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September 27, 2009 - 5:00 PM PROGRAM NOTES The Anglican Singers are pleased to open their thirteenth season in the traditional manner with their offering of choral evensong at historic Pequot Chapel. This evening’s program is an all-British one, featuring the music of Purcell, Rose, Stanford, and Dering. Three of these selections are new to the Singers’ repertoire, the Responses and Suffrages of Bernard Rose an “old favorite.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The life of Henry Purcell (1659-1695), composer of tonight’s introit, was, like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s, an all-too brief one – and, like Mozart’s, one filled with timeless accomplishments. The English Purcell dominated his musical landscape as an innovator and explorer, expanding the Italianate Baroque style that had been popularized by his predecessor Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656). He added his own imprimatur to the sacred and secular music of his time, which included development of such forms as oratorio and opera, thereby bequeathing an imperishable legacy. “O God, Thou art my God” is written for four parts, with the full chorus and the cantoris and decani alternately singing the verses. The final “Hallelujah” for full chorus will be recognized as the hymn tune Westminster Abbey (“Christ is made the sure foundation”). The text, taken from Psalm 63, reflects the psalmist David’s cry to the Lord from the barren wastelands of the Judean desert. The desert motif is seen throughout the Bible, in the Old and New Testaments, reflecting the body’s thirst for water and the soul’s thirst for God. As mentioned above, Bernard Rose’s (1916-1996) Responses and Suffrages are firmly fixed in the Anglican Singers’ repertoire – as is the case with many choirs on both sides of the Atlantic. Rose’s ornamental and intricate style, as reflected in his Versicles, was no doubt influenced by his musical hero Tomkins (see above), whose work he studied extensively. The Anglo-Irish Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) may have written as many Services as any composer of choral music for the English Church. This evening the Singers are performing for the first time his lofty and spacious Service in A, which includes a cantoris and decani semi-antiphon in the Gloria of both the Magnificat and the Nunc dimittis. Richard Dering (ca. 1580-1630) is one of the lesser-known musical luminaries of sixteenth and seventeenth-century England. Like his better known contemporaries Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) and William Byrd (1543-1623), Dering was a Catholic living during the early period of the English Reformation as the Church of England became firmly established. In fact, as a Catholic (he converted as a young man), he may have found life in his native land uncomfortable, if not dangerous, for he spent the majority of his adulthood in the Spanish Netherlands. Perhaps it is this expatriation which explains his relative obscurity among English Renaissance composers. “Factum est silentium” is the Matins Responsory, in the Roman rite, for the Feast Day of the Archangel Michael, also known as Michaelmas (September 29th). In translation, the text of this sprightly, vigorous six-part motet commemorates the titanic struggle between St. Michael and the dragon. The Catholic Church views Michael as the defender of heaven and the Church against the demonic forces of hell (symbolized by the dragon). This eschatological battle concludes with the final vanquishing of Evil, thus the heavenly hosts’ triumphant cry of “Alleluia, Alleluia!” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Each September, as the Anglican Singers inaugurate their program year at Pequot Chapel, they once again extend their thanks to the parish for this joy and privilege. Anne Carr Bingham |
