Music all over God's Green Earth

It's always good for a choir to take up a fresh challenge. This Autumn Cantilena is doing that in more than one way.

We have decided to have two concerts this autumn; one will be a carol concert entirely devoted to Christmas (more on this soon), but first we are performing music by renowned composers from Bohemia and Hungary.

The main work will be Zoltan Kodaly's Missa Brevis. This is a mysterious setting of the standard mass text in Latin.

Kodaly is remembered, among other things, for his love of Hungarian Folk Music, of which he was an avid collector and for bringing the joy of singing to children and young people with his joyful and entertaining folk-song settings.

Here is a quote from a recent review:

"Zoltán Kodály's Missa Brevis can be a bewildering experience. It's an expanse of music, ranging from deep-throated organ runs to angelic boys-choir arrangements--all over, one might say, God's green earth." 

It promises to be an unusual and uplifting experience, both for singers and audience.

Come and hear us on:

Saturday 22 November 2014 7.30 pm

St Mary's Church, Glastonbury

Price £10.00 (children under 15 £1.00)

Email cantilena@hotmail.co.uk for more information.

Capturing an Era

Our 2014 summer concert is devoted to the decade which includes the First World War. Apart from "In Flanders Fields" none of the pieces we are performing are directly related to the war. But nearly all of them encapsulate a feeling that something is coming to an end and that we are poised on the brink of something new and maybe terrible.

For example. Elgar's setting of Guido Cavalcanti's "Go Song of Mine!" describes in chromatic passages that are both despairing and ecstatic the need for man's hard heart to be broken before he can achieve salvation. In "Serenade" the contrast between dreams of life and liberty and the sadness of reality is expressed

Stanford's "Haven" shows us a shore of such desolate greyness that we can feel the chill. 

The concert includes "rest" an early Vaughan Williams setting of a poem by Christina Rossetti in which the poet longs for death as a release from all earthly sensations.

This is not to say that the concert is gloomy! Far from it - the songs are all beautiful and melodic and Stanford's "Blue Bird" shows the skies clearing as the bird of joy flies above. But there's a real nostalgia for earlier, uncomplicated times.

Let's leave the last word to Finzi with his setting of Robert Bridges' "Clear and Gentle Stream":

"Clear and gentle stream!

Known and loved so long, 

That hast heard the song 

And the idle dream 

Of my boyish day;"

Who doesn't look back to a time when emotions were simple and the shining future beckoned?

Come and enjoy this evocation of a lost time which includes the essentially English nostalgic occasion - a cream tea

Homecoming

Glastonbury Connection

We are, as was explained in our last blog, excited to be performing "In Flanders Fields" set by Andrew Bunbury as part of our Summer 2014 concert.

This will be the UK premier of the work, the world premier having been in Amiens Cathedral in October 2013. So how did we discover this work and decide that it was especially suitable for us?

Well, the choir secretary also sings with the English Concert Singers who perform at a range of venues in England and abroad. And it was with them that she went to sing in Amiens last year. Andrew Bunbury also sings with the ECS and so the connection was made.

St Benedict's Glastonbury

Andrew composed the piece as part of a larger work,  Waffenfreunde (Friends in Arms)which includes a setting in German of  Edward Lichtenstein's poem Abschied as a recognition of the equal suffering of the German troops. (This will have its world premier performance on Saturday  12th July by the South West London Choral Society at St Anne's Church Wandsworth under the direction of Martin Everett.) It underwent some revisions in the light of world events and what Andrew knew about his own family's involvement in WW1

Andrew has a strong Glastonbury connection; his father taught at Millfield School, and was churchwarden at St Benedict's Church. Andrew was educated in Glastonbury and had his first experience of choral singing in St Benedict's.

It is especially fitting, therefore, that the first place in England that this work is performed will be Glastonbury.

So, welcome home, Andrew; we will do you proud.

A reminder about the details:

Date:     Sunday 6 July 2014

Time:    3.30 pm

Place:    The Abbey House, Chilkwell Street, Glastonbury

Tickets:  £10.00 to include cream tea (children under 15 £1.00)

Skylarks Song

Don't Stop Singing

When we were planning our Summer concert we found ourselves with an interesting dilemma.

The Summer concert is usually a lighthearted affair with part songs followed by a buffet or cream tea.

And 2014 is no different. However, this year sees the centenary of the start of WW1 and we wanted to acknowledge this without spoiling the mood of the concert.

WW1 was, as we all know, a catastrophic event in human terms. War poets described their experiences in a range of ways; how to find a theme that incorporated hope as well as a realisation of the magnitude of war?

We were very fortunate to stumble upon a setting of "In  Flanders Fields" by Lt John MacCrae. The setting is by Andrew Bunbury, a contemporary composer and is part of a larger work. Fittingly, the piece received its first airing in Amiens Cathedral in October 2013.

Amiens Cathedral Nave & Choir

Cantilena is proud to be giving the UK premier performance at its Summer concert.

The poem describes how the larks continued to sing throughout the fighting and we have taken birdsong as our theme, including Stanford's "Blue Bird" in our programme and other settings of other poetry written during the 2nd decade of the 20th Century.

Here are the details:

Date:      Sunday 6 July

Place:     The Abbey House, Glastonbury

Time:      3.30 pm

Price:      £10.00 to include cream tea

We will also be welcoming the Pilton Wind Group under the direction of Janet Witteridge.

More on this very soon. In the meantime, put the date in your diary!

In Terra Pax

Christmas seems to have landed! At Cantilena we are working hard to polish our Christmas Concert. We have entitled it "Peace on Earth". There are so many parts of the world where peace is but a distant memory and we wanted to remind ourselves of the Christmas message.

The centrepiece of the programme in "In Terra Pax by Gerald Finzi. Finzi wrote this towards the end of his life for his local choir and orchestra to perform. He set "Noel - Christmas Eve 1913" by Robert Bridges, combining it with the traditional story of the shepherds.

To have a taste of this masterpiece, follow this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbLgTdoyymk

We are performing a range of other seasonal works, including contemporary American composer Morten Lauridsen's haunting "O Magnum Mysterium".

Do come along - you will also have a chance to sing a few of your favourite carols and support St Margaret's Hospice at the same time.

All the details are on the poster to the right. Start the final run-up to Christmas in the best possible way!

Delights for a Summer Afternoon

This Summer we have come up with a very special way to spend a Summer Sunday afternoon. Our "Afternoon Delight" concert is being held at The Abbey House In Glastonbury on Sunday 7 July at 3.30pm. We will be performing a range of folk song arrangements and parts songs and will be joined by the Pilton Youth Wind Quintet.

The concert itself will be in the comfort of the Abbey House's Drawing room and afterwards we invite you to join us for a cream tea. If the weather is kind we will be able to enjoy this in the grounds of the House.

 Accommodation at the Abbey House is limited so we advise you to call the number on the poster to book your ticket.

We hope to see you there!

Follow this link for directions to The Abbey House

 http://www.abbeyhouse.org/find.php?&year=2013&month=6

Ascension

This Spring the Cantilena Spring concert will be on 11 May. Ascension Day is on 9 May, so what better theme for the concert?

We have chosen Bach's Cantata 11 - "Lobet Gott" "Praise God" - a joyful dramatic description of the ascension. The opening trumpets invite us to celebrate.

Click on this link to hear the opening chorus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzvH0p9zsuc

We are coupling this with Haydn's "Harmony Mass". Harmonious it certainly is with all Haydn's Age of Enlightenment assurance, but also his unexpected flashes of humour.

There'll be more on this soon - in the meantime, put this date in your diary and also in those of all your friends

Entente Cordiale

Back from our rather non-existent Summer Cantilena is now working hard for the autumn concert.

The title will be "Sing Noel" and is a happy mixture of French and English Christmas music. At the heart of the concert will be Charpentier's Messe De Minuit. This work is full of delights; I was amused by  the following comment attached to Youtube recording: "Poor Louis XIV. He had to put up with Lully, while the Princess de Guise had this glorious music in her chapel."

We will contrast this with Poulenc's four Christmas motets which contrast tenderness with acerbic harmonies to great effect.

Then in the 2nd half we move back to 20th C England, with Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols, the sweet  "The Lamb" by Tavener and other treats.

Entente Cordiale indeed!

Here are the details:

Date:   15 December 2012
Time:   7.30 pm
At:        St Mary's Church, Glastonbury
Tickets: £10.00

Watch this space for updates!

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!