Benjamin Britten
Spring Symphony

Spring Symphony op.44 Benjamin Britten 1913-1976

The 40s decade proved to be a particularly important and influential period in Britten’s life. It had begun with a major orchestral work the Sinfonia da Requiem (1940) and a prolonged visit to North America as a conscientious objector to the Second World War. The opera Peter Grimes, perhaps the most startling and successful of all his operas appeared in 1945 and it was during this time that the artistic influence and personal companionship of Peter Pears began to dominate his life. The Spring Symphony was written in 1949, a commission, like Peter Grimes, from Boston Symphony Orchestra’s conductor Serge Koussevitsky, although it was premiered by the Concertgebouw at the 1949 Holland Festival. The composer explained the Symphony as “not only dealing with the Spring itself but with the progress of Winter to Spring and the reawakening of the earth and of life”. The implications for a nation and a world emerging from the horrors of war are obvious. The important contribution of a youth choir and the forward-looking optimism of the work, its structure and style make it one of the most interesting as well as important post-war British symphonies. The structure is based on a traditional four-movement symphony, with parts one, two and three (corresponding to the first, slow and scherzo movements) divided into shorter contrasting sections. Only the extended finale is written in one single joyous poem. The result is closer to a baroque or classical scheme, shorter sections structured through the text or the use of baroque ritornello form rather than the longer developed “argument” of the romantic symphony. It is an example, typical of post-war composition, where ideas from previous centuries have been borrowed in radically new ways to produce a breath of fresh air in the established context of the British pastoral scene.

Part one begins with a slow introduction dominated by chorus and percussion followed by traditional spring references the ´Merry Cuckoo`, ´Spring`, and ´The Driving Boy` which uses the children’s chorus for the first time. The second part has solos for alto and tenor followed by a setting of the W.H. Auden poem ´Out on the lawn I lie in bed` surely the emotional core of the whole work. Part three has three brief sections, a tenor solo, a tenor and soprano duet and the chorus setting of Blake’s ´Sound the flute`. The rhapsodic finale uses all three soloists, the large orchestra complete with awakening blasts from a cowhorn and at its climax the children’s choir projects the famous medieval tune ´Sumer is icumen in` in duple time, against the triple time of the chorus and the orchestra; an inspired moment using what is often referred to as the earliest example of English secular song to cement the composer’s vision for the future.

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Dona Nobis Pacem

Dona Nobis Pacem Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Completed in 1936 for the centenary celebrations of the Huddersfield Choral Society, this choral cantata is the equivalent of the 4th Symphony, an angry warning by a composer with a social conscience, commenting on the increasingly disturbing political scene of the thirties. The cantata, for soprano and baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra, is in five movements: Agnus Dei; Beat! Beat! Drums!; Reconciliation; Dirge for Two Veterans and The Angel of Death. The second, third and fourth movements are setting of poems by Walt Whitman. Vaughan Williams had already set Dirge for Two Veterans in 1911. The fifth Movement opens with a setting of words spoken to the House of Commons by the 19th Century social reformer and orator John Bright at the time of the Crimean War. It also includes extracts from the Old Testament books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Haggai and an adaptation of verses from Micah, Leviticus, Psalms, Isaiah and the Gospel of St Luke.

Agnus Dei After a peremptory summons from the brass, the first movement begins slowly in a prayer, he soprano soloist sings softly Agnus Dei to a modal melody, with the strings accompanying. The basses lead the chorus into Dona nobis pacem in alternating loud and soft phrases, closing very quietly with a solo pacem, accompanied by the lower strings.

Beat! Beat! Drums! The trumpets introduce the chorus with a fanfare and the chorus bursts out martially Beat! beat! drums! – blow! Bugles! Blow! The action rattles on until a legato section Into the solemn church takes over, followed by Over the traffic of cities – with an allusion to the London Symphony, written in 1914. A slower section continues, ruthlessly, Mind not the old man beseeching the young man and Make even the trestles to shake the dead. A postlude for the brass and restless triplets from the timpani lead directly into the following movement, which is in complete contrast.

Reconciliation After a soothing melodic introduction by the orchestra, the baritone sings of the time when war and all its consequences will have passed, the chorus quietly reiterating these sentiments. The soloist meditates without hatred on his dead enemy – A man divine as myself and the pathos is reflected in the unaccompanied chorus Word over all. The soprano closes the movement with an ethereal Dona nobis pacem.

Dirge for Two Veterans The orchestral introduction is a funeral march, with sombre semiquavers from the timpani, starting very quietly and growing in intensity as a procession approaches. The chorus sings a funeral ode, The last sunbeam. The sopranos paint a moonlit landscape and the chorus, in simple A minor harmonies, tell of the sad procession. At I hear the great drums the mood becomes profound and martial, with the brass adding their weight. It becomes clear, as the procession reaches the grave, that two soldiers are mourned, father and son, for a double grave awaits them. The hammer blows in the orchestra underline the words of the chorus: Blow of the great convulsive drums. Nevertheless, the texture lightens on For the son is brought to the father and the chorus sings, poignantly, And the double grave awaits them. As the bugles come closer and the drums become more compelling, a triple fortissimo orchestral interlude marches onwards. A ghostly pianissimo section In the eastern sky likens the vast phantom of the moon to a mother’s face. The basses sing What I have I also give you and the chorus finishes quietly on My heart gives you love, with the orchestral postlude continuing to the incessant rhythm of the timpani.

The Angel of Death This, the longest movement, is arranged in sections for each source of text. The Angel of Death words are declaimed by the bass soloist, accompanied by deep, sinister bass octaves in the orchestra. The anguished pleas by the chorus and solo soprano Dona nobis pacem emphasise Bright’s cry for peace. In the next section, We looked for peace, Old Testament words are applied to the present desolation. The baritone intones O man greatly beloved and, after an orchestral interlude, the bass chorus enters on Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation. After a short linking section in C major, Open to me the gates of righteousness, the chorus progresses through a series of keys increasingly outgoing mood. Until the climax is reached on Glory to God in the highest, Goodwill toward men, to the accompaniment of bells. The final Goodwill toward men is quiet and, after a last Dona nobis pacem from the solo soprano, the movement finishes very quietly on Pacem, with deep chords of C major.

Alison Smart
Soprano

Alison Smart read Classics at Cambridge University, furthering her studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, Trinity College of Music, with Teresa Cahill and, currently, with Marie Hayward-Segal.

Alison Smart’s operatic engagements have included Third Herd Girl Peer Gynt at the Salzburg Festival, Mary Magdalene Passion and Resurrection at the Brighton Festival, Drusilla L’Incoronazione di Poppea for the Cavalli Baroque Ensemble, Pamina The Magic Flute for Surrey Opera and Celia Iolanthe at the BBC Proms.

In concert, Alison Smart has sung with the BBC Concert Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Hanover Band and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, under conductors such as Stephen Cleobury, Sir Andrew Davis, Jane Glover and Sir Roger Norrington as well as with choral societies throughout the UK.

Her recordings include Messiah with the English Symphony Orchestra (Nimbus), Rodrigo Ausencias de Dulcinea with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI) and Peripheral Visions – British works for voice and piano since 1970, which was selected as a Sunday Times CD of the Week (Metier).

Her current engagements include the St Matthew Passion (Exeter Festival), Israel in Egypt (Wells Cathedral), Messiah Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham), Haydn Maria-Theresa Mass (St John’s, Smith Square) and Rutter Mass for the Children (Arundel Cathedral).

Cari Searle
Mezzo soprano

Born in Sheffield, Cari Searle studied at Chethams School of Music before reading Music at Sheffield University. She furthered her studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she won scholarships from the Countess of Munster Trust and the Peter Moores Foundation as well as the Curtis Gold Medal Award and the Brigitte Fassbänder Special Award for Lieder. She was also a finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and a Prize Winner at the National Mozart Competition. Her operatic engagements have included Florence Pike Albert Herring, Amastris Serse and Baba the Turk The Rake’s Progress for British Youth Opera, Bianca The Rape of Lucretia for the Britten-Pears School, Suzuki Madama Butterfly and Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Holland Park and Inez The Gondoliers at the Covent Garden Festival.

Cari Searle’s concert engagements have the J. S. Bach Magnificat with the Northern Chamber Orchestra, St John Passion at Sheffield Cathedral, Copland In the beginning in Derby Cathedral, Sea Pictures with the Chester Philharmonic Orchestra, Messiah at the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, Elijah with the Manchester Camerata and Mozart Requiem in Murcia Cathedral, Spain. Future engagements include Suzuki Madama Butterfly for Opera Project and Elijah in Sheffield Cathedral.

Sean Clayton
Tenor

Born in Wolverhampton, Sean Clayton began his training at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Julian Pike. He has taken part in Masterclasses with distinguished artists including Sarah Walker, Julius Drake, David Josefowitz, Andrew King, Adrian Thompson and Stephen Varcoe and already sung under the direction of conductors including Stephen Barlow, Adrian Brown, Paul Goodwin, John Lubbock, Barry Rose and Jeffrey Skidmore.

Recent concert highlights have included Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte and Britten Winter Words at the Birmingham Conservatoire Recital Hall, Berlioz Messe Solennelle with the Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra, The Creation for the Derby Cathedral Jubilee Festival, Mozart Requiem at St Martin-in-the-Fields, The Crucifixion in Bath Abbey, A Child of Our Time at the Adrian Boult Hall and A Christmas Concert with the Sherwell Chamber Orchestra. He has also worked extensively with Ex Cathedra including performances at Early Music Festivals in Lichfield, Lyon and Paris as well as recording Music for the Sun King and New World Symphonies for Hyperìon.

Sean Clayton's current engagements include Giocondo La pietra del paragone (Stanley Hall Opera), the B Minor Mass (Highgate Choral Society), St John Passion (Symphony Hall, Birmingham), St Matthew Passion (Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham; St John’s, Smith Square), Acis Acis and Galatea (Stratford-upon-Avon Choral Society), Mozart Requiem (Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool), A Child of Our Time (Rochester Cathedral) and a Gala Concert (Wells Festival Orchestra).

Sean Clayton is currently completing his studies on a scholarship at the Royal College of Music with Dr Neil Mackie.

Adrian Powter
Baritone

Adrian Powter was born in Cambridge. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where his roles included Tarquinius The Rape of Lucretia and the title role in the UK première of the baritone version of Massenet’s Werther.

On graduating, Adrian Powter joined Glyndebourne Festival Opera where he sang the Naval Captain Manon Lescaut and covered Guglielmo Così fan tutte and Schaunard La Bohème. In 2000, Adrian Powter created Philip in Harrison Birtwistle’s The Last Supper at the Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin, in a production, which was later presented by Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Operas, on London’s South Bank and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Other roles have included The Abbott Curlew River for the Aldeburgh Foundation in Japan, Jupiter Peleus and Thetis and The Lion Pyramus and Thisbe for Opera Restor’d, The Forester The Cunning Little Vixen for Surrey Opera, Guglielmo Così fan tutte for Opera Project, Figaro The Marriage of Figaro for Palace Opera, Dr Falke Die Fledermaus, Giuseppe The Gondoliers and Pish-Tush The Mikado for Carl Rosa Opera and Baron Douphol La Traviata at the Longborough Festival.

An experienced concert artist, Adrian Powter has appeared at Blackburn, Bury St Edmunds, Canterbury, Durham, Hereford and Salisbury Cathedrals, Southwell Minster and at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, and St John’s, Smith Square, as well as with the Darmstadt Hofkaelle under Wolfgang Seeliger singing Zebul Jephtha, the English Symphony Orchestra under William Boughton singing Messiah, the Hallé Orchestra under Kent Nagano singing Das klagende Lied and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Libor Pešek singing Sun Valley Serenade. In 2000 he gave the first performance of the orchestral version of Julian Phillips’ Swift Partitions for Muziek in de Maartenskerk in The Netherlands. Broadcast work has included Friday Night is Music Night with Catherine Bott and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth for Radio 2 and Opera Works, a series of opera masterclasses with Jonathan Miller, for BBC 2.

Future engagements include Leporello Don Giovanni for Garden Opera, Figaro The Marriage of Figaro at the Longborough Festival, Marullo Rigoletto for Mid-Wales Opera, Orsino Rienzi for Palace Opera, The Kingdom for Ripon Choral Society, The Creation for the Midland Festival Chorus, the Surrey Festival Chorus and at St Germans May Festival and Belshazzar’s Feast in Arundel Cathedral.

David Gibson
Conductor

David Gibson began his musical training as a chorister and Lay Clerk in Chichester Cathedral Choir. As an Organ Scholar, he later studied music at the universities of London and Sussex. He has worked extensively as a pianist and organist but has been a freelance conductor for the past twelve years, working with many of the top orchestras in the country, including the Philharmonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and the New London Sinfonia, which he founded in 1987. In 1991 he was appointed Assistant Director of Music and Chorus Master of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Since then he has worked for them as Guest Conductor, performing all the major G & S works together with Die Fledermaus and Orpheus in the Underworld throughout the UK. He is currently Musical Director of the Southampton Philharmonic Society, Basingstoke Choral Society, the Occam Singers and, since 1999 the Croydon Philharmonic Choir.

In 1994 he was appointed Musical Director of European Chamber Opera and took up a similar post with Opera Holland Park in 1996. He has also conducted extensively for Travelling Opera with repertoire including Carmen, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Magic Flute, Barber of Seville, La Bohème, Tosca, Madam Butterfly and Un Ballo in Maschera, performing in Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Italy, Barbados, and the USA.

Other engagements have included a return visit to the Barbados Opera Festival, a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Philharmonia and a series of concerts with the London Mozart Players as part of their 50th Anniversary. This included a world premiere of Michael Nyman's Suite from Drowning by Numbers. David has also worked as Musical Director in the West End for Raymond Gubbay in the highly successful D’Oyly Carte production of The Pirates of Penzance at the Queen’s Theatre.

Recent successes include further concerts with the London Mozart Players, a Michael Nyman opera at the Bridewell Theatre in London and a memorable performance of Belshazzar’s Feast with the New Queens Hall Orchestra. In 2002, he took up a new post as Director of Music of the Surrey Festival Choir, founded by Vaughan Williams.

Future plans include a series of concerts with the British Philharmonic Orchestra in Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Truro and the release of a debut CD with the Occam Singers.