Premiere in Norfolk

My Elegy for Baritone and Piano sextet is being premiered on Saturday 27th August 2011 at St. Botolph's Church, Trunch (NR28 0PS, near North Walsham). The concert is being presented by the London Schubert Players as part of their 2nd Norfolk Schubertiade. The programme includes Mozart's Piano Quartet in E flat, Faure's Dolly Suite, songs by Schubert, Reginald King's Meditation and premieres of pieces by Sviatlana Rynkova and yours truly.

The Elegy sets part of Rilke's 2nd Duino Elegy (Every Angel is terrifying); it is related to my Elegy for Baritone and Orchestra which was premiered by David Greiner and the Salomon Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Brown, at St. John's Smith Square. But the Elegy being premiered next week uses only part of Rilke's poem and re-works the original piece to create a rather more satisfying work.

Tridentine Masses

Next Saturday at 12.00pm I'll be singing in the Tridentine Mass at St. Mary's Church, Cadogan Street, Chelsea. The music includes Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli, Bruckner's Os Justi and Vittoria's Sitientes.

The mass is an annual event at St. Mary's and it is usually the only Tridentine mass that I get to sing in. Unusually, this year whilst we were away (hence the radio silence), London Concord Singers sang mass at the lovely Chapelle des Penitents Noirs in Avignon. There, at a well attended service on Sunday 7th August we sang Rubbra's Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici (which was actually written for the feast of St. Dominic on 4th August).

Bach Mass in B Minor

To the Queen Elizabeth Hall last night for a performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor given by the Feinstein Ensemble and I Fagiolini. The 8 singers from I Fagiolini (Anna Crookes, Julia Doyle, Clare Wilkinson, William Purefoy, Simon Wall, Matthew Long, Charles Gibbs and Francis Brett) sang 1 voice to a part and the 19 instrumentalists were similarly one to a part. The result was exactly the sort of light, transparent account of the music which I enjoy. For the 1st 3 movements (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo), where the choral sections are generally 5 part, the singers swapped about giving us different line ups, with Clare Wilkinson singing both alto and 2nd soprano. Then of course, in the Sanctus and Agnus, Bach gets more varied and finally in the Dona Nobis Pacem, all the singers came together doubling parts for the first time.

Singing Bach 1 voice to a part is quite an achievement and I Fagiolini gave a finely musical performance which seemed remarkably without stress. I must confess that I could have wished for a greater element of bravura in the singing at times, particularly in the solos, but this must be contrasted with the fine feeling of ensemble, consort singing. That is not to say the the singers were overly blended, and the different lines were nicely characterful.

The accompaniments from the Feinstein ensemble were similarly fine grained, with some notable solo playing and some superb high trumpet playing. Though there one or two moments of uncertain ensemble when I felt that a stronger musical direction might have been called for. Director Michael Feinstein played flute and seemed content to generally let things happen, when he could have been more dynamically directive.

A fine evening.

Barber and Elgar

Tomorrow night (Tuesday October 12th), the Salomon Orchestra under conductor Dominic Grier give a programme devoted to Elgar and to Barber at St. Johns Smith Square in London. In addition to Barber's Adagio the orchestra are performing his Essay No. 2 for Orchestra ; concise single movement work lasting just 11 minutes which received its first performance in 1942. The concert concludes with Elgar's First Symphony and opens with his arrangement of a Bach Prelude and Fugue.

Thou, O Christ

The choir of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate (London EC2M), conductor Timothy Storey, will be giving a performance of my anthem Thou, O Christ during the service at 1.10pm today. The anthem is a setting of words by St. Symeon the new Theologian whose feast occurs around this time.

The Magi

London Concord Singers, conductor Malcolm Cottle will be premiering my cantata The Magi at their concert
on Thursday December 16th 2010 at the Grosvenor Chapel, London W1. Written for unaccompanied 8 part choir, the piece sets extracts from a sermon
preached by Lancelot Andrewes in 1622 (You can read the full sermon here). The sermon is perhaps best known as the inspiration behind T.S. Eliot's poem The Journey of the Magi, the opening lines of which are a direct quotation from Andrewes ('A cold coming they had of it at this time of the year, just the worst time of the year to take a journey, and specially a long journey.'). Andrewes uses a lot of Latin tags in his sermon and this makes for a very rich (and at times diffuse) text. The work is divided into three movement, in each of which Andrewes considers a different aspect of the Magi's journey, so that in the 2nd movement it is the difficulty of the journey and the danger of the lands they are crossing and in the last it is the weather and the cold.

Autumn premieres

Rather excitingly I've got two premières coming up in London this autumn. An introit motet, Thou, O Christ will be premiered at 6pm Evensong on Monday 12th October at the church of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate, Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3TL. The motet will be sung by the choir of St. Botolph’s church, conductor Timothy Storey. Thou, O Christ is a setting of an English translation prayer by St. Symeon the New Theologian, a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church who lived in the 10 th century. I was commissioned to specifically write a setting by St. Symeon for the choir of St. Botolph's Church.

On Saturday 19th December, the Latin motet Videte Miraculum will be premiered by Chapelle du Roi, conductor Alistair Dixon, at St. John’s Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HA. The performance forms part of their concert, New Lamps for Old which takes place as part of St. John’s Smith Square’s 24 th Annual Christmas Festival. The motet uses the same text and structure as Thomas Tallis's Respond of the same name, which will also be included in the concert.

Further details from the press release here.

Gaudete!

My motet Gaudete in Domino semper, from Tempus per Annum will receive its first liturgical performance on Sunday 14th December 2008 at 6.00pm at the church of All Saints', Margaret Street, London. Where the choir of All Saints, conductor Paul Brough, will be performing it at Evensong.

The motet sets the text of the Latin Introit for the 3rd Sunday in Advent (which is the day when the motet will be performed). The motet was recorded by the eight:fifteen vocal ensemble, conductor Paul Brough, as part of their Testament of Dr. Cranmer CD.

Review of London Concord Singers concert

Thursday's concert from the London Concord Singers was reviewed for the Seen and Heard web site. My motet, Deus in Adjutorium came in for the following comments from review Bob Briggs:-

'Robert Hugill’s Deus in adjutorium , one in a projected series of 70 motets - 35 of which have been completed so far - of settings of all the Introit texts for all the Sundays and major church festivals, used both the declamatory and the polyphonic. A solo tenor, well sung by Margaret Jackson-Roberts, one of two female tenors in the group, acting as a kind of narrator, leading the choir into a prayer to “Let my enemies be confounded…” with music that seems to be of the utmost simplicity, but is in fact well thought out and carefully designed to illuminate the words. How wonderful to hear a contemporary work where the composer actually cares about the text he is setting and writes music that is so grateful to sing. Hugill is himself a singer, and a member of this choir, so he knows how to write for the group's voices and this showed in every bar. This was my first hearing of Hugill’s music and it made me want to hear more.'


Full review here.

Deus in adjutorium

My motet Deus in adjutorium will be performed tomorrow (Thursday 10th July) by London Concord Singers, conductor Malcolm Cottle, at their concert at St. Michael's Church, Chester Square, SW1W 1HH. The programme also includes music by Eric Whitacre, Charles Ives, Hubert Parry, Brahms, Alberto Ginastera, Sheppard and Parsons (further details here).

The motet will be also performed at the choir's concert on Saturday 2nd August at 9.00pm in the church at Bardolino, Italy (on Lake Garda near Verona). The choir will sing the motet as the Introit at Mass at St. Thomas's Church, Verona and Sunday 3rd August (when the text of the motet will be the text for the Introit of the day).

First run through with Horn

Last night we had the first run through with the horn player for my new piece, Do not go gentle into that good night. London Concord Singers are premiering the piece on Saturday at Hampstead Town Hall in concert which features music by John Gardner, Philip Cranmer and Mary Jane Leach.

It is always slightly unnerving having the first run through of a piece. The choir, of course, had had the work in rehearsal since January but last night was might first chance to hear it with a real horn player. The result, I think, works very well and we are all looking forward to the premiere.

Opera Festival

The ever enterprising Tete-a-Tete opera company, directed by Bill Bankes-Jones, are in the middle of their 3 week opera festival at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith.

The aim is to offer a wide range of diverse contemporary takes on opera, ranging from fully formed stage performances to workshops or merest sketches to allow composers to try things out and perhaps, take them to another level. It is a format which they originated at Battersea Arts Centre and works well, because it gives us composers the chance to put something before the public. And find out what the reaction is.

The evenings are organised in 3 parts, with Starters, Mains and Afters. The Starters and Mains are the meat of the performances, the Afters are the fun bits in which writers and performers involved in the festival perform and improvise.

Inevitably the Hammersmith location is not ideal for everyone, but we hope to be going to a couple of the performances. This week includes a new piece based on Ionesco's La Cantatrice Chauve by French composers Jean-Philippe Calvin and Broken Voices a new multimedia performance by Terry Smith and Linda Hirst based on music by Monteverdi. Then at the end of the evening there's a chance to hear Jean-Philippe Calvin and Stefan Tiedje performing electronic music. Quite a mix for one evening.

London Concord Singers Concert

This Thursday at St. Cyprian's Church, Glentworth Street, London NW1 I will be singing in the London Concord Singers summer concert. We're presenting a programme whose main works are Walton's Cantico del Sole, Rheinberger's Mass in E flat and Howells's Requiem. The programme will also form the basis for our concert tour to Basel, Switzerland, at the beginning of August when we will be performing 2 concerts in the Basler Münster and singing Mass at Mariastein Monastery.

Salomon Tonight

Tonight we're off to see the Salomon Orchestra at their regular venue, St. Johns Smith Square. The programme consists Lalo's Overture to Le Roi d'Ys, Prokofiev's 1st Violin Concerto and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. This latter should make a fantastique effect at St. John's as it is rather a large scale work for the venue.

The conductor is Nicholas Collon and the violin soloist in the Prokofiev is Fiona McNaught.

Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus in South Lincolnshire

My Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus will be performed as part of services at St. Mary's Church and St. Martin's Church Stamford on May 27th. The choir, under the direction of Fergus Black, will be singing the mass at the 9.30am Service at St. Martin's Church and at the 11.00am Service at St. Mary's Church, Stamford.

Probably the first time that any of my music as been performed in my home county of Lincolnshire.

Edington Festival

The programme for this year's Edington Festival has been published, it is here. As ever Julian Thomas has organised a tempting array of music ranging from Palestrina's Missa Tu Es Petrus to Arvo Part's Magnificat. The more contemporary side is ranges from Part and MacMillan to Colin Mawby, Matthew Martin, Grayston Ives and Sigurbjornsson. This latter is an Icelandic composer and I have a treasured recording of his Skalholt Mass. Late Romantics get a good look-in with music by Bairstow, Stanford, Villette and Howells.

I'm not sure if we are going this year, logistics, holidays and a performance of St. Matthew Passion at Glyndebourne mean that it is difficult. But you never know, the programme is very tempting.

Review!

I'm actually on holiday - normal posts resume next week. In the meanwhile, the FifteenB consort concert at All Saints Margaret St. in March, has just been reviewed by Roderick Dunnett, the review is here on Music and Vision.

Too little time, too many operas

Having booked a couple of operas in the ENO's short summer season, submitted a booking for Grange Park Opera's June 2007 programme and having already booked for the LSO's performances of Benvenuto Cellini in June 2007, I opened the new booking info. from the Royal Opera with some trepidation.

Quite rightly, as it seems. Everything is happening in June, so we won't be able to go to see the concert performance of Thais with Renee Fleming, it clashes with Benvenuto Cellini. Well, the Royal Opera are doing 2 performances but the first is on the Wednesday and following Benvenuto Cellini we have a heavy weekend (Chelsea Opera Group on Saturday and Semele at Grange Park on Sunday), so I'm afraid that we have reached our going out limit that week. This also means that we'll miss out on the ROH Katya Kabanova which is on at the same time. Also, ROH are staging Sondheim's Into the Woods, one of my favourite musicals, directed by choreographer William Trevitt. The only way we'll manage to see this is to go to a preview.

What is it about theatrical/musical scheduling that leaves you will wall to wall La Boheme or Carmen (no, we're not seeing the latest Francesca Zamballo extravaganza at Covent Garden) one moment, and then lots of exciting things all at once.

Other things we are going to miss out on includes Delius's Koanga, at Sadlers Wells, it clashes with again. And also at Sadlers Wells, we'll have to do without their choreographed staging of Dido and Aeneas its the same time as my FifteenB Consort are going back on the road. In March 20027 we're doing a programme of 16th/17th century verse anthems (Tomkins, Weelkes, Pelham Humfrey and Gibbons) as part of the fund raising Campaign at All Saints Church, Margaret Street, London. Guess what, its the same week as Dido and Aeneas, wouldn't you know it.

New folksongs

I've just been writing the programme notes for London Concord Singers concert on Thursday Dec 21st (at the Grosvenor Chapel). Besides the real music we are doing a selection of Christmas carols so I had to find something to say about them.

It was easy for Silent Night because the carol's history is so fascinating. Existing just on the cusp of awareness of intellectual copyright it was spread widely in manuscript owing to the carol's popularity and when first published was simply credited as a Tirol song. But an early copyright investigation in the 1850's enabled the composer's son to write a deposition which established his father as the writer of the music.

This sort of modern, created folk-song came to mind again last night when we singing carols at a hotel in central London as part of the entertainment for arriving guests. Naturally we used Carols for Choirs, books 1 and 2, the books that virtually every amateur choral singer possesses. We'd not rehearsed, because everyone knew the arrangements of the well known pieces, as they'd sung them so many times before. In fact, if you gather choral singers together to sing from carol word sheets most of them can sing the arrangements from memory. And David Willcocks's descants to Hark the Herald and other carols have effectively passed from being composed music into folk memory. Virtually every choral soprano knows them and can sing them from memory.

This is one of the few modern occasions where the symbiosis between oral and written musical culture is still in existence. We know understand that the old folk music culture did not exist in vacuo but had a symbiotic relationship with the printed examples produced on broad sheets etc. This only broke down with the change in society in the late 19th century. But its nice to feel that aspects of this relationship continue in the use of those humble books Carols for Choirs.

Onwards and upwards

We had a kick-off meeting last night for the next FifteenB Consort concert. The Consort is a small sub-group of my choir Fifteen. We work without a conductor and sing 1 or 2 to a part. We're doing a concert in March 2007 which is themed around Verse Anthems. Last night we met to sing through a variety of works by Gibbons, Tomkins, Weelkes and Pelham Humphrey and have the makings of a programme. The concert will also include the premiere of a new piece of mine, for voices and organ; its a piece which uses elements of the Verse anthem style. We'll also be reviving one of my solo motets for soprano and organ.

Besides works intended for the concert we also tried out others. We were rather taken with Casciolini's Requiem and that is definitely pencilled in for performance in another concert.