Conductor Paul Spicer gives us his thoughts.
We have another great Festival coming up soon, and as ever, we have two choral concerts which, judging by the first rehearsals, will be really exciting events.
On Saturday 15 March we start with Haydn’s beautiful and uplifiting Creation Mass, the Schöpfungsmesse which was written in 1801 and so called because Haydn used music he had already written and used in The Creation in the qui tollis peccata mundi section of the Gloria of this Mass. Apparently, the Empress Maria Theresa was so put out by this that she ordered Haydn to re-write the passage for her own copy! I suppose we should be impressed that she knew The Creation so well that she recognised the music straight away!
This is of little import to us, and it is just wonderful to have an opportunity to perform one of Haydn’s less-often performed Masses, full of lyricism and his inimitable optimism.
This is paired with Vivaldi’s ever-popular Gloria. Vivaldi is one of those composers whose style is immediately identifiable as his own. Right at the start, the unison octaves in the orchestral introduction, give their composer away instantly. The mixture of almost martial music with music of great lyricism and emotional depth is part of the reason for the enduring popularity of the work. This pair of great choral works will make a hugely attractive concert for both choir and audience. We look forward to seeing a full house!
The closing concert of the Festival, on Saturday 22 March, pairs two remarkable English works by Parry and Vaughan Williams.
Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens has become one of the most admired and enjoyed choral works of its period. It was composed to a commission from Sir Charles Stanford when he was conductor of the London Bach Choir (in which Parry sang) and premiered in 1887. Parry had been trying to establish himself as a composer but had suffered some serious setbacks, but this work, short as it is, was an immediate success and has remained at the heart of the choral repertoire in this country (and elsewhere) ever since. It is a simply heart-warming work.
Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem was commissioned to mark the centenary of the Huddersfield Choral Society in 1936 and is an entirely appropriate work to perform in our war-torn times, as it was when it was written.
RVW had been through the miseries of the Great War and this work was a heartfelt plea for peace. This was, of course, a futile hope in 1936 but it still stands as a deeply-felt expression of the need for nations to work out their differences peacefully – something which seems as impossible now as it has ever been. He wrote a searingly impassioned work which I know all those singing have already been touched by.
I hope that our performance will light a candle, if not in the hope that things are likely to change any time soon, then in remembrance of all the lives freely given in the hope of something better in the future.
