EVENT PROGRAMME
Pérotin (fl. b . 1198)
Vīdērunt omnēs (excerpt)
After hundreds of years of singing the same old thing in church, that is, "Gregorian" plainchant where a group of male voices all sang exactly the same thing with no instrumental accompaniment (such as 'Dies Irae'), church composers, maddened with boredom, finally convinced their superiors to allow them to experiment a little, such as by having different voices sing different things at the same time. Harmony and counterpoint were thus born.
In the late 12th century in Paris, one idea that arose was to take a known chant and stretch it out so that each syllable was sustained for a long time, like a bagpipe drone or a 'pedal tone' on an organ; on top of these long -sustained notes, a few other voices would sing composed parts, using nothing more than the vowel of the drone syllable. For example, if the 'Tenor' the voice holding the extended syllables of the original chant sang and held the syllable 'Om' from the word 'Omnes', the ensemble would all be singing the vowel 'O' until that syllable ended and the next began. ('Tenor' in fact is
derived from a Latin verb meaning 'to hold.')
Pérotin was not the first person to compose music in this style, called 'Organum' – the earliest known polyphony – but he is certainly the most well known in our time. Visceral and mesmeric. This music sounds as fresh today, as it has ever done.
Vīdērunt omnēs fīnēs terræ salūtāre Deī nostrī. Jubilāte Deō, omnis terra.
All the ends of the earth have seen the prosperity of our God. Rejoice in the Lord, all lands.
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Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) psalom (1995)
Arvo Pärt is Estonia ’s greatest musical export, a composer who developed a style based on the slow modulation of sounds such as those produced by bells and pure voice tones, a technique reminiscent of the medieval Notre-Dame school and the sacred music of Eastern Orthodoxy; Pärt was a devout Orthodox Christian. His major works include the violin concerto Tabula Rasa (1977), Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten (1977), MagnificatAntiphones (1988), The Beatitudes (1991), and Lamentate (first performed 2003). His medieval liturgical sound won him a wide audience in the West during the late 1990s.
The instrumental miniature psalom was initially composed as two -part music without specific instrumentation and was completed on the composer’s 50th birthday in 1985. Pärt revisited these sketches in 1991, after being commissioned by Universal Edition to w rite a piece for a string quartet for the birthday of the publishing firm’s long -time leader, Alfred Schlee.
psalom is an extremely sparse piece based on Psalm 112 in Church Slavonic, which, like many of Pärt’s other instrumental pieces, precisely determines the course of the music. The nine verses of the psalm are
incorporated following the strict rules of tintinnabuli, composed as melodic phrases separated by notable pauses, starting silently, and fading into silence once more. Pärt describes the focus of the music as being “…on two elements – stressed and unstressed syllables”. Set against these so -called tintinnabula voices are melodic voices that move largely in scalar, diatonic motion. The religious symbolisms of sin and redemption, humanity, and divinity, and immortal and mortal are carried out by the act of combining melodic and tintinnabula voices, as dictated by the composer himself.
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Knut Nystedt (1915 - 2014)
Immortal Bach, Op. 153
Knut Nystedt is a composer and Norwegian composer, conductor, organist and music teacher whose specialism was choral and church music. He founded a professional choir Det Norske Solistkor (The Norwegian soloists' choir) which made professional recordings, notably Bach ’s motets on BIS records. Often, his compositions were saturated in nationalistic undertones. Whilst he often experimented with a broad range of styles, he retained his own personal voice and panache.
One of the more noted pieces by Nystedt, Immortal Bach (1988) is a scored for a mixed a cappella choir (unaccompanied choir). Whilst contemporary in date of composition, it starts off with a fourpart chorale of Johann Sebastian Bach - "Komm süßer Tod" (BWV 478). It’s contemporary and experimental touch comes after the first verse. The hymn and its text melts into a cloud of sound, due to the sustained ‘pedal’ notes in all of the voices. These create great tension, resulting in calming and slowly realised resolutions. The effect is overwhelming, almost as if the divine is calling out to the subject. This is acute and fitting since the hymn is based on the first line of Bach’s funeral song, "Komm, süßer Tod" (Come, sweet death). Is this Nystedt’s attempt at an invitation
from God for the listener to join Heaven?
Komm, süßer Tod, komm sel’ge Ruh!
Komm, führe mich in Friede.
Come, sweet death, come blessed peace !
Come, lead me to tranquillit y.
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Meredith Monk (b. 1942)
Earth Seen from Above (1987)
Composer and singer Meredith Monk’s work has always defied categorisation. Throughout a professional career that began in 1964, she has not only experimented in a wide variety of fields –embracing film, installation and sitespecific work as well as music and dance – but also frequently blazed new trails. She has, in particular, been a pioneer in what is now called interdisciplinary performance and extended vocal technique, earning her plaudits as “a magician of the voice”.
This massed vocal composition was originally composed in 1987 as part of the a cappella work, The Ringing Place. It’s a very gentle and drifting piece, with the performers singing broken chords over sustained pedal notes. This combined with the unusual diction and dip hthongs creates quite a mysterious and unearthly sound, thus emulating the title, Earth Seen from Above. The listener is always engaged since the key changes alter the sound, almost as if we are seeing Earth from a slightly different perspective or spottin g something new whilst looking down.
Missy Mazzoli (b. 1980)
Vespers (version for violin and electronics)
Grammy -nominated composer Missy Mazzoli began writing Vespers as a reimagining of a previous composition - Vespers for a New Dark Age – by sampling keyboards, vintage organs, voices, and strings, drenching them in delay and distortion to rework them into a solo piece. Separate from the original work, Vespers is hauntingly beautiful, with effects applied to the solo violin alongside the wash o f the drifting, ambient accompaniment, ranging from plaintive sequences to soaring, emotional, rigorous melodic phrases.
There is a real emphasis on the space between notes, with faster glissandi passages allowing the delay to work in harmony with the so lo violin line, and quick successions of notes creating a canon -like effect, alongside the slow -moving harmonies of the accompanying electronics. The piece premiered at the Sounds of Music Festival in Groningen in 2014. It was later recorded by Olivia de Prato for her album Streya, resulting in a nomination for a 2019 Grammy award in the category of Best Classical Composition.
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David Lang (b. 1957) i lie (2001)
David Lang, whose simple song #3 received awards nominations for the Academy Award and Golden Globe, is recognised as one of the most highly esteemed and performed American composers writing today. Lang’s music is regularly used for ballet and modern dance around the world, he has written for awardwinning films, including the string arrangements for Requiem for a Dream, performed by the Kronos Quartet. In addition to his compositional works, he is a Professor of Composition at the Yale School of Music.
Lang’s a capella piece i lie, written for a small group of upper voices, uses text from an old Yiddish song. The piece was commissioned by Californian women’s vocal ensemble Kitka, in part with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. Lang has a long history with this ensemble, having worked with them on music for the American Conservatory Theatre’s production of the play Hecuba
As an all-upper voices group that concentrates on music emerging from the various folk traditions of Eastern Europe, Kitka requested that Lang write a “modern folk song”. The text was chosen by the composer for its “darkly expectant” nature; a beautiful poem, originally published by Joseph Rolnick in 1907 which
describes a woman waiting for her lover and ends with the joyful “Yo! er iz gekumen”, translatin g to “Yes! He has come!”.
Leyg ikh mir in bet arayn
Un lesh mir oys dos fayer
Kumen vet er haynt tsu mir
Der vos iz mire tayer
Banen loyfn tsvey a tog
Eyne kumt in ovnt
KhÕher dos klingen Ð glin glin glon
Yo, er iz shoyn noent
Shtundn hot di nakht gor fil
Eyns der tsveyter triber
Eyne iz a fraye nor Ven es kumt mayn liber
Ikh her men geyt, men klapt in tir, Men ruft mikh on baym nomen
Ikh loyf arop a borvese
Yo! er iz gekumen!
I lay myself down in bed
And put out the flame; He will come to me today, The one who is dear to me.
Trains run twice a day; One comes in the evening.
I hear the bell ring – ding ding dong
Yes, he is already near.
The night has a great many hours: Each drearier than the last.
One only is a cheerful one: When my beloved comes.
I hear someone come, someone knocks on the door,
Someone calls me by name.
I run downstairs barefoot — Yes! He has come!
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Arvo Pärt
Most Holy Mother of God (2003)
Originally written for four a capella voices (countertenor or alto, two tenors and bass) and dedicated to the Hilliard Ensemble, Most Holy Mother of God premiered in 2003 at the University of Durham, England, where the composer received an Honorary Doctorate. The composition is based on the f inal line of the earliest Marian hymn from around 250 A.D., the text used in the Catholic and Orthodox liturgy. The call “Most Holy Mother of God, save us”, is repeated seventeen times as a single line, ranging from soft, homophonic murmurs to emphatic solos. The meditative nature of this piece is reflected in the harmony, which moves at a hypnotic rate, slowly shifting throughout.
Nathan James Dearden (b. 1992)
‘How long will You hide Your face? (after Psalm 13)’ from Two Hymns
A Lecturer in Music Composition at Royal Holloway University of London, Nathan James Dearden is an award -winning music creator, whose work has been described as “hauntingly beautiful” (Media Wales), and performed and featured by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Lond on Philharmonic Orchestra, Tippett Quartet, National Youth Orchestra of Wales, tenor Nicky Spence, National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Fidelio Trio, and Hebrides Ensemble.
Two Hymns was premiered in September 2023 in Devon, England , where Dearden was Composer-inResidence at the Whiddon Autumn Festival. Intriguingly, these ‘hymns’ are not written for a choir nor organ, but instead a string quartet, separated into two movements: do not take me away and How long will You hide Your fac e? He expressively utilises the quartet to emulate the paradox between the hymns. do not take me away is based on Psalm 102, whereby Jerusalem is in a state of devastation and ruin. Dearden creates this sense of tension through an array of string colours, marking the violins at points with ‘muted’ (played with a mute) and ‘sul pont’
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(played on the bridge of the instrument). The lower strings (the cello and viola) are marked as ‘distant.’ It is often very slow and lamenting, marked as ‘piecing the fragments together’ – ‘fragments’ perhaps symbolic of the burning city.
Contrastingly, How long will You hide Your Face?, which will be heard in this evening’s performance, is from Psalm 13 which describes God’s love. He marks the score with ‘wistful’ and ‘simply’ in all string parts. It’s quiet lamentation ebbs and flows, with hints of forgotten melodies creeping out of the mist. Unlike Dearden’s other string writing, the lines are romantic and elongated in nature.
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)
The Deer's Cry
The Deer’s Cry is a sacred motet by Arvo Pärt, for a four-part choir a capella, set to text from a traditional Irish lorica (from the monastic tradition, a protection prayer), and commissioned by the Irish Louth Contemporary Music Society. The powerful text is attributed to the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick, and has come to be known by various names, The Deer’s Cry, The Breastplate of St Patrick, or Lorica Pärt set the text to music in modern English, beginning with “Christ with me”. The Deer’s Cry is written in a minor key and consists of slowmoving quarter notes with irregular time signatures throughout. The lower voices open the piece, dividing the altos and basses as they sing “Christ with me” four times.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me , Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me , Christ on my right, Christ on my left , Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down , Christ in me, Christ when I ari se , Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me , Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me , Christ in every eye that sees me , Christ in every ear that hears me Christ with me .
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New Voices Consort
Led by Royal Holloway composer and conductor, Nathan James Dearden, the New Voices Consort is a dynamic ensemble whose aim is to present a diverse range of vocal and choral music of the twentieth and twentyfirst centuries to the highest standard, facilitating the opportunity for singers and audiences alike to experience new and exciting music. Recent repertoire has included music by Judith Weir, Michael Finnissy, Meredith Monk, Errollyn Wallen, Nico Muhly, Robert Ashley, David Lang, Howard Skempton, and Benjamin Tassie. This vocal ensemble had their inaugural concert as part of an exciting threeday festival in October 2016, Spotlight Series: Finnissy at 70, in the presence of esteemed British composer Michael Finnissy and Master of the King’s Music, Judith Weir CBE
Soprano
Dimitra Sotiropoulou
Emma Olivero Torres
Hannah Spencer
Holly Fry
Natalie Mechelewska
Sienna Sewell
Ciara Harman
Esme Ellis- Rose
Filia Karakatsani
Jagoda Kitlinska
Lingling Bao- Smith
Alto
Alicia Hunt
Annabel Mullett
Christina Finlay
Hannah Waterfield
Janice Choi
Phoebe Wakefield
Polina Stepovyk
Sandali Widyaratne
Tenor
Luke Cherry
Dominic Kwan
Harri Huckstep
Bass
Kotaro Blake
Harry Woodward
Harvey Lok *
James Gooding **
* Assistant Director & New Music Associate
** New Music Manager & Associate
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N athan James Dearden Director
Described as “a champion of his generation” and whose music is “hauntingly beautiful” (Media Wales), Nathan James Dearden (b. 1992) is an award -winning Welsh composer of concert music and mixed media, conductor, and educator.
Nathan's music has been commissioned, performed, featured and workshopped by the London Philharmonic Orchestra , Berkeley Ensemble, Welsh National Opera , mezzo -soprano Helen Charlston , The Tippett Quartet, Genesis Sixteen , BBC National Orchestra of Wales, National Youth Orchestra of Wales, The Heath Quartet, Grand Band , the Fidelio Trio , Hebrides Ensemble, CHROMA ensemble, and flautist Carla Rees. His music regularly features in concerts across the UK
and overseas, including at the Bangor Music Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, Dartington International Summer School and Festival, International Young Composers' Meeting , CROSSROADS International New Music Festival and Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music. Nathan began his professional composing life as an inaugural Young Composer-in -Residence with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and Music Creator for Sinfonia Newydd in 2013. Since then his music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, Resonance FM, RTÉ lyric FM, S4C and Soho Radio, whilst also released on NMC Recordings and Delphian.
Recent notable performances and projects include: That now are distant, commissioned by Nicky Spence and Andrew Matthews-
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Owen; anthem, commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; love songs for the broken with saxophonist Robert Burton and Britten Sinfonia ; a Welsh tour of The day following in collaboration with UPROAR New Music Ensemble and National Library Wales; and First Service as part of a live BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong broadcast (Choir of Royal Holloway).
Nathan has recently won ‘Best Music Creator’ in the 2022 Making Music UK Awards for a legacy commission with National Youth Training Choirs of Great Britain - i breathe – and was selected to represent Wales at the 2023 International Society for Contemporary music World Music Days in South Africa. In May 2017 he received the inaugural Paul Mealor Award for Outstanding Young Composers, and in summer 2021 he received the inaugural Acapela Compo ser Award for an outstanding Welsh Composer by the Welsh Music Guild.
As a conductor, Nathan is carving a career as one of the most soughtafter interpreters of his generation for the performance of twentieth and twenty -first century repertoire. Nathan has held posts and guest conductorships at National Youth Orchestra of Wa les, National Youth Choir of Wales, CHROMA, Cardiff University, Cardiff Contemporary Music Group, London Metropolitan University / CASS Institute, and is currently the Director of New Music
Collective and New Voices Consort at Royal Holloway, University of London. Nathan made his London Philharmonic Orchestra conducting debut with members of the LPO at their 2018 Summer Gala. Nathan has recorded, performed and premiered works by established living composers such as Judith Weir, David Lang , Caroline Shaw , Michael Finnissy , Benjamin Tassie, Gavin Bryars, and Howard Skempton , plus hundreds of new works by young and emerging composers.
Based in London, Nathan is currently Lecturer in Music Composition and Music Performance Manager at Royal Hollowa y, University of London. Nathan is also Lead Composition Tutor at Centre for Young Musicians (Guildhall), Chair of Wales Council for Ivors Academy , a Member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians (MISM), a Trustee of Classical Remix, Board Member of the Welsh Music Guild , Featured Composer and Mentor with Cerddwn , Associate Artistic Director at MusicFest Aberystwyth , Festival Manager of Chamber Music on Valentia , an Academy Member of the British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors (Ivors) and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).
www.nathanjamesdearden.co.uk
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V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E R O Y A L H O L L O W A Y A C U K / M U S I C
