Programme
the summer
is coming
English Madrigals
for Midsummer’s Eve
Saturday 21st June 2014
Founded by graduates from Cambridge chapel choirs, the Godwine Choir was set
up to capture the atmosphere of chamber music at university and bring it to
London as part of professional life.
The group is made up of sixteen enthusiastic young singers who rehearse together
weekly at St George the Martyr in Borough. We encourage every member to develop
vocally by selecting a wide range of challenging repertoire, both well-known and
little-heard.
This evening, The Godwine Choir performs its inaugural concert in celebration of
Midsummer’s Eve. The Summer is Coming features a mix of religious and secular
English madrigals from the Renaissance to the modern day. We're incredibly excited
to perform these pieces in St George the Martyr, a church of great majesty with a
reverberant acoustic.
We hope you enjoy the concert.
PROGRAMME
Salvator mundi | Thomas Tallis
Thule, the period of cosmography | Thomas Weelkes
When David heard | Thomas Tomkins
My bonny lass she smileth | Thomas Morley
Lay a garland | Robert Pearsall
Mother, I will have a husband | Thomas Vautor
INTERVAL
My spirit sang all day | Gerald Finzi
The blue bird | Charles Villiers Stanford
Full fathom five | Charles Wood
I love my love | Gustav Holst
The long day closes | Arthur Seymour Sullivan
My soul, there is a country | Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
The summer is coming | Herbert Howells
A good-night | Richard Rodney Bennett
NOTES
We begin with a Renaissance masterpiece by Thomas Tallis. In a career
overshadowed by the religious turmoil of the Tudor period, Tallis skilfully adapted his
style to suit the demands of successive monarchs. This Salvator Mundi dates from
1575 – around the time that intricate polyphony was coming back into fashion after
years of pedestrian puritanical music.
The emotional intensity is redoubled by Thomas Weelkes as we encounter Thule,
The Period of Cosmography. He transports us to the volcano at the edge of the
world, somewhere in the frozen north. As the six voices interweave, Thule is
compared to the Icelandic volcano Hecla, which erupts with dramatic scales.
Harmonically Weelkes is equally inventive, with strange chords accompanying this
wond’rous sight.
Our next piece has an altogether more introverted mood. When David Heard is a
devastatingly stark depiction of grief dating from 1622. Thomas Tomkins was a
prolific composer, his canon encompassing a plethora of madrigals, anthems and
services. In this setting of II Samuel, Tomkins’ bittersweet coda is particularly
poignant, the major tonality clashing with heartrending sobs for Absalom, my son.
In the remainder of our first half, two Renaissance madrigals are separated by one of
the most beautiful 19th Century part-songs. Both My Bonny Lass she Smileth and
Mother I Will Have a Husband are light-hearted, energetic works; the Vautor is
particularly vivacious in its depiction of wilful adolescence. The contrast with Robert
Pearsall's Lay a Garland is stark. Pearsall was largely self-taught in composition,
working primarily as a barrister, but Lay a garland is a true masterpiece of intricately
layered writing, building into aching suspensions and resolutions.
Our second half opens with a setting of Robert Bridges' glorious text, My spirit sang
all day. Here, Gerald Finzi's fluid metre and deeply expressive word painting carry
through to the exultant climax: 'Thou art my joy!'. This is followed by the stillness of
The Blue Bird, an evocative picture of a serene lake; the passing bird is represented
here by an evanescent soprano solo.
Full Fathom Five is a lively setting of words from Shakespeare's The Tempest, but
Gustav Holst's arrangement of I Love my Love, a Cornish folk-song, is one of the
most moving works in the programme. Over six verses, the music evokes a story of
love lost and rediscovered, ingeniously dramatised by the composer, as the choir
take on the roles of narrator and the two protagonists.
Sir Arthur Sullivan set the words of Henry Chorley’s poem The Long Day Closes to
music with meditative simplicity in 1868. There are undoubtedly elements of
contemplation on death and rebirth. But at heart this piece remains a peaceful
reflection on the beauty of eventide.
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry might well be described as the forefather of 20th
century English music: Vaughan Williams, Holst and Ireland numbered among his
students, while his contemporary Elgar described him as “the head of our art in this
country”. His music is often deeply personal, as in his valedictory motet My Soul,
There is a Country. Parry sets Henry Vaughan’s text with dreamlike hope, a plea for
salvation during the darkest days of World War I.
Our penultimate work echoes the concert title, The Summer is Coming, and was
composed in 1964 in memory of Arnold Bax. Rather than stereotypical summer
imagery, Bryan Guiness’ text conveys a curious nostalgia for the past Spring, with its
wild geese and young cows. Appropriately, Herbert Howells conjures an atmosphere
of pagan mysticism in the opening solo exchanges. Although this haunting mood
never entirely abates, the enveloping warmth of nature eventually shines through
courtesy of some characteristically dense harmony.
We finish with a lullaby; Richard Rodney Bennett composed A Good Night in 1999
for Paul McCartney in memory of his late wife Linda.The work maintains a childlike
innocence throughout, reminiscent of twilight birdsong at bedtime. Keen listeners will
also notice parallels with Rodney Bennett’s most famous film score, “Four Weddings
and a Funeral”. His love of jazz pervades the texture, particularly in the serene closing
bars.
Salvator mundi
Thomas Tallis
Salvator mundi,
salva nos, qui per crucem
et sanguinem redemisti nos:
auxiliare nobis, te deprecamur,
Deus noster.
Saviour of the world,
who by Thy cross
and blood has redeemed us:
save us and help us, we beseech Thee
our Lord.
Thule, the period of cosmography
Thomas Weelkes
Thule, the period of cosmography,
Doth vaunt of Hecla, whose sulphurious fire
Doth melt the frozen clime and thaw the sky;
Trinacrian Etna's flames ascend not higher:
These things seem wond’rous, yet more wond’rous I,
Whose heart with fear doth freeze, with love doth fry.
When David heard
Thomas Tomkins
When David heard that Absalom was slain
he went up to his chamber over the gate and wept;
and thus he said: O my son, my son, Absalom my son,
would God I had died for thee, O Absalom my son.
My bonny lass she smileth
Thomas Morley
My bonny lass she smileth,
when she my heart beguileth.
Smile less, dear love, therefore,
and you shall love me more.
When she her sweet eye turneth,
O, how my heart it burneth!
Dear love, call in their light,
or else you burn me quite!
Lay a garland
Robert Pearsall
Lay a garland on her hearse
Of dismal yew.
Maidens, willow branches wear,
Say she died true.
Her love was false, but she was firm
Upon her buried body lie
lightly, thou gentle earth.
Mother, I will have a husband
Thomas Vautor
Mother, I will have a husband,
And I will have him out of hand.
Mother, I will sure have one,
In spite of her that will have none.
John-a-Dun should have had me long ere this,
He said I had good lips to kiss.
Mother, I will sure have one,
In spite of her that will have none.
For I have heard 'tis trim when folks do love,
By good Sir John I swear now I will prove,
Mother I will sure have one,
In spite of her that will have none.
To the town therefore will I gad,
To get me a husband good or bad.
Mother I will have a husband,
And I will have him out of hand.
Mother, I will sure have one,
In spite of her that will have none.
INTERVAL
My spirit sang all day
Gerald Finzi
My spirit sang all day
O my joy.
Nothing my tongue could say,
Only my joy!
My heart an echo caught
O my joy
And spake,
Tell me thy thought,
Hide not thy joy.
My eyes gan peer around,
O my joy
What beauty hast thou found?
Shew us thy joy.
My jealous ears grew whist;
O my joy
Music from heaven is't,
Sent for our joy?
She also came and heard;
O my joy,
What, said she, is this word?
What is thy joy?
And I replied,
O see, O my joy,
'Tis thee, I cried, 'tis thee:
Thou art my joy.
The blue bird
Charles Villiers Stanford
The lake lay blue, below the hill.
O’er it, as I looked there flew
Across the waters cold and still,
A bird whose wings were palest blue.
The sky above was blue at last.
The sky beneath me blue in blue;
A moment, ere the bird had passed,
It caught his image as he flew.
The lake lay blue below the hill.
Full fathom five
Charles Wood
Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Hark! now I hear them - ding-dong bell.
I love my love
Gustav Holst
Abroad as I was walking, one evening in the spring,
I heard a maid in Bedlam so sweetly for to sing;
Her chains she rattled with her hands, and thus replied she:
"I love my love because I know my love loves me.
O cruel were his parents who sent my love to sea,
And cruel was the ship that bore my love from me;
Yet I love his parents since they're his although they've ruined me:
I love my love because I know my love loves me.
With straw I'll weave a garland, I'll weave it very fine;
With roses, lilies, daisies, I'll mix the eglantine;
And I'll present it to my love when he returns from sea.
For I love my love, because I know my love loves me."
Just as she sat there weeping, her love he came on land,
Then hearing she was in Bedlam, he ran straight out of hand;
He flew into her snow-white arms, and thus replied he:
"I love my love, because I know my love loves me.“
She said: "My love don't frighten me; are you my love or no?"
"O yes, my dearest Nancy, I am your love, also
I am return'd to make amends for all your injury;
I love my love because I know my love loves me."
So now these two are married, and happy may they be
Like turtle doves together, in love and unity.
All pretty maids with patience wait that have got loves at sea;
I love my love because I know my love loves me.
The long day closes
Arthur Seymour Sullivan
No star is o'er the lake,
Its pale watch keeping;
The moon is half awake,
Through grey mist creeping.
The last red leaves fall round
the porch of roses,
The clock hath ceased to sound,
The long day closes.
Sit by the silent hearth
In calm endeavour,
To count the sounds of mirth,
Now dumb for ever.
Heed not how hope believes,
And fate disposes.
Shadow is round the eaves.
The long day closes.
The lighted windows dim
Are fading slowly.
The fire that was so trim
Now quivers lowly.
Go to the dreamless bed
Where grief reposes.
Thy book of toil is read,
The long day closes.
My soul, there is a country
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
My soul, there is a country
Far beyond the stars,
Where stands a winged sentry
All skilful in the wars:
There, above noise and danger
Sweet Peace sits crowned with smiles
And One, born in a manger
Commands the beauteous files.
He is thy gracious friend,
And, O my soul, awake!
Did in pure love descend
To die here for thy sake.
If thou canst get but thither,
There grows the flow'r of Peace,
The Rose that cannot wither,
Thy fortress and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges,
For none can thee secure
But One who never changes,
Thy God, thy life, thy cure.
The summer is coming
Herbert Howells
The summer is coming over the hills.
The milk of the blackthorn
Is bursting and spills;
All day the cuckoo in County Mayo
Breathes like a flute
As he flits high and low.
Dark is the turf,
And grey is the stone
And sad is the sky,
Sad for the wild geese gone.
But the gleaming coat
Of the grass begins
Under the golden
Brooch of the whins.
The black boats walk
On the silver strand,
Like beetles that go
On the edge of the land;
The black boats tilt
On the western waves;
Black heifers stand
Over the old green graves.
The summer is coming over the sea,
And lights with soft kisses
On you and on me.
All day the cuckoo in County Mayo
Breathes like a flute
As he flits high and low.
A good-night
Richard Rodney Bennett
Close now thine eyes and rest secure;
Thy soul is safe enough, thy body sure;
He that loves thee, he that keeps
And guards thee, never slumbers, never sleeps.
The smiling conscience in a sleeping breast
Has only peace, only rest;
The music and the mirth of Kings
Are all but very discords when she sings.
Then close thine eyes and rest secure;
No sleep so sweet as thine, no rest so sure.
CHOIr
Soprano
Sara Anderson
Alto
Hannah Fiddy
Camilla Biggs
Jo Hale
Sophie Hopkins
Sophie Henstridge
Helen Hugh-Jones
Ellen Reading
Emily Tidbury
Tenor
Alex Davan Wetton
Bass
Hugh Collins
Jamie Hodgson
Richard Pelmore
Edward Hughes
William Robertson
Tom Sharp
Soloists: Camilla Biggs, Emily Tidbury, Helen Hugh-Jones and Sophie Henstridge
Conductors: Edward Hughes and Alex Davan Wetton
OUR THANKS
We would like to thank the staff at St George the Martyr for all their kind
assistance and for allowing us to rehearse and perform in their church.
We would also like to thank Revd Stephen Stavrou and The Guy’s Chapel
for providing us with a rehearsal space.
COMING NEXT
Autumn concert
7.30pm Saturday 13 September
Join us as we follow the changing seasons with music for autumn.
Music and readings for remembrance
7.30pm Saturday 15 November
In November we take time to reflect with music for hope and remembrance.
Carol concert: Darkness into Light
8.00pm Saturday 13 December
In December we anticipate the coming light of Christmas with Advent carols.
Keep up to date with our events at www.godwinechoir.org