A Garland for the Queen

Having started 2012 in a royal vein with their Chapel Royal Concert in March, Cantilena is following this through with a summer concert filled with music celebrating the two Queen Elizabeths.

In 1601, two years before Elizabeth I's death, the composer Thomas Morley published a book of madrigals called "The Triumphs of Oriana". All the madrigals, which were supplied by many different composers, had to include a setting of the words "Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana/Long live fair Oriana"

Diana, the virgin goddess, was obviously the right member of the classical pantheon to represent the Virgin Queen and all the madrigals are strictly pagan in tone. Queen Elizabeth I was referred to as "Oriana" although the meaning and reason are obscure and some historians suggest she didn't like the nickname!

When Queen Elizabeth II succeded to the throne in 1952, a number of English composers were invited to contribute to a loosely connected group of pieces entitled "A Garland for the Queen" to commemorate her coronation. Composers included Vaughan Williams, Ireland and Finzi.

Benjamin Britten wrote an opera called "Gloriana" in the Queen's honour which wasn't entirely successful, but his choral dances remain.

We can't think of a better way to express our respect and admiration for these two amazing queens than to combine pieces from both these groups of music into one glorious concert.

We will be joined by local folk band Rough Round the Edges

Come & hear us on Saturday 14 July 2012 at 7.00pm at the Somerset Rural Life Museum. Tickets are £10.00 and include wine, Feel free to bring a picnic!

For tickets or more information call  01278 722870 or buy tickets from the Glastonbury Music Shop.

Beyond the Fringe

Well, part of it, really. This year music in Glastonbury takes another step forward with the Glastonbury Fringe Festival. This is a selection of performances from artistes within the Glastonbury area, given in a range of venues in the town.

Cantilena is taking part in this with a concert on 25 June at the United Reformed Church in Glastonbury. We will be performing a sampler of unaccompanied music taken from our repertoire.

The concert will start at 7.30 pm, tickets £5.00 to be purchased on the door.

For more about the Glastonbury Fringe: visit:

 http://glastonbury-fringe.co.uk/wp/

This is an ideal opportunity for you to hear what we can do. We look forward to seeing you!

The Best Yet

Or so one audience member said to me last night. The audience certainly didn't limit themselves to smattering of polite clapping at the end of our Purcell "Sing Unto the Lord" concert on Saturday evening. The necessity of giving extra curtain calls even confused some choir members who didn't realise that they could walk back on stage for further applause. With a choir of mixed abilities, such as Cantilena, it's easy to wonder at the start of each term whether we have pushed the boat out a bit far this time and how we are ever going to pull it all together. And this Spring term was shorter than usual. But we did, is all that can be said. An all-female orchestra (until the trumpets joined us in the second half) produced a rich, yet authentic sound and our vocal soloists sounded pure and co-ordinated. And where would we have been without Jacquelyn, our indefatigable organist? In the atmosphere of the concert venue, concentration is heightened and that reflects in the music, giving it the tension needed to communicate the music to the audience. And doesn't Purcell know how to communicate! Whether it's the doom-laden "full of misery" in the funeral sentences, the sexy "come my fair one" so sensuously passed between Alto & Soprano in "My Beloved Spake" or the glorious trumpets in the Jubilate & Te Deum", all all works superbly. Perhaps we should give the last word to the trumpets who gave the finale the real tingle-factor. "It's fine so long as you don't make a mistake" said one of the trumpeters to me "if you do, there's no hiding!" Which is true, but there were no mistakes and we all tingled to the end!

A Right Royal Year

It seems to me that 2012 is Britain's Big Year. What with the Olympics and the Royal Jubilee, we are all rooting for Blighty!

And Cantilena is no exception! Our Spring and Summer concerts will both have a royal theme.

To start with the Spring. One of England's greatest ever composers was Henry Purcell. He died at the age of 36 and was a great loss to our  culture. Much of his music he wrote whilst in employment at the Chapel Royal. This ranges from the delightfully light-hearted "My Beloved Spake" to the penitential "Suffer us not, Lord" and the sorrowing funeral pieces he wrote for Queen Mary's death in December 1694.

Cantilena will be performing a selection of Chapel Royal pieces and combining with soloists, strings and organ, plus a trumpet for the "Te Deum" and "Jubilate" to make this a real treat.

Put the date in your diary - more details to follow:

"Sing unto the Lord" Music by Henry Purcell for the Chapel Royal
7.30 pm, Saturday 24 March 2012  at St Mary's Church, Glastonbury

O Magnum Mysterium

I sometimes think it's a pity that we only get one crack at our concerts. Last Saturday's performance felt so special and we had a respectable-sized audience.

Of course, there were some mistakes, but we won't dwell on those! We managed a magical start with church simply illuminated by rows of candles while we sang the plainsong Rorate Coeli. And there were moments when we tapped into the essential mystery and passion of the music.

The motet "O Magnum Mysterium" captures so well the sense of rapt silence surrounding the nativity and I felt that choir and audience were in a sense suspended during the performance.

The audience lustily joined in the with the carols and they and the two readings created a link between the world of Victoria and today.

So it's a shame that it's all over. Although, who knows? Having just one shot may add tension and drama that could be lacking in a repeat.

Let's get together

Suddenly, it's nearly on us! Our concert is on Saturday and all the pieces are coming together.

As last year, we are joined by St Margaret's Hospice, who do such wonderful work for cancer sufferers and their familes in Somerset and give a big "Thankyou" to Robert Burns of Burns the Bread for his generous gift of a hunderd mince pies to help the festivities along.

It's unusual in this part of Somerset to be offered a concert like this: with a feast of luscious Spanish music for unaccompanied voices to usher in Christmas.

And there are carols for you to sing as well!

Here's a reminder:

Date:           10 December 2011
Place:          St Mary's Church, Glastonbury
Time:          7.30 pm
Tickets:       £10.00 (to include refreshments)

Don't miss it!

Full of Grace

In the story of Advent is it really Mary who has the starring role. Advent starts with the visit of Gabriel to tell her the somewhat startling news that a: she is pregnant and b: that the father is God. Living as we do in a time of female emancipation, it's easy to ask why Mary was chosen for this honour. She's nothing special, an ordinary woman, engaged to be married to an  ordinary man.

Even in biblical times, another, feistier girl, might have had a lot of questions to ask about the news that the Angel had told her she should be delighted about. She might have protested or been more fearful about the social and moral consequences of this event. She may have doubted her ability to bear such a responsibility.

But Mary, apart from querying the news's compatibility with her virgin state, takes it all rather calmly and responds that, basically, she will bow to God's will. Later, with her cousin Elizabeth, she speaks the words that now form the Magnificat and this does suggest that she wasn't uneducated.

In the end, it would seem that Mary was suitable because she was "full of grace" - religious and primed to accept the dictates of God.

Countless hymns in praise of Mary have been written by countless numbers of composers from early plainchant to the present day.

In our Autumn Concert we feature many of these works, written mostly by Tomas Luis De Victoria. The Missa Ave Maris Stella is based on a simple plainchant melody (later made famous by Monteverdi in his Vespers).

The Ave Maria, sets to sublime music one of the best known hymns to Mary

Here are the translations for these pieces:

http://johnkilpatrick.co.uk/music/Avemaris.htm
http://www.hartenshield.com/avemaria.html

To hear these pieces and much more, come to our concert:

7.30 pm 10 December 2011
St Mary's Church, Glastonbury
Tickets £10.00 from The Glastonbury Music Shop, by calling 01278 722870, or on the door.

Anticipation

This autumn's concert by Cantilena will be given on Saturday (10 December 2011) just before the third Sunday in Advent . Advent marks the period just before Christmas and is a time of preparation and anticipation.

This year we are celebrating with a feast of Spanish Polyphony of the sixteenth century. This music is truly ravishing and it is easy just to sit back and allow the delectable harmonies to wash over you! But to understand the meaning of the words is greatly to enhance your experience; and, as most of us these days are not Latin speakers, a printed version of the words is helpful.

We start the concert with a plea to God to send down his goodness on his desolate people. The text originated from the Old Testament and refers very specifically to Jerusalem and Israel generally. But we can extend that to mean his whole creation, especially in these troubled times.

And the reply comes: all we have to do is wait.

So starts the Christian journey to Christmas. Even if you are not of the Christian faith you can empathise with the longing for peace and a certain future implicit in this piece.

You can find a full translation by clicking this link:

http://www.chantcd.com/lyrics/dew_from_heavens.htm

Unaccompanied

If you love to sing you also love to share that with others. Long standing Cantilena member Brian Marshall shares with us some of his joy in singing.

I joined Cantilena about 6 years ago, after singing with a bigger local choir. I immediately felt at home and can honestly say that Cantilena are the friendliest group with whom I have sung.

Music, and especially singing, are key (sorry!) parts of my life. I was lucky to have been brought up in a musical household where both my parents sang and played. I was with several choirs in Essex before moving to beautiful Somerset 8 years ago.

For me, singing is energising and encompassing and touches at a deep emotional level. At times, the experience of singing in a group can be quite magical and particularly bears out Aristotle’s aphorism that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I especially love singing unaccompanied pieces. This demands greater rigour and a need really to listen and blend with other parts. We are currently rehearsing some a cappella music that is glorious to sing and - we hope - listen to: gems from the late renaissance by Victoria and contemporaries.

Picking up such a score represents for me a significant historic link as we re-create the exact sounds that a composer set down in a very different world, sometimes many hundreds of years ago.

If you can, come to our next concert at St Mary’s Glastonbury on 10 December 2011  and find out if the music is as rewarding to hear as to sing.

(This is going to be such an unusual concert - you really don't want to miss it!)

Victorious

If Cantilena blogs appear at somewhat irregular intervals it's because that's the nature of the choir. Summertime is quiet while we all rest and take time out.

But we came back this autumn to a treat. Tomas Luis De Victoria died in 1611 and was just about the most famous and respected musician of his day. His religious choral works are full of that mixture of devotion and sensuality that so characterises the Spanish polyphony of the time.

His skill is also evident in the way that the melodies and lines just seem to flow effortlessly. He often uses plainchant as the basis for his works and this is especially evident in his Missa "Ave Maris Stella". This ravishing work uses the Spanish plainsong throughout, yet the whole piece exudes a richness of harmony.

We are really enjoying singing this music! Every part has beautiful lines and all parts interweave seamlessly.

We're celebrating his life on 10 December 2011 at St Mary's Church Glastonbury and we hope that as many people as possible will join us to share the joy and pleasure of Victoria's music

Listen to some Victoria - his wonderful O Quam Gloriosum!