entente cordiale - godwine choir · repertoire. entente cordiale features evocative a capella works...

Entente Cordiale20th Century Choral Masterpieces

from England and France

Saturday 6th September 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 comprised of twenty talented 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 an eclectic programme of 20th century

repertoire. Entente Cordiale features evocative a capella works from both sides of the

Channel. We hope this voyage will soothe, amuse and exhilarate in equal measure.

We're incredibly excited to perform these pieces in St George the Martyr, a church of

great majesty with a reverberant acoustic.

Find out more about us at godwinechoir.org

Our concert begins with William Harris' (1883-1973) rich but ethereal motet for double

choir, Bring Us, O Lord God. After a quietly intense opening, Harris unfolds the text of

John Donne's prayer with interwoven antiphonal writing to present a truly

transcendental vision of heaven; the two choirs, separated through most of the piece,

are brought together in a thrilling climax.

Les Fleurs et les Arbres is the second of a pair of choruses by Camille Saint-Saëns

(1835-1921), who also wrote the text for both pieces. The works are ostensibly charming

descriptions of Nature and its relationship with Art, but Les Fleurs et les Arbres also

focusses on the consolation offered by the natural world.

In contrast, the poem set by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) in Heraclitus has an

unusual provenance: it was written around 260BC by Callimachus of Cyrene as an

epitaph for a friend, then translated and adapted by the Victorian schoolmaster William

Johnson Cory. Yet Stanford's music beautifully matches the words, giving a subtle

painting of grief, nostalgia and acceptance.

Haunting and atmospheric, O Magnum Mysterium was written by Francis Poulenc

(1899-1963) in 1952, shortly before he began composing Dialogues des Carmélites, the

opera which would dominate his life until 1956. In this first of four Christmas motets,

Poulenc gives us a delicate, intimate picture of the Nativity.

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) was known as an outstanding organist throughout his life,

working at Notre-Dame and St-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris. As a composer, he was deeply

self-critical and so only a handful of pieces were produced in his long career. A set of

motets is one of only four published choral works; all are based on Gregorian chants,

and the first is the peaceful Ubi Caritas.

Today, the part-songs of Edward Elgar (1857-1934) are often sadly neglected, but the

most famous is perhaps My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land. Elgar's lyrical writing

wonderfully dramatises Andrew Lang's vivid narrative, leading us from its opening

sadness to a moment of warmth, before an utterly desolate conclusion.

Claude Debussy's (1862-1918) Trois Chansons are settings of three Medieval poems by

Charles, Duke of Orléans. All are strikingly different: the first is a languid, adoring love-

song, the second a percussive call to a dance, and the third a furious outburst at the

cruelty of winter. But in each of them, Debussy cleverly uses modal harmonies to

reference the Middle Ages. The final song, Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain, accelerates

into a chaotic finale to finish our first half.

We commence the second half with a coquettish miniature detailing the misadventures

of young Nicolette. This cautionary tale wittily rephrases a well-known fairy story. The

music follows the text with comic aplomb, exploiting unusual vocal techniques to great

effect. Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) penned both the words and the score in late 1914,

dedicating them to his poet friend Tristan Klingsor.

Sir Charles Parry’s (1848-1918) unique and profound sound world emerges from the

remarkable fusion of German romanticism and Renaissance polyphony. The beautiful

result is showcased in his 1908 motet There is an Old Belief, scored for 6 voices. Here

he meditates on spirituality, life and death via exquisite melody and chromatic harmony.

The work was performed at Parry’s funeral in St. Paul’s Cathedral, adding further

poignancy to the sanguine closing chords.

Pierre Villette (1926-1998) is perhaps the least famous of our composers this evening.

A gifted musician, he wrote some eighty-one pieces for choir, orchestra and chamber

ensemble. Undoubtedly his most celebrated opus is the Hymne à la Vierge, which he

completed in 1955. This strophic setting is deceptively complex, incorporating cross

rhythms and jazz harmony.

First performed at Wells Cathedral in 2009, Justorum Animae is a minimalist vision of

heaven. Cluster chords and intertwining rhythms combine to create a nebulous mood,

angelic yet veiled. The central section introduces a dynamic urgency which mirrors the

uncompromising pace of modern life. Such precisely crafted choral writing is

quintessentially Gabriel Jackson (b 1962). Musically trained at Canterbury Cathedral and

the Royal Academy, Jackson is currently Associate Composer with the BBC Singers.

Maurice Ravel only ever published three choral works. Trois Beaux Oiseaux du Paradis

was his second. Composed in early 1915, this piece is an impressionist reflection on the

deep sadness of World War I. Haunting solo melodies create a spine-tingling

melancholy, intensified by the delicate choral legato. Gradually the initial warmth of

sound and text melts away, leading us to the inevitable chilling climax.

Another wartime composition, Valiant-for-Truth has a decidedly more optimistic air.

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) set John Bunyan’s text during the darkest days of

World War II. Frequent recitative passages carry the voice of the narrator, while the full

choir speaks as Mr. Valiant-for-Truth. The motet culminates in an onomatopoeic

evocation of entry into paradise, replete with vocal trumpet fanfares.

We next rediscover the unique surrealism of Francis Poulenc. This animated setting of

Guillaume Apollinaire’s La Blanche Neige was Poulenc’s first foray into the

unaccompanied choral medium. His musical deftness and attention to detail belies this

inexperience. Crisp quaver passages and sparkling short phrases conjure crystal clear

images of the perfect winter’s day.

We finish with a well-loved arrangement of Billy Joel’s 1983 ballad And So It Goes. The

text and music are deeply affecting in their simplicity, distilling the very essence of

heartbreak. The British composer Bob Chilcott (b 1955) completed this version for the

King’s Singers’ 25th anniversary. The hushed tones of twenty unaccompanied voices are

devastatingly bittersweet, finally fading into silence.

Bring us, O Lord God

William Harris

Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening into the house and gate of heaven, to enter

into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling,

but one equal light; no noise nor silence, but one equal music; no fears nor hopes, but

one equal possession; no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity, in the habitation

of thy glory and dominion, world without end. Amen.

Les Fleurs et les Arbres

Camille Saint-Saëns

Les fleurs et les arbres,

Les bronzes, les marbres,

Les ors, les émaux,

La mer, les fontaines,

Les monts et les plaines

Consolent nos maux.

Nature éternelle

Tu sembles plus belle

Au sein des douleurs,

Et l'art nous domine,

Sa flamme illumine

Le rire et les pleurs.

Heraclitus

Charles Villiers Stanford

They told me, Heraclitus, they told me you were dead;

They brought me bitter news to hear and bitter tears to shed;

I wept, as I remembered, how often you and I

Had tired the sun with talking, and sent him down the sky.

And now that thou art lying, my dear old Carian guest,

A handful of grey ashes, long, long ago at rest,

Still are thy pleasant voices, thy nightingales, awake;

For Death, he taketh all away, but them he cannot take.

The flowers and the trees,

The bronzes, the marbles,

The golds, the enamels,

The sea, the waterfalls,

The mountains and the plains

Console our pain.

Eternal nature,

You seem more beautiful

To a heart in sorrow,

And art reigns over us,

Its flame illuminates

The laughter and tears.

O Magnum Mysterium

Francis Poulenc

O magnum mysterium,

et admirabile sacramentum,

ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,

jacentem in praesepio!

Beata Virgo, cujus viscera

meruerunt portare

Dominum Christum.

Alleluia.

Ubi Caritas

Maurice Duruflé

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.

Exsultemus, et in ipso jucundemur.

Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.

Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land

Edward Elgar

My love dwelt in a Northern land,

A dim tower in a forest green

Was his, and far away the sand

And gray wash of the waves were seen

The woven forest boughs between:

And through the Northern summer night

The sunset slowly died away,

And herds of strange deer, silver white,

Came gleaming through the forest gray,

And fled like ghosts before the day.

And oft that month, we watch’d the moon

Wax great and white o'er wood and lawn,

And wane, with waning of the June,

Till, like a brand for battle drawn,

She fell, and flamed in a wild dawn.

O great mystery,

and wonderful sacrament,

that animals should see the new-born Lord,

lying in a manger!

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb

was worthy to bear

Christ the Lord.

Alleluia.

Where charity and love are, God is there.

Christ's love has gathered us into one.

Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.

Let us fear, and let us love the living God.

And may we love each other with a sincere

heart.

I know not if the forest green

Still girdles round that castle gray,

I know not if, the boughs between,

The white deer vanish ere the day:

The grass above my love is green,

His heart is colder than the clay.

Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orléans

Claude Debussy

I. Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder

Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder

La gracieuse bonne et belle;

Pour les gran biens que sont en elle

Chascun est prest de la loüer.

Qui se pourroit d’elle lasser?

Tousjours sa beauté renouvelle.

Par de ça, ne de là, la mer

Nescay dame ne damoiselle

Qui soit en tous bien parfais telle.

C’est ung songe que d’i penser:

Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder.

II. Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin

Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin

Sonner pour s’en aller au may,

En mon lit n’en ay fait affray

Ne levé mon chief du coissin

En disant: il est trop matin

Ung peu je me rendormiray:



Jeunes gens partent leur butin;

De non chaloir m’accointeray

A lui je m’abutineray.

Trouvé l’ay plus prouchain voisin;



En mon lit n’en ay fait affray

ne levé mon chief du coissin.

God! what a vision she is

One imbued with grace, true and beautiful;

For all the virtues that are hers

everyone is quick to praise her.

Who could tire of her?

Her beauty constantly renews itself.

On neither side of the ocean

Do I know any girl or woman

Who is in all virtues so perfect.

It’s a dream even to think of her:

God! what a vision she is.

When I hear the tambourine

Sound, calling us to May,

In my bed I remain calm,

Not lifting my head from the pillow

Saying: it is too early,

I’ll fall asleep again:



The young jump from partner to partner

Not even bothering to remember you.

From him, I’ll move on,

Finding a lover that’s conveniently close by;



In my bed I remain calm,

Not lifting my head from the pillow.

III. Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain

Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain!

Esté est plaisant et gentil

En témoing de may et d’avril

Qui l’accompaignent soir et main.

Esté revet champs bois et fleurs

De salivrée de verdure

Et de maintes autres couleurs,

Par l’ordonnance de nature.

Mais vous, Yver, trop estes plein

De nége, vent, pluye et grézil.

On vous deust banir en éxil.

Sans point flater je parle plein:

Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain!

Nicolette

Maurice Ravel

Nicolette, à la vesprée,

S'allait promener au pré,

Cueillir la pâquerette,

la jonquille et la muguet.

Toute sautillante, toute guillerette,

Lorgnant ci, là de tous les côtés.

Rencontra vieux loup grognant,

Tout hérissé, l'œil brillant:

"Hé là! ma Nicolette,

viens tu pas chez Mère Grand?"

A perte d'haleine, s'enfuit Nicolette,

Laissant là cornette et socques blancs.

Rencontra page joli,

Chausses bleues et pourpoint gris,


veux tu pas d'un doux ami?"

Sage, s'en retourna, pauvre Nicolette,

Très lentement, le cœur bien marri.

Winter, you’re nothing but a villain!

Summer is pleasant and nice,

Joined to May and April,

Who go hand in hand.

Summer dreams of fields, woods, and flowers,

Covered with green

And many other colours,

By nature’s command.

But you, Winter, are too full

Of snow, wind, rain, and hail.

You should be banished!

Without exaggerating, I speak plainly:

Winter, you’re nothing but a villain!

Nicolette, one evening,

Went to walk in the field,

To gather daisies,

Jonquils and lilies of the valley,

Skipping, lively,

Looking here, there and on all sides.

She met an old growling wolf,

All hairy, shining eye:

“Hey there! my Nicolette,

won’t you come to Grandmother’s house?”

Until out of breath, Nicolette fled,

Leaving behind cornet and white clogs.

She met a handsome page,

Blue trousers and grey doublet:


don’t you want a sweetheart?”

Wise, she turned away, poor Nicolette,

Very slowly, her heart very heavy.

INTERVAL

Rencontra seigneur chenu,

Tors, laid, puant et ventru:


veux tu pas tous ces écus?"

Vite fut en ses bras, bonne Nicolette

Jamais au pré n'est plus revenue.

There is an Old Belief

Charles Hubert Hastings Parry

There is an old belief,

That on some solemn shore,

Beyond the sphere of grief

Dear friends shall meet once more.

Beyond the sphere of Time and Sin

And Fate's control,

Serene in changeless prime

Of body and of soul.

That creed I fain would keep

That hope I'll ne'er forgo,

Eternal be the sleep,

If not to waken so.

Hymne à la Vierge

Pierre Villette

Ô toute belle Vierge Marie,

Votre âme trouve en Dieu

le parfait amour

Il vous revêt du manteau de la Grâce

comme une fiancée parée de ses joyaux.

Alléluia, alléluia. Je vais chanter

ta louange, Seigneur,

Car tu as pris soin de moi,

Car tu m’as enveloppée du voile

de l’innocence,

Car tu m’as faite avant le jour,

Car tu m’as fait précéder

le jaillissement des sources.

She met a grey-haired lord,

Twisted, ugly, stinking and fat:


don’t you want all these coins?”

Quickly she was in his arms, good Nicolette,

Never to return to the field again.

O beautiful Virgin Mary,

In God your soul discovers

perfect love.

It cloaks you with the mantle of Grace

like a betrothed adorned with her jewels.

Alleluia, alleluia. I will sing

your praise, Lord,

For you have looked after me,

For you have covered me with the veil

of innocence,

For you have made me before the day,

For you have made me go before

the gushing of fountains.

Vous êtes née avant les collines

Ô sagesse de Dieu, porte du Salut

Heureux celui qui marche dans vos traces

Qui apprête son cœur

a la voix de vos conseils.

Avant les astres vous étiez présente

Mère du Créateur

au profond du ciel.

Quand Dieu fixait les limites du monde

Vous partagiez son cœur

étant à l’œuvre avec lui.

Justorum Animae

Gabriel Jackson

Justorum animae in manu Dei sunt,

et non tanget illos tormentum mortis.

Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori,

illi autem sunt in pace.

Trois Beaux Oiseaux du Paradis

Maurice Ravel

Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis,

(Mon ami z’il est à la guerre)

Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis

Ont passé par ici.

Le premier était plus bleu que ciel,

(Mon ami z'il est à la guerre)

Le second était couleur de neige,

Le troisième rouge vermeil.

"Beaux oiselets du Paradis,


Beaux oiselets du Paradis,

Qu'apportez par ici?"

"J'apporte un regard couleur d'azur.

(Ton ami z'il est à la guerre)"

"Et moi, sur beau front couleur de neige,

Un baiser dois mettre, encore plus pur"

You were born before the hills,

O wisdom of God, the way to salvation.

Happy is he who walks in your footsteps,

Who prepares his heart

to listen to your advice.

You were present before the stars,

Mother of the Creator,

in the very depths of heaven.

When God was creating the world,

Working with Him

you shared His heart.

The souls of the just are in the hand of God,

the torment of death shall not touch them.

In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die;

but they are at peace.

Three lovely birds from Paradise

(My belov'd is to the fighting gone)

Three lovely birds from Paradise

Have flown along this way.

The first was bluer than Heaven's blue


The second white as the fallen snow

The third was wrapt in bright red glow.

"Ye lovely birds from Paradise


Ye lovely birds from Paradise

What bring ye then this way?"

"I bring to thee a glance of azure

(Thy belov'd is to the fighting gone)"

"And I on fairest snow white brow

A fond kiss must leave, yet purer still."

"Oiseau vermeil du Paradis,


Oiseau vermeil du Paradis,

Que portez-vous ainsi?"

"Un joli cœur tout cramoisi ...

(Ton ami z'il est à la guerre)"

"Ah! je sens mon cœur qui froidit ...

Emportez-le aussi".

Valiant-for-Truth

Ralph Vaughan Williams

After this it was noised abroad that Mister Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons

and had this for a token that the summons was true, ‘That his pitcher was broken at the

fountain’. When he understood it, he called for his friends, and told them of it. Then said

he, “I am going to my Father’s, and though with great difficulty I am got hither, yet now

I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I

give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him

that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have

fought his battles who now will be my rewarder.” When the day that he must go hence

was come, many accompanied him to the riverside, into which as he went he said,

“Death, where is thy Sting?” And as he went down deeper he said, “Grave, where is thy

Victory?” So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.

La Blanche Neige

Francis Poulenc

Les anges les anges dans le ciel

L’un est vêtu en officier

L’un est vêtu en cuisiner

Et les autres chantent

Bel officier couleur du ciel

Le doux printemps longtemps après Noël

Te médaillera d’un beau soleil

D’un beau soleil

Le cuisinier plume les oies

Ah ! tombe neige

Tombe et que n’ai-je

Ma bien aimée entre mes bras

"Thou bright red bird from Paradise


Thou bright red bird from Paradise

What bringest thou to me?"

"A faithful heart all crimson red,

(Thy belov'd is to the fighting gone)"

"Ah! I feel my heart glowing cold...

Take it also with thee.“

Angels angels in the sky

One dresses as an officer

One dresses as a cook

And the others sing

Handsome officer, colour of the sky

For a long time after Christmas, sweet spring

Will award you of a beautiful sun

Of a beautiful sun

The cook plucks the geese

Ah! Fall, snow

Fall and I have only

My beloved in my arms

And So It Goes

Billy Joel arr. Bob Chilcott

In every heart there is a room

A sanctuary safe and strong

To heal the wounds from lovers past

Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones

You answered me with no pretence

And still I feel I said too much

My silence is my self defence

And every time I've held a rose

It seems I only felt the thorns

And so it goes, and so it goes

And so will you soon I suppose

But if my silence made you leave

Then that would be my worst mistake

So I will share this room with you

And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed

It's just as well for all I've seen


And you're the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you

That's if the choice were mine to make

But you can make decisions too

And you can have this heart to break


And you're the only one who knows

CHOIr

*Soloists

Conductors: Edward Hughes and Alex Davan Wetton

Soprano Sara Anderson*

Camilla Biggs*

Sophie Hopkins

Helen Hugh-Jones*

Libby Phippard

Alto Emily Corran

Hannah Fiddy

Jo Hale

Julia Nikolic*

Tenor James Corbett

Alex Davan Wetton

Jamie Hodgson

Edward Hughes*

Tom Medley

Travis Winstanley*

Alex Ying

Bass Hugh Collins

Matthew Fright

Richard Pelmore*

William Robertson

David Young

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 Will Remember Them

Music and readings for Remembrance

7.30pm Saturday 1 November

Join us in Queens’ College Chapel, Cambridge, as we take time to reflect with a series of

music and readings for remembrance at the start of November.

Darkness into Light

An Advent carol concert

8.00pm Saturday 13 December

This December we anticipate the coming light of Christmas with a special performance

of well-loved Advent carols.

Book tickets for our upcoming events godwinechoir.org

Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/godwinechoir

COMING NEXT

We Will

Remember Them

Pearsall Lay a Garland

Ireland Greater Love

Brahms Geistliches Lied

Free entry

Reserve a seat at

godwinechoir.org

7.30 pm

Saturday 1st November

Queens’ College Chapel, Cambridge

Reflective music and readings for

All Souls' Tide and Remembrance

entente cordiale - godwine choir · repertoire. entente cordiale features evocative a capella works...

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