Welcome... from the trustees of Somerset Chamber Choir The choir extends a warm welcome to you all, for the second instalment of what we might call our trilogy of Baroque and Classical choral masterpiece concerts in these splendid surroundings: last year, we began with JS Bach's B minor Mass; this year we embark on a fascinating exploration of the development of 18th century works starting with JS Bach, via his son CPE Bach, to Mozart; and next year we complete the journey with Mozart's final work - his magnificent Requiem - juxtaposed with the music of one of today's most admired living composers, James MacMillan. Before our return for that concert next July, we sing in Wells Cathedral once again later this year - we are delighted to have accepted an invitation to perform at the High Sheriff's concert, alongside Lesley Garrett, the Cathedral Choristers and musicians from Wells Cathedral School, on Saturday 22 September. The current High Sheriff of Somerset, Sylvana Chandler, is one of our longstanding and supportive Friends and we would like to thank her for offering us this wonderful opportunity. It is no exaggeration to say that we would not be where we are today without our Friends - if you would like to help support high quality music-making in Somerset, please read more about our Friends Scheme overleaf. In-between these upcoming Wells performances, our annual Taunton concert in February promises inspiring home-grown music by Britten and other English composers in celebration of the centenary of Britten's birth. You can find out more about all these future dates for your diary on the back cover of this programme - we hope you will be able to join us! To return to this evening’s concert - here we are sandwiched between the start of the nationwide traverse of the Olympic Flame, the myriad of events to celebrate our Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and now, buoyed up by the opening ceremony for London 2012 yesterday. We hope our performance will stand up well amongst these other ‘once in a lifetime’ occasions - we cannot boast of being able to offer you the like of the spectacle of the Thames Pageant or the chance to witness world records being broken but what we can promise you is a performance of (arguably) some of the greatest music ever written and relayed to you live to the best of our collective abilities….in fact in true and proud Olympian style! LIN WINSTON Chair of Trustees We would like to dedicate this concert to the memory of MARY MALE, a founder member of our Friends Scheme who suddenly and unexpectedly left us and our world a few weeks ago in May. Programme order JS BACH (1685-1750) Cantata: Nun danket alle Gott BWV 192 Soloists: Mary Bevan soprano • Benjamin Bevan bass CPE BACH (1714-88) Magnificat Wq 215 Soloists: Ruth Jenkins soprano • Katie Bray mezzo-soprano Nicholas Mulroy tenor • Benjamin Bevan bass INTERVAL (15 minutes) MOZART (1756-91) Mass in C minor KV 427 Soloists: Mary Bevan soprano • Ruth Jenkins soprano Katie Bray mezzo-soprano • Nicholas Mulroy tenor Benjamin Bevan bass Please note that photography (with or without flash) and/or recording of any sort during the performance is forbidden without the prior written consent of the Dean and Chapter and Somerset Chamber Choir The right is reserved, without incurring liability, to substitute artists and to vary the programme for reasons beyond our control, although these details are correct at the time of going to print. Friends of Somerset Chamber Choir If you would like to see your name in our programmes and help support high quality music-making in Somerset why not become a Friend of Somerset Chamber Choir? Our popular Friends Scheme has five membership levels, each giving a different range of benefits. All members receive: • Your name in concert programmes • Twice-yearly newsletter and free mailing of advance publicity • Invitation for you and your guests to post-concert drinks with the choir • The opportunity to get the best seats in the house with an exclusive priority booking period In addition, members of the upper levels of the scheme receive superb additional benefits – Best Friends and Great Friends also get free or discounted concert tickets for themselves and their guests, as well as free concert programmes, for example. The subscription levels start from just £10 per annum, so you can choose the level of support that suits you best – whichever level you choose, rest assured that each and every Friend is equally important to us. MEMBERS OF THE FRIENDS SCHEME Honorary Life Friend Good Friends Friends Together Friends Mrs Dorothy Tullett Mr & Mrs I Anderton Mr & Mrs A F Bell Mr Martin Adams Rowley Cantello Mr C J & Mrs P M Blower Mrs M Armstrong Corporate Friends Andrew & Cynthia Cordy Mr & Mrs B R Bond Mrs Tosh Arscott Adrian Male Associates Mr & Mrs J C Dingle Mr & Mrs Peter du Boulay Annette Beardsley Prime Molasses Limited Bernard R Gildersleve Sue & Roger Burrows Mrs Ros Broad Mr & Mrs R H King Mr & Mrs D R Carey Mrs Jean Collard Best Friends Brian & Mary Leigh Richard & Sylvana Chandler Mrs Dylys Crabtree Mr & Mrs M J L Armstrong Brian & Cynthia Mindel Lynn & Colin Cook Mr Frank Curtiss Christopher J Cutting Grahame & Elizabeth Moses Robin & Noreen Cullup Edward Elderton Mrs John Greswell D G D O’Neil Roe Mr & Mrs Bev Davies Mrs Ann Everett Anthony Leigh Aideen Perry Mr & Mrs R G Derrick Angela Helyar Martin & Jill Parker Audrey Pillar Mr & Mrs H G Dolling Mrs Sarah Hobbs Liz & Patrick Rendell Ken & Trish Edwards Ann Jeffery Great Friends Shirley Rossiter Keith & Molly Farmer Anne Mitchell Mr & Mrs David Brandhuber Mrs E M Sage Mr & Mrs K J Gathard Mr Andrew Peerless Mrs A T Colbeck Mr Brian Somerset Maureen & Roy Hatch Mrs Jane Raphael Tony Palmer Mrs Janet Stubbins Mr & Mrs N J Hicks Jill Rogers Mrs Janet Stallard Mrs Ann Tucker H C & K M Lewis Mrs F M de Salis Richard Senior & Susanna Patricia & David Victor Mr & Mrs A Pugh-Thomas Mr David Speed van Rose Dr J B and Mrs C Wakerley R G & G H Sargent Mrs Ruth Tucker Gill & Tony Walker Paul & Anita Wilkins Robert & Shaune Shearer Mr David Watson Mr K M & Mrs G M Shepperd Mrs Anne Wood Marie & Mike Simmonds William & Sue Tee You can become a Friend: M G & J H Willbourn by phone via Taunton TIC: 01823 336344, Peter & Gillian Woodall by post (Lin Winston, 3 Parkland Drive, Campion Meadow, Exeter, Devon, EX2 5RX) or online at our website: www.somersetchamberchoir.org.uk After the concert, the choir looks forward to meeting members of the Friends Scheme and their guests in Wells Town Hall, located in nearby Market Place. Programme notes Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Cantata: Nun danket alle Gott BWV 192 The circumstances for which Bach composed his festive cantata Nun danket alle Gott BWV 192 (Now thank we all our God) around 1730 are unknown. Because of its central duet for soprano and bass, some scholars have speculated that it was written for a wedding. However, because of its three-verse text (written by Martin Rinckart in 1636), others guess that it might have been intended for the Lutheran Feast of the Reformation. Rinckart (1586-1649) was a German clergyman and hymnist, best known for this particular hymn text that was written against a backdrop of plague and all the horrors of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48). Rinckhart’s hymn was set to music by Johann Crüger in about 1647, and translated into the familiar English version in the 19th century by Catherine Winkworth. Although the three-movement cantata is one of Bach's shortest, it is richly scored for soprano and bass soloists, chorus, pairs of transverse flute and oboes, strings, and basso continuo. The joyous and exuberant opening chorus is a large-scale chorale fantasia with the sopranos singing the first verse of Rinckart's hymn in slow notes above an imitative tapestry woven by the lower voices, while the full orchestra has its own independent music in the ritornelli. The second movement is a gracious and graceful dance-like duet aria for soprano and bass with obbligato transverse flute and oboe, strings, and continuo, in which there is much canonic writing between the soloists. The vigorous final movement is another chorale fantasia in which the sopranos sing the third verse of Rinckart's hymn above the imitative entries of the lower voices, both musical strands woven together and combined with the gigue-like orchestral writing that is reminiscent of Bach’s 3rd Orchestral Suite, composed in Cöthen about a decade earlier, and regularly performed by Bach and his Collegium Musicum in Leipzig. 1. Chorus Nun danket alle Gott Now all thank God Mit Herzen, Mund und Händen, with heart, mouth and hands; Der große Dinge tut He does great things An uns und allen Enden, for us and all our purposes; Der uns von Mutterleib He for us from our mother's womb Und Kindesbeinen an and childish steps Unzählig viel zugut countless great good Und noch itzund getan. has done and still continues to do. 2. Aria (Duetto) [Soprano, Bass] Der ewig reiche Gott May God who is forever rich Woll uns bei unserm Leben be willing to give us in our life Ein immer fröhlich Herz a heart that is always joyful Und edlen Frieden geben and noble peace Und uns in seiner Gnad and in his mercy Erhalten fort und fort maintain us for ever and ever Und uns aus aller Not and free us from all distress Erlösen hier und dort.