Joie de vivre - Exultate Singers

Joie de vivre
A concert of French choral and organ music
Exultate Singers
conducted by David Ogden
With Richard Johnson organ
Saturday 27th September at 7.30pm
Joie de vivre
A concert of French choral and organ music
Exultate Singers conducted by David Ogden
with organist Richard Johnson
O sacrum convivium!
Olivier Messiaen
O salutaris hostia
Pierre Villette
Kyrie from Messe Solonnelle
Jean Langlais
O sacrum convivium Pierre Villette
Vers l’espérance
Thierry Escaich
Litanies à la Vierge Noire
Francis Poulenc
Salve Regina
Francis Poulenc
Exultate Deo
Francis Poulenc
Gloria from Messe Solonnelle
Jean Langlais
Interval
Sanctus from Messe Solonnelle
Jean Langlais
Quatre motets sur des thèmes Grégoriens Maurice Duruflé
- Ubi caritas
- Tota pulchra es
- Tu est Petrus
- Tantum ergo
Charles Marie Widor
Toccata: Finale from Symphonie no 5
Salut Dame Sainte
Seigneur, je vous en prie
Hymn à la Vierge
Pierre Villette
Panis angelicus
Pierre Villette
Agnus Dei from Messe Solonnelle
Jean Langlais
Two motets by Francis Poulenc
Conducted by Martin Le Poidevin
A taste of France
in St Mary
Redcliffe
Programme notes by David Ogden
T
he art music of 20th century France
was dominated by composers who
were organists. From the legacy
of Fauré, Franck, Widor and Vierne
a strong line of composers emerged who
drew on each other for inspiration and
developed each other’s ideas. Much of their
music was inspired by the Roman Catholic
liturgy: settings of the Mass and popular
religious texts.
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) wrote
O sacrum convivium! whilst he was
organist at Sainte-Trinité in Paris. The rich
slow moving harmonies create a profound
mystical and almost ecstatic sound world.
O Sacrum Convivium is a Latin prose
text honouring the Blessed Sacrament
The Seine, Paris
written by Saint Thomas Aquinas. Refer to
the enclosed sheet for translations of all
tonight’s sung texts.
The Messe Solennelle by Jean Langlais
(1907-1991) provides a framework for
tonight’s concert. The piece clearly shows
the influence of the other composers
whose work will be heard this evening.
Langlais was blind from the age of two
and thanks to the generosity of a cousin
he was able to attend a blind school
where his musical talent was recognized.
In 1927 he won a place to study organ,
composition and improvisation at the Paris
Conservatoire where he met fellow student
Olivier Messiaen. After graduating he began
a career as an international concert artist and
was appointed Organist of Ste Clotilde in
Paris in 1945 where he remained until 1987.
His music is almost exclusively sacred and
fuses together the polytonality of Poulenc,
the modal modulations and dissonances of
Messiaen’s music and Durufle’s use of quasiplainsong melodies.
La Vierge Noire, the statue at Rocamadour
Langlais had a special devotion to the
Virgin Mary, so it is particularly appropriate
that tonight’s performance takes place in
a church dedicated to her. Langlais’ friend
Marie Bigot had been cured from her
blindness after visiting Lourdes but the
composer was not tempted to
visit: “If I could see like everyone
else, I would have followed in
my Father’s footsteps as a
stone-cutter. One must believe
that the Virgin Mary had other
plans for me, which came about
because of my blindness. So may
her will be done.”
Pierre Villette (1926-1998) was a
contemporary of Pierre Boulez
at the Conservatoire National
Superieure de Musique in Paris.
Unlike Boulez he focussed much
more on intimate and small-scale works for
chamber ensembles and choirs.
He drew on early music, especially
Gregorian chant, which he had sung as
a child, and combined it with the exotic
textures and harmonies inherited from
Messiaen and Poulenc. After the death of his
father, Villette went home from Paris to run
the family business. The strain took its toll
on his health and for the rest of his life he
spent long periods in the Alps recuperating
and composing.
Both O salutaris hostia and Hymne à la
Vierge date from this period. The former sets
words by St Thomas Aquinas and is notable
for its jazzy harmonies. The latter was
dedicated to the composer’s future
wife, Josette, and is a setting of a poem
by Roland Bouheret.
Villette’s choral music is both sensual and
spiritual. The motet O sacrum convivium is
clearly influenced by Messiaen in its shifting
complex harmonies and it even quotes from
Messiaen’s setting. The music constantly
changes tempo, echoing the inflections of
the text.
Towards the end of his life Villette’s music
became much less complex. In his last
motet, Panis Angelicus, a flowing melody
is accompanied by more
straightforward harmonies. As the
words point towards the hope
of eternal life and a chance to
glimpse the light of heaven, the
music shifts upwards in semitones
to a clear C major chord.
Vers l’espérance by Thierry
Escaich (b. 1965) is the third
movement from a set of poems
for organ based on extracts from
Alain Suied’s collection Le pays
perdu. A well known recitalist,
Escaich is now organist of SaintEtienne-du Mont in Paris.
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) first entered
Parisian musical circles as a member of
Les Six. Heavily influenced by Debussy, his
music is a cocktail of frivolity and sensuality
but with roots in his Roman Catholic faith.
In 1936 Poulenc was on holiday with
the baritone Pierre Bernac, when news
reached them of the sudden death in a car
accident of their friend, the composer and
critic Pierre-Octave Ferroud. Shocked and
devastated, Poulenc and Bernac went ahead
with their planned trip to France’s most
important pilgrimage site, Rocamadour, the
home to the famous shrine of the Vierge
Noire - the Black Madonna, believed to have
miraculous powers.
Above: Église de la
Sainte-Trinité, Paris
Above right: the pilgrimage
site of Rocamdaour
‘The atrocious extinction of this musician
so full of vigour had left me stupefied.
Pondering on the fragility of our human
frame, the life of the spirit attracted me anew.
“Rocamadour led me back to the faith of
my childhood. This sanctuary, certainly the
most ancient in France, had everything
to subjugate me. Clinging in full sunlight
to a steep craggy rock. Rocamadour is an
extraordinary place. With a courtyard in
front, a very simple chapel, half hollowed
into the rock, shelters a miraculous figure
of the Virgin, carved in black wood by Saint
Amadour, the little Zacchaeus of the gospel
who had to climb a tree to see Christ.’
Poulenc began writing the Litanies à la
Vierge Noire on the evening of his return
and in just seven days wrote this simple
and deeply personal litany. In it, he tried
to depict “the mood of peasant devotions
that struck me so deeply. The invocation
must be sung simply, without pretension.”
The piece marks a turning point from the
irreverence and flippancy of Poulenc’s
youth to a greater understanding of, and
response to, his Roman Catholic faith.
The two motets Salve Regina and Exultate
Deo show the contrasting elements of
Poulenc’s style: on the one hand a deep
lyricism and simplicity reminiscent of
plainsong and on the other a complex
and quirky angular style with vibrant rich
harmonies but with the phrasing and
brilliance of Palestrina.
Salut Dame Sainte and Seigneur, je vous
en prie are part of the Quatre petites prières
de Saint François d’Assise for unaccompanied
men’s voices. They express the saint’s
unconditional devotion and love for God.
The organist Maurice Durufle (1902-1986)
looked to plainsong for inspiration in
almost all of his works. The four motets
of 1960 are each based on the requisite
Gregorian chant. All four pieces have the
sense of timeless flow of plainsong whilst
containing the warmth created by simple
and delicate harmonies.
The Toccata from the Symphonie no 5
by Charles Marie Widor (1844-1937) is
probably the most well known piece in
the organ repertoire. An organ symphony
was a collection of pieces rather than
a self contained work. This piece has
overshadowed not only the rest of the
movements in the work but Widor’s organ
output as a whole. Translations
Oliver Messiaen and Pierre Villette O Sacrum Convivium!
O sacrum convivium!
in quo Christus sumitur:
recolitur memoria passionis ejus:
mens impletur gratia:
et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur.
Alleluia.
O sacred banquet!
in which Christ is received,
the memory of his Passion is renewed,
the mind is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory to us is given
Alleluia.
Pierre Villette O Salutaris Hostia
O salutaris Hostia,
Quae caeli pandis ostium:
Bella premunt hostilia,
Da robur, fer auxilium.
Uni trinoque Domino
Sit sempiterna gloria,
Qui vitam sine termino
Nobis donet in patria.
Amen.
O saving Victim, open wide
The gate of Heaven to man below;
Our foes press on from every side;
Thine aid supply; Thy strength bestow.
All praise and thanks to thee extend,
For ever more, bless’d one in three.
O grant us life that shall not end,
In our true native land with thee.
Amen.
Jean Langlais Messe Solonnelle - Kyrie
Kyrie eleison
Christe eleison
Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy.
Francis Poulenc Litanies à la Vierge Noire
Seigneur, ayez pitié de nous.
Jesus-Christ, ayez pitié de nous.
Jesus-Christ, écoutez-nous.
Jesus-Christ, exaucez-nous.
Dieu le père, créateur, ayez pitié de nous.
Dieu le fils, rédempteur, ayez pitié de nous.
Dieu le Saint-Esprit, sanctificateur, ayez pitié de nous.
Trinité Sainte, qui êtes un seul Dieu,
ayez pitié de nous.
Sainte Vierge Marie, priez pour nous.
Vierge, reine et patronne, priez pour nous
Lord, have pity on us.
Jesus Christ, have pity on us.
Jesus Christ, hear us.
Jesus Christ, grant our prayers.
God the Father, creator, have pity on us.
God the Son, redeemer, have pity on us.
God the Holy Spirit, sanctifier,
have pity on us.
Holy Trinity, who are one single God,
have pity on us.
Holy Virgin Mary, pray for us.
Virgin, queen and patron, pray for us.
Vierge que Zachée le publicain
nous a fait connaître et aimer,
Vierge à qui Zachée ou Saint Amadour
éleva ce sanctuaire
Priez pour nous, priez pour nous.
Reine du sanctuaire,
que consacra Saint Martial,
Et où il célébra ses saints mystères,
Reine, près de laquelle s’agenouilla Saint Louis
Vous demandant le bonheur de la France,
Priez pour nous, priez pour nous.
Reine, à qui Roland consacra son épée,
priez pour nous.
Reine, dont la bannière gagna les batailles, priez pour nous.
Reine, dont la main délivrait les captifs,
priez pour nous.
Notre-Dame, dont le pélerinage
est enrichi de faveurs specials,
Notre-Dame, que l’impiété et la haine ont voulu souvient détruire,
Notre-Dame, que les peuples visitent
comme autrefois, priez pour nous.
Agneau de Dieu, qui effacez les péchés
du monde, pardonnez-nous.
Agneau de Dieu, qui effacez les péchés
du monde, exaucez-nous.
Agneau de Dieu, qui effacez les péchés
du monde, ayez pitié de nous.
Notre-Dame, priez pour nous,
Afin que nous soyons dignes
de Jésus-Christ.
Virgin, whom Zacchaeus the tax-collector
made us know and love,
Virgin, to whom Zacchaeus or Saint Amadour
raised this sanctuary,
Pray for us, pray for us.
Queen of the sanctuary,
which Saint Martial consecrated,
And where he celebrated his holy mysteries,
Queen, before whom knelt Saint Louis
Asking of you good fortune for France,
Pray for us, pray for us.
Queen, to whom Roland consecrated his
sword, pray for us.
Queen, whose banner won the battles,
pray for us.
Queen, whose hand delivered the captives,
pray for us.
Our Lady, whose pilgrimage
is enriched by special favours,
Our Lady, whom impiety
and hate have often wished to destroy,
Our Lady, whom the peoples visit as of old,
Pray for us, pray for us.
Lamb of God, who wipes out the sins
of the world, pardon us.
Lamb of God, who wipes out the sins
of the world, grant our prayers.
Lamb of God, who wipes out the sins
of the world, have pity on us.
Our Lady, pray for us,
To the end that we may be worthy
of Jesus Christ.
Francis Poulenc Salve Regina
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
ad te clamamus
exsules filii Evae,
ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos
misericordes oculos ad nos converte;
et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished
children of Eve; to thee do we send up our
sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley
of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile,show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Francis Poulenc Exultate Deo
Exultate Deo, adjutori nostro:
jubilate Deo Jacob.
Sumite psalmum et date tympanum:
psalterium jucundum cum cithara.
Buccinate in neomenia tuba:
insigni die solemnitatis vestrae.
Rejoice in God our helper:
sing aloud to the God of Jacob.
Take the psalm and bring hither the timbrel:
the merry harp with the lute.
Blow the trumpet in the new moon,
even on our solemn feast day.
Jean Langlais Messe Solonnelle - Gloria
Gloria in excelsis Deo,
et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te,
glorificamus te.
Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam
gloriam tuam.
Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater
omnipotens.
Domine Fili unigenite Jesu Christe,
Domine Deus Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Suscipe
deprecationem nostram.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris.
Quoniam tu solus sanctus. Quoniam tu
solus Dominus Quoniam tu solus altissimus.
Jesu Christe.
Cum Sancto Spiritu
in Gloria Dei Patris, Amen.
Glory be to God on high
and in earth peace good will towards men.
We praise you, we bless you, we worship you,
we glorify you.
We give thanks to you
for your great glory.
Lord God, Heavenly King, God the Father
almighty.
O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ:
O Lord God Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
Who takes away the sins of the world, have
mercy upon us. Receive our prayer.
Who sits at the right hand of the Father.
For you alone are holy, you alone
are the Lord, You alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ.
With the Holy Ghost,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Jean Langlais Messe Solonnelle - Sanctus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus
Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra Gloria tua.
Benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini.
Osanna in excelsis.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Maurice Duruflé Quatre motets sur des thèmes Grégoriens - Ubi Caritas
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur.
Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.
Et ex corde diligamus
nos sincero.
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.
Tota pulchra es
Tota pulchra es, Maria
et macula originalis non est in te.
Vestimentum tuum candidum quasi nix,
et facies tua sicut sol.
Tota pulchra es, Maria,
et macula originalis non est in te.
Tu gloria Jerusalem, tu laetitia Israel,
tu honorif centia populi nostri.
Tota pulchra es, Maria.
You are completely pure, Mary,
and the stain of original sin is not within you.
Your clothing is white like snow,
and your face is like the sun.
You are completely pure, Mary,
and the stain of original sin is not within you.
You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy
of Israel, you are the honoured of our people.
You are completely pure, Mary.
Tu es Petrus
Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram
aedificabo Ecclesiam meam.
You are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church.
Tantum ergo
Tantum ergo sacramentum veneremur cernui,
et antiquum documentum; novo cedat ritui,
praestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui.
Genitori genitoque
laus et jubilatio, salus, honor, virtus quoque;
sit et benedictio, procedenti ab utroque compar
sit laudatio. Amen.
Bowing, let us venerate this great sacrament.
May the old symbol give way to the new rite.
May faith supplement our defective senses.
To the Father and the Son,
praise and jubilation, salvation, honour, power
and blessing be given! Equal praise to the
Spirit who proceeds from them both! Amen.
Francis Poulenc Salut Dame Sainte
Salut, Dame Sainte, reine très sainte, Mère de
Dieu, ô Marie qui êtes vierge perpétuellement,
élue par le très saint Père du Ciel,
consacreé par Lui
avec son très saint Fils
bien aimé et l’Esprit Paraclet,
vous en qui fut et demeure
toute plenitudede grace e tout bien!
Salut, palais; salut, tabernacle;
salut maison; salut vêtement;
salut servante; salut mere de Dieu!
Et salut à vous toutes, saintes vertus qui par la
grace et l’illumination du Saint Esprit,
Êtes verse es dans les coeurs des fidèles et,
d’infidèles que nous sommes, nous rendez
fidèles à Dieu.
Hail holy Lady, most holy Queen, Mother
of God, O Mary, you who are forever virgin,
chosen by the most holy heavenly Father,
sanctified by Him with His most holy and
beloved Son and the Holy Spirit,
which is the Comforter, you who were and
shall remain in the complete fullness of
grace and perfect goodness!
Hail to the palace; hail to the tabernacle;
hail to the house; hail to the vestments;
hail, handmaiden; hail, Mother of God!
And hail to all you holy virtues which
through grace and light of the Holy Spirit
are poured into the hearts of the faithful,
and make us, who are unfaithful,
faithful unto God.
Francis Poulenc Seigneur, je vous en prie
Seigneur, je vous en prie, que la force brûlante
et douce de votre
amour absorbe mon âme et la retire de tout ce
qui est sous le ciel.
Afin que je meure par amour de votre amour,
puisque vous avez daigné mourir par amour
de mon amour.
Lord, I beg you, let the burning and tender
power of your love
consume my soul and remove it from all
that is beneath the heavens.
And so I may die through love for your love,
as you submitted yourself to die through
love for my love.
Pierre Villette Hymn à la Vierge
Ô toute belle Vierge Marie,
Votre âme trouve en Dieu le parfait amour
Il vous revét du manteau de la Grâce
comme une fianceé pareé de ses joyaux.
Alléluia, alléluia. Je vais chanter
ta louange, Seigneur,
Car tu as pris soin de moi,
Car tu m’as enveloppeé du voile
de l’innocence,
Car tu m’as faite avant le jour,
Car tu m’as fait précéder
le jaillissement des sources.
Vous êtes neé 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.
Roland Bouhéret
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.
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.
Pierre Villette Panis Angelicus
Panis angelicus
fit panis hominum;
Dat panis coelicus
figuris terminum:
O res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum.
Pauper, servus et humilis.
Te trina Deitas
unaque poscimus:
Sic nos tu visita,
sicut te colimus;
Per tuas semitas
duc nos quo tendimus,
Ad lucem quam inhabitas.
Amen.
The angelic bread
becomes the bread of men;
The heavenly bread
ends all prefigurations:
What wonder!
a poor and humble servant
consumes the Lord.
We beg of You,
Triune God
that you visit us,
as we worship You.
By your ways,
lead us who seek
the light in which You dwell.
Amen.
1. Tomorrow shall be my dancing day Jean Langlais Messe Solonnelle - Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi;
Miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi;
Miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi;
Dona nobis pacem.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of
world; have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of
world; have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of
world; grant us peace.
A
t i m e
fo r
s i n g i n g
The new CD from Exultate Singers - to be released November 2008
A
t i m e
f o r
s i n g i n g
Exultate singers conduc ted by David Ogden
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day
Gardner • Hymn to the Virgin Britten •
Abendlied Rheinberger • Christ whose glory
fills the skies Carpenter • Sing joyfully Byrd
• O little one sweet Bach • Die himmel
erzählen die Ehre Gottes Schutz • Ave
Verum Byrd • Come Sunday Duke Ellington •
What sweeter music Rutter • Lay a garland
Pearsall • Super flumina Babylonis Victoria
• Geistliches Lied Bruckner • Song of Ruth
Ogden • Sing lullaby Traditional • Salvator
mundi Tallis • Lully, lulla Leighton • My
spirit sang all day Finzi • Where riches
is everlastingly Chilcott • O vos omnes
Ginastera • And so it goes Billy Joel
CD PRE-RELEASE ORDER FORM
Name
Address
Postcode
Email
Phone
Number of CDs @ early order price of £11.99 (full price will be £12.99)
Join Exultate Singers’ free mailing list
Please add me to your postal mailing list
and/or please add me to your email list
Please make your cheque payable to Exultate Singers and send this form with your cheque
to Exultate Singers, 13 Oak Grove, Easton in Gordano, North Somerset BS20 0LN or hand to a
steward at the concert. To order online, visit www.exultatesingers.org
Your CD will be despatched as soon as they are manufactured - expected early November.
David has conducted numerous concerts of all kinds of music, from jazz and songs from the
shows to first performances by contemporary composers, along with an extensive repertoire
of choral anthems, motets, oratorios and large-scale choral works. In June 2007 he made his
debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
In the UK, he works extensively with the Royal School of Church Music, and with the BBC in
religious broadcasting, conducting BBC TV’s Songs of Praise, BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship,
BBC Radio 2’s Sunday Half Hour and BBC Radio 3’s Choral Evensong. He has conducted choirs
on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the World Service. His compositions are sung worldwide
and regularly broadcast on BBC radio.
His best-known work, Christ has no body now but yours was chosen by the Archbishop of
Canterbury to be included in a radio broadcast in December 2007, and his anthem Love’s
redeeming work is done was performed by 250-strong choir in the presence of Pope Benedict
XVI as part of a Papal Mass during his visit to the USA in April 2008. The Mass was celebrated
by the Pope and a congregation of 40,000 in the Washington Nationals Baseball Stadium.
www.davidogden.co.uk
Richard Johnson
combines a professional
career as a patent
attorney with a busy
schedule of musical
activities. His double life
began at Oriel College in
the University of Oxford,
where he held both the
organ scholarship and
an academic scholarship
in physics. Whilst at
Oxford, Richard studied
the organ with Martin
Schellenberg and was
also Director of Music
at Pusey House and
founder conductor of the
Oxford University Medical
Society Orchestra.
After leaving Oxford,
Richard was briefly
Organist and Choirmaster
at the Crown Court
Church of Scotland in
Covent Garden, London
before moving to Bristol,
where he is actively
involved in music, as
member of Exultate
Singers, accompanist to
the City of Bristol Choir
and Assistant Director
of Music at Westburyon-Trym Parish Church. Richard holds the
LRSM diploma in
organ performance.
© Christopher Gray
© Mark Simmons
DAVID OGDEN is much in demand as a
conductor and director of choral and church
music workshops, courses and festivals in the
UK and abroad. As well as Exultate Singers,
he conducts City of Bristol Choir, the RSCM
Millennium Youth Choir, Midlands and South
West Cathedral Singers, and the youth choir,
Bristol Voices. He is Director of the Bristol Schools
Choral Centre and Director of Music at the
thriving parish church in Westbury-on-Trym, in north Bristol.
EXULTATE SINGERS
Exultate Singers was founded in order to sing Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4 for a live
broadcast on Sunday, 15th September 2002. It has gone on to give over 70 concerts,
broadcasts and other appearances in locations varying from concert venues in Bristol
such as the Colston Hall, St George’s, St James’ Priory, St Mary Redcliffe Church and
St Alban’s Church; appearances in other venues around the South West in Dulverton,
Amberley, Bath, Lacock, Weston-Super-Mare, Brompton Regis, Alveston, the National Trust
Victorian house of Tyntesfield, Berkeley Castle and Salisbury Cathedral to venues further
afield as diverse as Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey, Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin,
St Mary’s Church in Swansea and St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. In October 2007 the
choir toured Germany, singing in Bach’s Church in Leipzig and in Berlin, Potsdam and
Brandenburg, and giving an impromptu a capella performance at Colditz Castle.
In May 2008 the choir recorded a new CD with John Rutter which will be available in
November. The choir will sing services at Salisbury Cathedral on 6th and 7th September,
and will join forces with City of Bristol Choir for a performance of Britten’s War Requiem
in Bristol’s Colston Hall on Remembrance Sunday, 9th November, marking the 90th
anniversary of the Armistice. In 2009 the choir has been invited to sing at St Paul’s Cathedral
in London.
With a repertoire of over 300 separate pieces - ranging from two-minute anthems to
whole works such as Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert - the
choir has sung music from plainsong and Renaissance masterpieces to contemporary
music, jazz and spirituals. It has appeared on BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4, the BBC World Service
and BBC television, and has performed pieces in an array of different languages including
Russian, Latin, Aztec, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Quechua, Tagalog, Welsh
and Icelandic.
Soprano Liz Bagshaw; Ursula Bowlt; Susan Green; Rachel Irwin; Joanna Osborn; Pippa Ramsay;
Eleanor Roylance; Emma Walton; Beth Williamson; Jo Wyld.
Alto Felicity Ball; Jenna Cooper; Alison Harris; Jessica May; Judith Ogden; Gillian Patch; Susan Pontin.
Tenor David Ball; David Brown; Oliver Condy; Richard Bunce.
Bass Nick Abbott; Richard Bacon; Chris Gray; Richard Johnson; Martin Le Poidevin;
Mike Osborn; Nic Pillow; Charlie Wyld.
Exultate Singers is grateful for the support of:
John Lewis Partnership
Richard Pedlar Architects A well established practice located in Bristol with a reputation for high
quality design and service. 4 Grove Road, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6UJ Tel: 0117 974 2612 www.rpca.co.uk
Bowen May Chartered Accountants
Specialists in small and medium sized businesses. Friendly, professional service offering a free initial
meeting and sensible fees. Call 01249 720341 or email [email protected]
Providence Music Shop Bristol’s biggest classical CD and printed music shop.
1, St George’s Road, Bristol, BS1 5UL Tel: 0117 927 6536
Just Mosaics Original decorative and functional mosaics pieces handmade to your specifications.
Visit www.justmosaics.co.uk or phone 07944 635487
WAr
Requiem
Benjamin Britten
City of Bristol Choir | EXULTATE SINGERS
Red Maids’ School chamber choir
Westbury-on-trym Church Girls’ Choir
with Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra
conducted by David Ogden
Rachel Chapman soprano
Richard Edgar-Wilson tenor
Alastair Chapman baritone
Remembrance Sunday, 9th November 7.30pm
Colston Hall, Bristol
Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem is one of the
most enduring works of the last century,
combining words from the Requiem Mass
with Wilfred Owen’s powerful poetry
describing his experience in the First World
War trenches. Marking the 90th anniversary
of the Armistice, this concert brings together
a chorus of 250 singers and full symphony
orchestra for what will be a memorable
performance in Bristol’s Colston Hall.
TICKETS £20, £17, £14 (students in full time
education / under 18s £10) available online at
www.exultatesingers.org or from Colston Hall
Box Office on 0117 922 3686
Programme designed by Judith Ogden and printed by David Harrison Printing 0117 957 1493