Internationally acclaimed ensemble, The Rose Consort of Viols, joins the Choir of King’s College, Aberdeen and its director, David J. Smith (harpsichord) in a recording of music by two exiled Catholic English composers, Peter Philips (1560/61–1628) and Richard Dering (c.1580–1630). The CD brings to life two editions by Professor David J. Smith of their music published in the scholarly series, Musica Britannica.
Introduction: Music for a broken heart
Music is often considered a cure for the broken hearted; the new CD on the Vox Regis label will quite literally contribute to medical research on what has been dubbed ‘broken heart syndrome’.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC), commonly known as ‘broken heart syndrome’, is a condition where a person’s heart suffers physical symptoms similar to a heart attack as a result of intense emotional trauma. Historically, TC was thought to be a temporary condition, with sufferers able to recover fully without medical intervention. However researchers at the University of Aberdeen have shown that TC actually causes long lasting damage to the heart muscle, leading to long-term survival rates comparable to those afflicted by the more common types of heart attack. Dr Dana Dawson is leading the team investigating the causes, effects and possible treatments for this potentially fatal condition.
The CD contains music by two exiled Catholic English composers, Peter Philips (1560/61–1628) and Richard Dering (c.1580–1630). The recording brings to life two editions by Professor David J. Smith of their music published in the scholarly series, Musica Britannica. It is performed by the internationally acclaimed Rose Consort of Viols, who join forces with the Choir of King’s College, Aberdeen and David J. Smith (director and harpsichord).
The recording includes consort and keyboard versions of the Paget Pavan and Galliard dedicated to ‘Paget’, probably the notorious double agent, Charles Paget, for whomPhilips undertook a spying mission in 1593 resulting in his imprisonment at The Hague.
Another piece by Philips, the 1580 Pavan, was a ‘hit’ of its day. It was widely arranged in a manner not dissimilar to that in which popular artists sing covers of existing songs today, but the original is no longer extant, so David has reconstructed it using the earliest surviving arrangements.
Sometimes not all the parts of works survive, so David also composed the melodies and bass lines for a number of dances by Dering for which only the inner parts survive.
Under the direction of Paul Mealor, the University of Aberdeen Chamber Choir performs fresh new arrangements of songs by Burns made by the University’s staff and students, along with guest contributions from Robert Lovie, Jillian Bain Christie and fiddler Raemond Jappy. Celebrate Burns night in style!
The poetry and songs of Robert Burns have inspired composers, writers and artists for over 200 years. His ability to speak to people where they are, regardless of their rank; his human insight; his ready wit and his quick compassion; his ability to make us cry and laugh, have made this young Scotsman immortal and universal. This CD of new arrangements by composers based at the University of Aberdeen is our tribute to the greatest poet of Scotland has produced. In each of these new and inspired arrangements, the young composers of Aberdeen have added their own voices to his, and the result is beautiful and distinctive.
The release of this special CD occurs one year to the day after the terrible and disastrous flooding in Royal Deeside. Many parts of Deeside were destroyed by the New Year floods of 2016. Nowhere was more damage than the historic little town of Ballater. The profits from this CD will go directly to the Ballater Flood Appeal and to the people of that special place. It is our hope that, through music and poetry, we can help the people of Ballater and, in true North East style, do so with good humour and warmth. This CD is, above all, a Burns Night in Aberdeen: from the Selkirk Grace to the Immortal Memory and finally to a spirited rendition of Auld Lang Syne, this is music of joy and celebration in the face of anything that life can throw at us.
The Very Rev Professor Iain Torrance Kt TD DD FRSE
Setting Robert Burns is never easy. All the arrangers on this disc are composers, so they have tackled the joys and tribulations of setting Burns with true creativity and innovation without ever losing focus on what it is that makes Burns unique. The tunes are the traditional tunes, and each arranger was charged with the task of re-syncing these songs with sensitivity to the tradition. We all had great help along the way from one of the North East of Scotland's most popular traditional music experts and singers, Robert Lovie, the champion fiddle player of Scotland, Raemond Jappy. Their help was invaluable.
Along with the new arrangements are a fiddle set played by Raemond and some traditional songs from Robert, Raemond and Aberdeen's own, Jillian Bain Christie. Their contribution to the disc really does give the feel that we wanted: eight through Burns Night in Aberdeen where everyone takes their turn to entertain (with a wee dram of whiskey along the way). The disc also includes an original work by the young composer, Thomas Lavoie. Thomas has created his own 'Immortal Memory' – a celebration of, and tribute to, the great talent that is Robert Burns.
In the closing moments of our rendition of the two tunes of Auld Lang Syne here, you will hear how much fun we had making this disc, and we hope that you can hear the joy and passion singing through in each track.
Proceeds from the sale of this CD will support research at the University of Aberdeen into Parkinson’s Disease.
Lesley Wilson has been promoting new chamber repertoire for the bassoon ever since her days as Principal Bassoon in the RSNO. This disc brings together Scottish music for the bassoon in première recordings, much of it commissioned by the performer. Lesley is joined by fellow bassoonists Kate Friday and Thomas Miller, the cellist Myra Chahin, David J. Smith at the piano and Pete Stollery, Electronics.
Lorenzo, the much travelled clown, is a Venetian glass ornament belonging to the composer, Marcus Blunt. Lorenzo is the inspiration behind a piece for bassoon and piano, as well as a drawing by Frank Bayford. The work captures the mercurial character of the bassoon as outwardly cheerful clown while sometimes expressing inner sadness.Lorenzo’s life as an itinerant entertainer seems to have a parallel in my journeys as an orchestral player, and as someone going on a journey of exploration through new repertoire.
The bassoon is a wonderfully versatile instrument, with three distinct registers across a range of nearly four octaves. However, it is sometimes overlooked by composers, who do not always make full use of its expressive capabilities. On being asked to give recitals for radio broadcast in the 1960s, I realised that the bassoon had a limited recital repertoire compared with other instruments, and was underrepresented in terms of contemporary music. These BBC invitations resulted in performances of a Sonata for bassoon and piano by David Johnson, and of a Divertimento for bassoon and cello by Hans Gál, both of which feature on this CD, which includes première recordings of chamber music for bassoon.
Ever since then, I have been on the lookout for contemporary composers willing to explore the expressive potential of the instrument I love. Each of the seven composers featured on this recording makes an individual response to the technical and expressive resources of the bassoon. As well as works for solo bassoon, the instrument is heard in combination with piano and in duet with the cello in works ranging from the firmly diatonic to the luminously atonal. I have always been keen on extending the instrument’s technique, and in the middle of the programme is a mysteriously evocative piece involving multiphonics and real-time synchronisation with electronics. In a way, all these works represent different facets of the clown’s personality, but it is the jazz-infused bagatelles for bassoon trio which keep Lorenzo smiling.
Proceeds from the sale of this CD will support vital research undertaken at the University of Aberdeen into prevention and early diagnosis of diseases that cause dementia.
Directed by David J. Smith, this CD combines world-première recordings of new music with familiar favourites. Listeners will enjoy motets by Phillip Cooke composed for the choir as well as new pieces by young composers, John F. Hudson and Thomas LaVoy. Choral classics include 16th-century polyphony as well as music by Purcell, Lotti, Stanford, Tavener and Mealor.
The CD also boasts organ music by J.S. Bach played on the chapel’s wonderful organ by Bernard Aubertin.
This is a truly wonderful disc of the beautifully old and the inspiring new in sacred music. The recording of my own Locus iste, written for this choir, is delicate, emotionally charged and beautifully balanced.”
Paul Mealor
An Introduction by David J. Smith
When I first came across choral music by Phillip Cooke, I was captivated the consummate craftsmanship of his writing and by its expressive beauty. In 2013, King’s College Chapel Choir gave the first performances of two motets by him, O lux beata Trinitas and O sacrum convivium, alongside his Veni Sancte Spiritus. The choir enjoyed singing this music, rising to its technical and musical challenges, so when it came to programming this recording, these three motets immediately sprang to mind. For the concert in 2013, we had been asked to include music by Thomas Tallis, and this juxtaposition of new and old led me to construct a programme combining world-premiere recordings of new music with familiar favourites.
Phillip Cooke is a composer working in Aberdeen alongside Paul Mealor, whose music came to public prominence after his Ubi caritas was sung at the Royal Wedding in 2011. On this recording, we have included Mealor’s Locus iste, composed in 2009 to mark the 500th anniversary of King’s College Chapel. The University of Aberdeen draws choral composers from the world over, and the CD also contains very different pieces by American composers, John F. Hudson and Thomas LaVoy.
My greatest challenge with this project was to concoct a programme of contrasting music from different centuries which has some sense of coherence. The music of what I call the ‘Aberdeen School’ of choral composition is placed at the beginning and the end. In between, works are presented in chronological order, with sections demarcated by organ music by J.S. Bach played on the wonderful 2004 organ by Bernard Aubertin, an instrument of international distinction.
The polyphonic writing of the 16th century provides perhaps the greatest contrast to the contemporary repertoire, yet approaches to its performance can be just as fresh and invigorating. In our performances, we have used the information suggested by the original mensuration signs (equivalent to time signatures) to form judgements about tempo and the phrasing of individual lines.
A sequence of 17th-century music sandwiches a simple, direct piece by Purcell in between two complex, eight-part works that share a key and inhabit the same emotional world as the organ fantasia by Bach which follows. Stainer’s God so loved the world then offers a sense of hope with its text and brighter key.
For me, Bach’s great mastery is as apparent in his smaller-scale works for the organ as in his larger-scale pieces. I have chosen chorale settings that reflect the seasons of the year, and have used them to provide a natural transition from one section to the next.
David J. Smith
Preview the first album, released in the UK on 27 May 2016 (US 20 May)
The elite university choral circuit is dominated by crack Oxbridge choirs, but here’s one from Aberdeen.’ (The Arts Desk)
…the timbre of the current choir…finds gravitational sublimity and warmth in Victoria’s O magnum mysterium, yet never loses the cohesive simplicity of Purcell’s Thou knowest, Lord, or the ripened thrill of Stanford’s Justorum animae.’ (**** The Scotsman)
‘Works by Tallis, Weelkes and Purcell are given exemplary readings – the latter’s anthem Hear my prayer especially involving.’ (The Arts Desk)
…works by living composers associated with the university, from Paul Mealor’s beautiful Locus iste and a mystical trilogy of motets by Phillip Cooke, to the Tavener-esque Ukrainian Carol of John F Hudson’ (**** The Scotsman)
