Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël (1951-2) FP 152 bs Gloria 3.52 7 O magnum mysterium 3.44 bt Sanctus 2.30 8 Quem vidistis pastores 2.28 bu Benedictus 3.25 9 Videntes stellam 2.47 cl Agnus Dei 4.50 bl Hodie Christus natus est 2.11 Total Running Time: 64.39

4 5 of France – that has always been death of the composer Pierre-Octave my religious ideal … I like religious Ferroud in a car accident in Debrecen, inspiration to express itself clearly in Hungary. Ferroud was almost exactly FRANCIS POULENC the sunshine with the same realism one year younger than Poulenc, and as we can see on those Romanesque the incident seemed to bring him face rancis Poulenc is so often associated colleagues Georges Auric, Germaine capitals’. to face with mortality. Fwith musical insouciance, wit and Tailleferre, Arthur Honegger, Darius irony that discovering his religious Milhaud and Louis Durey aimed to The composer enjoyed the busy social ‘The atrocious extinction of this works can come almost as a surprise. liberate French music from the heady life and wild parties of the 1920s. Yet musician so full of vigour had left me The directness and sincerity of the romanticism of Wagner’s influence, the witty, extrovert ‘Poulet’ (chicken), stupified’, he told the critic Claude music condenses his personal voice to besides the impressionistic generation as he sometimes signed his letters, was Rostand. ‘Pondering on the fragility of its essence. Indeed, Poulenc described that had gone before them. also sensitive and insecure; and over our human frame, the life of the spirit his faith as akin to that of ‘a country the years he suffered intense personal attracted me anew’. He asked Bernac priest’, rooted in simple instincts for Poulenc, born into a wealthy family crises over both his homosexuality to drive him to Rocamadour, a place worship and spiritual celebration. famous for its part in founding the and his religious faith. of pilgrimage favoured by his father, pharmaceutical giant Rhône-Poulenc, where a small chapel held a statue in It was in the music of the ‘everyday’ had the luxury of being able to devote In 1936 a seismic change took place in black wood of the Virgin Mary. that he started out, under the his time to music. But his forefathers his spiritual life. As he found it difficult influence of Jean Cocteau, with the had been peasants in Aveyron in to compose in the hectic environs Here he underwent a mystical group of composers known as ‘Les the Midi-Pyrenées; this heredity, he of Paris, he had taken to spending experience that brought him back to Six’. ‘Enough of clouds, of waves, of told the interviewer Stéphane Audel, his summers in the Morvan area of the Catholic faith of his childhood. aquariums, of water-nymphs, of played a vital role in his religious Burgundy, near Anost and Autun. ‘Outwardly, nothing changed’, noted nocturnal perfumes, we need an outlook. ‘Poulenc is a typical southern That summer, staying at Uzerche Gouverné, ‘yet from that moment earthbound music, AN EVERYDAY name’, he declared. ‘In architecture it with the baritone Pierre Bernac and everything in the spiritual life of MUSIC …’ Cocteau wrote in 1919. is Romanesque art – particularly the the pianist Yvonne Gouverné, he was Poulenc changed’. The same evening, With this outlook, Poulenc and his examples to be found in the south horrified to hear about the sudden the composer began to write his first

6 7 religious choral piece, Litanies à la told Audel. ‘It has a realistic side, which followed by an extended passage questioning and sustained meditative Vierge Noire, for women’s voices and is characteristic of Mediterranean art’. in unison. This almost mystical passages trace their way through the organ; he completed it within a week. The work is dedicated to his father, movement is Poulenc at his purest and final Tristis est anima mea. who had died 20 years earlier. most touching. ‘In this work I have tried to express the Their counterpart,Quatre motets feeling of “peasant devotion” which The setting is essentially a Missa Brevis The Quatre motets pour un temps de pour le temps de Noël (Christmas had so strongly impressed me in that (there is no Credo) and the feel of simple, pénitence (the Lenten Motets) were Motets) date from considerably later lofty place’, he recalled. ‘The invocation solid, yet beautifully proportioned next, composed in 1938-9. Their –1952 – offering four varied images must be sung simply, without architecture is present from the start. unsettling atmospheres, with frequent of the Nativity story, full of fervour pretention’. The high voices express The expression is relatively syllabic and changes of metre and harmonies and generosity, and incorporating themselves with incantatory lack of very direct. Poulenc himself called the destabilised by vertiginous shifts, unusual techniques – an instruction, fuss, but the organ’s interjections bring Kyrie ‘savage’, with its strong rhythmic may reflect the turbulence of the for example, for the singers to in a level of complexity that articulates gestures and startling, acerbic atmosphere leading up to World perform ‘bouche fermée’, i.e. humming, something of the experiential anguish harmonies. The Gloria involves War II. The first two pieces were to accompany and offset more that Poulenc was undergoing, the dramatic exchanges between groups written last. Timor et tremor exploits significant lines. music reaching a peak of spiritual of voices, often ironic and almost expressive possibilities to the full, with desperation around half way through. pictorial. The Sanctus evokes a gentle sharp outlines and vivid contrasts The first motet,O magnum mysterium, The quiet concluding section manages carillon of ringing bells and their involving extreme dynamics, varied is the most serious, with austere to be consolatory yet filled with overtones, closing with a climactic, textures and unexpectedly colourful harmonies and an exquisite melodic foreboding at the same time. homophonic Hosanna; by contrast, chords. Vinea mea electa mingles foreground, gradually increasing in much of the Benedictus is hushed and the charm of a folksong-like theme intensity. The second, Quem vidistis The Mass in G followed the next year. inward, its harmonies mysterious and with alternately scrunchy and bleak pastores, is dedicated to Simone Girard, Here, too, Poulenc pointed out the exploratory, before returning to the harmonies. Tenebrae factae sunt organiser of the Société Avignonnaise music’s debt to early Romanesque art Hosanna that preceded it. The Agnus begins in suitably shadowed mode, de Concerts. Writing to appraise her and music: ‘My Mass is much closer to Dei opens with a magical soprano solo, but progresses with radical harmonic of this, Poulenc remarked that ‘the way Vittoria than to Josquin des Prés’, he which sets up a sense of timelessness, effects. Contrasts of pace, a sense of things are going … it will be very lovely.

8 9 Something like a counterpart to ‘Vinea expression of love in music through of hunted prey. Weakness, suffering incantation ‘dulcis Virgo Maria’, marked mea electa’… Unfortunately’, he added, Éluard’s poetry, Poulenc discovered and reconciliation to fate are central ‘dans le style d’une complainte’ – in grief, ‘I am not as religious as I would like it could offer a similar outlet for his to the third, Bois meurtri, and the perhaps, for the wartime fate of to be. Half of me remains completely feelings on the tragedies of the war. cantata ends with La nuit le froid la occupied France. the opposite. Though I am not totally His most famous Éluard creation, solitude: an enigmatic release from impious, I am – alas! – as pied as a Figure Humaine, was written in 1943 in imprisonment through nature, closing The Ave verum corpus for women’s horse…’ Third, Videntes stellam is a the turmoil of the German occupation as if wiped out in mid-air. voices, like the Christmas Motets, tender narrative that evokes the starlit of Paris. The short a cappella cantata dates from 1952: a short piece of great night through which the Magi travel; Un soir de neige is a set of four brief, The Salve regina is intriguing when clarity, evoking an almost ancient though their gifts are presented in a winter-themed pieces, written mostly considered alongside Poulenc’s more beauty, the opening drawing on suitably gleaming sonic climax, the on Christmas Day 1944; as the famous version of the same words: in imitative entries akin to the music of star’s constancy is undisturbed. Finally, American academic Keith Daniels put 1956 he set the prayer as the cataclysmic the Italian Renaissance. Later, quiet Hodie Christus natus est is a joyous, it, it reflects ‘both the inner feeling of conclusion of the opera Dialogue unaccompanied lines are answered carol-like celebration culminating in a peace generated by Christmas and the des Carmélites, where it is sung by a by stronger, assertive passages for triumphant Alleluia. bleak solitude of another winter of group of nuns, condemned to death all the performers. As in the Mass, occupation in France’. in the French Revolution, as they are Poulenc’s soundworld is pared down Around the same time that Poulenc sent one by one to the guillotine. The to its bare bones without losing any was rediscovering his spiritual life, he Though secular, it feels in no way out earlier a cappella setting could scarcely of its distinctive flavour. However was also coming under the influence of place alongside Poulenc’s religious be more different. Written in 1941, its Romanesque, deep-rooted and of the poet Paul Éluard, with whose works, conceived with the same inner drama is inward, the approach simple timeless Poulenc’s choral works feel, words he felt great affinity. Though fervour and sincerity of expression. and homophonic, at times as gently that extraordinary language with its he had known Éluard since 1917, it The first poem, De grandes cuillers de melodic as a folksong. It can flower sinuous lines, its malleable harmonies took him years to find the ‘musical neige, explores the privations of winter briefly into either counterpoint or and its unadorned communicative key’ into his poems. His first attempt without a fire; the second contrasts moments of unison, and its harmonies directness could have come from no was the Cinq poèmes of 1935, written its title, La bonne neige, with the play on an ambiguity between minor pen but his. for Bernac. Having explored the anguish and inevitability of the death and major. The last 19 bars repeat the © 2016 Jessica Duchen 10 11 TEXTS & TRANSLATIONS Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence (1938-9) FP 97 2 1 Salve regina (1941) FP 110 Timor et tremor Salve regina, mater misericordiae. Hail Queen, mother of mercy. Timor et tremor venerunt super me, Fear and trembling have come upon me, Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. Our life, our sweetness and our hope, hail. et caligo cecidit super me: and darkness has fallen upon me: Ad te clamamus, To you we cry, Miserere mei, Domine, have mercy on me, Lord, exsules filii Evae. banished children of Eve. quoniam in te confidit anima mea. for my soul has trusted in You. Ad te suspiramus, To you we send up our sighs, Exaudi, Deus, deprecationem meam, Hear, O Lord, my prayer, gementes et flentes, mourning and weeping quia refugium meum es tu for it is You who are my refuge in hac lacrimarum valle. in this our vale of tears. et adiutor fortis. and my strong helper. Eia ergo, advocata nostra, Ah, therefore, our advocate, Domine, invocavi te: Lord, I have called upon You; illos tuos misericordes oculos turn your merciful eyes non confundar. let me not be confounded. ad nos converte, et Jesum, towards us, and show us Jesus, benedictum fructum ventris tui, the blessed fruit of your womb, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. after our exile here, 3 Vinea mea electa O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria. O gentle, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Vinea mea electa, ego te plantavi: O my chosen vine, it is I who have planted you; quomodo conversa es in amaritudinem? how then have you become so bitter Antiphon to the Virgin Mary from Trinity until Advent Ut me crucifigeres that you would crucify me et Barrabam dimitteres. and set Barabbas free? Sepivi te I guarded you with a hedge, et lapides elegi ex te I removed the stones from around you, et aedificavi turrim. I built a tower to watch over you.

12 13 4 Tenebrae factae sunt 6 Litanies à la Vierge Noire (1936) FP 82 Tenebrae factae sunt Darkness fell Seigneur, ayez pitié de nous. Lord, have mercy on us. dum crucifixissent Jesum Judaei: when the Jews had crucified Jesus; Jésus Christ, ayez pitié de nous. Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. et circa horam nonam and at about the ninth hour Jésus Christ, écoutez-nous. Jesus Christ, hear us. exclamavit Jesus voce magna: Jesus cried out with a loud voice: Jésus Christ, exaucez-nous. Jesus Christ, hear our prayer. Deus meus, ut quid me dereliquisti? ‘O my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Dieu le Père, créateur, God the Father, creator, Et inclinato capite emisit spiritum. and, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. ayez pitié de nous. have mercy on us. Exclamans Jesus voce magna ait: Jesus cried out with a loud voice: Dieu le Fils, rédempteur, God the Son, redeemer, Pater, in manus tuas ‘Father, into your hands ayez pitié de nous. have mercy on us. commendo spiritum meum. I commend my spirit.’ Dieu le Saint-Esprit, sanctificateur, God the Holy Spirit, sanctifier, ayez pitié de nous. have mercy on us. Trinité Sainte, qui êtes un seul Dieu, Holy Trinity, who are one God, ayez pitié de nous. have mercy on us. 5 Tristis est anima mea Sainte vierge Marie, priez pour nous. Holy Virgin Mary, pray for us. Soloist: Alexandra Kidgell soprano Vierge, reine et patronne, priez pour nous. Virgin, queen and patron, pray for us. Vierge que Zachée, le publicain Virgin, whom Zacchaeus the publican Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem: My soul is sorrowful even to death: nous a fait connaître et aimer, made us know and love; sustinete hic et vigilate mecum. stay here and watch with me. vierge à qui Zachée ou Saint Amadour Virgin, to whom Zacchaeus or Saint Amadour Nunc videbitis turbam, quae circumdabit me: Now you will see a great crowd surround me: éleva ce sanctuaire, priez pour nous. constructed this shrine, pray for us. vos fugam capietis, you will take flight, Reine du sanctuaire, Queen of this shrine, et ego vadam immolari pro vobis. and I will go to be sacrificed for you. que consacra Saint Martial which Saint Martial consecrated Ecce, appropinquat hora, Behold the hour draws near, et où il célébra ses saints mystères, and at which he celebrated his holy mysteries; et Filius hominis tradetur and the Son of Man will be delivered Reine, près de laquelle s’agenouilla Saint Louis Queen, before whom Saint Louis knelt in manus peccatorum. into the hands of sinners. vous demandant le bonheur de la France, to pray for the good fortune of France, priez pour nous. pray for us.

14 15 Reine, à qui Roland consacra son épée, Queen, to whom Roland consecrated his Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël (1951-2) FP 152 priez pour nous. sword, pray for us. Reine, dont la banière gagna les batailles, Queen, whose banner won battles, 7 O magnum mysterium priez pour nous. pray for us. Reine, dont la main délivrait les captifs, Queen, whose hand delivered the captives, O magnum mysterium O great mystery priez pour nous. pray for us. et admirabile sacramentum, and wonderful sacrament, Notre Dame, dont le pélerinage Our Lady, whose pilgrimage ut animalia viderent Dominum natum that the animals should see the newborn Lord est enrichi de faveurs spéciales, is blessed with special favours, iacentem in praesepio! lying in a manger! Notre Dame, que l’impiété et la haine Our Lady, whom impiety and hatred Beata virgo, O blessed Virgin, ont voulu souvent détruire, have often sought to destroy, cuius viscera meruerunt portare whose womb was worthy to bear Notre Dame, que les peuples visitent Our Lady, whom the people visit Dominum Christum. Christ our Lord. comme autrefois, priez pour nous. as in former times, pray for us. Agneau de Dieu, Lamb of God, qui effacez les péchés du monde, you who take away the sins of the world, pardonnez-nous. forgive us. 8 Quem vidistis pastores Agneau de Dieu, Lamb of God, Quem vidistis pastores dicite: Who have you seen, shepherds? Speak: qui effacez les péchés du monde, you who take away the sins of the world, annuntiate nobis in terris quis apparuit. tell us who has appeared on earth. exaucez-nous. hear our prayer. Natum vidimus, ‘We saw the new-born child Agneau de Dieu, Lamb of God, et choros Angelorum collaudantes Dominum. and the Angel choir praising the Lord.’ qui effacez les péchés du monde, you who take away the sins of the world, Dicite quidnam vidistis, Then tell what you have seen, ayez pitié de nous. have mercy on us. et annuntiate Christi nativitatem. and announce the birth of Christ. Notre Dame, priez pour nous, Our Lady, pray for us, afin que nous soyons dignes de Jésus Christ. that we may be worthy of Jesus Christ.

16 17 9 Videntes stellam Un soir de neige (1944) FP 126 Text: Paul Éluard (1895-1952) Videntes stellam When they saw the star, bm Magi gavisi sunt gaudio magno: the Magi rejoiced with great gladness: De grandes cuillers de neige et intrantes domum and entering the dwelling De grandes cuillers de neige Our frozen feet obtulerunt Domino they offered to the Lord Ramassent nos pieds glacés collect great scoops of snow, aurum, thus et myrrham. gold, incense and myrrh. Et d’une dure parole and with a harsh word Nous heurtons l’hiver têtu we rebuff the stubborn winter. Chaque arbre a sa place en l’air Every tree has its proper place in the air, Chaque roc son poids sur terre every stone its weight on the ground, bl Hodie Christus natus est Chaque ruisseau son eau vive every stream its living water, Hodie Christus natus est: Today Christ is born: Nous nous n’avons pas de feu. but we, we have no fire. hodie Salvator apparuit: today the Saviour has appeared: hodie in terra canunt Angeli, today on earth the Angels sing, bn La bonne neige laetantur Archangeli: Archangels sing their praises: hodie exultant iusti dicentes: today the just cry out in exultation: La bonne neige le ciel noir The deep snow, the black sky, Gloria in excelsis Deo. ‘Glory to God in the highest. Les branches mortes la détresse the dead branches, the distress Alleluia. Alleluia.’ De la forêt pleine de pièges of a forest full of snares: Honte à la bête pourchassée it shames the hunted beast, La fuite en flèche dans le cœur this headlong flight within the heart.

Les traces d’une proie atroce The tracks of a savage prey Hardi au loup et c’est toujours throw down a challenge to the wolf, Le plus beau loup et c’est toujours and it is always the most beautiful wolf; Le dernier vivant que menace and it is always the last creature alive La masse absolue de la mort. that is menaced by the final obstacle of death.

18 19 bo Bois meurtri Autour de moi l’herbe trouva le ciel around me the grass found its way to the sky – On verrouilla le ciel the sky was locked up – Bois meurtri bois perdu Wood bruised, lost wood ma prison s’écroula my prison crumbled away. d’un voyage en hiver on a winter voyage, Le froid vivant le froid brûlant The living cold, the burning cold Navire où la neige prend pied a ship where the snow takes hold. m’eut bien en main. had me tight in its grasp. Bois d’asile bois mort Wood of refuge, dead wood où sans espoir je rêve where without hope I dream De la mer aux miroirs crevés of a sea like broken mirrors. bq Ave verum corpus (1952) FP 154 Un grand moment d’eau froide A great surge of icy water Ave verum corpus Christi Hail, true body of Christ, a saisi les noyés has seized the drowning, natum ex Maria Virgine, vere passum, born of the Virgin Mary, who truly suffered, La foule de mon corps en souffre my whole body feels the pain of it: immolatum in cruce pro homine. sacrificed on the cross for mankind. je m’affaiblis je me disperse I lose my strength, I am dissolved. J’avoue ma vie j’avoue ma mort I affirm my life, I affirm my death, j’avoue autrui I affirm my fellow man.

Bois meurtri bois perdu Wood bruised, lost wood, Bois d’asile bois mort. wood of refuge, dead wood. Mass in G (1937) FP 89 br Kyrie bp La nuit le froid la solitude Soli: Julie Cooper, Alexandra Kidgell, Kirsty Hopkins soprano, Kim Porter alto, Jeremy Budd tenor La nuit le froid la solitude The night, the cold, the solitude: On m’enferma soigneusement they enclosed me slowly but surely. Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy. Mais les branches But the branches were looking Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy. cherchaient leur voie dans la prison for a way out in the prison, Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy.

20 21 bs Gloria bt Sanctus Soli: Julie Cooper soprano, Kim Porter, Daniel Collins alto, Soli: Julie Cooper soprano, Kim Porter, Daniel Collins alto Jeremy Budd tenor, Ben Davies baritone, Eamonn Dougan bass Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Holy, holy, holy Gloria in excelsis Deo. Glory be to God on high, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Lord God of hosts. Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. and on earth peace to men of good will. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Laudamus te. Benedicimus te. We praise You, we bless You, Hosanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest. Adoramus te. Glorificamus te. we worship You, we glorify You. Gratias agimus tibi We give thanks to You propter magnam gloriam tuam. for Your great glory. bu Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Lord God, heavenly King, Benedictus Deus Pater omnipotens. God the Father almighty. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Hosanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris. Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. Qui tollis peccata mundi, You who take away the sins of the world, miserere nobis. have mercy upon us. cl Qui tollis peccata mundi, You who take away the sins of the world, Agnus Dei suscipe deprecationem nostram. receive our prayer. Soli: Julie Cooper soprano, Kim Porter alto, Jeremy Budd tenor, Ben Davies bass Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, You who sit at the right hand of the Father, Agnus Dei, Lamb of God, miserere nobis. have mercy upon us. qui tollis peccata mundi, who takes away the sins of the world, Quoniam tu solus sanctus, For You only are holy, miserere nobis. have mercy on us. tu solus Dominus, You only are the Lord, tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe. You alone are most high, Jesus Christ. Agnus Dei, Lamb of God, Cum Sancto Spiritu, With the Holy Ghost qui tollis peccata mundi, who takes away the sins of the world, in gloria Dei Patris. Amen. in the glory of God the Father. Amen. dona nobis pacem. grant us peace.

22 23 Harry Christophers is known internationally as founder After three decades of worldwide performance and and conductor of The Sixteen as well as being a regular guest recording, The Sixteen is recognised as one of the conductor for many of the major symphony orchestras and opera world’s greatest ensembles. Its special reputation for companies worldwide. He has directed The Sixteen choir and performing early English polyphony, masterpieces orchestra throughout Europe, America and Asia-Pacific, gaining a of the Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical distinguished reputation for his work in Renaissance, Baroque and periods, and a diversity of 20th- and 21st-century 20th- and 21st-century music. In 2000 he instituted The Choral music, all stems from the passions of conductor and founder, Harry Christophers. Pilgrimage, a national tour of English cathedrals from York to Borggreve Marco Photograph: The Sixteen tours internationally giving regular performances at the major concert halls Canterbury in music from the pre-Reformation, as The Sixteen’s and festivals. At home in the UK, The Sixteen are ‘The Voices of Classic FM’ as well as contribution to the millennium celebrations. The Pilgrimage in Associate Artists of The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Artistic Associate of Kings Place the UK is now central to The Sixteen’s annual artistic programme. and hold a 2015-2016 Artist Residency at Wigmore Hall. The group also promotes The Since 2008 Harry Christophers has been Artistic Director of Boston’s Handel and Haydn Choral Pilgrimage, an annual tour of the UK’s finest cathedrals. Society; he is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Granada Symphony Orchestra. The Sixteen’s period-instrument orchestra has taken part in acclaimed semi-staged As well as enjoying a partnership with the BBC Philharmonic, with whom he won a performances of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in Tel Aviv and London, a fully staged Diapason d’Or, he is a regular guest conductor with the Academy of St Martin in the production of Purcell’s King Arthur in Lisbon’s Belém Centre, and new productions of Fields. With The Sixteen he is an Associate Artist at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse at Lisbon Opera House and The Coronation of Poppea at and features in the highly successful BBC television series Sacred Music, presented by English National Opera. Simon Russell Beale. Over 150 recordings reflect The Sixteen’s quality in a range of work spanning the music Harry has conducted numerous productions for Lisbon Opera and English National of 500 years. In 2009 the group won the coveted Classic FM Gramophone Artist of the Opera as well as conducting the UK premiere of Messager’s opera Fortunio for Grange Park Year Award and the Baroque Vocal Award for Handel’s Coronation Anthems. The Sixteen Opera. He is a regular conductor at Buxton Opera where he initiated a very successful also features in the highly successful BBC television series Sacred Music, presented by cycle of Handel’s operas and oratorios including Semele, Samson, Saul and Jephtha. Simon Russell Beale. Harry Christophers is an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, as well as In 2011, with the support of the Genesis Foundation, the group launched a new training the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and has Honorary Doctorates from the programme for young singers, called Genesis Sixteen. Aimed at 18- to 23-year-olds, this Universities of Canterbury Christ Church and Leicester. He was awarded a CBE in the is the UK’s first fully funded choral programme for young singers designed specifically 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours. to bridge the gap from student to professional practitioner. 24 25

soprano alto tenor bass Julie Cooper Ian Aitkenhead Simon Berridge Ben Davies Sally Dunkley Daniel Collins Jeremy Budd Eamonn Dougan Katy Hill* Edward McMullan Mark Dobell Tim Jones Kirsty Hopkins Kim Porter George Pooley Stuart Young Alexandra Kidgell Charlotte Mobbs # * tracks 2-7 & bq organ Emilia Morton # not tracks 2-5 & 7 Robert Quinney french language coach: Aurélia Jonvaux

Recording Producer: Mark Brown Recording Engineer: Mike Hatch (Floating Earth) Recorded at: Church of St Alban the Martyr, Holborn, London, 7-10 November 2016 Cover image: Shutterstock Design: Andrew Giles: [email protected]

2017 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. the voi ces of © 2017 The Sixteen Productions Ltd. Made in Great Britain For further information about recordings on CORO or live performances and tours by The Sixteen, call: +44 (0) 20 7936 3420 or email: [email protected]