LPO Programme notes 26 March 2011

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Principal Conductor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI Principal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN Leader PIETER SCHOEMAN Composer in Residence JULIAN ANDERSON Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER

AM†

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Saturday 26 March 2011 | 7.30pm SALISBURY CATHEDRAL Sunday 27 March 2011 | 7.30pm Presented by

EDWARD GARDNER conductor CHRISTINE RICE mezzo soprano PAUL GROVES tenor ALASTAIR MILES bass

PROGRAMME £3 CONTENTS 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 19 20 21 22 23 24

List of Players Orchestra History BBC Radio 3 Edward Gardner Christine Rice / Paul Groves Alastair Miles / Choir of Clare College, Cambridge London Philharmonic Choir Aviva Programme Notes Elgar Recordings Administration Supporters Salisbury Cathedral Southbank Centre Future Concerts

The timing shown is not precise and is given only as a guide.

LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR CHOIR OF CLARE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ELGAR The Dream of Gerontius

(95’)

There will be no interval during the Salisbury performance. †

supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT ON 26 MARCH PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

The concert on 26 March is being recorded by BBC Radio 3 for broadcast on 31 March 2011.

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINS Vesselin Gellev Leader Chair supported by John and Angela Kessler

Shlomy Dobrinsky Katalin Varnagy Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Tina Gruenberg Martin Hรถhmann Chair supported by Richard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Rebecca Shorrock Peter Nall Galina Tanney Sylvain Vasseur Caroline Frenkel SECOND VIOLINS Helena Wood Guest Principal Joseph Maher Kate Birchall Chair supported by David and Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Nynke Hijlkema Marie-Anne Mairesse Andrew Thurgood Imogen Williamson Sioni Williams Heather Badke Peter Graham Mila Mustakova Sheila Law

VIOLAS Jonathan Barritt Guest Principal Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Emmanuella Reiter-Bootiman Laura Vallejo Isabel Pereira Daniel Cornford Martin Fenn Sarah Malcolm Miranda Davis Karin Norlen CELLOS Alexander Somov Guest Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Jonathan Ayling Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp

FLUTES Jaime Martin* Principal Ian Mullin

TRUMPETS Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff and Meg Mann

PICCOLO Stewart McIlwham* Principal

Daniel Newell

OBOES Ian Hardwick Principal Owen Dennis

TROMBONES Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse

COR ANGLAIS Sue Bohling Principal

BASS TROMBONE Lyndon Meredith Principal

Chair supported by Julian and Gill Simmonds

TUBA Lee Tsarmaklis Principal

CLARINETS Robert Hill* Principal Emily Meredith

TIMPANI Simon Carrington* Principal

BASS CLARINET Paul Richards Principal

PERCUSSION Andrew Barclay* Principal

Gregory Walmsley Sue Sutherley Tom Roff Helen Rathbone Pavlos Carvalho Emily Isaac

BASSOONS Gareth Newman* Principal Susanna Dias

DOUBLE BASSES Kevin Rundell* Principal Tim Gibbs Co-Principal Joe Melvin Helen Rowlands Damian Rubido Gonzalez Charlotte Kerbegian John Bakewell Rupert Ring

HORNS John Ryan Principal Alec Frank-Gemmill Gareth Mollison Nicolas Wolmark Jason Koczur

CONTRA BASSOON Gordon Laing

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Eddie Hackett Sarah Cresswell HARPS Rachel Masters* Principal Helen Sharp CELESTE Catherine Edwards

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

Chair Supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Richard and Victoria Sharp The Tsukanov Family

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Patrick Harrison

Seventy-eight years after Sir Thomas Beecham founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra, it is recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage. Following Beecham’s influential founding tenure the Orchestra’s Principal Conductorship has been passed from one illustrious musician to another, amongst them Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. This impressive tradition continued in September 2007 when Vladimir Jurowski became the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and, in a further exciting move, the Orchestra appointed Yannick Nézet-Séguin its new Principal Guest Conductor from September 2008.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It plays there around 40 times each season with many of the world’s most sought after conductors and soloists.

Concert highlights in 2010/11 include an exploration of Mahler’s symphonies and complete song cycles during the composer’s anniversary season; the premières of works by Matteo D’Amico, Magnus Lindberg and Brett Dean; a rare opportunity to hear Rossini’s opera Aureliano in Palmira in collaboration with long term partner Opera Rara; and works by the Orchestra’s new Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson.

In addition to its London season and a series of concerts at Wigmore Hall, the Orchestra has flourishing

residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. It is unique in combining these concert activities with esteemed opera performances each summer at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where it has been the Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs to enthusiastic audiences all round the world. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Touring continues to form a significant part of the Orchestra’s schedule and is supported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2010/11 include visits to Finland, Germany, South Korea, Spain, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Having long been embraced by the recording, broadcasting and film industries, the London Philharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domestic and international television and radio. It also works with the Hollywood and UK film industries, recording soundtracks for blockbuster motion pictures including the Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and scores for Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, Philadelphia and East is East.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra made its first recordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after its first public performance. It has recorded and broadcast

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

regularly ever since, and in 2005 established its own record label. The recordings on its own label are taken mainly from live concerts given with distinguished conductors over the years including the Orchestra’s Principal Conductors from Beecham and Boult, through Haitink, Solti and Tennstedt, to Masur and Jurowski.

Recent additions to the catalogue have included acclaimed releases of Christmas choral music conducted

by Vladimir Jurowski, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, Verdi’s Requiem conducted by Jesús López-Cobos, Holst’s The Planets conducted by Vladimir Jurowski and Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 and Sea Pictures with Vernon Handley and Janet Baker. The Orchestra’s own-label CDs are also widely available to download. Visit www.lpo.org.uk/shop for the latest releases.

Live orchestral concerts specially recorded

by BBC Radio 3 are a vital part of the station’s output and I’m delighted that we will continue our long association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra by

‘ … a simply tremendous performance of Mahler’s 3rd Symphony … Jurowski and his players plunged us into a winter of discontent so profoundly expectant that even the inveterate coughers were silenced.’

bringing performances from this season to the widest possible audience, including those listening at home, on air and online.

EDWARD SECKERSON, THE INDEPENDENT, 23 SEPTEMBER 2010

Roger Wright The Orchestra reaches thousands of Londoners through its rich programme of community and school-based activity in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, which includes the offshoot ensembles Renga and The Band, its Foyle Future Firsts apprenticeship scheme for outstanding young instrumentalists, and regular family and schools concerts.

Controller, BBC Radio 3

To help maintain its high standards and diverse workload, the Orchestra is committed to the welfare of its musicians and in December 2007 received the Association of British Orchestras/Musicians Benevolent Fund Healthy Orchestra Bronze Charter Mark.

The concert on 26 March will be broadcast

There are many ways to experience and stay in touch with the Orchestra’s activities: visit www.lpo.org.uk, subscribe to our podcast series, download our iPhone application and join us on Facebook and Twitter.

after broadcast at bbc.co.uk/radio3

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

in Performance on 3 on 31 March 2011 at 7pm, and is available online for 7 days

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EDWARD GARDNER

Jillian Edelstein

CONDUCTOR

Recognised as one of the most talented conductors of his generation, Edward Gardner began his tenure as Music Director of English National Opera in May 2007 with a new critically acclaimed production of Britten’s Death in Venice. Under his direction, ENO has presented a series of stellar productions, including Boris Godunov, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, Der Rosenkavalier, Punch and Judy, Peter Grimes and a double bill of The Rite of Spring and Bluebeard’s Castle. In recognition of his talent and commitment, Edward received the Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2008 for Best Conductor and in 2009, the Olivier award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.

He is equally successful outside ENO, his future operatic engagements including debuts with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera New York and La Scala, Milan. A regular at Paris Opera since 2004/05, Edward more recently conducted a production there of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress in 2007/08. In 2008 he returned to Glyndebourne Festival Opera for a production of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw.

re-invited each year to the orchestra and in 2008 conducted the UK première of Saariaho’s Adriana Mater in concert at the Barbican as well as making his Proms debut. Internationally, he works with the Bamberg Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, Houston Symphony and Saint Louis Symphony Orchestras as well as with the National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In 2009/10 he made his debut with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and returned to the BBC Proms.

Future symphonic engagements will take him to the Philharmonia, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestras.

An exclusive recording artist for Chandos, Edward released three discs in 2010, including Lutoslawski orchestral works, and vocal repertoire with Gerald Finley and Susan Gritton. He has also made a number of recordings for EMI Records with Alison Balsom and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; and with Kate Royal and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and English National Opera Orchestra.

Born in Gloucester in 1974, Edward was educated at Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music where he studied under the instruction of Colin Metters. He graduated in 2000 and went on to assist Mark Elder at the Hallé Orchestra for three years before being named Musical Director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 2004, a position he held for three years.

In September 2010, Edward Gardner was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The appointment is for an initial period of three years during which he will conduct the CBSO for four weeks each season. Since making his successful debut in 2005 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Aldeburgh Festival, Edward has been

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MEZZO SOPRANO

TENOR

Christine Rice was born and educated in Manchester and read physics at Balliol College, Oxford, before entering the Royal Northern College of Music to study with Robert Alderson. In concert she has sung Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Wagner’s Das Rheingold with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Sir Simon Rattle, and The Dream of Gerontius with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Her recordings include a debut recital disc with Roger Vignoles and Respighi’s Il Tramonto with Antonio Pappano.

At Covent Garden her many roles have included the title role in Carmen, Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Emilia in Otello, the title role in The Rape of Lucretia, Sonyetka in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Judith in Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, and two world premières: Ariadne in Birtwistle’s The Minotaur and Miranda in Adès’ The Tempest. For English National Opera she has sung Nero in Agrippina, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Olga in Eugene Onegin, Arsace in Partenope, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Zenobia in Radamisto. Other roles have included the title roles in Ariodante and Rinaldo for Flanders Opera, Dorabella in Così fan tutte for the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Penelope in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria at Frankfurt Opera and Teatro Real Madrid, and her debut as Diana in La Calisto in Geneva.

Future engagements include the roles of Marguerite in The Damnation of Faust and Nicklausse in The Tales of Hoffmann for English National Opera, La Mort de Cléopâtre with the RAI Orchestra in Turin, Des Knaben Wunderhorn in Palermo, the St Matthew Passion at the St Denis Festival with John Nelson, and the world première of Harbison’s Closer to my own Life with the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under James Levine at Carnegie Hall.

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

J Henry Fair

PAUL GROVES

Rob Moore

CHRISTINE RICE

American tenor Paul Groves enjoys an important international career, performing on the stages of the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Young Artists Development Program, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1992 as the Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer. In 1995 he made his debut at La Scala as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte under Riccardo Muti and has returned many times, for roles such as Renaud in Gluck’s Armide and Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore.

Highlights of the current season include his debut as Alwa in Berg’s Lulu at the Grand Teatre Liceu, Pylade in Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride at the Teatro Real Madrid and the Metropolitan Opera, and Gualtiero in the première of Vivaldi’s Griselda at Santa Fe Opera. In concert he will sing Oedipus Rex with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Britten’s War Requiem with the Maggio Musicale Firenze, Das Paradies und die Peri at the Edinburgh Festival, and La Damnation de Faust with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Paul Groves has appeared frequently in recital throughout the United States and Europe. In 1996 he gave his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall with James Levine, and he has returned twice to Lincoln Center accompanied by Malcolm Martineau. He has also appeared in recital at Teatro alla Scala, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ Théâtre de la Monnaie and London’s Wigmore Hall. His recordings include the Salzburg Festival’s productions of Die Zauberflöte and La Damnation de Faust, Roger Water’s new opera Ça Ira opposite Bryn Terfel, Ravel Cantatas with Michel Plasson, Tebaldo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, conducted by Donald Runnicles, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Sir Charles Mackerras, and Admète in Alceste from London’s Barbican Centre.

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ALASTAIR MILES BASS

CHOIR OF CLARE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC: Graham Ross CHOIR ADMINISTRATOR: Morgan Simes Sopranos Jennifer Ashworth, Eleanor Caine, Harriet Colley, Rachel Darlinson, Gabrielle Haigh, Helen Lilley, Lois Salem, Cressida Sharp, Isabella Shaw, Joséphine Stephenson, Hermione Thompson, Anna Wagner

Nick Marchant

Altos Emma Ainsley, Elizabeth Bennett, Abigail Gostick, Logan Mills, Héloïse Werner

Internationally recognised as one of the world’s leading basses, Alastair Miles was born in Harrow and studied the flute before embarking on a vocal career. Since winning the Decca Kathleen Ferrier Award, he has been in demand worldwide. Highlights have included the roles of Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Giorgio in I Puritani and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor for the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia for San Francisco Opera; Prefetto in Linda di Chamounix and Zaccaria in Nabucco for the Vienna State Opera; Lord Sydney in Il Viaggio a Rheims at La Scala, Milan; the title role in Handel’s Saul and Zoroastro in Orlando for the Bavarian State Opera; and the title roles in Le nozze di Figaro and La Juive for Netherlands Opera. In the UK his roles have included Colline in La Bohème and Banquo in Macbeth for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the title role in Boito’s Mefistofele for English National Opera; Mephistopheles in Faust for Welsh National Opera; Philip II in Don Carlo for Opera North; and Speaker in Die Zauberflöte for Glyndebourne.

Alastair Miles is also a highly sought after concert artist.

Recent performances have included La Damnation de Faust, The Dream of Gerontius and Messiah with Sir Colin Davis, Schumann’s Faustszenen with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Michael Tilson Thomas. He has made over seventy recordings including neglected 19th and 20th century Italian and French opera for Opera Rara. Engagements this season have included the role of Poliferno in Steffani’s Niobe, Regina di Tebe for Covent Garden and Duke Alfonso in Lucrezia Borgia for English National Opera. Future engagements include Pogner in Die Meistersinger for the Glyndebourne Festival, Claudio in Agrippina for Opéra de Dijon and Daland in Der fliegende Holländer for Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Liege.

Tenors Peter Aisher, Alessandro Fisher, Peter Harrison, Hugo Hymas, Stefan Kennedy Basses William Cole, Nicolas Haigh, Jack Lawrence-Jones, Magnus Maharg, Nicholas Mogg, Richard Pelmore, Dominic Sedgwick, Morgan Simes, Tillmann Taape

Since its founding in 1971, the Choir of Clare College has gained an international reputation as one of the leading university choral groups in the world. In addition to its primary function of leading services three times a week in the College Chapel, the Choir records, broadcasts and performs throughout the UK and around the world. Since 2010 the Choir has been directed by Graham Ross. The Choir has toured widely in Europe, the United States, Japan, China, Russia and the Middle East. It has collaborated with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in performances of Handel’s Jephtha in Spain, Belgium, the UK and the US under the direction of René Jacobs, and again in performances of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito under Edward Gardner. In 2000 it became the first Oxbridge mixed choir to perform at the BBC Proms, singing Bach’s St John Passion.

The Choir gives frequent performances at many international festivals including the Potsdam Sanssouci Music, Munich Opera and Spitalfields Festivals and the Early Music Weekend at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. Recent tours have taken it to the United States and Israel. It has an impressive catalogue of recordings including Rutter’s Requiem, produced by the composer, which was Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine, CD of the week on Classic FM and nominated for a Classical BRIT Award; Ex Maria Virgine, a new Christmas sequence commissioned for the Choir from John Tavener; and Sacred Choral Music, a recording of music

by Vaughan Williams. Future engagements include a concert at the Spitalfields Summer Festival, a tour of France in June and a broadcast of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3 in September.

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR PATRON: HRH Princess Alexandra PRESIDENT: Sir Roger Norrington ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Neville Creed

ACCOMPANIST: Iain Farrington CHAIRMAN: Mary Moore CHOIR MANAGER: Kevin Darnell

Sopranos Catherine Allum, Lasma Anspoka, Annette Argent, Katy Austin, Whitney Burdge, Charlotte Cantrell, Olivia Carter, Paula Chessell, Alana Clark, Sally Cottam, Shelia Cox, Sarah Deane-Cutler, Sally Donegani, Alison Flood, Claudie Gheno, Rachel Gibbon, Hannah Grace, Simone Gregoire, Jane Hanson, Sally Harrison, Johanna Hartmann, Elizabeth Hicks, Alexa Hills, Jessica Hislop, Laura Hunt, Erin Hutchinson, Georgina Kaim, Mai Kikkawa, Jenni Kilvert, Olivia Knibbs, Ilona Kratochvilova, Frances Lake, Lauren Lee, Clare Lovett, Ruth Maxwell, Marj McDaid, Sophie Mearing-Smith, Natalie Millet, Katie Milton, Felicity Mowat, Cas Park, Linda Park, Teresa Pells, Alexia Prakas, Beth Procopio, Isobel Pyrke, Diana Richards, Harriet Rudge, Christine Scholes, Sarah C. Skinner, Victoria Smith, Claire Spencer, Tania Stanier, Rachael Stokes, Amy Stroud, Tracey Szwagrzak, Caroline Taunt, Susan Thomas, Isobel Timms, Agnes Tisza, Laura Westcott, Fran Wheare

Negriuc, Elisabeth Nicol, Angela Pascoe, Helene Richards, Jenny Ryall, Muriel Swijghuisen Reigersberg, Carolyn Saunders, Rachel Taylor, Catherine Travers, Susi Underwood, Libby Vannet, Jenny Watson, Suzanne Weaver, Erika Weingarth

Altos Jenny Adam, Deirdre Ashton, Joanna Arnold, Phye Bell, Susannah Bellingham, Sally Brien, Gabriella Burnel, Isabelle Cheetham, Isobel Chester, Noel Chow, Yvonne Cohen, Liz Cole, Janik Dale, Margaret de Valois Rowney, Margaret Driver, Moira Duckworth, Fiona Duffy, Carmel Edmonds, Regina Frank, Sophy Holland, Erica Howard, Alexis Kessler Calice, Andrea Lane, Lisa Macdonald, Laetitia Malan, Mary Moore, Rachel Murray, Jennifer Needham, Raluca

Founded in 1947, the London Philharmonic Choir is widely regarded as one of Britain’s finest choirs, consistently meeting with great critical acclaim. It has performed under leading international conductors throughout its history and made numerous recordings for CD, radio and television.

Enjoying a close relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Choir frequently joins it for concerts in the UK and abroad. Last season’s highlights included performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross, Honegger’s Une Cantate de Noël, Poulenc’s Stabat Mater, Janáček’s The Eternal Gospel, Myaskovsky’s Symphony No. 6 and Liszt’s A Faust Symphony. This season, the Choir has performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Das klagende Lied, Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin, Dvořák’s Te Deum and Stabat Mater, Fauré’s Requiem and Holst’s The Planets.

Recently released CDs with the London Philharmonic Orchestra include Dvořák’s Requiem conducted by Neeme Järvi, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with

8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Tenors David Aldred, Geir Andreassen, Simon Bainbridge, Simon Best, Chris Beynon, John Boyne, Lorne Cuthbert, Kevin Darnell, Michael Delany, Jack Dixon, Aloysius Fekete, Matthew Fernando, Colin Fleming, Iain Handyside, Stephen Hodges, Geoff Hodgkins, Rob Home, Patrick Hughes, Andrew Martin, Malcolm Nightingale, Rhydian Peters, Kevin Rainey, Paul Thirer, Tony Wren Basses Ken Atkinson, Jonathon Bird, Nicholas Brown, Derek Bryanton, Gordon Buky-Webster, Adam Bunzl, Geoff Clare, David Clark, Phillip Dangerfield, Marcus Daniels, Ian Frost, Paul Gittens, John Graham, Nigel Grieve, Christopher Harvey, Mark Hillier, Stephen Hines, David Hodgson, Rylan Holey, Hugh Hudson, Martin Hudson, Lauris Indrans, Aidan Jones, Steve Kirby, Robbie Li, Anthony McDonald, John Morris, Ashley Morrison, William Parsons, Tony Piper, David Regan, Fraser Riddell, John Salmon, Daniel Snowman, Peter Sollich, Alex Thomas, Edwin Tomlins, James Wilson, John Wood, Hin-Yan Wong

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Holst’s The Planets and Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross under Vladimir Jurowski.

The Choir appears regularly at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and performances have included Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Rachmaninov’s The Bells and the UK premières of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s A Relic of Memory and Goldie’s Sine Tempore in the Evolution! Prom.

The Choir works with other leading orchestras and will perform Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Symphony Chorus at the end of May under Andrew Litton. It has visited many countries in Europe and performed in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Perth, Australia.

The London Philharmonic Choir prides itself on achieving first-class performances from its members, who are volunteers from all walks of life. For more information, including details about how to join, please visit www.lpc.org.uk.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

SPEEDREAD Having survived a badly performed première in the first year of the 20th century, Elgar’s setting of Cardinal Newman’s poem The Dream of Gerontius was gradually recognised as what the composer knew it to be, his greatest achievement.

Newman’s poem deals with death and what Roman Catholics believe follows it. The first of two parts depicts the last hours of the elderly Gerontius. When he dies, a priest commands the Christian soul to go forth from this

Edward ELGAR

world, and assistants take up his words, sending the soul of Gerontius to the next world with a great 12-part processional chorus.

In Part Two an angel conducts the soul to God. Along the way they encounter demons and angels, the latter generating great waves of sound in the hymn Praise to the Holiest in the height. After one blinding glimpse of the Almighty Gerontius is led gently away to expiate his sins in purgatory. © Eric Mason

THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS, OP. 38

1857-1934

Angel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRISTINE RICE mezzo soprano Gerontius and Soul of Gerontius . . . . . . . . . PAUL GROVES tenor Priest and Angel of the Agony . . . . . . . . . . . ALASTAIR MILES bass Assistants, Demons, Angelicals and Souls . . LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR and CHOIR OF CLARE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

Elgar was in his forties when the Enigma Variations and The Dream of Gerontius transformed him from a busy musician of mainly local note into an international celebrity. He had to his credit by then a considerable quantity of music, including several large-scale cantatas, which had shown him gradually developing the genius that reached maturity at the turn of the century. The

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

self-taught composer, highly-strung and easily downcast, had had a long struggle to establish himself, but his years in the galleys (to borrow Verdi’s phrase) had now brought him to the zenith of his powers.

On their wedding day in 1889 the priest had given Elgar and his bride a copy of Cardinal John Henry Newman’s poem The Dream of Gerontius. Elgar had kept it in mind as a possible subject for music, and in 1898 he sketched a few ideas. That November he received a commission for a choral work for the 1900 Birmingham Triennial Festival, and settled on Gerontius.

He composed the music at Birchwood, a woodland cottage near his Malvern home, completing the vocal score in June 1900 and the orchestration in August. The first performance on 3 October 1900 was notoriously inadequate. The choir was ill rehearsed and unsympathetic, the soloists were not ideal and the

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PROGRAMME NOTES

conductor, Hans Richter, was not fully conversant with the score. The bitterly disappointed composer wrote to his friend and mentor, AJ Jaeger: ‘I have worked hard for forty years and at the last Providence denies me a decent hearing of my work’. Most of the critics perceived, however, that this was music of remarkable beauty, profundity and power, and the enormous success of two German performances in Düsseldorf in 1901 and 1902 (when Richard Strauss toasted the composer as ‘Meister Edward Elgar’) scotched the idea that the choral part was too difficult. Gradually Gerontius was taken up elsewhere, worthily performed and recognised as Elgar’s greatest achievement. Elgar knew it for that, and appended a quotation from Ruskin to the manuscript: ‘This is the best of me; for the rest I ate, and drank, and slept, and loved and hated, like another: my life was as the vapour and is not; but this I saw and know; this, if anything of mine, is worth your memory’.

Newman’s poem, written in 1865, is about death and what, according to Roman Catholic beliefs, follows. The first part describes the death of Gerontius, a name derived from the Greek word for an old man. In Part Two an angel conducts his soul to God. Demons and angelical spirits are heard on the way, and the Angel of the Agony intercedes for the souls of the dead. After one blinding glimpse of the Almighty, Gerontius is led away to purgatory.

Elgar’s strikingly original setting stands apart from the Victorian choral tradition. Although conveniently described as an oratorio, it does not really belong in that category. The composer rejected Jaeger’s suggestion of calling it a sacred cantata. The work was therefore published as ‘The Dream of Gerontius by Cardinal Newman set to music by Edward Elgar’. Musical considerations required cuts in the poem, but Elgar retained the poem’s essentials and set them with absolute conviction. He could see himself in the dying man’s situation. ‘I imagined Gerontius to be a man like us’, he wrote to Jaeger, ‘not a priest or a saint, but a sinner, a repentant one of course but still no end of a worldly man in his life, and now brought to book.

Therefore I’ve not filled his part with Church tunes and rubbish but a good, healthy, full-blooded romantic, remembered worldliness, so to speak.’ We may deduce from the music that subconsciously Elgar’s

identification with Gerontius went deeper than that. A prey to spells of black despair, he often himself experienced Gerontius’s ‘sense of ruin which is worse than pain’. Many who do not accept Cardinal Newman’s theology can still in imagination become one with Gerontius. Few can listen to The Dream of Gerontius and remain unmoved.

The musical style is highly chromatic, and Elgar treats the large orchestra with marvellous imagination and subtlety, making it an eloquent partner of the singers.

Using the Wagnerian device of leading motives that stand for particular emotions and concepts unifies the score, but Elgar asserted that he employed them intuitively, not according to an arbitrary plan.

PART ONE An orchestral prelude introduces the principal themes, beginning softly with the dark theme of divine judgement. This is followed by motives associated with the dying man’s fear, prayer, troubled sleep and pain. A climax with the prayer theme dominant is succeeded by the broad processional tune that will despatch Gerontius to the hereafter. After a soft stroke on the tam-tam several motives are briefly recalled, the judgement theme leading into the opening scene.

Gerontius lies on his sickbed. Knowing that death is near, he prays to Jesus and the Virgin Mary and beseeches his friends to pray for him. A semi-chorus murmurs Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy), and the full chorus follows with a prayer of intercession. After another recitative and choral prayer Gerontius rouses himself for a fervent declaration of faith, beginning with a Latin prayer, Sanctus fortis: ‘Holy strength, holy God, out of the depths I cry to Thee, have mercy, my Judge, spare me, Lord’. This prayer is heard three times as a refrain in his testament, and Elgar inserts additional silent beats the third time, indicating how the outburst has sapped Gerontius’s strength.

Seized anew with fear, Gerontius prays for an angelic visitation. The assistants intercede for him, and calmly he delivers himself into the hands of God. ‘Go forth, Christian soul, from this world’, the priest commands, and the assistants send the Soul of Gerontius on its journey with a great 12-part processional chorus.

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Gerontius Jesu, Maria – I am near to death, And Thou art calling me: I know it now.

Not by the token of this faltering breath, This chill at heart, this dampness on my brow (Jesu, have mercy! Mary, pray for me!)

‘Tis this new feeling, never felt before (Be with me, Lord, in my extremity!), That I am going, that I am no more.

‘Tis this strange innermost abandonment (Lover of souls! great God! I look to Thee), This emptying out of each constituent And natural force, by which I come to be.

Pray for me, O my friends; a visitant Is knocking his dire summons at my door, The like of whom, to scare me and to daunt, Has never, never come to me before; So pray for me, my friends, who have not strength to pray.

Assistants Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.

Holy Mary, pray for him.

All holy Angels, pray for him.

Choirs of the righteous, pray for him.

All Apostles, all Evangelists, pray for him.

All holy Disciples of the Lord, pray for him.

All holy Innocents, pray for him.

All holy Martyrs, all holy Confessors, All holy Hermits, all holy Virgins, All ye Saints of God, pray for him.

Gerontius Rouse thee, my fainting soul, and play the man; And through such waning span Of life and thought as still has to be trod, Prepare to meet thy God. And while the storm of that bewilderment Is for a season spent, And, ere afresh the ruin on me fall, Use well the interval.

Assistants Be merciful, be gracious; spare him, Lord.

Be merciful, be gracious; Lord, deliver him.

From the sins that are past; From Thy frown and Thine ire;

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From the perils of dying; From any complying With sin, or denying His God, or relying On self, at the last; From the nethermost fire; From all that is evil; From power of the devil; Thy servant deliver, For once and forever.

By Thy birth, and by Thy cross, Rescue him from endless loss;

By Thy death and burial, Save him from a final fall;

By Thy rising from the tomb,

By Thy mounting up above, By the Spirit’s gracious love, Save him in the day of doom.

Gerontius Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus, De profundis oro te, Miserere, Judex meus, Parce mihi, Domine.

Firmly I believe and truly God is Three, and God is One, And I next acknowledge duly Manhood taken by the Son. And I trust and hope most fully In that Manhood crucified; And each thought and deed unruly Do to death, as He has died.

Simply to His grace and wholly Light and life and strength belong, And I love, supremely, solely, Him the holy, Him the strong.

Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus, De profundis oro te, Miserere, Judex meus, Parce mihi, Domine.

And I hold in veneration, For the love of Him alone, Holy Church, as His creation, And her teachings, as His own.

And I take with joy whatever Now besets me, pain or fear, And with a strong will I sever

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All the ties which bind me here.

Adoration aye be given, With and through the angelic host, To the God of earth and heaven, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus, De profundis oro te, Miserere, Judex meus, Mortis in discrimine.

I can no more; for now it comes again, That sense of ruin, which is worse than pain, That masterful negation and collapse Of all that makes me man... ...And, crueller still, A fierce and restless fright begins to fill The mansion of my soul. And, worse and worse, Some bodily form of ill Floats on the wind, with many a loathsome curse Tainting the hallowed air, and laughs, and flaps Its hideous wings, And makes me wild with horror and dismay.

O Jesu, help! pray for me, Mary, pray!

Some Angel, Jesu! such as came to Thee In Thine own agony...

Mary, pray for me. Joseph, pray for me.

Mary, pray for me.

Assistants Rescue him, O Lord, in this his evil hour, As of old so many by Thy gracious power – Noe from the waters in a saving home; (Amen) Job from all his multi-form and fell distress; (Amen) Moses from the land of bondage and despair; (Amen) David from Golia and the wrath of Saul; (Amen) – So, to show Thy power, Rescue this Thy servant in his evil hour.

Go forth upon thy journey, Christian soul!

Go from this world! Go, in the Name of God The Omnipotent Father, who created thee!

Go, in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Son of the living God, who bled for thee!

Go, in the name of the Holy Spirit, who Hath been poured out on thee! Go in the name Of Angels and Archangels; in the name Of Thrones and Dominations; in the name Of Princedoms and of Powers; and in the name Of Cherubim and Seraphim, go forth!

Go, in the name of Patriarchs and Prophets; And of Apostles and Evangelists, Of Martyrs and Confessors, in the name Of holy Monks and Hermits; in the name Of holy Virgins; and all Saints of God, Both men and women, go! Go on thy course!

And may thy place today be found in peace, And may thy dwelling be the Holy Mount Of Sion through the same, through Christ our Lord.

Royal Festival Hall – 20-minute interval Salisbury Cathedral – short pause only

PART TWO

Gerontius Novissima hora est; and I fain would sleep, The pain has wearied me...Into Thy hands, O Lord, into Thy hands...

Muted strings evoke a sense of timelessness with music intended ‘to be the memory (remembrance) of the Soul, an utter childlike peace as described in an unset portion of the poem’. Rapid movement is taking place, Elgar explained, but the Soul of Gerontius is not conscious of it. He marvels at a strange refreshment and lightness, and the orchestra’s anticipation of the guardian Angel’s song shows that he is not alone. The Angel has watched over Gerontius since his birth and rejoices that his soul is saved. (The Alleluia phrase is one of the work’s especially memorable musical ideas.) The gentle colloquy of Soul and Angel is interrupted by the hubbub of demons who – in a violent, free double fugue – revile ‘low-born clods of brute earth’ who aspire to divine grace.

The Priest and Assistants Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc mundo!

Leaving the demons behind, the Soul and Angel approach the House of Judgement and hear a distant

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choir singing ‘Praise to the Holiest in the height’.

Newman’s verses are well known as a hymn, but the music here is, of course, Elgar’s. The travellers cross the threshold, and the hymn of praise bursts forth, mounting later in overlapping waves of sound when the singers divide into two four-part choirs.

My task is o’er, And so I come, Taking it home, For the crown is won, Alleluia, For evermore.

The Soul of Gerontius can hear from afar the voices of friends on earth praying at the bedside, and now the Angel intercedes before God’s throne. An orchestral crescendo based on the judgement motive rises to a shattering chord; Gerontius has for one moment come face to face with God. ‘Take me away’, he cries, realising that he is not yet worthy to dwell in God’s presence.

Souls in purgatory are heard singing a version of Psalm 90, and the Angel bids Gerontius an infinitely tender farewell as he joins them to be purged of his sins. Once more, softly in the distance, comes the hymn of praise.

My Father gave In charge to me This child of earth E’en from its birth, To serve and save, Alleluia, And saved is he.

This child of clay To me was given, To rear and train By sorrow and pain In the narrow way, Alleluia, From earth to heaven.

© Eric Mason

Soul of Gerontius I went to sleep; and now I am refreshed.

A strange refreshment; for I feel in me An inexpressive lightness, and a sense Of freedom, as I were at length myself, And ne’er had been before. How still it is!

I hear no more the busy beat of time, No, nor my fluttering breath, nor struggling pulse; Nor does one moment differ from the next.

This silence pours a solitariness Into the very essence of my soul; And the deep rest, so soothing and so sweet, Hath something too of sternness and of pain.

Another marvel: someone has me fast Within his ample palm;... ...A uniform and gentle pressure tells me I am not Self moving, but borne forward on my way.

And hark! I hear a singing: yet in sooth I cannot of that music rightly say Whether I hear, or touch, or taste the tones.

Oh, what a heart-subduing melody!

Angel My work is done,

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Soul It is a member of that family Of wondrous beings, who, ere the worlds were made, Millions of ages back, have stood around The throne of God. I will address him. Mighty one, my Lord.

My Guardian Spirit, all hail!

Angel All hail!

My child and brother, hail! what wouldst thou?

Soul I would have nothing but to speak with thee For speaking’s sake. I wish to hold with thee Conscious communion; though I fain would know A maze of things, were it but meet to ask, And not a curiousness.

Angel You cannot now Cherish a wish which ought not to be wished.

Soul Then I will speak. I ever had believed That on the moment when the struggling soul

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Quitted its mortal case, forthwith it fell Under the awful Presence of its God, There to be judged and sent to its own place.

What lets me now from going to my Lord?

Angel Thou art not let; but with extremest speed Art hurrying to the Just and Holy Judge.

Soul Dear Angel, say, Why have I now no fear of meeting Him? Along my earthly life, the thought of death And judgment was to me most terrible.

Angel It is because Then thou didst fear, that now thou dost not fear.

Thou hast forestalled the agony, and so For thee the bitterness of death is passed.

Also, because already in thy soul The judgment is begun.

A presage falls upon thee, as a ray Straight from the Judge, expressive of thy lot.

That calm and joy uprising in thy soul Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense, And heaven begun.

Soul Now that the hour is come, my fear is fled; And at this balance of my destiny, Now close upon me, I can forward look With a serenest joy.

But hark! upon my sense Comes a fierce hubbub, which would make me fear Could I be frighted.

Angel We are now arrived Close on the judgment-court; that sullen howl Is from the demons who assemble there, Hungry and wild, to claim their property, And gather souls for hell. Hist to their cry.

Soul How sour and how uncouth a dissonance!

Demons Low-born clods Of brute earth, They aspire To become gods, By a new birth, And an extra grace, And a score of merits, As if aught Could stand in place Of the high thought, And the glance of fire Of the great spirits, The powers blest, The lords by right, The primal owners Of the proud dwelling And the realm of light – Dispossessed, Aside thrust, Chucked down, By the sheer might Of a despot’s will, Of a tyrant’s frown, Who after expelling Their hosts, gave, Triumphant still, And still unjust, Each forfeit crown To psalm-droners, And canting groaners, To every slave, And pious cheat, And crawling knave, Who licked the dust Under his feet.

Angel It is the restless panting of their being; Like beasts of prey, who, caged within their bars, In a deep hideous purring have their life, And an incessant pacing to and fro.

Demons The mind bold And independent, The purpose free, So we are told,

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Must not think To have the ascendant.

What’s a saint?

One whose breath Doth the air taint Before his death; A bundle of bones, Which fools adore, Ha! ha!

When life is o’er.

Virtue and vice, A knave’s pretence.

‘Tis all the same; Ha! ha!

Dread of hell-fire, Of the venomous flame, A coward’s plea.

Ha! ha!

Give him his price, From shrewd good sense He’ll slave for hire; Ha! ha!

And does but aspire To the heaven above With sordid aim, And not from love.

Ha! ha!

Soul I see not those false spirits; shall I see My dearest Master, when I reach His throne?

Angel Yes – for one moment thou shalt see thy Lord.

One moment; but thou knowest not, my child, What thou dost ask; that sight of the Most Fair Will gladden thee, but it will pierce thee too.

Soul Thou speakest darkly, Angel! and an awe Falls on me, and a fear lest I be rash.

Angel There was a mortal, who is now above In the mid-glory: he, when near to die, Was given communion with the Crucified – Such, that the Master’s very wounds were stamped

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Upon his flesh; and, from the agony Which thrilled through body and soul in that embrace, Learn that the flame of the Everlasting Love Doth burn ere it transform...

Choir of Angelicals Praise to the Holiest in the height, And in the depth be praise: Angel Hark to those sounds!

They come of tender beings angelical, Least and most childlike of the sons of God. Choir of Angelicals Praise to the Holiest in the height, And in the depth be praise: In all His words most wonderful; Most sure in all His ways!

To us His elder race He gave To battle and to win, Without the chastisement of pain, Without the soil of sin.

The younger son He willed to be A marvel in His birth: Spirit and flesh His parents were; His home was heaven and earth.

The Eternal blessed His child, and armed, And sent Him hence afar, To serve as champion in the field Of elemental war.

To be His Viceroy in the world Of matter, and of sense; Upon the frontier, towards the foe, A resolute defence.

Angel We have now passed the gate, and are within The House of Judgment...

Soul The sound is like the rushing of the wind – The summer wind – among the lofty pines.

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Choir of Angelicals Glory to Him, who evermore By truth and justice reigns; Who tears the soul from out its case, And burns away its stains!

Angel They sing of thy approaching agony, Which thou so eagerly didst question of.

Soul My soul is in my hand: I have no fear – But hark! a grand mysterious harmony: It floods me, like the deep and solemn sound Of many waters.

Angel And now the threshold, as we traverse it, Utters aloud its glad responsive chant.

Choir of Angelicals Praise to the Holiest in the height, And in the depth be praise: In all His words most wonderful; Most sure in all His ways!

O loving wisdom of our God! When all was sin and shame, A second Adam to the fight And to the rescue came.

O wisest love! that flesh and blood Which did in Adam fail, Should strive afresh against the foe, Should strive and should prevail; And that a higher gift than grace Should flesh and blood refine, God’s Presence and His very Self, And Essence all divine.

O generous love! that He who smote In man for man the foe, The double agony in man For man should undergo; And in the garden secretly, And on the cross on high,

Should teach His brethren and inspire To suffer and to die.

Praise to the Holiest in the height, And in the depth be praise: In all His words most wonderful; Most sure in all His ways!

Angel Thy judgment now is near, for we are come Into the veilèd presence of our God. Soul I hear the voices that I left on earth.

Angel It is the voice of friends, around thy bed, Who say the ‘Subvenite’ with the priest.

Hither the echoes come; before the Throne Stands the great Angel of the Agony, The same who strengthened Him, what time He knelt Lone in the garden shade, bedewed with blood.

That Angel best can plead with Him for all Tormented souls, the dying and the dead.

Angel of the Agony Jesu! by that shuddering dread which fell on Thee; Jesu! by that cold dismay which sickened Thee; Jesu! by that pang of heart which thrilled in Thee; Jesu! by that mount of sins which crippled Thee; Jesu! by that sense of guilt which stifled Thee; Jesu! by that innocence which girdled Thee; Jesu! by that sanctity which reigned in Thee; Jesu! by that Godhead which was one with Thee; Jesu! spare these souls which are so dear to Thee; Souls, who in prison, calm and patient, wait for Thee; Hasten, Lord, their hour, and bid them come to Thee; To that glorious Home, where they shall ever gaze on Thee.

Soul I go before my Judge...

Voices on Earth Be merciful, be gracious; spare him, Lord.

Be merciful, be gracious; Lord, deliver him.

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Angel ...Praise to His Name!

O happy, suffering soul! for it is safe, Consumed, yet quickened, by the glance of God. Alleluia! Praise to His Name!

Angel Softly and gently, dearly-ransomed soul, In my most loving arms I now enfold thee And o’er the penal waters, as they roll, I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee.

Soul Take me away, and in the lowest deep There let me be, And there in hope the lone night-watches keep, Told out for me.

There, motionless and happy in my pain, Lone, not forlorn – There I will sing my sad perpetual strain, Until the morn, There will I sing and soothe my stricken breast, Which ne’er can cease To throb, and pine, and languish, till possessed Of its Sole Peace.

There will I sing my absent Lord and Love: Take me away, That sooner I may rise, and go above, And see Him in the truth of everlasting day.

Take me away, and in the lowest deep There let me be.

And carefully I dip thee in the lake, And thou, without a sob or a resistance, Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take, Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim distance.

Souls in Purgatory Lord, Thou hast been our refuge: in every generation; Before the hills were born, and the world was: from age to age Thou art God.

Angels, to whom the willing task is given, Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou liest; And Masses on the earth, and prayers in heaven, Shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most Highest.

Farewell, but not for ever! brother dear, Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow; Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here, And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.

Farewell! Farewell!

Souls Lord, Thou hast been our refuge: in every generation; Come back, O Lord! how long: and be entreated for Thy servants.

Bring us not, Lord, very low: for Thou hast said, Come back again, ye sons of Adam. Amen.

Choir of Angelicals Praise to the Holiest, Amen.

Download London Philharmonic Orchestra recordings from www.lpo.org.uk/shop It’s easy to take the London Philharmonic Orchestra with you wherever you go! Visit our downloads site to choose the works (or even single movements) you’d like to buy, and download high quality MP3s to your computer for transfer to an MP3 player or CD. With regular additions of new recordings with conductors from Beecham to Jurowski you’ll always have a selection of great music to choose from.

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ELGAR RECORDINGS ON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL

LPO-0002 Bernard Haitink conducts Britten’s Our Hunting Fathers (with Heather Harper) and Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro and Enigma Variations.

‘An intense live performance of Our Hunting Fathers, with Heather Harper indefatigably characterful, plus an incisive, emotional Enigma Variations.’

BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

LPO-0016-0020 A 5-CD box set to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Elgar’s birth, with recordings dating from 1933 to 1988 featuring conductors including Elgar, Boult, Solti, Mackerras and Handley. Repertoire includes the Symphonies Nos 1 and 2, Enigma Variations, Sea Pictures (Janet Baker), Cello Concerto (Paul Tortelier), Violin Concerto (Alfredo Campoli), etc. ‘... a five-CD box with enough recorded treasures to last a lifetime ... Elgar himself directs a performance of the overture Froissart from 1933 – the year prior to his death – which bristles with character ... It’s a joy also to hear Janet Baker sing Sea Pictures.’

THE SCOTSMAN, MARCH 2007

LPO-0046 Vernon Handley conducts Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 and Sea Pictures with Janet Baker.

‘Elgar fans should rush to buy this live recording of an LPO Festival Hall concert from 1984. Vernon Handley’s eloquent account of the First Symphony, restrained yet generously abandoned, is one to treasure. But the plum is Janet Baker’s Sea Pictures … Her glorious, rich contralto voice, soaring and floating, is made for this music …’

FIONA MADDOCKS, THE GUARDIAN, 9 MAY 2010

The recordings may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. CDs may also be purchased from all good retail outlets or through the London Philharmonic Orchestra: telephone 020 7840 4242 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm) or visit the website www.lpo.org.uk

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ADMINISTRATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL

ARCHIVES

Martin Höhmann Chairman Stewart McIlwham Vice-Chairman Sue Bohling Simon Carrington Lord Currie* Jonathan Dawson* Anne McAneney George Peniston Sir Bernard Rix* Kevin Rundell Sir Philip Thomas* Sir John Tooley* The Rt Hon. Lord Wakeham DL* Timothy Walker AM †

Timothy Walker AM † Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager

Edmund Pirouet Consultant

Sarah Thomas Librarian

Philip Stuart Discographer

Michael Pattison Stage Manager

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive

*Non-Executive Directors

THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC TRUST Pehr Gyllenhammar Chairman Desmond Cecil CMG Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. Høgel Martin Höhmann Angela Kessler Clive Marks OBE FCA Victoria Sharp Julian Simmonds Timothy Walker AM † Laurence Watt AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, INC.

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Manager FINANCE David Burke General Manager and Finance Director David Greenslade Finance and IT Manager CONCERT MANAGEMENT Roanna Chandler Concerts Director Ruth Sansom Artistic Administrator Graham Wood Concerts, Recordings and Glyndebourne Manager Alison Jones Concerts Co-ordinator Jenny Chadwick Tours and Engagements Manager Jo Orr PA to the Executive / Concerts Assistant Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant

Camilla Begg Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager Ken Graham Trucking Instrument Transportation (Tel: 01737 373305) DEVELOPMENT Nick Jackman Development Director Harriet Mesher Charitable Giving Manager Phoebe Rouse Corporate Relations Manager Melissa Van Emden Events Manager Laura Elliot Corporate Relations and Events Officer Elisenda Ayats Development and Finance Officer MARKETING Kath Trout Marketing Director

We are very grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for its support of the Orchestra’s activities in the USA.

Patrick Bailey Education and Community Director

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Anne Findlay Education Officer

Frances Cook Publications Manager

Charles Russell Solicitors

Caz Vale Community Officer

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP Auditors

Richard Mallett Education and Community Producer

Samantha Kendall Box Office Administrator (Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Dr Louise Miller Honorary Doctor

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMME

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TP Tel: 020 7840 4200 Fax: 020 7840 4201 Box Office: 020 7840 4242 www.lpo.org.uk Visit the website for full details of London Philharmonic Orchestra activities.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited is a registered charity No. 238045.

Photograph of Elgar courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

Photograph on the front cover

by Patrick Harrison.

Programmes printed by Cantate.

Ellie Dragonetti Marketing Manager Helen Boddy Marketing Co-ordinator

Ed Weston Intern Valerie Barber Press Consultant (Tel: 020 7586 8560)

†Supported by Macquarie Group

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We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, Principal Benefactors and Benefactors: Thomas Beecham Group Mr & Mrs Richard & Victoria Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds The Tsukanov Family Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport David & Victoria Graham Fuller Richard Karl Goeltz John & Angela Kessler Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Eric Tomsett Guy & Utti Whittaker Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams Jane Attias Lady Jane Berrill Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Mrs Sonja Drexler Mr Charles Dumas David Ellen Commander Vincent Evans

Mr Daniel Goldstein Mrs Barbara Green Oliver Heaton Mr & Mrs Jeffrey Herrmann Peter MacDonald Eggers Mr & Mrs David Malpas Andrew T Mills Mr Maxwell Morrison Mr Michael Posen Mr & Mrs Thierry Sciard Mr John Soderquist & Mr Costas Michaelides Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Howard & Sheelagh Watson Mr Laurie Watt Mr Anthony Yolland Benefactors Mrs A Beare Dr & Mrs Alan Carrington CBE FRS Marika Cobbold & Michael Patchett-Joyce Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Mr David Edgecombe

Mr Richard Fernyhough Ken Follett Michael & Christine Henry Mr Glenn Hurstfield Mr R K Jeha Mr & Mrs Maurice Lambert Mr Gerald Levin Sheila Ashley Lewis Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Mr Frank Lim Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Brian Marsh John Montgomery Edmund Pirouet Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Lady Marina Vaizey Mr D Whitelock Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged.

Corporate Members Appleyard & Trew llp AREVA UK British American Business Brown Brothers Harriman Charles Russell Destination Québec – UK Diagonal Consulting Lazard Leventis Overseas Man Group plc Québec Government Office in London Corporate Donor Lombard Street Research In-kind Sponsors Google Inc Heineken The Langham London Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Sela / Tilley’s Sweets Villa Maria

Trusts and Foundations Allianz Cultural Foundation The Andor Charitable Trust Arts and Business Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Boltini Trust Borletti-Buitoni Trust Britten-Pears Foundation The Candide Charitable Trust The John S Cohen Foundation The Coutts Charitable Trust The Dorset Foundation The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust The Eranda Foundation The Ernest Cook Trust The Fenton Arts Trust The Foyle Foundation The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Capital Radio’s Help a London Child The Idlewild Trust The Emmanuel Kaye Foundation The Kirby Laing Foundation The Leverhulme Trust Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Maurice Marks Charitable Trust The Michael Marks Charitable Trust

Marsh Christian Trust UK Friends of the FelixMendelssohn-Bartholdy Foundation The Mercers’ Company Adam Mickiewicz Institute Paul Morgan Charitable Trust Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust Musicians Benevolent Fund The R K Charitable Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Reed Foundation The Rubin Foundation The Seary Charitable Trust The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust The David Solomons Charitable Trust Sound Connections The Stansfield Trust The Steel Charitable Trust The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation The Swan Trust John Thaw Foundation The Underwood Trust Garfield Weston Foundation Youth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous.

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SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 2011 Concert Concert Highlights Highligh ts Salisbury Cathedral would like to thank Aviva for their generous sponsorship of this fundraising concert. The Cathedral would also like to thank The Rt Hon the Lord Sharman OBE and our other Fundraising Champions for their energy, gifts and unstinting support.

Salisbury Cathedral relies on donors and our Fundraising Champions to fund our Major Repair Programme, to secure our 1,000 year old choral tradition through the provision of choristerships, to fund our education and outreach schemes, and to support our social justice work. We receive no money from the Government or Lottery, and are financially independent from the Church of England.

All proceeds from this concert will be used to support our Major Repair Programme: conservation of the stonemasonry and glazing of this beautiful medieval Cathedral. We need to raise £13m to complete the Programme, which includes conservation of the 13th century Jesse Window and the beautiful Trinity Chapel – the oldest section of the church.

There are many ways donors can support us, including one-off donations by cheque, cash or credit card; ongoing gifts by standing order; legacies or gifts of shares. For further information on how you can support our work, and to find out more about the difference your gift could make, please contact Claire HouseNorman, Development Director, on 01722 555107, development@salcath.co.uk However you decide to support us – thank you.

Please ensure that mobile phones are switched off during the performance.

No photography is allowed during the performance.

The Cathedral maintains a no smoking policy within the building.

There will be a short pause between Parts 1 and 2.

Members of the audience are asked to remain in their places.

22 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Saturday 24 September Saturday Septem mbe 7.30pm Salisburyy Cathedrall Salisbur Girl Chor Choristers’ Anniversaryy isters’ 20th Anniversar Celebration Celebrat tion Concert Concer t Join the celebrations and hear the superb sound ooff Salisbury’s Salisbbury’’ss former Salisbury’ former and current girl choristers singing together on this unique occasion.

Sunday 20 November 7.30pm Angela He witt Piano R ecital Hewitt Recital This celebrated pianist plays an eexciting xciting all French programme pro programme..

Tickets fr rom om Salisbur from Salisbury Playhouse Bo ox Offi fice: 32 ce: 01722 320333 Box Office: 320333.

2011 Art Art Installations Installations Antony Antony Gor Gormley mley Flare II From From 2 April Apr il Sean Henry Henr y Conflux: A Union ooff Figures Fi 23 July – 30 October For ffurther ur ther infor information mation visit www.salisburycathedral.org.uk www w..salisburycathedral.org.uk

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SOUTHBANK CENTRE FUNharmonics Family Concert WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries please ask any member of staff for assistance.

Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shops and restaurants include: Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, YO! Sushi, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffè Vergnano 1882, Skylon, Concrete and Feng Sushi, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery.

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact Kenelm Roberts, our Head of Customer Relations, at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk or phone 020 7960 4250.

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment:

Tick Tock Sunday 15 May 2011 | 11.30am Royal Festival Hall Kodály The Viennese Musical Clock from Háry János Suite Prokofiev Waltz from Cinderella: Suite No. 1 Haydn Excerpt from Symphony No. 101, (The Clock) McNeff The Clockwork Suite Beethoven Allegretto from Symphony No. 8 J Strauss Perpetuum mobile Ponchielli Dance of the Hours from La gioconda Stuart Stratford conductor Chris Jarvis presenter

PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins

Foyer Events from 10am You can try your hand at playing an orchestral instrument in one of our Have-a-Go sessions, get your face painted or join our human orchestra – all in the foyers before and after the performance.

Generously supported by The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust.

TICKETS Child £4-£8 Adult £8-£16 For booking details see page 24.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 23

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FUTURE CONCERTS AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

Saturday 16 April 2011 | 7.30pm

Wednesday 4 May 2011 | 7.30pm

Liszt Nocturnal Procession and Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Dvořák Cello Concerto Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian)

Wagner Overture, Die Meistersinger R Strauss Four Last Songs Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Alban Gerhardt cello

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Christine Brewer soprano

Christine Brewer and Christian Gerhaher

Vladimir Jurowski and Alban Gerhardt

MAHLER ANNIVERSARY Wednesday 20 April 2011 | 7.30pm

MAHLER ANNIVERSARY Saturday 28 May 2011 | 7.30pm

Mahler Suite from the Orchestral Works of JS Bach Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 2 Webern Five Movements, Op. 5 Beethoven String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 (arranged for string orchestra by Mahler)

Haydn Symphony No. 88 Mahler Songs from Des knaben Wunderhorn Brahms Symphony No. 4

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Janine Jansen violin 6.15pm–6.45pm | FREE Pre-Concert Event Royal Festival Hall Surrey University music lecturer Jeremy Barham discusses ‘Pasts and Futures: Mahler the arranger rethinks history’.

Barlines – FREE Post-Concert Event Level 2 Foyer at Royal Festival Hall An informal discussion with Vladimir Jurowski following the evening’s performance.

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Christian Gerhaher baritone 6.15pm–6.45pm | FREE Pre-Concert Event Royal Festival Hall Surrey University music lecturer Jeremy Barham examines ‘Music of the people? Mahler’s folksong revival in the Lieder and symphony’.

TO BOOK

Tickets £9-£38 | Premium seats £55 London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 | www.lpo.org.uk Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; no booking fee

Vladimir Jurowski and Janine Jansen

24 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Southbank Centre Ticket Office | 0844 847 9920 www.southbankcentre.co.uk/lpo Daily, 9am-8pm. £2.75 telephone / £1.75 online booking fees; no fee for Southbank Centre members