News from the Music Department
Bach's Christmas Oratorio
On Saturday 28 January at 7 pm in Hereford Cathedral there is a rare opportunity to hear a complete performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. This great work consists of six parts, originally intended to be sung separately on the six principal feast days between Christmas and Epiphany.
The performance will be given by forces similar to those which Bach would have envisaged: the boys and men of Hereford Cathedral Choir, and the period-instrument orchestra Marches Baroque, led by Kelly McCusker. The soloists are Lucy Bowen (soprano), Patrick Craig (countertenor), Nicholas Mulroy (tenor) and Giles Underwood (bass). The performance is directed by Geraint Bowen, Hereford Cathedral’s director of music.
Geraint Bowen said: ‘It’s very exciting to be preparing the Christmas Oratorio with the cathedral choir once again. Along with the choir’s annual Holy Week performances of Bach’s St John Passion and St Matthew Passion, this is now an established part of the musical calendar in Hereford. It’s an equally wonderful piece which is more rarely performed, especially in its entirety. It combines some of Bach’s most festive and jubilant writing for choir and orchestra, complete with trumpets and kettledrums, with more intimate reflective numbers for the soloists.’
Tickets for the performance are £22 and £16 and available from the Cathedral Shop or The Outback, Church Street, Hereford. You can also telephone 01432 374261 to book and pay for your tickets in advance. Doors open at 6.15 pm and there may be a limited number of tickets available to buy at the St John’s Door of the cathedral on the night.
Please click here to download a PDF flyer with an order form.
Christmas Sparkle
Celebrate the start of the Christmas season by listening to a beautiful concert of seasonal organ music by Hereford Cathedral’s Peter Dyke. Played on the historic Willis organ this festive offering has become a traditional part of the Christmas schedule at the cathedral with many people eagerly anticipating the announcement of the programme!
Peter Dyke commented on his selection this year “Some of the classic Christmas tunes, such as Sleigh Ride don’t often get heard live in the cathedral, but the great Willis organ is superbly suited to this lighter style. Of course, there will be some loud and dramatic moments too, reflecting the full strength of the instrument. Everyone is welcome to this curtain-raiser for the Advent and Christmas season!”
You will be able to watch Peter playing up in the loft as there will be live projection onto a big screen set up in the Nave. The recital takes place at 1.15pm on Saturday 3 December. The event is free but there will be a collection as you leave the cathedral in aid of the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust, which supports the cathedral’s choral foundation and restoration projects.
STOP PRESS
View Peter's programme here
Final lunchtime organ concert
On Tuesday 27 September 2011 at 1.15 pm, Peter Dyke, assistant organist at Hereford Cathedral, gave the last in this year's series of Tuesday lunchtime organ concerts. As is now traditional, the programme for this concert was made up of audience requests. You can view the programme here
New faces in Hereford Cathedral Choir
This term Hereford Cathedral Choir has welcomed its second group of gap-year choral scholars, and its fourth organ scholar. The four of them will be living together in a wonderful new home close to the cathedral, St Ethelbert’s, following a generous gift to the Chapter and the Friends of Hereford Cathedral by the late Esther Poole-Hughes.
Tom Scott-Cowell (alto, left) was a chorister at Westminster Abbey under James O’Donnell until 2006 when he became a music scholar at Radley College, where he sang in the chapel choir and made a number of solo appearances as a countertenor, most recently in Bach’s St John Passion
in March 2011. During his time at Radley, Tom also sang with the choirs of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford, and New College Oxford. As well as being a singer, Tom plays the cello and has reached Grade 8 with distinction. Tom has also been a member of the Rodolfus Choir since 2009, with whom he has made a number of concert and broadcast appearances and several recordings, including Bach’s Mass in B minor and a selection of works by Elgar. After his gap year in Hereford, Tom intends to go either to music conservatoire to study singing or go to university with a choral scholarship. In his spare time Tom enjoys playing hockey, cricket, football and singing.
Sam Jenkins (tenor, right) was a chorister at Guildford Cathedral until 2006 when he was awarded the Peter Attenborough Scholarship to Charterhouse. He was head of house, and head of choir alongside being a music scholar. He currently sings with a number of ensembles, including the Rodolfus Choir, Voce Sanctis and The Mousai Singers, which he helped found. He is also a part-time choral scholar at St Joseph’s Church, Guildford and St Mary’s Church in Stoke D’Abernon. Sam is applying to Durham University to read music and English and hopes to hold a choral scholarship in conjunction with his studies.
Having been a chorister at Winchester Cathedral, Jonathan Pacey (bass, centre right) also attended Charterhouse, where he was a music scholar. He is a member of the Rodolfus Choir, and a founding member of The Mousai Singers. Outside of singing, Jonathan plays the piano and also the cello (of which he is of Grade 8 standard). He is currently applying for a choral scholarship to read music at Trinity College, Cambridge, where the first two Hereford organ scholars are currently studying. After university he is hoping attend a music conservatoire to study opera. Jonathan’s other hobbies include sailing.
Douglas Tang (organ scholar, centre left) was the organ scholar of Croydon Minster and Dulwich College. Born in Hong Kong, Douglas first moved to England at the age of 13, and plays the organ, flute and piano, holding diplomas on all instruments. He was also a student at the Junior Royal Academy of Music. He has been principal flautist of a number of orchestras and has taken part in collaborations with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta, performing in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall, St John’s Smith Square and the Queen Elizabeth Hall. As an organist and soloist, Douglas has performed in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral, St Lawrence Jewry, Christ’s Chapel Dulwich and St Martin’s Church, Worcester. Forthcoming recitals include Reading Town Hall and St Martin-in-the-Fields. Douglas is currently working towards his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists. He is organ scholar-elect of King’s College, Cambridge, where he will be taking up his place to read music in autumn 2012.
Organ ‘fireworks’ at cathedral, Tuesday 17 May at 7.30 pm
The internationally-renowned organist Christopher Herrick will be pulling out all the stops at Hereford Cathedral on Tuesday 17 May. Widely known for his dazzling series of ‘Organ Fireworks’ recordings, he will be giving the first gala concert of the summer season. Now living in London, Christopher’s virtuoso playing has taken him all over the world, from Westminster Abbey to New Zealand and New York City’s Lincoln Center.
It will be a long-awaited return visit to Hereford for Christopher. He said 'Back in 1975 I made a record of William Mathias’s organ music for Decca on the beautiful organ in Hereford Cathedral. Quite a few years have passed since then, so I am really looking forward to a return trip to possibly Britain’s most elegant cathedral to give a concert on the refurbished organ.'
His programme includes Verdi’s Grand March from Aïda, a workout for the feet by Pietro Yon, music by Bach, Saint-Saëns and Franz Liszt’s blockbuster Fantasia and Fugue on Meyerbeer’s operatic melody Ad nos, ad salutarem undam, which will bring the evening to a spectacular conclusion with the mighty Willis organ at the cathedral at full strength.
The concert starts at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 17 May; tickets, priced at £10 (£3 for students), are available from the cathedral shop or from 01432 374208.
Cathedral continues its cycle of late Haydn Masses
Sunday 8 May 2011 at 10.30am
For the last five years, Hereford Cathedral has celebrated its Feast of Consecration by performing in the context of the Eucharist one of the six last masses by Joseph Haydn (1732–1809). Haydn composed these masses in the final years of his life and, while he intended them for performance during mass in the Bergkirche (pilgrimage church) at Eisenstadt in Austria where he was employed, they were often heard only on the concert platform until recently.
Some of the last six masses are more well-known than others. The so-called ‘Nelson’ Mass is probably the best-known, but the mass to be performed this Sunday 8 May has also been popular ever since the rousing reception which it received at its first performance in 1802. The last of the six to be written, it is known as the ‘Harmoniemesse’: the German word ‘harmonie’ was the term used in the eighteenth century for a wind band, and it is used in this context because of the exceptionally rich scoring for wind instruments in this mass, more so than in any of the other five.
Sunday’s celebration will continue Hereford Cathedral’s established tradition of performing a large mass with orchestra, once a year, on its Feast of Consecration. Staging a liturgical performance of a mass of this scale is a substantial undertaking, which places considerable demands upon singers and instrumentalists alike, and we can only achieve it thanks to generous sponsorship: we feel that the cathedral’s Feast of Consecration is an ideal occasion to focus our very best resources. This festival is the occasion when we give thanks to God for the cathedral building itself; for its foundation; for those who built it and endowed it; and for all who have worshipped in it through the centuries. We do not know the precise year when the cathedral was consecrated, but 11 May has always been kept as the festival since mediaeval times, and we keep it now on the Sunday nearest to this date.
Everyone is welcome to join us for this celebration. The Eucharist begins at 10.30am and drinks will be served after the service in the gardens of the Bishop’s Palace, hosted by Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust.
Tuesday lunchtime organ concert series begins
Our annual series of weekly Tuesday lunchtime organ concerts begins on 3 May. For further details click here.
On Easter Bank Holiday Monday, 25 April, at 1.15 pm, Peter Dyke will be playing his now-traditional concert of popular organ music at the cathedral. Download the programme here.
Admission is free with a retiring collection. The main season of Tuesday lunchtime organ concerts begins on 3 May. For further details click here.
St Matthew Passion
Tickets are selling fast for the cathedral choir's performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion on Tuesday in Holy Week, 19 April, at 7 pm. This will be the choir's tenth annual performance of one of Bach's Passions.
Open day for prospective choristers
The choir of Hereford Cathedral will be throwing open its doors for potential new recruits on Saturday 2 April (10–11.30 am) when it holds an open rehearsal for boys aged 6 to 9, and their families, in the 15th century cathedral cloisters.
Click here to download poster
‘We are constantly looking for new boys to join the choir,’ said Geraint Bowen, director of music at the cathedral, ‘and for the right child, the choir provides a wonderful opportunity. As well as singing some of the most wonderful music written, they also have the chance to travel and perform in some remarkable places.’
‘Over the past few years the choir has visited the USA and South Africa, broadcast on radio and television, recorded two internationally acclaimed CDs, sung at the Guards’ Chapel in London and performed for TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall on several occasions.’
Scholarships are paid to enable the choristers to attend Hereford Cathedral School. In some cases, fully funded scholarships are available.
‘For the right boy the experience is remarkable and can be life changing,’ said Geraint. ‘It also sometimes needs a grandparent, friend or a school teacher to give someone a nudge that their son might be suitable as a chorister. Many parents assume that their son has to be a musical genius to audition for the choir, but in fact what we are looking for is a boy who enjoys singing, and being part of a close-knit team.’
Families wishing to attend the open morning, or those who would like to have an initial informal conversation about the possibilities, are asked to contact Geraint Bowen (01432 374238); or email here
Hereford Cathedral Choir sings rarely-performed Tudor music
The choir of Hereford Cathedral will sing John Browne’s rarely performed motet Stabat mater from the historic Eton Choirbook (c 1490-1502) at Evensong on Saturday 19 March at 5.30 pm.
This forthcoming performance was recently profiled on BBC Radio 3's In Tune. 'The broadcast was a welcome opportunity to talk about the choir at Hereford,' said Geraint Bowen, the cathedral's director of music, 'and particularly our performance of Browne’s motet.'
'It will be a rare opportunity to hear this dramatic and sumptuous late-fifteenth century work of unaccompanied polyphonic music,' said Geraint. 'It's great to be able to put the piece in context for the choristers by telling them that the piece was composed around the same time as the cloisters were built here, in which we have the song school. It is a wonderful experience for them.'
John Browne was an outstanding composer of the period and his six-part Stabat mater, which was written not long before Henry VIII came to the throne, is one of Browne's finest and most expressive works. It is composed in a florid style and offers a glorious example of the final flowering of English polyphonic music that was swept away by the Reformation.
The choir’s performance of Stabat mater is one among a number of special musical events in the next few months, along with a performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion (Tuesday 19 April at 7.00 pm) and an orchestral Eucharist using Haydn's Harmoniemesse (Sunday 8 May at 10.30 am). Evensong continues to be sung daily by the cathedral choir at 5.30 pm during term time (with the exception of Wednesdays) and at 3.30 pm on Sundays, to which everyone is welcome.
Allegri's Miserere
On Ash Wednesday, 9 March, the sound of top Cs will be floating round Hereford Cathedral when the cathedral choir sings Allegri's Miserere, one of the world's most celebrated pieces of church music.
Geraint Bowen, the cathedral's director of music said:
'The Allegri is an eagerly-awaited piece in our choir's annual calendar because of the famous top Cs which it contains - five of them - which are sung by one of the choristers. In the weeks leading up to it each year, I often hear some of the boys trying it out when they think no-one's listening. Many people will know it from recordings but there's no substitute for hearing it live: the acoustic of our cathedral is perfect for this famous piece.'
The service of Choral Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes begins at 5.30pm at Hereford Cathedral and all are welcome.
Hereford Cathedral Choir featured in Radio 3's In Tune programme
Geraint Bowen, director of music at the cathedral, was a guest on Radio 3's In Tune programme on Tuesday 1 March. Geraint was interviewed from a studio in Worcester by Petroc Trelawny in London and the piece included three tracks from recent Hereford Cathedral Choir recordings. Until Tuesday 8 March you can hear the programme by following this link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yyfyq
Audio-visual Messiaen evening
Lovers of organ music have a treat in store at the cathedral later this month when there is a rare opportunity to hear the whole of the French composer Olivier Messiaen’s masterpiece La nativité du Seigneur at Hereford Cathedral. Written in 1935, La nativité explores the Christmas story by illustrating the various characters such as the angels, shepherds and wise men, and more abstract aspects in vividly colourful movements. But this will be an organ concert with a difference, as Peter Dyke, assistant organist at the cathedral, explains:
‘To help the audience get the most out of Messiaen’s wonderful piece, we’re going to choose artworks connected with the story and project them on the big screen while I play the music. This will help illustrate the sense of mystery and majesty that the composer is getting at, and that is such an important part of Christmas for many of us. The great Willis organ’s range of colour makes it an ideal instrument for this and the cathedral will have a very special atmosphere in the late evening.’
The concert begins at 7.30 pm on Saturday 29 January, and tickets can be obtained from the cathedral shop (01432 374200) or at the door.
Download poster here.
World premiere at carol service
The cathedral choir gave the world premiere of Richard Lloyd's carol I sing the birth at the Festival of Lessons and Carols on 22 December 2010. Richard Lloyd was organist at the cathedral 1966–74 and the carol was commissioned by the Clarke-Whitfeld Trust in memory of Kevin Mason, an additional member of Chapter and former chairman of the Hereford Three Choirs Festival, who sadly died in January 2010.
’Christmas Sparkle’ organ concert
On Saturday 4 December at 1.15 pm, Peter Dyke will be playing his now-traditional concert of seasonal organ favourites at the cathedral. Admission is free with a retiring collection taken in aid of the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust.
Download the programme here
Cathedral choir to tour South Africa
On Thursday 21 October, as the half term holiday approaches, Hereford Cathedral Choir, along with director of music Geraint Bowen, organist Peter Dyke, and a team of chaperones, will head off to Cape Town for their ten-day tour of the Cape region of South Africa. This is an exciting new destination for the choir, which has previously toured four times in the USA in recent years.
Links have been formed with churches affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) which will take the choir to venues like St George’s Cathedral Cape Town, where Desmond Tutu, whom some of the boys had the pleasure to meet at last year’s Hay Festival, was the archbishop. Other venues include George, Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown, where the congregations are enthusiastically anticipating the visit.
‘As well as singing concerts and services, the choir will have the opportunity to visit Robben Island and Table Mountain and also to see some of South Africa’s wildlife,’ said Geraint Bowen. ‘The tour will include a journey along the famous Garden Route through some of the most beautiful scenery of the Cape as well as including a visit to the Cape of Good Hope.’
‘This is an exciting venture, musically, educationally and culturally for everyone involved,’ said Geraint. ‘It has also required a huge fund-raising effort, which is not over yet!”
One of the choir’s major fund-raising events will be a gala concert, featuring music to be sung on the tour, in Hereford Cathedral on Tuesday 19 October at 7 pm. Admission is free with a retiring collection in support of the tour fund.
Final lunchtime organ concert
On Tuesday 28 September at 1.15 pm, Peter Dyke, assistant organist at Hereford Cathedral, will be giving the last in this year's series of Tuesday lunchtime organ concerts. It has become something of a tradition for this concert to be made up of audience requests, and this year is no exception. The final selection of items is a closely-guarded secret, and all will be revealed on Tuesday. Admission is free, with a retiring collection.
STOP PRESS
View Peter's programme here
The cathedral will be holding interviews and auditions for the 2011–12 choral scholarships in January 2011. Geraint Bowen, the director of music, will be delighted to hear from any prospective candidates.
Click here for more details of the cathedral's choral scholarships
Critical acclaim for Hereford Cathedral Choir's new CD release
Hereford Cathedral Choir's latest CD, Howells from Hereford (Regent REGCD316) has been attracting critical praise in the national and international press.
Congratulations
We are delighted to announce that Peter Dyke, our assistant organist, has been awarded the honour of Associate of the Royal School of Church Music (ARSCM), in recognition of his dedicated work as chairman of the Herefordshire and South Shropshire Area Committee of the RSCM since 2001. Peter was presented with his award at a ceremony in Durham Cathedral on Saturday 15 May 2010.