A Message from CCS President, Alison White I warmly welcome you to the Albert Hall and our performance which celebrates this lovely venue and relives some of the great concerts which were held here in Canberra’s early years. There is something for everyone in this afternoon’s concert and I would like to acknowledge all the talented local Canberra artists who have contributed to the program and of course our creative and talented conductor and Artistic Director, Tobias Cole. I would also like to thank the very hard-working members of the Canberra Choral Society committee and choir members who devote hours of their time to the choir and without whose hard work we could not possibly put on these performances. The Canberra Choral Society relies in major part on funding from ticket sales and donations and I gratefully acknowledge those donors who have so generously supported this concert. You too can choose to support us and by doing so help us to present high quality and creative performances for Canberra audiences. All donations to the Canberra Choral Society are tax deductible. Our next performance will be the Australian premiere on period instruments of the Handel oratorio Theodora, with acclaimed soprano Greta Bradman, guest conductor Brett Weymark from Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and our own Tobias Cole, along with many other talented musicians and singers. This concert will be performed in the Canberra Playhousea first for the CCS and a really exciting venture. We look forward to seeing you in the audience on Sunday 23 June. In the meantime I hope you enjoy today’s entertaining program. Alison White Canberra Choral Society (CCS) CCS aims to facilitate the performance of choral music to the highest professional standard, to foster a love of music generally and to encourage young musicians. In 2013 CCS has established a youth choir, New Voices, for singers aged 16-26 years to further ensure the future of choral singing in Canberra. 2 A Message from CCS Artistic Director, Tobias Cole Welcome to Canberra Choral Society’s first concert for this special centenary year. It is great to be returning to the Albert Hall with the opportunity to unleash the sonic memories that are trapped deep within the plasterwork of this lovely building. Two ideas led to this program. The first was my fascination with a thesis that Peter Campbell had written entitled Limestone Plains- Song, Choral Music in Canberra 1913-1993. I wondered, ‘How could I make a concert out of this study?’ The second idea started in a conversation with a friend and arts patron, Colin Milner, who told me of Lotte Lehmann’s recital in the Albert Hall in 1939. Once I realised that the Albert Hall was the venue for performances in Canberra’s early days I embarked on the research for Great Performances. Until then I had very little idea of the rich international talent that annually performed in the Hall when Canberra’s population was fewer than 10,000! I am indebted to the National Library of Australia’s Trove website. It has enabled easy access to newspaper articles, in particular to all- important concert reviews. How wonderful it is, also, to be able to download historic sheet music like Canberra’s Calling to You! I also availed myself of many not-yet-digitalised books and pieces of music at the NLA. One book which I was thrilled to discover was Interrupted Journeys by Alan Gill. In it was the tragic story of the Vienna Mozart Boys Choir. But I’ll never forget travelling to the National Archives in Sydney’s Chester Hill, in the rain with a flat bike tire, to pour (pardon the pun) over ABC programs from the 1940s. Finally, I must thank all in Canberra Choral Society for their continued support of my vision for choral music in Canberra. Tobias Cole 3 Great Performances in the Albert Hall the first 25 years (1928 – 1953) Conductor: Tobias Cole Louise Page, Rachael Thoms, Rohan Thatcher, Paul Eldon CCS Chorus Anthony Smith (piano), Kimberley Steele (piano) Jack Hobbs (cello), Joy McDonald (puppeteer) Kim Harvey School of Dance, Turner Trebles 1927–Dame Nellie Melba at Opening of Parliament House (Rachael Thoms) God Save the King 1928–Canberra Musical Society, Raymond Beatty (Rohan Thatcher) The Erl King (Schubert) 1929–Canberra Musical Society, Harold Williams (Rohan Thatcher) Sailing at Dawn (Stanford) 1931–Canberra Combined Church Choirs And the Glory (Handel) The Heavens are Telling (Haydn) (with Louise Page, Rachael Thoms, Rohan Thatcher, Paul Eldon) 1938–song to mark Canberra’s 25th Anniversary (singalong) Canberra’s Calling to You (Lumsdaine) 1939–First Australian Ballet School (Kim Harvey School of Dance) Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) - Act 2 Waltz 1939–Lotte Lehmann (Louise Page) Dear, thou art like a flower (Schumann) Dedication (Schumann) Ständchen (Strauss) Morgen (Strauss) Covent Garden (James) Love's Philosophy (Quilter) 1939–Vienna Mozart Boys Choir (Turner Trebles) Vienna of our Dreams (Strauss) 4 Interval 1942–Canberra Ladies Choir Sing we and chant it (Harris) Hindu Song (Rimsky-Korsakov) The Cachucha dance (Sullivan) 1946–Joan Hammond (Rachael Thoms) Depuis le jour (Charpentier) 1946–Canberra Combined Church Choirs Long live Elizabeth / Peaceful England (German) 1946–Edmund Kurtz, Margaret Schofield (Jack Hobbs, Kimberley Steele) Cello Sonata no 2 Opus 99, 2nd movement (Brahms) 1947–Canberra Combined Church Choirs I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General (Sullivan) 1947–Canberra Combined Church Choirs Hallelujah Chorus (Handel) 1949–Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Margaret Schofield (Rachael Thoms, Kimberley Steele) Vergebliches Stänchen (Brahms) 1950–Canberra Male Singers, Joan Sutherland (Joy McDonald) Soldier’s Chorus (Gounod) Dich, teure Halle (Wagner) Ah! Di contento (Donizetti) Anvil Chorus (Verdi) 1953–Coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second God Save the Queen All accompaniment by Anthony Smith unless otherwise stated 5 Great Performances Scrapbook 1928-1953 As seen through extracts from the Canberra Times 20 May 1927: Opening of Parliament House 24 October 1929 3 September 1928 6 Great Performances Scrapbook 1928-1953 1 December 1931 4 May 1939 3 June 1938 7 Great Performances Scrapbook 1928-1953 1 June 1939 7 July 1939 8 Lehmann and Garran – a Canberra Connection German-born soprano Lotte to Garran’s translations by a Lehmann (1888-1976) first mutual friend. The two she performed in Canberra in 1937. sang in Canberra were When she returned two years evidently as they would appear later the clouds of war were in Garran’s Schubert and gathering in Europe, and she Schumann: Songs and had moved from Vienna to the Translations, published in United States. 1946. Interestingly, in the Heine poem, Garran had Robert Randolph Garran changed his first word – an (1867-1957) was a ‘Father of addition required to replace a Federation’ who served as the syllable he had literally lost in first Secretary of the Attorney- translation – from ‘Love’ in the General’s Department from version he had published in 1901 to 1932. It is fitting in 1924 (in a translation of this centenary year to recall the Heine’s Book of Songs) to contributions he and his wife ‘Dear’ in the later one. Hilda made to this growing community after public One of my voice teachers, the servants and their families late South African baritone began moving here in Alexander Schwartz, had considerable numbers from studied with Lehmann. I recall Melbourne in 1927. He would him telling me about the be remembered by some as the wonderful presence she had as ‘Father of Canberra’. Garran a performer. May we sense was indeed a man of many something of Lotte Lehmann’s parts - even playing second wonderful presence on the clarinet in Canberra’s first Albert Hall stage – with orchestra! Garran’s in the audience too, no doubt – as we hear these two Garran tells the story behind beautiful songs again today. the 1939 concert in his memoir Prosper the Commonwealth. Colin Milner Lehmann had been introduced 9 Great Performances Scrapbook 1928-1953 16 July 1942 4 September 1946 All articles in our Great Performances Scrapbook come from the Canberra Times via the amazing resource trove.nla.gov.au. For a full listing of references visit our website canberrachoralsociety.org. 10 Great Performances Scrapbook 1928-1953 22 August 1946 25 September 1946 19 August 1947 11 Great Performances Scrapbook 1928-1953 12 December 1947 12 September 1949 12 Great Performances Scrapbook 1928-1953 25 May 1953 18 September 1950 4 June 1953 13 Singalong Canberra's Calling to You Words and music by Jack Lumsdaine (Sydney: Chappell & Co., c. 1938) Sheet music available through the National Library of Australia: nla.gov.au/nla.mus-vn2061067 Menzies declaration of war 1939 from the collection of the National Film and Sound Archive Recordings of Joan Sutherland from Sutherland Rarities Vol 1: The early years. Desiree Records 14 Tobias Cole, CCS Artistic Director Tobias Cole has gained a reputation as a highly sought after choral trainer and innovative concert programmer. As CCS Artistic Director, his inspiring long-term vision includes presenting one Handel oratorio in Canberra each year. He is well qualified for the task, with a Helpmann Award nomination in Handel’s Julius Caesar (Opera Australia, 2007) and a Green Room Award in the title role of Handel’s Xerxes (Victorian Opera, 2009). CCS has now presented two Handel oratorios under Tobias’ leadership: Messiah (2011) and Saul (2012), with Theodora to come this year. Tobias is also one of Australia’s most successful countertenors, travelling the country as a soloist in opera, oratorio and theatre. He has just returned from a staged production of Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Opera Queensland, conducted by Graham Abbott: ‘…Tobias Cole's "Erbarme Dich" is a highlight…’ (The Australian) 2013 engagements include Dido and Aeneas for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Theodora for Canberra Choral Society, Carmina Burana for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and Handel’s Messiah for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.