The Dove is
Launched!
22nd November
2013
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A true sense of occasion was experienced
at All Saints’ Church on Friday November 22, when we
celebrated both the one hundredth birthday of Benjamin
Britten and the world première of our 2013 commission at
the annual Saint Cecilia’s Day concert – all in one
evening of spectacular music making! The audience
flocked to see and hear the Boys, Girls and Men of All
Saints, joined by wonderful soloists Jessica Smith
(soprano and former All Saints Head Chorister), James
Laing (counter-tenor), our very own singing teacher
Philip Slane (tenor), Bozidar Smiljanic (bass- |
baritone),
and, not forgetting, guest organist Richard McVeigh. We
were delighted to perform in partnership with musical
interludes from the talented members of TGI Dectet from
Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust. The
evening began with wine and raffle tickets to raise
money for the forthcoming New Year tour to Vienna, to be
undertaken by the girls and men.
The concert opened with an impressive performance of
Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, written in 1943, a
cantata for the four soloists, with the choir of boys
and men, accompanied by our Travis Organ Fellow, Hilary Punnett. A particular favourite of the choir, they gave
a moving rendition of Christopher Smart’s shocking text
written whilst in an asylum, with Isaac and Thomas from
the boys’ choir contributing a sweet consideration of
the cat, Jeoffrey!
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In the middle of each half of the programme the young
wind musicians from NMPAT then took to the stage,
performing works by Gordon Jacob, Mozart, Sullivan and
Weber.
The programme then continued with another of Britten’s
astonishing cantatas, Hymn to Saint Cecilia, performed
annually at All Saints on the great saint’s Feast Day,
and this year sung by the girls and men. This time
setting a poem by W. H. Auden – published with a
dedication ‘for Benjamin Britten’ – Britten again
intersperses |
choral sections
with virtuosic solo passages as each voice in term
describes a different musical instrument. We were
honoured with spectacular performances from Jessica,
James, Philip and Boz.
For the final work before the interval, the boys and the
girls took to the stage, directed by Hilary, with Lee at
the piano. In collaboration with a nationwide Britten100
event, they performed Britten’s witty selection of songs
for children’s voices, Friday Afternoons. Whilst perhaps
now somewhat late than the time suggested in the title,
this Friday evening’s performance was no less spirited
for that, and the children performed with evident
enjoyment in the quirky and original settings of the
frequently nonsensical words.
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After the interval, the audience settled back down for
the world premiere of our 2013 commission from Jonathan
Dove, the 17 minute ‘dialogue for solo countertenor and
choir with organ’: Out of the Whirlwind. The choirs
assembled in silence on the steps, and then suddenly the
organs roared into an explosion of sound, as Hilary Punnet
(chancel organ) and Richard McVeigh (gallery Organ)
depicted the devastating strength of the whirlwind.
Through the winds was heard the desperate voice of Job
(sung by counter-tenor James Laing), crying out |
to the God
he fears has abandoned him. Fresh from his
debut at the Royal Opera House, James was mesmerising,
performing his dramatic solos from the
aisle, pacing in and out of the circling winds. We were
honoured to have Jonathan Dove, the composer, present
for the performance, and he particularly noted how
‘seeing Jamie in black against the choir's great wall of
red was an incredibly dramatic beginning’, as Jamie sung
out the pleading words of Job, answered by The Voice of
God, represented by the choir and STB soloists.
Intentionally a homage to Britten’s great Festival
anthems, the work was spectacular, shocking, sublime and
mesmerising all in turn, as Job argued and battled with
God, before finally moving to join the choir on the
steps, as he accepted that God ‘canst do everything’,
before moving into a final ‘Hallelujah’, echoed by the
choir. The stunned audience sat in silence as its
conclusion, as the beautiful final chorus died away in
the dark church, before breaking into rapturous
applause, as the soloists, organists, choristers and the
composer himself took their bows. Dove later wrote,
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Thank you so much
for last night's electrifying premiere of Out of the
whirlwind! The choir really gave it everything, and
their powerful spirit sang out with radiance. The
organists were thrilling, and also accompanied skilfully
and sensitively. |
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It was an honour to work with a composer as creative and
generous as Jonathan Dove, and a wonderful experience to
perform such a work on a day dedicated to a celebration
of all things musical, but particularly this year, on
the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth, a composer
who changed the future of choral music. An evening of
spectacular music-making that those present will never
forget. |
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