Skip to main content
Read page text
page 4
PRESENTS...PRESENTS... Exclusive CD • Foreword by Sir Andrew Davis CBE • Essential listening VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A 150th anniversary celebration of the man and his music This O cial th Anniversary Publication includes: Exclusive CD with 26 tracks of recommended recordings In-depth features on the man and his music Reflections from leading interpreters Listening guide to key recordings VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 150thanniversary 1872 – 1958 1872 – 1958 FREE CD ‘Miniature gems’ Vaughan Williams crafted art songs with all the intimacy and finesse of a Fabergé egg. Three singers and an accompanist share their thoughts with Adrian Horsewood about what makes these works so special For many, Ralph Vaughan Williams occupies prime position in the pantheon of English art-song composers; there can be scarcely a singer or enthusiast who does not know ‘Silent Noon’, ‘Linden Lea’, or ‘The Vagabond’. But as with so many other aspects to Vaughan Williams’s life and music, delving past the bestknown songs reveals hidden layers and threads that run the whole length of the composer’s career. RVW is ‘the beating heart of the English song canon’, according to tenor Nicky Spence, fresh from recording On Wenlock Edge for the Hyperion label (release date: April 2022): ‘I’ve sung his music for as long as I can remember, and it’s always been a staple of my repertoire. What I love is that when you get down to working on them you realise that there is real depth there, so much more than just the image of the tweed-wearing, pastoral composer that we all know.’ For baritone Roderick Williams, whose RVW discography is perhaps the most extensive of any currently active singer, his love for the songs sprang from his long association with another part of the composer’s output: ‘I first got to know Vaughan Williams’s music through Roderick Williams, who has an extensive discography of RVW songs, was introduced to the genre ‘by stealth’ through the choral works SIMON VAN BOXTEL Like m thoug writes RVW and the Bard RLike many composers, Vaughan Williams was inspired by the works of Shakespeare, though the craft of writing incidental music to plays was a skill he learned on the job, writes Stephen Connock ‘S ‘S ha vie he 1998. Vaug a child whe Darwin. He Wives of Wi He began se including So He went on t with a librett of Windsor, t r,r from the last Thanksgiving Overall, VW music to the p hakespeare was the best friend he had’. This was the view of Ursula Vaughan Williams when discussing her late husband’s love of the playwright and poet in 1998. Vaughan Williams had first discovered Shakespeare as a child when he was given the complete edition by Caroline Darwin. He re-read all the plays in 1951, counting The Merry Wives of Windsor, Richard II and Henry V as his favourites. He began setting Shakespeare’s words to music in the 1890s, including Sonnet 71 and ‘O Mistress Mine’ from Twelfth Night. He went on to compose Sir John in Love (completed in 1928) with a libretto by the composer based on The Merry Wives of Windsor, the lovely Serenade to Music (1938) with lines from the last act of The Merchant of Venice, and the Song of Thanksgiving (1945) which included extracts from Henry V. Overall, VWwas to set Shakespeare’s texts, or write incidental music to the plays, over 20 times throughout his long career. Shakespeare also seems to have influenced the remarkable final movement of the Sixth Symphony (1947), in part an Shakespear final moveme TONY CRADDOCK TONY CRADDOCK evocation in sound of the ‘cloud-capp’d towers’ in The Tempest, as well as reflecting in music: ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.’ VW responded to the compassion, the insight, the humour and the nobility of Shakespeare. He also recognised that Shakespeare was thoroughly musical, a writer who thought deeply about music. VW took Shakespeare’s many references to English folk-ballads as supporting his own ‘national’ approach to music: ‘Shakespeare makes an international appeal for the very reason that he is so national and English in his outlook,’ he wrote in December 1944. Against this background, VWwas excited at the invitation by Archibald Flower on behalf of (Sir) Frank Benson to conduct the orchestra as well as write and arrange incidental music to a number of Shakespeare plays for the August 1912 and April-May 1913 seasons at Stratford. Benson (1858-1939) was an actor-manager who founded his own company in the spring of 1883, managing the Stratford Shakespearean Festival The statue of Stratford-upon-Avon’s famous playwright William Shakespeare towers over that of one of his best-known characters, Henry V– a favourite of RVW THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION £14.99 choirandorgan.com A th anniversary celebration Order your copy for £ . including free P&P for UK orders Visit www.magsubscriptions.com/vaughan-williams Call: ‚ ƒ„… (UK) or + ( ) „…… „ ‰ „ (Overseas)
page 5
JUNE 2023 VOLUME 31 NUMBER 5 CONTENTS www.choirandorgan.com EDITORIAL Phone +44 (0)7785 613144 Email maggie.hamilton@markallengroup.com Editor Maggie Hamilton Organ Editor and New Music Editor Matthew Power Designer Mary Holmes Editorial Advisory Board Thomas Allery, Chris Bragg, David Hill, Joy Hill, Graeme Kay, William McVicker, Matthew Power, Dobrinka Tabakova SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUES Phone UK 0800 137201 Overseas +44 1722 716997 Email subscriptions@markallengroup.com Subscriptions Manager Bethany Foy UK Subscription Rate £66.00 ADVERTISING Phone +44 (0)20 7333 1733 Email maria.barnes@markallengroup.com Title Manager Maria Barnes, +44 (0)7785 613 142 Production Daniela Di Padova, +44 (0)20 7333 1727 PUBLISHING Phone +44 (0)20 7738 5454 Head of Marketing John Barnett Marketing & Events Director Tony Hill Group Institutional Sales Manager Jas Atwal Production Director Richard Hamshere Circulation Director Sally Boettcher Editorial Director Martin Cullingford Managing Director Paul Geoghegan Chief Executive Officer Ben Allen Chairman Mark Allen www.markallengroup.com Part of Choir & Organ, ISSN 0968-7262, (USPS 7314), is published ten times a year by MA Music, Leisure & Travel Ltd, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB, United Kingdom. The US annual subscription price is $98.00. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named WN Shipping USA , 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA . Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Choir & Organ, WN Shipping USA , 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA . Subscription records are maintained at MA Music, Leisure & Travel Ltd, Unit A , Buildings 1-5 Dinton Business Park , Catherine Ford Road, Dinton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 5HZ. © MA Music, Leisure and Travel Ltd, 2023. All rights reserved. No part of Choir & Organ may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of the publishing director. The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the editor. The presence of advertisements in Choir & Organ implies no endorsement of the products or services offered. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of statements in this magazine but we cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions, or for matters arising from clerical or printers’ errors, or an advertiser not completing their contract . We have made every effort to secure permission to use copyright material. Where material has been used inadvertently or we have been unable to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue. Please read our privacy policy by visiting http://privacypolicy.markallengroup.com. This will explain how we process, use and safeguard your data. Printed in the UK by Pensord Press Ltd, Dowlais, CF48 3TD Newstrade distribution by Seymour 020 7429 4000 choirandorgan.com 36 32 26 13 SIR DAVID LUMSDEN OBITUARY As teacher, conservatoire principal, organist and choral director, he brought authority to all he did. 14 DAVID HILL IN CONVERSATION… Being inspired by David Willcocks and Philip Ledger, arranging music for Radio 2, and 12 years with The King’s Singers – just some of the ingredients that have helped to shape Bob Chilcott. SECONDARY COVER PHOTOGRAPH © MAGGIE HAMILTON 17 CITY OF LONDON Ever heard of Ann Mounsey Bartholomew or Edmund Thomas Chipp? An intriguing project has dug deep into the musical history of London’s Square Mile to unearth and record organ works by forgotten composers over the past 300 years. 21 BYRD 400 years after his death, we consider the enduring attraction of the liturgical works of a composer who successfully navigated the choppy seas of religious and political turmoil. 26 RECONSTRUCTING ENGLER COVER STORY C H O I R & O R G A N Two worlds of music, one magazine June 2023 UK £6.95 choirandorgan.com CELEBRATING BOB 30YEARS BOB CHILCOTT The composerconductor talks to David Hill see page 14 OUT OF THE ASHES How three organ building firms collaborated to reconstruct a Baroque organ destroyed by fire in the Basilica of St Elizabeth in Wrocław, Poland JU N E 2 0 2 3 V O L . 3 1 N O . 5 C R CHOIR & ORGAN OFFERS RVW’s Four Last Songs arranged for SATB see page 41 F in FREE MUSIC DOWNLOAD in our New Music section visit choirandorgan.com WILLIAM BYRD What is the enduring appeal of his liturgical music? THREE-WAY STREET How to make the most of commissioning new choral works SECRETS OF THE CITY A new project is bringing to light long-forgotten organ works When fire swept through a basilica in Wroclaw, it took with it an exceptional organ by Michael Engler – the last of his lifetime. Now, a trio of organ building firms has drawn on research to reconstruct the original instrument . COVER PHOTOGRAPH ARCHIVE KLAIS 32 CHORAL COMMISSIONING First , get to know the choir … how close collaboration between singers, conductor and composer can bear fruit in the creation of new choral repertoire. 36 MASCIONI ORGANS Step into the workshop of one of the oldest surviving organ builders in the world and you will find restoration work under way on a 1536 Antegnati/1826 Serassi organ. 43 GRAMOPHONE Dip into the magazine’s archive for some fascinating musical snapshots of the past century. REGULARS 6 News  |  12 Recital round-up  |  31 Digital digest  |  41 Readers’ offers  |  56 On release 52 TRAVELLER’S JOY Rare manuscripts and historic organs in Bologna. 57 REVIEWS Five stars for a Tagliavini recital; Gerald Hendrie’s organ works; Bairstow from Durham; Léon Berben plays Van Noordt and Titelouze; Bent Sørensen’s St Matthew Passion; Ligeti’s choral works; Requiems by Kerensa Briggs and Cecilia McDowall; a new edition of Scheidemann’s Choralfantasien; and Haydn’s Creation arranged for sopranos, altos and men. 66 ENCOUNTERS Ben Bloor, organist at The London Oratory. JUNE 2023 CHOIR & ORGAN 5

Page Text

View plaintext

PRESENTS...PRESENTS...

Exclusive CD • Foreword by Sir Andrew Davis CBE • Essential listening

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

A 150th anniversary celebration of the man and his music

This O cial th Anniversary Publication includes: Exclusive CD with 26

tracks of recommended recordings In-depth features on the man and his music Reflections from leading interpreters Listening guide to key recordings

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

150thanniversary

1872 – 1958

1872 – 1958

FREE CD

‘Miniature gems’

Vaughan Williams crafted art songs with all the intimacy and finesse of a Fabergé egg. Three singers and an accompanist share their thoughts with Adrian Horsewood about what makes these works so special

For many, Ralph Vaughan Williams occupies prime position in the pantheon of English art-song composers; there can be scarcely a singer or enthusiast who does not know ‘Silent Noon’, ‘Linden Lea’,

or ‘The Vagabond’. But as with so many other aspects to Vaughan Williams’s life and music, delving past the bestknown songs reveals hidden layers and threads that run the whole length of the composer’s career.

RVW is ‘the beating heart of the English song canon’, according to tenor Nicky Spence, fresh from recording On

Wenlock Edge for the Hyperion label (release date: April

2022): ‘I’ve sung his music for as long as I can remember, and it’s always been a staple of my repertoire. What I love is that when you get down to working on them you realise that there is real depth there, so much more than just the image of the tweed-wearing, pastoral composer that we all know.’

For baritone Roderick Williams, whose RVW discography is perhaps the most extensive of any currently active singer, his love for the songs sprang from his long association with another part of the composer’s output: ‘I first got to know Vaughan Williams’s music through

Roderick Williams, who has an extensive discography of RVW songs, was introduced to the genre ‘by stealth’ through the choral works

SIMON VAN BOXTEL

Like m thoug writes

RVW and the Bard

RLike many composers, Vaughan Williams was inspired by the works of Shakespeare, though the craft of writing incidental music to plays was a skill he learned on the job, writes Stephen Connock

‘S

‘S

ha vie he 1998. Vaug a child whe Darwin. He Wives of Wi He began se including So He went on t with a librett of Windsor, t r,r from the last Thanksgiving Overall, VW music to the p hakespeare was the best friend he had’. This was the view of Ursula Vaughan Williams when discussing her late husband’s love of the playwright and poet in 1998. Vaughan Williams had first discovered Shakespeare as a child when he was given the complete edition by Caroline Darwin. He re-read all the plays in 1951, counting The Merry Wives of Windsor, Richard II and Henry V as his favourites. He began setting Shakespeare’s words to music in the 1890s, including Sonnet 71 and ‘O Mistress Mine’ from Twelfth Night. He went on to compose Sir John in Love (completed in 1928) with a libretto by the composer based on The Merry Wives of Windsor, the lovely Serenade to Music (1938) with lines from the last act of The Merchant of Venice, and the Song of Thanksgiving (1945) which included extracts from Henry V. Overall, VWwas to set Shakespeare’s texts, or write incidental music to the plays, over 20 times throughout his long career. Shakespeare also seems to have influenced the remarkable final movement of the Sixth Symphony (1947), in part an

Shakespear final moveme

TONY CRADDOCK

TONY CRADDOCK

evocation in sound of the ‘cloud-capp’d towers’ in The Tempest, as well as reflecting in music: ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.’ VW responded to the compassion, the insight, the humour and the nobility of Shakespeare. He also recognised that Shakespeare was thoroughly musical, a writer who thought deeply about music. VW took Shakespeare’s many references to English folk-ballads as supporting his own ‘national’ approach to music: ‘Shakespeare makes an international appeal for the very reason that he is so national and English in his outlook,’ he wrote in December 1944.

Against this background, VWwas excited at the invitation by Archibald Flower on behalf of (Sir) Frank Benson to conduct the orchestra as well as write and arrange incidental music to a number of Shakespeare plays for the August 1912 and April-May 1913 seasons at Stratford. Benson (1858-1939) was an actor-manager who founded his own company in the spring of 1883, managing the Stratford Shakespearean Festival

The statue of Stratford-upon-Avon’s famous playwright William Shakespeare towers over that of one of his best-known characters, Henry V– a favourite of RVW

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION £14.99

choirandorgan.com

A th anniversary celebration

Order your copy for £ . including free P&P for UK orders Visit www.magsubscriptions.com/vaughan-williams Call: ‚ ƒ„… (UK) or + ( ) „…… „ ‰ „ (Overseas)

read next page

My Bookmarks

Buy this Book
Skip to main content