Christmas Concert 2022 at St Mellitus
Concert Programme:
- Vaughan Williams - The Wasps Overture
- Holmes - La Nuit et l'amour
- Stravinsky - The Firebird 1919 suite - with new artwork projections by William Lindley
- Coleridge-Taylor - Petite Suite de Concert
- Vivaldi arr James Batty - Domine fili unigenite
- Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on Christmas Carols
- Three carols for choir a cappella
- Carols with choir and audience
with Oliver Till, Nicki Williamson and Rachel Maby, conductors and Theo Perry, bass baritone
London Medical Orchestra’s Christmas concert celebrated a diverse array of light music written around the fin de siècle, alongside a suite from Igor Stravinsky’s debut ballet: The Firebird with newly commissioned artwork projections from William Lindley.
We were joined by the High Holborn Chamber Choir and Tottenham Community Choir for a programme including works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Vivaldi, Augusta Holmès, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor,
Funds were raised for Médecins Sans Frontières from ticket and refreshment sales.
We would like to thank our sponsors for their generous support:
-
Nuchem Pharmacy, Stroud Green Road
-
Christopher McPherson
-
Londis, Ferme Park Road
Programme Notes
The Wasps Overture - Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)
Vaughan Williams was an English composer, and this year we mark the 150th anniversary of his birth. The Wasps, was written in 1909 as incidental music for a Cambridge College production of Aristophanes' The Wasps, scored for voices and orchestra. Vaughan Williams later arranged the music into an orchestral suite and this is the overture.
La Nuit et L'Amour – Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (1847 - 1903)
Augusta Holmès, born in Paris of Irish descent, became a French citizen in 1871 adding an accent to her surname. She was a talented pianist; not allowed to study at the Paris Conservatoire she took lessons privately. She wrote Ludus pro patria for choirs, orchestra and narrator in 1888 and the most famous interlude is La Nuit et l’amour, which demonstrates her wonderful gift for melody.
The Firebird (1919 Suite) - Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (1882 – 1971)
A Russian composer, pianist and conductor, Stravinsky is widely considered one of the most important composers of the 20th Century and a pivotal figure in modernist music. The Firebird (1910) was the first ballet score he wrote for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Using folk tales as the inspiration, Stravinsky conjured an epic magical realm with exotic colours, unconventional instrument pairings, and forward-looking harmonies. He wrote the concert Suite in 1919, condensing the music into 4 short movements.
Tonights performance of The Firebird will be set against a moving image artwork. Artist William Lindley writes: “I have taken the original Ballets Russes designs as my main inspiration, including the rich and decorative set designs of Alexsandr Golovin, and Leon Bakst’s opulent costumes.”
Petite Suite de Concert Op. 77 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912)
A British composer and conductor of mixed-race birth, Coleridge-Taylor achieved such success that he was referred to by white New York musicians as the African Mahler. The four flamboyant movements which make up his Petite Suite de Concert were written around 1910, two years before his tragically early death.
Domine, Fili Unigenite (arr. James Batty)
Domine Fili is originally the 7th movement from Vivaldi’s Gloria. Arranged by one of our previous accompanists, James Batty, it has been turned into a more laid back jazz waltz that represents the style of Tottenham Community Choir beautifully. Beginning with a four part canon, the various sections get developed and passed around the choir as a more contemporary vocal accompaniment provides the backing. It continues to be one the choir’s favourite pieces to perform.
HIGH HOLBORN CHAMBER CHOIR present three pieces by female British composers.
Silent Night - Libby Croad (b. 1981)
A re-imagining of the traditional carol, composed for The New London Singers in 2016. It has since been recorded by BBC Singers on BBC Radio 3.
A Winter Carol - Grace-Evangeline Mason (b.1994)
A Winter Carol was commissioned by the BBC Music Magazine in 2021, with words and music composed by Mason, who studied at the Royal Northern College of Music at the same time as the choir's Director, Rachel Maby.
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell - Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994)
This piece was published in 1967 and is a setting of medieval fifteenth century English text and is a joyful anthem, which looks ahead to Christmas.
Fantasia on Christmas Carols - Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)
Vaughan Williams travelled round the country collecting folk songs and carols from singers to preserve them for future generations. Fantasia is a work for baritone, chorus and orchestra, first performed in 1912 in Hereford Cathedral, conducted by the composer. It consists of the English folk carols, The truth sent from above, Come all you worthy gentlemen and On Christmas Night all Christians Sing, interspersed with brief orchestral quotations from other carols such as The First Nowell.
Programme notes by Mary Dentschuk
The Concert Charity
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. They offer assistance to people based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation. MSF was founded in 1971 in Paris by a group of journalists and doctors and is currently working in over 70 countries worldwide with a movement of more than 67,000 people.
Charity Number 1026588
The Concert Players
Conductor: Oliver TillFirst Violins
- Tina Bowles (Leader)
- Rachel Barbanel
- Mary Dentschuk
- Steve Dobson
- Cathal Garvey
- Holly Garvey
- Catherine Menon
- Nichola Blakey (Principal)
- Susan Grayeff
- Jenn Hind
- Eve Naftalin
- Lucinda Platt
- Catherine Sides
- Gerry Shortall
- Jan Toporowski
- Geoffrey Irwin (Principal)
- Tom Boswell
- Dickie Clarembaux
- Nigel Franklin
- Jamie Masters
- Josephine Tsakok
- Josh Salter (Principal)
- Judith Beishon
- Hilary Evans
- Tekij Fernandez
- Anna Finnegan
- Hannah Franklin
- Helen Mabelis
- Nicholas Singer
- Charlotte Youngs
- Francois Moreau
- Tom Skrinar
- Graeme Scott
- Natalie Ryan
- Mo Talukder
- Sumitra Lahiri
- Ming Li Kong
- Lindsey Glen
- Ian Merryweather
- Rosalind Hedley-Miller
- Louise Johnston
- Simon Ashdown
- Susie Laker
- Julia Rooke
- Grace Watkinson
- Glyn Jones
- Charlotte Webb
- Peter Gough
- Paul Handley
- Rob Heath
- Dominic McGonigal
- Stuart Delve
- John Holland
- Sharon Moloney
- Tomos Xerri
- Dan Chappell
