Chepstow Choral Society
& CCS Orchestra
Leader – Paula Kempton
Conducted by Graham Bull
Presents
Haydn – “Maria Theresa” Mass
Mozart – Requiem
with
Alison Wray – Soprano
Helen Bruce – Alto
Alex Bevan – Tenor
Louis Hurst – Bass
Saturday, 1st April, 2017
St Mary’s Priory Church, Chepstow, 7.30pm
CCS is affiliated to Ty Cerdd – Music Centre Wales and
Making Music – The National Federation of Music Societies.
Registered charity no. 1127098
Passiontide Concert 2017
Chepstow Choral Society is delighted to welcome you to our Passiontide Concert. It is with great pleasure that we welcome back the Chepstow Choral Society Orchestra with their leader Paula Kempton and a warm welcome to our guest soloists, Alison Wray (Soprano), Helen Bruce (Alto), Alex Bevan (Tenor) and in particular to Louis Hurst (Bass) standing in at short notice for Peter Brooke, who is regrettably unable to sing with us tonight due to unforeseen circ*mstances. Thank you for joining us in our performance tonight of Mozart’s Requiem and Haydn’s Maria Theresa Mass.
As always, our thanks go to Rev. Chris Blanchard and his team at St Mary’s. Their support and assistance is greatly appreciated. I also wish to thank our front of house team who work tirelessly to ensure a smooth performance.
May I finish this evening by thanking you, our audience, for without your support and encouragement great works such as these would not be able to be performed in Chepstow.
Sue Carter. Chair, Chepstow Choral Society.
CCS welcomes new members! Choral singing lifts the spirits and gives a sense of collective pleasure, and everyone in CCS is a member because they love singing – and we welcome new singers in all voice sections.
We do not have a formal audition policy and prospective members should contact Marjorie Duerden (tel. 01291 623310) or through the website link www.chepstowchoralsociety.org.uk . No-one is excluded on grounds of lack of previous choral experience, ability to play instruments, etc, - just come and enjoy singing!
And why not follow us on Facebook & Twitter ? @ChepstowChoral
“MariaTheresa” Mass F. J. Haydn
KYRIE GLORIA Gloria in Excelsis Gratias agimus tibi Quoniam tu solus sanctus CREDO Credo in Unum Deum Et incarnatus est Et resurrexit
SANCTUS BENEDICTUS AGNUS DEI Dona nobis pacem
Interval
Requiem W.A. Mozart
I INTROITUS: REQUIEM II KYRIE III SEQUENZ: Dies Irae Tuba Mirum Rex Tremendae Recordare Confutatis Maledictis Lacrimosa
IV OFFERTORIUM Domine Jesu Hostias V SANCTUS VI BENEDICTUS VII AGNUS DEI VIII COMMUNIO: Lux Aeterna
“Maria Theresa” Mass – F.J. Haydn
Between 1796 and 1802, Haydn composed six Masses to celebrate the name-day of Princess Maria Hermengild, the wife of his patron Prince Nikolaus II of Esterhazy. The Maria Theresa Mass was written and first performed in the summer of 1799, chronologically falling between his two mighty oratorios The Creation and The Seasons and, indeed, listeners familiar with those works will hear echoes in this mass. It might be less well-known than some of the other masses in the series (Nelson Mass, Missa in tempora belli), but it is vintage Haydn, and really deserving of more regular performances. The Maria
Theresa in the title was the empress consort of Francis II, and a keen and accomplished musician in her own right – even being involved as soprano soloist in performances of Haydn’s oratorios in 1801. Nevertheless, as was the custom of the day, the title may well have been retrospective, and even for the sake of publicity, since the manuscript score gives no reference to any dedicatee, being simply entitled „Missa‟ (‘Mass’).
The mass is scored for solo quartet, chorus, strings, two clarinets, two trumpets, timpani and organ continuo. The reduced wind scoring is due to a shortage of wind players at Eisenstadt during 1798-99, so this mass does not make use of flutes, oboes, bassoons or horns. (Similarly, in 1798, the Nelson Mass had originally been scored without winds altogether).
The Kyrie introduces the chorus and then the soloists gently and with an adagio (slow) tempo marking – akin to the slow introduction of a symphony, before taking off in a feisty fugal style, with the chorus taking the Kyrie words, and the soloists the central Christe Eleison words. The slow introduction material makes a brief return at the end of the movement.
The Gloria is in the usual 3 sections – contrasting fast, slow, fast. The first, Gloria in Excelsis, is in an upbeat triple time, and sung entirely by the chorus, mostly in a chordal texture, and with marked contrasting dynamics. The central Gratias agimus tibi starts with gentle throbbing strings under a beautiful legato melody, and this is taken up by the soloists, starting with the alto. A change of mood and dynamic introduces a brooding Qui tolis peccata mundi, now in C minor, and sung by the chorus. This section comes to rest with the only (brief) unaccompanied section for chorus in the whole work (Miserere nobis). The final section, Quonium tu solus sanctus, is shared between chorus and solo quartet, and in a bright vivace (fast) tempo.
The Credo is also in 3 sections, with a similarly bright opening for chorus, and again featuring sharply contrasting dynamics. The string accompaniment is particularly energetic and busy in this section. The middle Et incarnates est is set for soloists, in a solemn and dark B flat minor, allowing for the final Et resurrexit to really shine in terms of energy and musical vibrance. The last music in the Credo is a rustic
fugue for the chorus, and quite the jolliest writing in the work, despite the chromatic harmony and angular melodic shapes, and it culminates in two emphatic Amens.
In terms of balance, the rather introspective and brief Sanctus is outweighed by the more sustained and substantial Benedictus. Soloists and chorus are engaged in both, but the chorus leads in the Sanctus whilst, in the Benedictus, the soloists enjoying long and increasingly florid lines, which the chorus accompany gently and sympathetically.
The Agnus Dei is sung by the chorus, and features unison writing and an imploring mood. This is set in G minor – relative to the mass’s home key of B flat. As this slow section draws to an end this is not resolved by the expected modulation, but it makes the sudden return to the home key for the uplifting final Dona nobis pacem all the more triumphal and complete sounding. Haydn’s idea of ‘Give us peace’ is clearly positive and confident. This may well be a simple reflection on the composer’s well-documented sunny disposition, or it might even represent Maria Theresa’s character…
Requiem – W.A. Mozart
The traditional story behind the composition of the Requiem Mass still holds a fascination despite its mythological status being for the most part now satisfactorily explained. The sombre nature of much of the music reflects the fact that a weakened Mozart knew that he had little time left to live, and despite his lack of religious conviction the work conveys something of an artist’s struggle to come to terms with his own mortality. However, the legend of its commission by an anonymous patron, delivered by a gaunt grey clad messenger gives the work a further intriguing background. If one letter is to be believed, Mozart certainly saw the messenger as an emissary from the next world, and was profoundly disturbed by the knowledge that he was indeed writing his own requiem.
The truth is of course now widely known. The patron was a Count Walsagg who wanted a mass for his own recently departed wife, and
the messenger was a Dr Sortschan – a Viennese lawyer who often acted for the Count. Walsagg (an amateur musician who harboured a desire to compose successfully) held frequent private concerts where he presented contemporary Viennese works, copied in his own hand. The musicians would perform the works, then try to guess the true identity of the composer – often (generously) crediting Walsagg himself. The secrecy behind the commission of the Requiem was presumably to continue this game by preserving the anonymity of the composer, though documentation suggests that Vienna’s musical society knew Mozart was in the process of writing the work.
Mozart did not live to complete the Requiem, and his wife Constanza, desperate for the final payment of the commission, employed one of Mozart’s pupils Franz Sussmayer, to finish the music. Much speculation has existed since as to how much Mozart penned, but we can now be fairly certain that only parts of the Lacrimosa and the Osanna fugues at the end of the Sanctus and Benedictus were totally Sussmayer’s, though several sections of the orchestration were left incomplete by Mozart. The Agnus Dei is unmistakably Mozart’s, and the final section of the work (Lux Aeterna and the Cum Sanctis fugue) repeats the music of the opening at Mozart’s request from his deathbed.
Other notable features of the Requiem include Mozart’s inclusion and use of trombones – in common not just with much of his orchestrally accompanied sacred choral music, but also many of his works with masonic influence. The famous trombone solo that introduces the Tuba mirum is, for instance, reminiscent of Sarasastro’s music in The Magic Flute. Another masonic overtone comes with the hymn-like setting of the Hostias in the key of E flat major – a key masons believed to be symbolic of wisdom.
Canonic and imitative writing – indicating a learned and academic approach often found in the church music of Bach, Handel and Haydn – crops up in several places, and not just in the opening and closing fugues. The Recordarae and Confutatis movements each have large
portions of imitation.
Incredibly, considering its fragmented composition process, the Requiem has a great sense of unity. Consistency of melodic shape has much to do with this, but there are also thematic links between
movements – the opening of the Sanctus owes much of its design to the shape of the Dies Irae – despite its being in a major rather than a
minor mode.
Even though it was not competed by the master, the Requiem has remained one the best loved and most frequently performed works in Mozart’s output.
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Alison Wray – Soprano
Alison Wray was born and educated in London, and studied linguistics at York. It was there that she developed her solo singing career, with numerous engagements all over the north west of England as well as in the rest of the UK. She took principal roles in 17 operas in Yorkshire and Wales, and sang with several of the top British professional early music groups including the The Sixteen, Gabrieli Ensemble, Finzi Singers, New London Consort and Cappella Nova. As a soloist with choral societies she has performed most of the major repertoire by Bach, Handel, Mozart and Haydn, as well as works by Verdi, Dvorak, Orff and Tippett. With orchestras in London she has sung Mahler’s 4
th
Symphony and opera gala concerts. Her recital repertoire is broad in terms of time and geography, as she reflects her expertise in foreign and historical languages. She has appeared as a soloist on several CDs, and in concerts as far afield as Kenya and China. She now lives near Chepstow.
Helen Bruce – Alto Helen Bruce was born in Durham. She currently studies with Leah Marian-Jones and recently graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with distinction, receiving a Leverhulme scholarship to attend the MA Opera course. She previously studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on the MMus postgraduate vocal studies course and at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with honours. At Edinburgh she won the Donald Francis Tovey award for performance, the Eileen Cameron Music award for outstanding contribution to the musical life of Edinburgh as well as the Bucher-
Fraser scholarship for postgraduate study, all awarded by the University. Operatic work includes the role of Orlofsky Die Fledermaus, Marcellina Le Nozze di Figaro, Mercedes Carmen, Cherubino Marriage of Figaro, street chorus/soloist in Bernstein's Mass for the 2012 Proms, Mrs Chin/Old Crone Night at the Chinese Opera for British Youth Opera, Lucretia The Rape of Lucretia, Madame Popova The Bear (in La Mortella, Ischia) and Carmen. Most recently, she sang in the chorus for Welsh National Opera's production of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron with performances at the Royal Opera House, the role of Witch for the Pimlott Foundation's production of Hansel and Gretel and chorus for English National Opera's production of The Force of Destiny. Future work includes Aline, The Sorcerer, for the Harrogate G and S Festival.
Alex Bevan – Tenor
Alexander Bevan is a young British tenor currently studying on the prep-opera course at the Royal Academy of Music. The 2015 winner of the "Norman Mcann Prize" and a recipient of the 2016 "Elton John Scholarship", Alex is also a Kohn Foundation Bach Scholar and studies with Neil Mackie CBE and Jonathan Papp. Born and brought up in Bath, Somerset, Alex was a music scholar at Kingswood School where he was given the opportunity to learn and perform many different types of music. Having decided to pursue his first love of singing, he moved on to the Royal Academy at the age of 19. Over the past six years Alex has gained extensive solo concert experience at a variety of venues around the UK and in Europe.
Supported by the Josephine Baker Trust, Alex's notable performances include Mozart's Requiem at St-Martin-in-the-Fields and the Royal Courts of Justice; Tippett's Child of our Time in Truro Cathedral and Mozart's Mass in C Minor at St John's Smith Square. He has also sung in over 20 of the Royal Academy's monthly Bach Cantata series and was heard on BBC Radio 3 singing in Nereseim, broadcast from Germany. Operatic experience includes Ruggero in La Rondine with Opera Coast; chorus roles in Tristan und Isolde, Tannhäuser and Rigoletto with Longborough Festival Opera; performing in a new
production of microMegas (Tom Floyd) at the Tete a Tete Festival in Hammersmith as well as participating in a variety of opera scenes at the Academy and abroad. Alex will be covering the role of Rodolfo in Ilford Arts production of La Boheme in May 2017.
Louis Hurst – Bass Louis Hurst started singing as a treble chorister at Manchester
Grammar School before studying at the Royal Northern College of
Music where he was supported by Michael Oglesby, the Drapers Guild
and the Musicians' Benevolent Fund. He continues his studies with
Stuart MacIntyre and has participated in the ENO Opera Works
Programme. His opera repertoire includes Yamadori and High
Commissioner Madame Butterfly, Dr Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia, Re
di Scozia Ariodante, Mr Peachum The Beggar’s Opera, Luka the Bear,
Colline La bohème, Keeper of the Madhouse The Rake’s Progress,
Father Hänsel und Gretel, Lion Pyramus and Thisbe (Lampe), King
Ajax II La belle Hélène, Baron Douphol La traviata, Sid and Billy Jack
Rabbit La fanciulla del West. He has also covered the roles of Titurel
Parsifal, Amfortas Parsifal and Köthner Die Meistersinger von
Nürnberg.
Louis has worked with such renowned conductors as Sir Mark Elder,
Martyn Brabbins, Stephen Wilkinson, Nicholas Kraemer and the late
Richard Hickox, amongst others. He has performed with Scottish
Opera, Opera North, English National Opera, Grange Park Opera, the
Mastersingers and at the Aix-en-Provence and Grimeborn Festivals.
He has performed opera scenes with British Youth Opera, the Royal
Northern College of Music and Young Opera Venture. He is a regular
performer with several distinguished choirs at London’s Chapels Royal
and in a number of cathedrals across the UK including the Savoy
Chapel, Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace and St George's
Hannover Square. Forthcoming engagements include the Jailor Tosca
for Grange Park Opera.
Graham Bull – Conductor and Musical Director
Graham started his musical career as a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford. He gained his Music degree from Exeter University in 1981, specialising in conducting and composition. As a member of the BBC National Chorus of Wales for many years, he enjoyed singing under many leading conductors including Simon Rattle, Neville Marriner and John Elliott Gardiner, and being involved in countless broadcasts and recordings for BBC Radio 3 and TV, including several BBC Proms concerts. During the 1980s and 90s he also sung for and conducted the Exeter Cathedral Chamber Choir – directing services in St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, as well as in provincial city cathedrals. Graham was appointed Musical Director of Chepstow Choral Society in 1998 and has helped the choir to build an enviable repertoire of classics and less frequently performed works. He is also Principal Conductor of Bristol Millennium Orchestra.
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Next concert by Chepstow Choral Society :
Music for a Summer’s Evening
Wednesday 28th June 2017, 7.00pm
Arts Hall, Chepstow School
Followed by our traditional buffet and social gathering !
TONIGHT‟S ORCHESTRA
Chepstow Choral Society is delighted once again to welcome this evening our orchestra, many of whom have played for us in past concerts, but equally on this occasion nearly half our orchestra are playing with us for the first time. Our orchestra members are drawn from a wide area, some travelling considerable distances to be with us and we have once again aimed to include young instrumentalists where possible.
The Society extends huge thanks to all the orchestra members for their enthusiasm and commitment. We are indebted to leader Paula Kempton. We hope, and believe, that our audience will continue to respond in the positive manner which has been so evident in recent times – without these professional instrumentalists the future of the music which is being presented to the Chepstow audience this evening would be in serious doubt.
Violins Paula Kempton (Leader) Danielle Barratt Andrew Barrington Laura Barrington Gareth Davies Tim Harrison Elliot Kempton
Violas Christine Bull Mathias Svensson
Cellos Edward Kempton Anna Edwards
Double Bass Robin Davies
Trumpets Stuart Ellsmore Paul Harris
Trombones Garfield Austin Luke Gilbert William Hall
Clarinets Paul Noden Liam Donovan
Bassoons Philippa Dunstan Jeannie Prince
Percussion David Rowe
Organ Continuo – Richard Kubiak
Orchestra management : Graham Bull & Marjorie Duerden
PATRONS, SUPPORTERS AND FRIENDS
CCS promotes and encourages music within the community through its
concerts. We particularly foster and support young and aspiring musicians
but our ticket sales rarely cover our costs of our concerts. Patrons (minimum
subscription £30) receive a complimentary ticket for each concert, an
invitation to our Patrons’ evenings and their names are printed in each concert
programme. This patronage helps us to arrange concerts confident that we
can cover at least some of our costs. If you would like to join us please
contact Jean Parkes, Patrons and Membership Secretary, 13 Orchard
Avenue, Chepstow NP16 5RD or contact on 01291 620414
PATRONS OF CHEPSTOW CHORAL SOCIETY
Mr Stewart Anderton Mrs Freda Basnett
Dr Jonathan Carter Ms S. K. Chesters
Mrs P. Cook Mr T. Copestake
Mr W. Croft Mr David T.C. Davies MP
Mrs Meg Driver Prof Brian I. Duerden CBE
Mrs Mildred Duerden Mr B. & Mrs H. Evans
Mrs Frances Gray Mr H. & Mrs C. Green
Mr Richard Ham Mrs Christine Heuger
Mr R. & Mrs J. Hunt Mrs Jane Jordan
Mr R. Killick (Midway Steel Services) Mrs Iris Lawrence
Mr Richard Lemon Mr Robert Lovett
Mrs Angela Moore Mrs D. Morris
Dr P.P. Morton Mrs Peggy Mullins
Mr Alan Parkes Ms Catherine Parkes
Mr Bernard Pope Mr John Rogers
St John’s-on-the-Hill School Mr J. & Mrs N. Shaw
Mrs Pauline M. Shorrock Dr P.D. & Mrs D.J. Thompson
Mrs V. Thompson Mrs K. Thornton & Mr P. Gelling
Mr Charles Toole Mrs Barbara Walters
Mr Reg Wells Mr & Mrs John Whatmore
