Saturday November, 15th. 2008 at 7.30
Hoylake Chapel, Station Road, Hoylake

 


Elgar              From the Bavarian Highlands
Stanford        Songs of the Sea
Parry              I was Glad
Elgar              Coronation Ode


Tickets are on sale now, prices: £10.00  (concessions £9.00, children & students £3.00)

The Coronation Ode was written by Edward Elgar to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII. It contains the original sung version of "Land of hope and glory". The version here is somewhat different from the familiar "Last night of the Proms" but it rounds off the piece in a way that seemed fitting for the crowning of the new Monarch. The sentiments expressed in this work seem dated to our 21st Century ears but they reflect well the attitudes and confident pride that characterised Britain at the start of the Edwardian era. The British Empire was at its height and the Boer war had just ended in victory. Peace was to reign along with the new King. With hindsight we can see how transitory this comfortable world was to be; only a decade later the horrors of the "Great War" were to be unleashed.

The opening work, also by Elgar, is in entirely different mood. It reflects the growing tendency of the increasingly affluent middle class to take holidays in continental Europe. These songs, whose words were written by Alice Elgar, are a product of several trips the Elgars made to Germany at the end of the previous century.

C.V.Stanford, who was a prolific composer in his own right, was also a major figure in the renaissance of English music that began towards the end of Victoria's reign. He was the mentor of many of the great British composers of the 20th century.
His popular "Songs of the Sea" were a celebration of Britain's naval prowess and the nostalgia in the early 1900s for the days of sail that were fast disappearing.





Hubert Parry was another composer and academic musician of the period who did a great deal to foster the development of young talent. He was also a significant composer in his own right. He too was commisioned to write a piece to celebrate the coronation of Edward V11. "I was Glad", a setting of psalm 122, was the result.

The music of this concert is characteristic of the tastes of the time and they also show something of the social attitudes that were prevalent. We can look back on both the time and the music as a period of confident calm soon to be torn apart by the turbulence of the 20th century.


The soloists for this concert will be:

Lynne Rogers (soprano)

Originally from Liverpool, Lynne first obtained a BA in theology before studying singing in Italy. She then gained a masters in music in Birmingham. Lynne broadcasts regularly with the BBC and has performed
with many orchestras and choirs both at home and abroad, including several previous occasions with the Hoylake Choral Society.
She last sang with us in our Fauré Requiem concert in April this year.



Pamela Clarke (mezzo-soprano)

Pamela is a very versatile singer. She has performed a wide variety of roles, both mezzo-soprano and contralto, in opera and oratorio in the UK and in the USA. She also sings popular songs by composers like Gershwin, Porter, Kern, etc.
Pamela sings regularly with the Holmes Chapel Singers, where she is also assistant musical director.






Stuart Keen (tenor)

Stuart has a long association with the Liverpool Cathedral, having joined the choir at the age of eight.
He has been the lay-succentor since 2005.
Stuart sings as a soloist for many local groups and he directs a number of local choirs. He also broadcasts regularly for both BBC radio and TV. Along with his musical activities he also manages to find time to work as an HR manager in the civil service.
He has sung with the Hoylake Choral Society on a number of previous occasions, the last one being our Fauré Requiem concert in April 2008.


Edward d'Arcy Hatton  (bass)

Ed was born in Liverpool. He has sung opera with a number of companies, including the English National Opera. He has sung with a number of choirs, most notably the Liverpool Cathedral and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
He also has a acting career and has appeared in many TV series and dramas.
He too has sung as a soloist with the Hoylake Choral Society on a number of occasions, the last one being in
our Fauré Requiem concert in April 2008.




David Houlder (organ)

A native of Preston, David Houlder has had close associations with Merseyside for many years.

---

Diamond Jubilee Celebration

of

Handel's Messiah

Handel composed his most famous work, Messiah, in 1741 to a libretto written by Charles Jennens. It was first performed in Dublin in 1742. Although the first rehearsals of the piece are rumoured to have been conducted in Chester and Parkgate while Handel and some of the soloists were delayed waiting on the tide and the weather to sail for Ireland. Handel is reported to have been none too impressed by the musical abilities of the Chester Cathedral choristers who had been drafted in to assist. We believe that the great man would be much happier with the quality of performance that we hope to achieve at our diamond jubilee performance.

The soloists appearing with us will be:

Gillian Winstanley (soprano)
Gillian was born in Liverpool. She studied music at Cardiff University where she won the Sir Geraint Evans prize, twice.
She has since performed regularly as a soloist with many choirs and orchetstras in Cheshire and Merseyside, including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
Gillian has sung with the Hoylake Choral Society on a number of occasions, most recently in our 2007 "Homage to Handel" concert.
Gillian is also head of music at a secondary school in Liverpool.

Elinor Carter (contralto)
Elinor Carter grew up surrounded by music in York. She studied at Clare College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music.  During her time there she was awarded a Senior Exhibition and won prizes for Bach, Handel and English Song. Elinor has performed widely, notably under the baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, with whom she has also recorded Vivaldi's Gloria.  Recitals have taken her to America and to France on a regular basis, and she has a particular fondness for the 20th Century English and French song repertoire.  In 2002 Elinor opened the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester Cathedral with the role of the Angel in Elgar's Dream of Gerontius.  Other notable performances have been Elijah by Mendelssohn with the CBSO in Birmingham's Symphony Hall, Les Nuits d'Eté by Berlioz in Durham Cathedral with the Northern Sinfonia and more recently the role of Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.  Elinor currently lives in Oxfordshire. 

Gordon Pullin (tenor)
Gordon Pullin  has sung in numerous venues in the UK, continental Europe and the USA. He has broadcast on BBC radio 3 and other stations, particularly relating to English song.
His repertoire covers almost the entire field of traditional tenor works as well as many first performances of modern works. He has made numerous recordings, notably a series on the English tenor repertoire.
Having spent some years in East Anglia where he made a notable contribution to the musical life of the area he has recently moved to Somerset.
Gordon was the Musical Director of the Hoylake Choral Society from 1982 to 1985. He sang with us last year in our "Homage to Handel" concert.

Richard Strivens (bass)
Richard Strivens, bass-baritone, originally from Kent, grew up in Belgium and graduated from Oxford University in Chemistry. He studied singing at the National Opera Studio, the Royal Northern College of Music and EurOperaStudio, Milan.
He has sung with English Touring Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Ryedale Festival Opera, Scottish Opera on Tour and at the Batignano Festival in Italy.
Richard appeared as Giovanni in Channel 4's Don Giovanni masterclass with Sir Thomas Allen.
He sang with the Hoylake Choral Society in Rossini's  Petite Messe Solennelle at our Golden Jubilee concert. We are delighted to see him again.

Paul Ferguson (continuo)
Paul Ferguson grew up in Birkenhead. He studied the organ at Birkenhead School,  Chester Cathedral, and  at New College, Oxford. He was musical director of the Hoylake Choral Society from 1980 to 1982.  He moved to Cambridge to study theology, and was ordained in 1985.
He has played on BBC3, Radio Cymru and Classic FM and at King's College, Cambridge, York Minster, St. George's Hall Liverpool, Chester Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
Since his ordination, his musical activities have, of necessity, become progressively less frequent. He has held posts as the Precentor of Westminster Abbey and at York Minster. Since 2001 he has been the Archdeacon of Cleveland.

Sefton Chamber Orchestra (leader: Arfona Griffiths)

Jim Wrightson (conductor)

Tickets: £12, £10 (concessions), £4 (children and students)

 

 

                        - Requiem

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), whose Requiem is the main work in the concert, composed the piece in 1888 shortly after the deaths of both his parents. Fauré, although known not to have been a religious man, is quoted as having written the work "for the pleasure of it". It has now become probably his best known and loved work.
The contrast between this Requiem and the Verdi we sang last November is great. Where the Verdi is large and dramatic to the point of being positively operatic, the Fauré is gentle and contemplative. It stresses the  "peace and rest" aspects of the Requiem, underplaying the "terror" of the Dies Irae.

The soloists are all well-known to our Hoylake audiences and we are happy that they are able to join us for our Diamond Jubilee celebrations!

Lynne Rogers (soprano)

Stuart Keen (tenor)

Hoylake Choral Society accknowledges the financial assistance it has recieved from Wirral 08 Culture for All that has helped greatly in the staging of this concert.