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The Dream of HerodMusic for Advent & ChristmasTenebrae / Nigel ShortSIGCD046

“...more polished choral singing would behard to find anywhere.” BBC Music Magazine

The Path of Miracles Joby TalbotTenebrae / Nigel ShortSIGCD078

“ I t ’s an interesting musical journey forc o m p o s e r, perf o rmers and listeners alike.” Classic FM

Allegri MiserereTenebrae / Nigel ShortSIGCD085

“I really think we’re in a choral golden age atthe moment ... It’s beautifully sung, aw o n d e rful disc.” BBC Music Magazine

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Tenebrae has, in its short existence, made aconsiderable impact with fresh and vital re -interpretations of classic works in the choralre p e rt o i re. On this new re c o rding, however,innovatory and lesser-known repertoire is drawnf rom contemporary sources, reflecting ane x p l o r a t o ry approach which places the gro u partistically at more of a cutting edge. This is adistinctive collection of works by a number ofliving composers, many of whom have establishedthemselves at the creative forefront of the choralscene in recent times.

Jonathan Dove (b. 1959) has become known forhis work in a variety of musical media includingorchestral, chamber, theatre and film music. Asan instinctively dramatic composer, his operashave arguably attracted the greatest criticalattention. In his ten-year association withGlyndebourne, Dove has written three large-scalecommunity operas of which Flight, premiered byGlyndebourne Touring Opera in 1998, and met byenthusiasm from audiences and critics alike, ispossibly his best known. His individual voice as awriter of music for the church has led to a numberof commissions including those for theSpitalfields Festival, Eton College Chapel Choirand for the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge(Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in 2000). His

fondness for strong pulse and vivacious rhythm(which pervades his work generally) has alsomade him a natural and successful musicalcollaborator in dance. Seek him that maketh theseven stars is a setting of words from the book ofAmos and from Psalm 139. The use of ostinati inthe organ part, traversing sinuous vocal linesmarked often by ‘pleading’ (‘Seek him’) figuresevokes both the starry firmament and the‘searching’ nature of the prophet’s invocation. Thelater portion (an ‘Alleluia’) is more affirmative andtriumphant before an ending of confident calm.The work was commissioned in 1995 by the RoyalAcademy of Arts and received its premiere in Junethat year at St. James’s Church, Piccadilly, conductedby Adrian Peacock, a member of Tenebrae, withJ e remy Filsell, Te n e b r a e ’s accompanist, at the organ.

Francis Pott (b. 1957) was a chorister at NewCollege, Oxford, and a Music Scholar atWinchester College. Following underg r a d u a t estudies, he gained a BMus at CambridgeUniversity whilst studying composition underHugh Wood and Robin Holloway. Since 2002Francis Pott has served as Head of ResearchDevelopment for the Faculty of the Arts at ThamesValley University in West London and Head ofComposition within its Music depart m e n t ,otherwise known as London College of Music. In

TenebraeDirected by Nigel Short

Jeremy Filsell - organ

1. Seek him that maketh the seven stars Jonathan Dove [6.28]

2. The souls of the righteous* Francis Pott [9.34] Tenor soloist: William Kendall

3. Magnificat Giles Swayne [4.05]

4. Mother and child* Sir John Tavener [12.44]

5. Lute-book lullaby* Alexander L’Estrange [4.17]

6. O be joyful in the Lord* Jeremy Filsell [2.16]

7. The seasons of his mercies Richard Rodney Bennett [6.23] Tenor soloist: Andrew Busher

8. My song is love unknown* Francis Pott [17.31] Soprano soloist: Carys Lane

* first recordings

Total Timings [63.22]

www.signumrecords.com www.tenebrae-choir.com

Mother and child

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February 2007 he became the University's firstP rofessor of Composition and his lifelongassociation with church music has generated astring of significant commissions for a number ofcathedrals, colleges and churches. As aformidable pianist, his writing for this instrumenthas formed a considerable oeuvre but it is hisorgan works which have become established assome of the most important writing for theinstrument of the later 20th century. Christus (atwo and a half hour five-movement symphony fororgan) is a seminal contribution to the recitalist’scanon and its profound subject matter links itindelibly with Pott’s own large-scale oratoriocommission for the 1999 Three Choirs Festival, Asong on the end of the world. His musical style isderived from a number of influential sources: theRenaissance polyphony of Italy, Spain and(perhaps most importantly) England, the pianowriting of Medtner and Rachmaninov and,fundamentally, the formal and harmonic style ofDanish symphonist Carl Nielsen.

The souls of the righteous was commissioned byDavid Bushnell in memory of his late wife Sheila.Both had been associated with Wi n c h e s t e rCathedral for some thirty years and Sheila’s asheswere scattered within the cathedral precincts. Inwriting the piece, Pott felt it natural to draw not

only upon the memory of his own parents but alsoon the atmosphere of William Byrd’s setting (asJustorum animae) of these words, a motet whichhas held an especially profound significance forhim ever since he was a chorister at New College.Pott has always tried to recreate something of thesensibility of English sixteenth-rather thannineteenth-century sacred music in his own choralwriting, and in this case the feeling wasparticularly strong. The souls of the righteousreceived its first perf o rmance in Wi n c h e s t e rCathedral in 2000.

Giles Swayne was born in 1946 and begancomposing as a teenager through encouragementfrom his illustrious cousin, Elizabeth Maconchy.Influential musical figures for Swayne atCambridge included Nicholas Maw and RaymondLeppard and later, at London’s Royal Academy ofMusic, Alan Bush and Harrison Birtwistle. TheMagnificat was commissioned by Francis Grier forthe choir of Christchurch, Oxford, in 1982 withfunds provided by the Southern Arts Association. Itis a unique setting of very familiar words and hasbecome a classic work in the choral catalogue.The Magnificat canticle forms a central part ofboth Vespers and the Anglican office of Evensongand this setting for double choir in Latin delightsin the daringly unconventional interpolation of

zulu warrior chant interwoven between‘Stravinskian’ ostinati-dominated polyphony.Swayne’s distanced approach to specific textualnuance shares a similarity with the gre a tMagnificat settings of the sixteenth century(Victoria, Palestrina, Vivanco, Ortiz, etc.), but thepointillist dabs of colour, the ostinati andincreasingly wide-leaping lines place this veryfirmly in its contemporary milieu.

Sir John Tavener’s (b. 1944) originality of conceptand development of a very personal musical idiomhave brought him wide recognition for acontemporary composer of classical music. Hisinterest in the Russian Orthodox Church (of whichhe became a member in 1977) marks acompositional style which looks back to ancienttraditions and communicates a reflective spiritwhich has successfully chimed with the spiritualthirsts of our modern age. Tavener has alwaysworked towards the creation of what he hastermed an ‘icon’ in sound, and the extraordinarypopularity of his music has been reflected in thenumber of arts festivals which have featured hisworks. In October 2000 London’s South BankCentre staged Ikons of light, a major three-weekfestival dedicated to his music. In the New Year’sHonours list 2000, Tavener received a knighthoodfor ‘services to music’.

Mother and child was commissioned by Tenebraein 2003 and premiered at the Salisbury Festival ofthat year. The universal aspect of motherhoodand, more specifically, that of Mary the mother ofChrist (as co-redeemer) is an idea to whichTavener has returned again and again in hismusic. However, behind this concept lies that ofinfinite theophanic light, an idea common to allreligious traditions. Ta v e n e r’s music hereinterpolates a poem by Brian Keeble with Greekand Sanskrit quotations, the latter in a climacticoutburst (of ‘ATMA’, representative in Tavener’sw o rds of ‘the supreme re a l i t y, the true self,shining and infinite, the one single God’). Themusic, having grown in crescendo, is joined bymassive organ chords and develops to become anoverwhelming pulsating texture at the climax,with awesome strokes sounded on a large Hindutemple gong. The clamour dissipates at the finalinvocation, ‘Hail Maria’, which is prayerful andcontemplative.

Alexander L’Estrange (b. 1974) is a singer,composer, arranger and jazz bassist who moveshappily between differing styles of musical media.He was a chorister at New College, Oxford, andsang in the choir at Magdalen College whilst anu n d e rgraduate at Merton College. His arr a n g e m e n t sfor a number of groups have been published by

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Faber and his award-winning one-woman musicalHello, Life! recieved perf o rmances at theGreenwich Theatre in 2002 and at the BrightonFestival in May 2003. L’Estrange is Music Directorof the National Youth Music Theatre and a memberof Tenebrae. Lute-book lullaby is one of a numberof pieces he has written for the group. Its essentialsimplicity is compelling, but also conceals the useof the octotonic scale in homophonic passages.The lower voice part undulations portray therocking of the Christ-child’s cradle beneath asoprano solo of haunting beauty. The bittersweetdissonance heightens an atmosphere ofoverwhelming tenderness.

Jeremy Filsell (b. 1964) is a renowned concertpianist and organist, having won accolades andcritical acclaim for a number of recordings (mostrecently for the pre m i e re re c o rdings of thecomplete organ works of Marcel Dupré). Hestudied at Keble College, Oxford, as an organscholar and then at the Royal College of Music asa pianist and singer. He currently combines aninternational career as a soloist with a lectureshipat the Royal Academy of Music. A set of bothMorning and Evening Canticles was written forJonathan Rees-Williams and the choir of StGeorge’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in the summer of2001 and the Evening Canticles were first

broadcast by the choir on BBC Radio 3 in May2002. O be joyful in the Lord (Jubilate; Psalm 100)pays affectionate homage to a number ofinfluential works, most notably Sebastian Forbes’brilliant and unjustly neglected Aedis ChristiCanticles from which he quotes in the concludingbars. Passing references to music by both GrahamWhettam and William Walton in certain rhythmicand melodic shapes can also be discerned.

The prolific musical ‘chameleon’ Richard RodneyBennett (b. 1936) followed his initial musicalstudies at the Royal Academy of Music with twoyears in Paris under the tutelage of Pierre Boulez.Bennett’s first jazz film score dates from thisperiod and it is this particular aspect of hismusical make-up which has fused with animpressive formal craft to produce symphonies,concertos, operas, instrumental and choral pieceswhich exhibit a uniquely refreshing musical style.Preferring tonality as a working principle, Bennetthas developed an individual harmonic palettewhich combines an approachability withcompositional artifice. Sermons and devotionswas commissioned by The King’s Singers incelebration of their 25th anniversary. Of the fivesettings of John Donne’s metaphysical meditations,we hear The seasons of his mercies. It is a syllabicsetting in a broad ternary form, articulated by a

central portion for tenor solo. The bittersweetharmony within slow - moving lines compellinglyconjures the poetic intimacy of the text.

Francis Pott’s My song is love unknown sets all ofSamuel Cro s s m a n ’s famous verses but one(commonly omitted when the poem is sungmetrically as a hymn). The music begins with off b e a trepeated chords prompted - not inappropriately -by the opening to Richard Strauss’s tone poem,Death and transfiguration. In its early stages onlytrebles and altos are heard. The sequential flow ofC ro s s m a n ’s poem is soon disrupted withp a rticular dramatic ends in mind. After aseemingly anxious harmonic distortion of theopening chords, the word ‘crucify’ arises initiallyas a mere mutter from the lower voices, so timedas to afford assonance with other words in theupper parts and thus remain barely discernible, asif only imagined. In due course, however, cries of‘Hosanna’ find themselves on a collision coursewith a rising tide of ‘Crucify’, during which the‘Hosanna’ faction gradually loses heart and,sheep-like, defects until a single treble voice -plaintively daring to repeat the ‘offending’ word - i sswept aside by a murderous outcry. In due course‘Crucify’ recurs as a further angry climax beforethe opening music returns, this time expandinginto an extended polyphonic final section for

double choir and SATB soloists. The principalclimax of the work subsides into a form ofepilogue, crowned sorrowfully by a treble soloist towhom the music in toto has by now presentedmany challenges. The anthem ends in the key andmood of its opening. The character of itsdemanding organ part reflects the possibility thatit may one day be orchestrated.

My song is love unknown was composed inmemory of Michael Renton, a craftsman andlargely self-taught ‘Renaissance’ man who wasnot only a member of the Winchester cathedralc o n g regation but also the cathedral’s stonemason.He was beloved of many in the Cathedralcommunity; a true and humble artist, of whoserare order Traherne surely spoke when he wrote:‘Whosoever will profit in the mystery of Felicity,must see the objects of his happiness, and themanner how they are to be enjoyed, and discernalso the powers of his soul by which he is to enjoythem’. My song is love unknown was written for theSouthern Cathedrals Festival in Winchester 2002.

Jeremy Filsell, January 2003Notes on My song is love unknown © Francis Pott, 2002

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Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est, et sanctumnomen eius.Et misericordia eius a progenie in pro g e n i e stimentibus eum.Fecit potentiam in bracchio suo, dispersitsuperbos mente cordis sui.Deposuit potentes de sede, et exaltavit humiles.Esurientes implevit bonis, et divites dimisitinanes.Suscepit Israel puerum suum, re c o rd a t u smisericordiae suae.Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros, Abraham etsemini eius in secula.Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper: Et insecula seculorum. Amen.

My soul doth magnify the LordAnd my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.For he hath re g a rded the lowliness of hishandmaiden, for behold from henceforth allgenerations shall call me blessed.For he that is mighty hath magnified me; and holyis his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him,throughout all generations. He hath showed strength with his arm; he hathscattered the proud in the imagination of theirhearts.

TEXTS

1 Seek him that maketh the seven starsJonathan Dove

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion.Seek him that turneth the shadow of death intothe morning.Alleluia.Yea, the darkness shineth as the day, the night islight about me.

2 The souls of the righteous Francis Pott

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of Godand there shall no torment touch them. In thesight of the unwise they seemed to die: and theirdeparture is taken for misery, and their going fromus to be utter destruction: but they are in peace.Amen.

3 Magnificat Giles Swayne

Magnificat anima mea Dominum.Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo,Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae, ecceenim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat; andhath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things; andthe rich he hath sent empty away.He remembering his mercy hath holpen hisservant Israel.As he promised to our forefathers; Abraham andhis seed forever.Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to theHoly Ghost.As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shallbe: world without end. Amen.

4 Mother and child John Tavener

Enamoured of its gazethe mother’s gaze in turncontrives a single beam of lightalong which love may move.Through seeing, through touch,through hearing the new-born heartconduits of being join.So is the image of that heaven within started intolife.As in the first was adoration another consciousness has come to praisethe single theophanic lightthat threads all entrants here:

this paradise where all is formed of loveas flame to flame is lit.

5 Lute-book lullabyAlexander L’Estrange

Sweet was the song the virgin sang, when she to Bethlem Juda came and was d e l i v e re dof a son, that blessed Jesus hath to name: lulla, lulla lullaby.‘Sweet babe,’ sang she, ‘my son, and eke a saviour born, who hast vouchsafed from on high to visit us thatwere forlorn: lulla, lulla lullaby’.And rocked him sweetly on her knee.

6 O be joyful in the LordJeremy Filsell

O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands.Serve the Lord with gladness and come before hispresence with a song.Be ye sure that the Lord he is God.It is he that hath made us and not we ourselves.We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving,and into his courts with praise.Be thankful unto him and speak good of his name.

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For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting,and his truth endureth from generation togeneration.Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to theHoly Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now andever shall be, world without end. Amen.

7 The seasons of his mercies Richard Rodney Bennett

God made sun and moon to distinguish seasons,and day and night,and we cannot have the fruits of the earth but intheir seasons;but God hath made no decree to distinguish theseasons of his mercies.In Paradise the fruits were ripe the first minute,and in Heaven it is always autumne. His mercies are ever in their maturity.If some King of the earth have so large an extentof dominion, in north and south,as that he hath winter and summer together in hisdominions,so large an extent east and west as that he hathday and night together in his dominions, muchmore hath God mercy and judgement together.He brought light out of darknesse, not out of alesser light:he can bring thy summer out of winter, though

thou have no spring;though in the ways of fortune or understanding orconscience, thou have been benighted till now;w i n t e red and frozen, clouded and eclipsed,damped and benummed, smothered andstupefied till now.Now God comes to thee, not as in the dawning ofthe day,not as in the bud of the spring,but as the sun at noon, to illustrate all shadows,as the sheaves in harvest to fill all penuries.All occasions invite his mercies, and all times arehis seasons.

8 My song is love unknown Francis Pott

My song is love unknown; my saviour’s love to me;love to the loveless shown, that they might lovely be.O who am I, that for my sakemy Lord should take frail flesh and die? He came from his blest throne, salvation tobestow,but men made strange, and none the longed-forChrist would know.But O, my friend, my friend indeed,Who at my need his life did spend. Sometimes they strew his way, and his sweetpraises sing;

resounding all the day hosannas to their king.Then ‘crucify’ is all their breath,And for his death they thirst and cry.Why, what hath my Lord done? What makes thisrage and spite?He made the lame to run, he gave the blind theirsight.Sweet injuries! Yet they at these themselvesdisplease, and ‘gainst him rise! They rise and needs will have my dear Lordmade away;a murderer they save, the prince of life they slay.Yet cheerful he to suff’ring goes, that he his foes from thence might free. Here might I stay and sing, no story so divine;never was love, dear king! Never was grief like thine.This is my friend, in whose sweet praise I all my days could gladly spend. Amen.

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After a short break of about one ski season in theSwiss Alps he set about founding his own group,Tenebrae, aiming to bring together what he lovedbest as a singer - namely the more passionatesounds of large Cathedral choirs and the precisionof ensembles like The King’s Singers - to create anew kind of choral group. Whilst embracing aneclectic re p e rt o i re he wanted to have some‘ s i g n a t u re’ works that would make Te n e b r a edifferent, adding a theatrical element that wouldinvolve singers moving around as if on stage. Tothat end he wrote The Dream of Herod, with acentral role for baritone Colin Campbell, andcommissioned Joby Talbot to write Path ofMiracles, premiered in July 2005. Since its debut

performance in 2001 Tenebrae has given concertsin Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, UK,USA and Bermuda.

Nigel and the group have performed and recordedlive with The Chamber Orchestra of Europe forWa rner Classics and have given severalp e rf o rmances with The English Concert. Theyrecord regularly with Signum Classics.

Nigel divides his time between directing Tenebraeand giving an ever increasing number ofm a s t e rclasses and workshops for bothprofessional and amateur vocal groups and choirsthroughout Europe.

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BIOGRAPHies

TENEBRAE

Tenebrae is a professional chamber choir, foundedand directed by Nigel Short. Perf o rming bycandlelight, the choir creates an atmosphere ofspiritual and musical reflection, where medievalchant and renaissance works are interspersedwith contemporary compositions to create anethereal mood of contemplation. The beautifulacoustics and lighting effects of a Te n e b r a ec o n c e rt are further enhanced by the choir’sdramatic use of movement around the performingspace. As singers move around their surroundingsto explore all possible sound perspectives, eachmember of the audience is able to experience thepower and intimacy of the human voice.

PASSION & PRECISION

Passion and Precision is the motto of Tenebraeand its members are drawn from musicalbackgrounds reflecting these qualities, such asthe Monteverdi Choir, the choirs of WestminsterAbbey and Cathedral and King’s College,

Cambridge. Many of Te n e b r a e ’s singers haveworked with the leading specialist vocal groupsincluding I Fagiolini, The Tallis Scholars, TheSwingle Singers and The King’s Singers.Contributing to the dramatic qualities ofTe n e b r a e ’s perf o rming style are singers fro mBritain’s two major opera houses, Covent Gardenand English National Opera. This combinationweaves together a huge variety of choralexperience, giving the choir an exceptional rangeof vocal power and colour.

NIGEL SHORT

Nigel began his musical life as a chorister atSolihull Parish Church going on to study singingand piano at the Royal College of Music. He beganhis career as a soloist in opera and oratorio and asa member of specialist vocal ensembles such asThe Tallis Scholars whilst maintaining a regularinvolvement in church music, firstly as a memberof Westminster Abbey Choir then WestminsterCathedral. He joined the King’s Singers when hewas 27 and stayed with them for seven years.

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SopranosNatalie Clifton-GriffithCarys LaneAnna CrookesGrace DavidsonKirsty HopkinsElizabeth CraggEmily BensonHelen Parker

AltosMark ChambersClare WilkinsonAnne JonesTimothy Kenworthy-BrownFrances BourneJeremy FilsellPeter GrittonRebecca Lodge

TenorsChris WatsonMark DobellPaul BadleyAndrew BusherJohn BowleyNicholas MulroyGerry O’Bierne

BassesMatthew BrookSimon GrantColin CampbellDavid Porter ThomasGiles UnderwoodRichard SavageRobert McDonald

Organ Jeremy FilsellHindu temple gong (in Mother and Child) Steve Long

Recorded in Temple Church, London, 4 - 7 March 2003

Producer - Adrian PeacockEngineer - Limo HearnEditors - Limo Hearn & Stephen Frost

Design and Artwork - Woven Design www.wovendesign.co.uk

www.signumrecords.com

P 2003 The copyright in this recording is owned by Signum Records Ltd.C 2003 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Signum Records Ltd.

Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording of Signum CompactDiscs constitutes an infringement of copyright and will render the infringer liable to an action by law.Licences for public performances or broadcasting may be obtained from Phonographic PerformanceLtd. All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,without prior permission from Signum Records Ltd.

SignumClassics, Signum Records Ltd., Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road, Perivale,Middx UB6 7JD, UK. +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 E-mail: info@signumrecords.com

© Eric Richmond

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