ANU CHORAL SOCIETY
(SCUNA)
A CONCERT OF MUSIC
by
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
University House, Canberra 12 August 1976
PROGRAMME
Gaudeamus Igitur - Traditional
l. THREE ELIZABETHAN PART SONGS - unaccompanied SATB Chorus 2. FIVE MYSTICAL SONGS - Baritone solo, Chorus and Piano Geoffrey Brennan, Baritone and Marie Van Hove, Piano
I N T E R V A L
3. FIVE SONGS FROM "SONGS OF TRAVEL" - Baritone solo and Piano Geoffrey Brennan and Marie Van Hove 4. MASS IN G MINOR - Soli (SATB) and Double Chorus, A Capella SOLOISTS - - Frances Dixon, Soprano Susan Flannery, Alto Raymond Gorringe, Tenor Geoffrey Brennan, Bass
Directed by Brian Hingerty
(Patrons are reminded that Wine and Cheese will be served at the entrance to the hall during the interval)
NOTES ON THE PROGRAMME
Three Elizabethan Part Songs Sweet Day; The Willow Song; 0 Mistress Mine These three part songs are amongst Vaughan-Williams's earliest published works, having been written in 1895 and revised in 1912. Sweet Day is a setting of a poem by George Herbert; the other two are two songs from Shakes- peare's plays. The music immediately illustrates the two perennial influences on Vaughan-Williams's style - English music of the Tudor period, and English folk-song. The subtle use of polyphony, the juxtaposing of modes to provide an ambiguous tonal backdrop (particularly notice- able in The Willow Song), the occasional use of parallel fourths, all combine to lend these slight works a lyrical charm that points the way to the composer's future choral writing. Five Mystical Songs Easter; I got me flowers; Love bade me welcome; The call; Antiphon. This song cycle, published in 1911, comprises five poems of George Herbert, and it is the poet's restrained mysticism which governs the structure of the songs. The original setting is for baritone, chorus and orchestra, but Vaughan-Williams also arranged the work for baritone, chorus, and piano. The latter forces will be used for tonight's performance. Vaughan-Williams served his musical apprenticeship chiefly writing vocal and choral music, and it is therefore no surprise that he had by 1911 achieved the technical mastery displayed in these songs. (This is not to say that he lacked in under- standing of orchestral composition; the Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis was written at about this time.) The com- poser's grasp of musical structure is to be seen as much in
At least one page of programme notes is missing. Either I missed it when I scanned it, or it wasn't present. Anyone who can provide the missing text, please me.
Mass in G. Minor Kyrie; Gloria; Credo; Sanctus; Osanna I; Benedictus; Osanna II; Agnus Dei. In view of the immediate appeal of this work for both listeners and performers, it is hardly surprising that it occupies a place among the standard works of the unaccompanied choral reper- toire. The Mass, published in 1922, and given its first liturgical performance in Westminster Cathedral in 1923, is uncharacter- istic of Vaughan Williams, yet, paradoxically, no-one else could have written it. The modal tonalities on which the Mass is largely based, and the use of plainsong reflect the ever-present influences of folk-song and Tudor music, but the almost total avoidance of dissonance, even in the agitato sections of the Agnus Dei, and the solemn processions of parallel fifths and octaves in which the work abounds are hardly what one expects of Vaughan Williams. Maintaining the internal coherence of a mass is always something of a problem for a modern composer. Vaughan Williams solves this problem by casting the central movements (Gloria and Credo) in similar style, and surrounding them with outer movement in which the same thematic material is used. Thus the Gloria and the Credo are characterised by forthright antiphonal declamations from the two choirs, culminating in the arching phrases of the respective Amen choruses. The Sanctus -- Osanna I -- Benedictus -- Osanna II alternates lyrical, restrained material in the first and third sections with sturdier onward-pressing double-choir work in the Osannas, reminis- cent of the Gloria and Credo. Framing the work, the Kyrie and Agnus Dei contain much common thematic material, the soloists and chorus each singing music in the last move- ment given to the other in the opening movement. The mass closes in a glow of splendour which dies gradually away as the opening phrase of the whole work is echoed softly in the choir. -- MARK HYMAN
THE ANU CHORAL SOCIETY
SOPRANOS -- BASSES --
Robin Bennett Tony Cutten
Trudy Bennett Erik Davids
Valerie Brown Tony Dooley
Alison Currie Reg Hamilton
Gillian Currie Mark Hyman
Gillian Dooley Stefan Karpiniec
Margot Haenke Philip Linford
Neidra Jennaway Colin Loughhead
Christine Kallir Mark Penman
Mary Kelly Michael Ryan
Meg MacDonald Peter Stolz
Sue Pain George Szuty
Elaine Ramsay Philip Zachariah
Fiona Smith
Kathy Warth ALTOS --
Leslie Wheeler Sue Baldwin
Alison Whish John Collis
Christine Wilson Elizabeth Dooley
Barbara Hurst
TENORS -- Martine Letts
Ian Bollen Margaret Nettle
Richard Dixon Camilla Webster
Chris McDermott Annabel Wheeler
Robert Taylor
Philip Thomas
THE 1976 COMMITTEE
President Alison Whish Secretary Robert K.L. Taylor Treasurer Fiona R. Smith Immediate Past President Kathy Warth Librarian Colin Loughhead Publicity Officer Gillian Dooley First Year Rep Richard Barrett General Rep Annabel Wheeler Concert Manager Richard Dixon