United Kingdom Three Choirs Pageant [2] – Dearden, Weir, Respighi, Holst: Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano), Three Choirs Pageant Voices, Philharmonia Orchestra / Geraint Bowen (conductor) Worcester Cathedral 28.7.2024. (JQ)
Nathan James Dearden – messages (Pageant fee, premiere)
Judith Weir – Nonetheless, Glowing (2008)
Respighi – The Birds (1928)
Holst – The Cloud Messenger Op.30 (1910-12)
The Three Choirs Pageant launched the Pageant Voices on the 2023 Gloucester Pageant (overview right here). The concept is a good one. It recognises that not all singers can decide to the arduous sequence of twice-weekly rehearsals undertaken by the Pageant Refrain from Easter onwards. So, members of the Pageant Voices have a much less demanding schedule and give attention to only one programme. Membership of the Pageant Refrain is by audition; I’m uncertain if the identical applies to the Pageant Voices. Right here, beneath the steering of Geraint Bowen, the Pageant Voices have been entrusted with a uncommon efficiency of a considerable work by Holst and with the disclosing of a brand new work commissioned by the Three Choirs Pageant
It was the brand new work that opened proceedings. Nathan James Dearden (b.1992) is a Welsh composer of live performance music and blended media, conductor, and educator. Presently, he’s the Director of New Music Collective and New Voices Consort at Royal Holloway, College of London. I used to be intrigued that in his biography within the Pageant programme he’s referred to not as a composer however as a ‘music creator’.
His new work, messages is scored for solo mezzo-soprano, choir, percussion, timpani, and string orchestra. The composer describes the work thus: ‘Initially impressed by Gustav Holst’s The Cloud Messenger… messages appears at how we reply to life occasions that both shock or transfer us. These 5 actions discover the methods wherein messages have permeated our collective historical past, from one tradition to a different, one technology to a different. Every motion is impressed or units the phrases from both a civilisation or an individual who needed to share, to honour, or to warn.’ The actions are quick – this efficiency performed for about 18 minutes – and Dearden units quite a lot of texts, together with a Mayan account of the Spanish Conquest (1540-1546), a poem known as ‘Ascension’ by Amelie Simon (Worcestershire’s 2023 Younger Poet Laureate), excepts from two Psalms and a public report from Sandia Nationwide Laboratories (1993) regarding the long-term risks of nuclear waste. With such an assemblage of texts – together with others I haven’t talked about – it’s clear that messages is designed as a really critical work which calls for music that’s critical in tone. The intense tone was achieved; I solely want, although, that the piece had made a extra constructive impression on me.
One main downside with it was the unremittingly gray nature of the accompaniment, not less than within the first three actions. There appeared to be little try at instrumental color and, frankly, the impact was boring. This downside was compounded by the character of the vocal writing, particularly for the choir. Their music – and the phrases they sing – is fragmentary and nearly chant-like in nature, missing any melodic memorability that I may discern. Because the piece unfolded, I contemplated to myself that it was exhausting to think about that the choir had had quite a lot of enjoyable in rehearsing this music. Issues improved considerably within the final two actions; specifically, the textual content regarding nuclear waste (motion 5) prompted extra ardent music however, if I’m sincere, by then it was too late for me. Mezzo soloist Beth Taylor sang with feeling however the materials she was given was somewhat skinny gruel. The Pageant Voices did their greatest too and performed their half within the growing passion in direction of the tip of the work. I’m at all times cautious of passing judgement on a bit on the idea of a single listening to. Nonetheless, I discovered messages very disappointing. Whereas, regardless of some reservations, I might be intrigued to listen to once more the brand new work by Grace-Evangeline Mason which I had heard the earlier night (overview right here), I can’t see myself dashing to expertise messages a second time. Mine could have been a minority view; Dearden was warmly applauded after the efficiency.
Two orchestral objects adopted. First got here Nonetheless, Glowing by Dame Judith Weir, whose seventieth birthday is being celebrated this week on the Pageant; she was current to listen to this efficiency. This quick work – it solely performs for about 4 minutes – is scored for flutes, clarinets, keyboard percussion and strings. The composer describes it as her sole try to date at writing ‘ambient music’. As such, the music, which is usually hushed, may be described as pretty static however the scoring is gently luminous and enticing to listen to. I discovered the instrumental scoring per se far more ingenious and fascinating than Dearden’s. The Philharmonia’s enjoying was refined.
Then, Geraint Bowen led a efficiency of Respighi’s suite for small orchestra, Gli Ucelli (The Birds). The 5 quick actions are orchestrations of keyboard items by Baroque composers, most of whom, except Rameau, will not be particularly well-known. Respighi eschewed the huge orchestral panoply of works similar to his ‘Roman Trilogy’ of tone poems – such an orchestral array would have swamped these modest items – however his orchestrations aren’t any much less ingenious and glowing. Bowen’s efficiency was refreshing. I appreciated the sprightliness of the Prelude and the tenderness with which ‘La Colomba’ (The Dove) was performed. In ‘La Gallina’ (The Hen) we heard the stated fowl clucking and pecking in a vigorous and witty vogue. The Philharmonia performed all 5 actions delightfully. I assumed it was vital that work and efficiency obtained the warmest applause of the night to date.
Holst accomplished The Cloud Messenger in 1910, revising it in 1912. Its origins lie a number of years earlier, nonetheless, when Holst started to discover Sanskrit literature. He so fell beneath the spell of Sanskrit that he taught himself the language and was capable of make his personal English translation of the textual content he selected to set in The Cloud Messenger. The phrases come from a Sanskrit love poem entitled Megadūta, written by the fifth-century poet Kālidāsa. He scored the work extravagantly. The total model requires a mezzo-soprano soloist, SATB refrain and semi refrain and a really massive orchestra. Maybe unsurprisingly, few performances of the total model have ever taken place, although the late Richard Hickox recorded it for Chandos again in 1990. Nonetheless, I discovered from the booklet accompanying a newer recording performed by Joseph Fort that Holst’s pal, the composer and conductor, W G Whittaker (1876-1944) performed a number of performances utilizing his personal vastly diminished ensemble of piano, string quintet, timpani and percussion.
Maybe taking coronary heart from Whitaker’s precedent, in 2019 Joseph Fort made his personal diminished scoring of The Cloud Messenger which he recorded with the Choir of King’s School, London, of which he’s director. This model trims again Holst’s scoring to simply 15 gamers: 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, single woodwind, horn, trumpet, trombone, harp, celeste, percussion. In a booklet observe, Fort defined that he ensured that the unique harmonic and melodic ‘skeleton’ of Holst’s rating was left intact: no notes have been added or eliminated. He describes his model as a ‘leaner’ model of the unique. I very a lot admired the ability of Fort’s association once I heard it on CD; in my overview (right here) l stated this: ‘One purpose why I feel Fort’s model not solely works nicely but additionally has constancy to the unique is that, for all of the huge forces stipulated by Holst, he truly used them with nice discretion. So, the total orchestral panoply is unleashed however hardly ever, and far of the scoring shows the type of delicacy that we encounter in, say, ‘Venus’ from The Planets, a rating that was to comply with The Cloud Messenger fairly swiftly. Fort’s scoring makes the piece extra intimate.’ So, I used to be intrigued to listen to Fort’s model of a bit that I’ve by no means had the chance to listen to apart from on CD. Nonetheless, the efficiency wasn’t fairly what I anticipated in that Fort’s scoring had been expanded. From my seat it was exhausting to see the exact forces concerned however it appeared that the only strings had been elevated to 2 or three desks of every instrument. I believe the chamber orchestra was of comparable dimensions to the one we had heard within the Respighi. I feel this was a really pragmatic- and profitable – choice in gentle of the big acoustic of the cathedral and since the choir of some seventy singers was a lot larger than the 22-strong choir concerned in Fort’s recording.
One factor I had forgotten from the recording was how wordy the libretto is; to be sincere, Holst set far an excessive amount of textual content. A lot of it’s narrative in nature and set for the choir; I ponder if the piece might need been more practical if Holst had made better use of solo voices; as it’s, there is only one solo episode for the mezzo. Right here, I have to commend the members of the Pageant Voices. That they had an terrible lot of phrases to sing and their diction was superb certainly; I discovered it fairly simple to comply with the textual content within the programme, despite the fact that I used to be midway down the nave. I assumed I detected just a few moments of slight untidiness within the choral singing however general, I assumed the choir made an excellent job of music which has its complexities and which, I’m certain, would have been unknown to any of them earlier than they started to rehearse it. They gave a really creditable and dedicated account of Holst’s music.
I’m not certain I’ve ever heard Beth Taylor earlier than tonight, although she had a formidable CV within the programme. She is billed as a mezzo however, to my ears, has a contact of the contralto; actually, her tone may be very full and her decrease register is powerful. There may be additionally a little bit of an edge to her tone – I don’t imply that as a criticism as a result of the sting is helpful by way of readability. She did nicely within the Dearden piece and the Holst allowed her ample alternative to show the expressive nature of her singing throughout her one, intensive solo. I assumed she was imaginative in the way in which she delivered this; she recognized nicely with each phrases and music.
The Philharmonia performed extraordinarily nicely; they introduced out all the colors within the scoring and, the place known as upon, projected powerfully. Nonetheless, a lot of the instrumental writing on this work is delicate in nature and Holst’s music positively benefitted from the finesse these musicians displayed. Geraint Bowen performed the work very nicely and specifically he guided his choir clearly via the music, animating and inspiring them.
This was a night wherein the music was somewhat uneven although the efficiency requirements have been excessive. After two years of the Pageant Voices challenge, I ponder if the time has come for the Pageant to re-evaluate it. The idea is superb, however I don’t suppose the repertoire selections have been superb, particularly within the context of attempting to widen participation within the Pageant. Final 12 months’s alternative of a bit by Graham Fitkin was severely misguided and I might argue the identical concerning the new Dearden work; neither piece, I feel, is ideally encouraging for singers wanting part of the Three Choirs expertise, although they actually expose the singers to music of our personal time. In some methods, the identical is true of the Holst; it’s a piece that has its moments however it isn’t remotely in the identical league as Hymn of Jesus, neither is it as memorable. I hope the Pageant Voices challenge will proceed however I feel a rethink could also be helpful. Within the meantime, although, those that took half this night ought to be warmly congratulated.
John Quinn
