Southwark Consorts of Winds

Programme

• Giovanni Gabrieli - Canzon Septimi Toni a 8
• Guy Wolfenden - Serenade for Sophia
• Gustav Holst - Moorside Suite
• Carlos Gardel arr. David Epps - Three Tangos
• William Byrd - Mass in Five Voices
• Liz Lane - Turnabout - world premiere
• Giovanni Pergolesi - Stabat Mater
• Gordon Jacob - Introduction and Allegro
• Jan van der Roost, arr. Maarten Jense: Puszta
• Louis J A Lefebure-Wely - Sortie
• Edvard Grieg - Three Lyric Pieces arr. Anthony Bailey

Programme Notes

Gabrieli's Sacrae Symphoniae, published in 1597, contains 45 vocal and 16 instrumental compositions. The instrumental works are mostly intended for two antiphonal groups, each of 4 or 5 instruments. Usually the instruments are not named, but for one work (similar in style to the present one) cornetts and sackbuts are specified. Gabrieli's are the earliest antiphonal works ever published, and probably the earliest ever written. The one that we are playing today is transposed up a minor third to adapt it to the available instruments. The "7th mode" of the title is the Myxolydian, differing from the modern major only in having the leading note flattened. This is the mode (with tonal centre E flat in our transposed version) in which the work begins and ends, but it has episodes that imply B flat Lydian, F Dorian, and C Ionian. Episodes outside the principal mode are common in Gabrieli's writing.

This piece was written to celebrate the birth of the composer's first grandchild, in 2001. It consists of three movements. The Intrada sums up the happy event of Sophia's arrival, and is in a forms A-B-A structure. The Dance which follows taps into the rich culture of Sophia's Jamaican relations. The finale plays on the juxtaposition of two contrasted moods, first reflective and then happier.

Scherzo, Nocturne, March

In 1927 Holst was commissioned to write a competition piece for the BBC and the National Brass Band Festival Committee. The result was The Moorside Suite. Here it is played in an arrangement for wind ensemble by Geoffrey Emerson.

The suite has three movements, and upon a first listen, one hears a noticeable sophistication that was lacking in the military suites. The first movement seems almost reserved in its impact. The rhythm definitely darts about, but it doesn't really go towards any harmonic climax. It leaves the listener almost trapped in an intellectual game of sorts. The second movement, the 'Nocturne' is written beautifully with its descending thirds and sixths. It is a warmth that Holst was just beginning to discover, perhaps only matched by 'Love on thy heart' from the Seven Partsongs for female choir, or the Lyric Movement. It almost seems like a mature response to 'I love my love'. The last movement is reminiscent of the 'Marching Song' from Two Songs without Words.

The tango is Argentinian music's most famous form. It originated as the habanera, a 19th century Cuban dance that was taken up in Spain, (the colonial power). It was pieces such as this, subsequently brought over to Argentina by European immigrants, which developed into the early 20th century urban music we think of as tango.

Carlos Gardel (1890 - 1935) was one of Argentina's greatest exponents of the tango, both as composer and performer. Tonight we are playing an arrangement of three of his best known pieces, Soledad (Solitude), Volver (Return) and Adios Muchachos (Farewell Lads).

Kyrie, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei

William Byrd, as a Catholic in Elizabethan and early Jacobean England, had to watch his step. In spite of being established as the most prominent musician of his time, he was repeatedly fined for his religious beliefs. His religious music, consequently, has a private character, and in fact was written for performance in small ceremonies, almost in secret, in the houses of the Catholic nobility - a far cry from the sumptuous catherdral masses written by Italian composers during the same period.

I was commissioned to compose a piece for the Southwark Winds Ancient and Modern Consort in the summer of 2004 and looked forward to the challenge of writing for this unusual combination of instruments. I was particularly interested in how the ensemble could be grouped into blocks of sound using different combinations, in particular the woodwind versus brass with the alto saxophone taking an independent lyrical role in the middle. The work was partly built around this and the tutti ensemble is not heard until over halfway through the piece.

I began writing Turnabout at the beginning of 2005 shortly after starting my PhD studies in composition at Cardiff University, having just finished teaching A level music. Bach Chorales were much on my mind as I had taught them for several years and I was aware of how they had epitomized Western harmony for several centuries. I thought it would be fun and interesting to include a contemporary version of a chorale, almost to get them out of my system! In fact, I included two, both closely related to each other and they are at the heart of this work.

There is also a waltz - although you couldn't dance to it because of the irregular time signature. Later in the piece the two styles combine, and it is this contrast and development that inspired the title.

Numbers 1, 2, 4, 11, and 12

Pergolesi was commissioned to write his Stabat Mater for a private ceremony for a group of the Neopolitan nobility. It replaced a work by Scarlatti, considered to be old-fashioned, but the new piece divided opinions, being hailed as a masterpiece and condemned as vulgar. It reflects a more directly personal form of religious devotion, and has a directness and power of emotional expression which may have seemed tasteless to people accustomed to more restrained music.

Gordon Jacob has been well-known as a composer of accessible wind music for many years. This light piece starts with a slow, melodious introduction and continues with the main section, which has a sprightly dance-like character. It ends with a virtuosic fast section. Throughout the piece different groups of instruments within the ensemble are used to create different textures.

Jan van der Roost is a Belgian composer. Puszta is a two movement piece written in 1987. The melodies display characteristics of gypsy music, being of a melancholy mood, though they are original. The first movement is fast and furious, with a more lyrical middle section, and the second is slower and rhythmic, though with faster, repetitive sections and coda.

Lefebure-Wely was a Parisian organist of the nineteenth century, and was the first organist of the cathedral of St. Sulpice. As such he was expected to play the organ and compose music for services. The 'Sortie' was originally composed for organ, and is his most frequently played piece today. Lefebure-Wely has been described as the Lloyd Webber of nineteenth century France, on account of the lighthearted nature of this and other of his compositions.The piece has been arranged for clarinet choir by Chrstopher Hooker.

• (i) Arietta
• (ii) Norwegian
• (iii) At the Cradle

These short, intimate pieces are three of Grieg's many 'Lyric Pieces'. They were originally written for the piano. Norwegian folk song is one source of inspiration for these pieces, and another are the many similar miniatures by such Romantic Movement composers as Schumann, Mendelssohn and Chopin.