to view the concert programme - Somerset Chamber Choir
to view the concert programme - Somerset Chamber Choir to view the concert programme - Somerset Chamber Choir
Part IUrah, hanevel, v’chinor!A-irah shahar!Awake, psaltery and harp!I will rouse the dawn!Psalm 108, verse 2Chichester PsalmsThe text of the Chichester Psalms is in Hebrew and thework has three movements. The work opens with apowerful and startling introduction, the material of whichrecurs at the end of the first movement and again at theconclusion of the whole work. In the first movement thewords are set in a vigorous, almost obsessive, seven-fourrhythm and the music has enormous energy and dancelikeexcitement.The opening of the second movement, a lyrical setting ofPsalm 23 for upper voices and soloist, contrasts vividlywith the bubbling energy of the first movement. In thesoulful opening passage for the soloist Bernstein the greattunesmith emerges, until the nations rage furiouslytogether in an edgy and violent passage for tenors andbasses. The subsequent combination of these twopreviously separate musical entities is a masterstroke.After an extended instrumental introduction, the lastmovement’s beautifully woven and unpredictable melodicchoral strands lead to a magical ending where quiet, slow,unaccompanied harmonies come to rest on a unisonAmen. The melodic idea from the opening of the wholework is played in very slow notes above this and completesthe process of unwinding and resolving the manic energywith which the work opened.Graham CaldbeckHariu l’Adonai kol haarets.Iv’du et Adonai b’simha.Bo-u l’fanav bir’nanah.D’u ki Adonai Hu Elohim.Hu asanu, v’lo anahnu.Amo v’tson mar’ito.Bo-u sh’arav b’todah,Hatseirotav bit’hilah,Hodu lo, bar’chu sh’mo.Ki tov Adonai, l’olam has’do,V’ad dor vador emunato.Part IIAdonai ro-i, lo ehsar.Bin’ot deshe yarbitseini,Al mei m’nuhot y’nahaleini,Naf’shi y’shovev,Yan’heini b’ma’aglei tsedek,L’ma’an sh’mo.Gam ki eilechB’gei tsalmavet,Lo ira ra,Ki Atah imadi.Shiv’t’cha umishan’techaHemah y’nahamuni.Ta’aroch l’fanai shulchanNeged tsor’raiDishanta vashemen roshiCosi r’vayah.Ach tov vahesedYird’funi kol y’mei hayaiV’shav’ti b’veit AdonaiL’orech yamim.Lamah rag’shu goyimUl’umim yeh’gu rik?Yit’yats’vu malchei erets,V’roznim nos’du yahadAl Adonai v’al m’shiho.N’natkah et mos’roteimo,V’nashlichah mimenu avoteimoYoshev bashamayimYis’hak, AdonaiYil’ag lamo!Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.Serve the Lord with gladness.Come before his presence with singing.Know ye that the Lord, He is God.It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselvesWe are His people and the sheep of His pasture.Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,And into His courts with praise.Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting.And His truth endureth to all generations.Psalm 100, entireThe Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures,He leadeth me beside the still waters,He restoreth my soul,He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness,For His name’s sake.Yea, though I walkThrough the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,For Thou art with me.Thy rod and Thy staffThey comfort me.Thou preparest a table before meIn the presence of mine enemies,Thou annointest my head with oil,My cup runneth over.Surely goodness and mercyShall follow me all the days of my life,And I will dwell in the house of the LordForever.Psalm 23, entireWhy do the nations rage,And the people imagine a vain thingThe kings of the earth set themselves,And the rulers take counsel togetherAgainst the Lord and against His anointed.Saying, let us break their bonds asunder,And cast away their cords from us.He that sitteth in the heavensShall laugh, and the LordShall have them in derision!Psalm 2, verses 1-4Part IIIAdonai, Adonai,Lo gavah libi,V’lo ramu einai,V’lo hilachtiBig’dolot uv’niflaotMimeni.Im lo shivitiV’domam’ti,Naf’shi k’gamul alei imo,Kagamul alai naf’shi.Yahel Yis’rael el AdonaiMe’atah v’ad olam.Lord, Lord,My heart is not haughty,Nor mine eyes lofty,Neither do I exercise myselfIn great matters or in thingsToo wonderful for me to understand.Surely I have calmedAnd quieted myself,As a child that is weaned of his mother,My soul is even as a weaned child.Let Israel hope in the LordFrom henceforth and forever.Psalm 131, entireHineh mah tov,Umah naim,Shevet ahimGam yahad.Behold how good,And how pleasant it is,For brethren to dwellTogether in unity.Psalm 133, verse 1
Westminster MassROXANNA PANUFNIK (b1968)Sophie Bevan sopranoSomerset has always been an extremely spiritual place for me in both itsculture and its landscape - which is why I am particularly delighted thatWestminster Mass is having its West Country première here in Taunton,with the Somerset Chamber Choir. I am very sorry that I can’t be withyou (due to the physical constraints of late pregnancy!) and hope thatyou enjoy the performance and have a very Happy New Year.With all good wishesROXANNA PANUFNIKNote by the composerThe Mass was commissioned by John Studzinski for Westminster Cathedral Choir, on the occasion of CardinalHume’s 75th birthday. The Cardinal wanted a work that would speak out to as many people as possible - thatwould ‘enhance the English liturgy for the new millennium’ - hence its setting in our native tongue. The Mass had tocome in two versions: one with organ accompaniment for general use, and one for special occasions (such asits première on 21 May 1998) with orchestra. A third version was subsequently commissioned by CliftonCathedral with organ, bells and harp (the version being performed this afternoon).With careful theological instruction from Father Vladimir Feizmann, frequent retreats to the nuns of StanbrookAbbey and guidance on musical form from James O’Donnell, I set out to try and create a work that, whileadhering to the conventional requirements of the liturgy, would perhaps throw a transformed light onto thetext that I had repeated, perhaps without enough thought and understanding, so often.Having been determined not to be influenced (as is the recent trend) by the commonly hypnotic plainsong, Iwas introduced to the reproaches from the Good Friday liturgy which, to me, melodically captured the moodof the Kyrie. I had already composed a progression of repenting but hopeful harmonies which, by complete accident, seemed to beenhanced by this melody. Obviously, I had to change the words and I used the ancient Greek that is familiar to us all, followed by theEnglish.The Gloria is usually one of the most ‘upbeat’ movements but, to me, it was about the ‘glow’ of love for God and the warmth that radiatesfrom the first two lines (commonly known as the Angelic Hymn) ‘Glory to God in the Highest, and peace to his people on earth.’ I was also heavilyinfluenced by the impulsive rhythms and irregular pitch patterns of pealing church bells and the whole movement is based on a four-notecell presented in church-bell style, by the harp at the beginning.The setting of the beginning of Deus, Deus meus were especially requested, in Latin, by his Eminence. But, inspired by the beauty of itsEnglish translation I could not resist setting more of it, interweaving with the Latin.Like the Gloria, the Sanctus and Benedictus are bell-like, but this time in a more abandoned way, with very obvious ‘word-painting’.The Memorial Acclamation and Amen had to be directly related to the Sanctus and Benedictus and short for practical reasons.The Agnus Dei starts wearily, with the ‘Lamb of God’ melody from the Gloria and a chant that continues throughout most of the movement.There is a sense of discomfort as we contemplate what Jesus had to suffer for our sins. But as we come to the end of the journey, a sense ofarrival and relief greets us at ‘Grant us peace’.Roxanna Panufnik
- Page 1 and 2: SOMERSET CHAMBER CHOIR - FUTURE CON
- Page 3 and 4: FORTHCOMING LONDON CONCERTSconducte
- Page 5: Programme NotesChichester PsalmsLEO
- Page 9 and 10: Interval (15 minutes)RequiemJOHN RU
- Page 11 and 12: BiographiesThe Somerset Chamber Cho
- Page 13 and 14: BiographiesTIM MEAD (countertenor)
- Page 16: Somerset Chamber Choir‘...the cho
Part IUrah, hanevel, v’chinor!A-irah shahar!Awake, psaltery and harp!I will rouse <strong>the</strong> dawn!Psalm 108, verse 2Chichester PsalmsThe text of <strong>the</strong> Chichester Psalms is in Hebrew and <strong>the</strong>work has three movements. The work opens with apowerful and startling introduction, <strong>the</strong> material of whichrecurs at <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> first movement and again at <strong>the</strong>conclusion of <strong>the</strong> whole work. In <strong>the</strong> first movement <strong>the</strong>words are set in a vigorous, almost obsessive, seven-fourrhythm and <strong>the</strong> music has enormous energy and dancelikeexcitement.The opening of <strong>the</strong> second movement, a lyrical setting ofPsalm 23 for upper voices and soloist, contrasts vividlywith <strong>the</strong> bubbling energy of <strong>the</strong> first movement. In <strong>the</strong>soulful opening passage for <strong>the</strong> soloist Bernstein <strong>the</strong> greattunesmith emerges, until <strong>the</strong> nations rage furiously<strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r in an edgy and violent passage for tenors andbasses. The subsequent combination of <strong>the</strong>se twopreviously separate musical entities is a masterstroke.After an extended instrumental introduction, <strong>the</strong> lastmovement’s beautifully woven and unpredictable melodicchoral strands lead <strong>to</strong> a magical ending where quiet, slow,unaccompanied harmonies come <strong>to</strong> rest on a unisonAmen. The melodic idea from <strong>the</strong> opening of <strong>the</strong> wholework is played in very slow notes above this and completes<strong>the</strong> process of unwinding and resolving <strong>the</strong> manic energywith which <strong>the</strong> work opened.Graham CaldbeckHariu l’Adonai kol haarets.Iv’du et Adonai b’simha.Bo-u l’fanav bir’nanah.D’u ki Adonai Hu Elohim.Hu asanu, v’lo anahnu.Amo v’tson mar’i<strong>to</strong>.Bo-u sh’arav b’<strong>to</strong>dah,Hatseirotav bit’hilah,Hodu lo, bar’chu sh’mo.Ki <strong>to</strong>v Adonai, l’olam has’do,V’ad dor vador emuna<strong>to</strong>.Part IIAdonai ro-i, lo ehsar.Bin’ot deshe yarbitseini,Al mei m’nuhot y’nahaleini,Naf’shi y’shovev,Yan’heini b’ma’aglei tsedek,L’ma’an sh’mo.Gam ki eilechB’gei tsalmavet,Lo ira ra,Ki Atah imadi.Shiv’t’cha umishan’techaHemah y’nahamuni.Ta’aroch l’fanai shulchanNeged tsor’raiDishanta vashemen roshiCosi r’vayah.Ach <strong>to</strong>v vahesedYird’funi kol y’mei hayaiV’shav’ti b’veit AdonaiL’orech yamim.Lamah rag’shu goyimUl’umim yeh’gu rik?Yit’yats’vu malchei erets,V’roznim nos’du yahadAl Adonai v’al m’shiho.N’natkah et mos’roteimo,V’nashlichah mimenu avoteimoYoshev bashamayimYis’hak, AdonaiYil’ag lamo!Make a joyful noise un<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Lord all ye lands.Serve <strong>the</strong> Lord with gladness.Come before his presence with singing.Know ye that <strong>the</strong> Lord, He is God.It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselvesWe are His people and <strong>the</strong> sheep of His pasture.Enter in<strong>to</strong> His gates with thanksgiving,And in<strong>to</strong> His courts with praise.Be thankful un<strong>to</strong> Him, and bless His name.For <strong>the</strong> Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting.And His truth endureth <strong>to</strong> all generations.Psalm 100, entireThe Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.He maketh me <strong>to</strong> lie down in green pastures,He leadeth me beside <strong>the</strong> still waters,He res<strong>to</strong>reth my soul,He leadeth me in <strong>the</strong> paths of righteousness,For His name’s sake.Yea, though I walkThrough <strong>the</strong> valley of <strong>the</strong> shadow of death,I will fear no evil,For Thou art with me.Thy rod and Thy staffThey comfort me.Thou preparest a table before meIn <strong>the</strong> presence of mine enemies,Thou annointest my head with oil,My cup runneth over.Surely goodness and mercyShall follow me all <strong>the</strong> days of my life,And I will dwell in <strong>the</strong> house of <strong>the</strong> LordForever.Psalm 23, entireWhy do <strong>the</strong> nations rage,And <strong>the</strong> people imagine a vain thingThe kings of <strong>the</strong> earth set <strong>the</strong>mselves,And <strong>the</strong> rulers take counsel <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>rAgainst <strong>the</strong> Lord and against His anointed.Saying, let us break <strong>the</strong>ir bonds asunder,And cast away <strong>the</strong>ir cords from us.He that sitteth in <strong>the</strong> heavensShall laugh, and <strong>the</strong> LordShall have <strong>the</strong>m in derision!Psalm 2, verses 1-4Part IIIAdonai, Adonai,Lo gavah libi,V’lo ramu einai,V’lo hilachtiBig’dolot uv’niflaotMimeni.Im lo shivitiV’domam’ti,Naf’shi k’gamul alei imo,Kagamul alai naf’shi.Yahel Yis’rael el AdonaiMe’atah v’ad olam.Lord, Lord,My heart is not haughty,Nor mine eyes lofty,Nei<strong>the</strong>r do I exercise myselfIn great matters or in thingsToo wonderful for me <strong>to</strong> understand.Surely I have calmedAnd quieted myself,As a child that is weaned of his mo<strong>the</strong>r,My soul is even as a weaned child.Let Israel hope in <strong>the</strong> LordFrom henceforth and forever.Psalm 131, entireHineh mah <strong>to</strong>v,Umah naim,Shevet ahimGam yahad.Behold how good,And how pleasant it is,For brethren <strong>to</strong> dwellToge<strong>the</strong>r in unity.Psalm 133, verse 1
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