MacMillan's Stabat Mater – Sydney Philharmonia Choirs 2023

M AC M I L L A N ’S

Welcome PHOTO: KEITH SAUNDERS

The Stabat Mater is the most affecting of all mediæval Latin hymns. Its portrayal of a mother’s suffering on witnessing the painful death of her son captures something of the universal condition: ‘Is there one who would not weep?’

The context is religious, the circumstances are not. The same scene has played out time and time again – in natural disasters and in war; refugees losing precious children in a perilous journey; a mother mourning for her son in the AIDS crisis of the 1990s; those who grieve for Aboriginal deaths in custody. There is something in this text we can all relate to, regardless of belief, something profoundly moving, which is why I think so many Western composers from Pergolesi to Poulenc have been drawn to this powerful text.

And so I invite you to connect first and foremost to the words before you listen to James MacMillan’s response to this most devastating of hymns. Read them and contemplate them. Find the humanity in them, and then enter MacMillan’s rich, almost filmic sound world – a musical response that draws on Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, and composers

from Ligeti to Pärt, with virtuosic writing for both chorus and strings.

Steeped in the Roman Catholic tradition, MacMillan immerses himself in the grief of Mary and paints a picture of not only of her immense sorrow but of her isolation. The music reacts to the text in an immediate way – at times violent, at others offering a glimpse of paradise. It is in many ways one of the most unsettling pieces of choral music written in the past ten years, and one the Chamber Singers cannot wait to share with you today.

Brett Weymark OAM Artistic and Music Director

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs dedicates this performance to the memory of Jacqueline Dark (1968–2023) A great loss to the Australian musical community.

We acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country we rehearse, sing and work, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. Our voices bring to life the songs of many cultures and countries, from across the ages, in a spirit of sharing, learning and understanding. The ancient customs and cultures of this land inspire us to create harmony – in music and in our society.

MacMILLAN’S STABAT MATER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY DEBORAH CHEETHAM FRAILLON and MATTHEW DOYLE Tarimi Nulay – Long time living here† ARVO PÄRT Festina Lente ANDREW ANDERSON I sing in my heart†* ARVO PÄRT Fratres DANIEL BRINSMEAD Cantate Domino†* JAMES MACMILLAN Stabat Mater**

Brett Weymark conductor Chamber Singers Sydney Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra Fiona Ziegler concertmaster Saturday 14 October 2023 at 4:30pm St Andrew’s Cathedral * Premiere ** Australian premiere † 100 Minutes of New Australian Music 2020 commission The performance will run for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, without interval.

This performance of James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater is given by permission of Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, exclusive agent for Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd of London.

About the Music the Australian National University and choral conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. In 2011, his anthem Come Sleep was one of eight chosen to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Abbey Road Studio, and was recorded by Eric Whitacre and his singers. Currently based in Melbourne, he is artistic director of the Australian Children’s Choir and the auditioned choir Choristry.

Brinsmead’s Cantate Domino (Sing to the Lord) concludes the opening section of today’s program with celebratory exuberance.

The text is traditional Latin, but the setting is colourful and modern. For the composer, this text encapsulates singing as a means of expressing praise and celebration. ‘I was frequently surprised,’ he writes, ‘by the musical directions this ancient text took me.

Initially declamatory, the music is then transformed into a dance-like lilt and lyricism before culminating in fanfare-like sections.’

The two instrumental pieces

by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (born 1935) have no liturgical function or sacred theme, but they are the creations of a deeply religious composer whose work is underpinned by his Orthodox belief, uniting a modern spirit with a distillation of the past. His signature style combines the influences of Gregorian chant and vocal polyphony with a technique of setting stepwise movement in one voice against broken chords in a second voice to mimic the acoustic effects of Slavic liturgical bells: tintinnabuli-style, from the Latin tintinnabulus (bell). The result is a shimmering simplicity that masks a marvellous sophistication.

: KAUPO K OTO I KK PH AS

Two short Australian choral works sum up the spirit of this afternoon’s program: I sing in my heart by Andrew Anderson and Cantate Domino by Daniel Brinsmead. Both use texts drawn from the Psalms in expressions of faith, creativity and worship.

Melbourne-based composer Andrew Anderson (born 1971) has written many liturgical works, drawing on his experiences in residencies and engagements with parish choirs in the US and the UK, as well as St James’ Old Cathedral, West Melbourne. In addition, his music has been performed by Omega Ensemble, Syzygy Ensemble and the Streeton Trio, as well as the Consort of Melbourne (which has also recorded his choral works).

When it was commissioned, before the pandemic, I sing in my heart was intended for an SPC program centred on St Cecilia.

Anderson’s text depicts Cecilia sitting apart at the feast of her forced wedding, singing a song to God in her heart and invoking the protection of angels as she meditated on familiar phrases and ideas from the Psalms.

He writes: ‘As she sings, she feels a growing, almost ecstatic, strength, as if accompanied by the great “cloud of witnesses” of the faith.’

The music echoes this, growing from a single voice, through four parts to eight parts. Her song ultimately ends alone, but more hopeful than before.

Daniel Brinsmead (born 1988) is a singer and conductor, as well as a composer, having studied classical voice at

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: JAMES BE OTO LLO PH RI N

Festina lente (1986, 1990) takes its title from an oxymoron – ‘hasten slowly’ – which also refers to the paradoxical musical strategy of proportional canon: three instrumental groups (violins, violas, and cellos and basses) begin together but play the melody at three different speeds in a ratio of 4:2:1.

Fratres (1977) is one of Pärt’s earliest tintinnabuli works, composed around the time of his formal reception into the Orthodox church. It was devised for an ensemble in three parts without fixed instrumentation, the idea being that the bell technique is not tied to specific instrumental colours. The title (Latin for ‘brothers’) may allude to the prayer that begins ‘Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty’. Alternatively, it may be a more general call to universal brotherhood.

I Sydney audiences were introduced to two of James MacMillan’s most high-profile works in 2001, when he conducted both The Confession of Isobel Gowdie and his percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The latter work drew on an Advent plainchant, reflecting, as in so much of his music, the abiding influence of his Catholic faith.

Born in Scotland in 1959, MacMillan has been described as the greatest British composer since Britten, creating music that is ‘urgent, melodious, and burning to communicate’, and those qualities are abundant in his Stabat Mater, composed for Harry Christophers and The Sixteen in 2015.

The melodiousness of MacMillan’s music stems from plainsong and chant-like influences; the urgency and burning power

from a practical rather than a sentimental spirituality, attuned to social issues and finding hope even in despair.

The Stabat Mater text is one of the most powerfully expressive of sacred poems, attracting many composers over the centuries, most famously Pergolesi in 1736. It holds personal significance for MacMillan, who sang various settings as a boy and whose ‘early perception of the crucifixion (and indeed the world) [was] coloured by its beauty and sadness’. Dramatically, it presents a particular challenge, entering the composer, says MacMillan, ‘into a particularly painful world of loss, violence and spiritual desolation’. And yet, he points out, the text also contains moments of drama, horror, pathos and compassion.

MacMillan has correspondingly organised the work into four movements of five verses, each movement reflecting a distinctive aspect of the text. First we witness Christ’s mother: Who would not weep at seeing her in such distress? The second movement invites compassion by showing the scene through Mary’s eyes; the third invites empathy: Share with me the agony. The final movement finds redemption in Christ’s death.

Musically, MacMillan enhances the emotional range of the work by combining voices and string orchestra. The orchestra is no mere accompaniment, in fact, some of the greatest intensity is experienced when the voices (and their words) are silent and the strings are playing alone. The opening Stabat Mater dolorosa, for example, begins with tortured string writing and violent chords even before we’re introduced to the sorrowing mother standing at the foot of the cross. James MacMillan is not afraid to confront us with music that is anguished, despairing, even brutal, even as he consoles us with ethereal beauty.

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The Words ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

TARIMI NULAY – LONG TIME LIVING HERE Tarimi nulay ngalawa yura garrabarra baraya yagu barrabugu ngyiningi ngara ngyiningi berong

Long time here live the people dancing and singing today and tomorrow, your way of knowing your way of belonging

Words by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, translated into Gadigal by Matthew Doyle

I SING IN MY HEART I sing in my heart to my saviour, I lift up mine eyes to see whom He sends me, Sends his angel to watch over me, I sing in my heart to my keeper who watches over me, Though in this darkened valley I wait, Where sin is all around me, Though it should cause me to tremble in fear, My Lord will save me.

I sing in my heart to my saviour with rejoicing, Sing within my heart, Sing with rejoicing a song, I sing to the Lord in my heart.

Text by Andrew Anderson, adapted from phrases in the Psalms

CANTATE DOMINO Cantate domino canticum novum, et benedicite nomine ejus: Quia mirabilia fecit.

Cantate et exultate et psallite in cythara et voce psalmi: Quia mirabilia fecit.

Sing to the Lord a new song, and give praise to his name: for he has done marvellous deeds.

Sing and exult and praise in songs with the harp and the voice: for he has done marvellous deeds.

Text adapted from Psalm 98

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STABAT MATER 1. Stabat Mater dolorosa Stabat mater dolorosa juxta crucem lacrimosa dum pendebat filius.

A sorrowing mother stood weeping beside the cross while her son hung there.

Cujus animam gementem contristatam ac dolentem pertransivit gladius.

Her grieving heart so full of tears and anguish, was pierced as though with a sword.

O quam tristis et afflicta fuit illa benedicta mater unigeniti!

Oh, how sad and afflicted was that blessed mother of the only son!

Quae moerebat et dolebat, et tremebat cum videbat nati poenas inclyti.

How the loving mother mourned, grieved, trembled, watching the suffering of her glorious son.

Quis est homo, qui non fleret, Christi matrem si videret in tanto supplicio?

Is there one who would not weep, seeing the mother of Christ in such distress?

2. Quis non posset contristar Quis non posset contristari, piam matrem contemplari dolentem cum filio?

Who would not feel compassion at the sight of Christ’s mother grieving beside her son?

Pro peccatis suae gentis vidit Jesum in tormentis et flagellis subditum.

She saw Jesus tormented and subjected to scourging for the sins of his people.

Vidit suum dulcem natum Morientem desolatum dum emisit spiritum.

She watched her dear son dying forsaken as he yielded up his spirit.

Eja Mater fons amoris me sentire vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam.

O mother, thou font of love, share the depth of thy suffering with me, so that I may mourn with thee.

Fac, ut ardeat cor meum in amando Christum Deum, ut sibi complaceam.

Kindle within my heart such love for Christ my God that I may be worthy of him.

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3. Sancta Mater, istud agas Sancta mater, istud agas, crucifixi fige plagas cordi meo valide.

Holy mother, grant this favour, imprint the wounds of the Crucified deeply within my heart.

Tui nati vulnerari, tam dignati pro me pati, poenas mecum divide.

Share with me the agony of thy wounded Son who deigned to suffer so much for me.

Fac me vere tecum flere, crucifixo condolere, donec ego vixero.

Let me weep with thee, and share the agony of the Crucifixion as long as I live.

Juxta crucem tecum stare, te libenter sociare in planctu desidero.

To stand with thee beside the cross, and to join thee in my weeping, that is my wish.

Virgo virginum praeclara, mihi jam non sis amara, fac me tecum plangere.

O Virgin, pre-eminent among virgins, be not disdainful toward me, let me weep with thee.

Sancta mater…

Holy mother…

4. Fac, ut portem Christi mortem Fac, ut portem Christi mortem passionis fac consortem, et plagas recolere.

Grant that I may bear Christ’s death, let me share in his passion, remembering his suffering.

Fac me plagis vulnerari, cruce hac inebriari, ob amorem Filii.

Let me be wounded by his wounds, enraptured by his cross, and the blood of the Son.

Flammis ne urar succensus Per te Virgo, sim defensus in die judicii.

Let me not be consumed by flames; may I be defended by thee, O Virgin, in the day of judgement.

Christe, cum sit hinc exire, Da per matrem me venire Ad palmam victoriæ.

O Christ, when I must depart from here, grant that through your mother I may come to the palm of victory.

Quando corpus morietur, Fac ut animae donetur paradisi gloria. Amen.

When my body dies, let my soul be granted the glory of Paradise. Amen.

Text attrib. Jacopone da Todi (c.1230–1306)

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PHOTO: KEITH SAUNDERS

About the Artists Brett Weymark conductor One of Australia’s foremost choral conductors, Brett Weymark OAM is celebrating his 20th season with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

Appointed Artistic and Music Director in 2003, he has conducted the Choirs throughout Australia as well as internationally. He has also conducted the Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Sydney Youth Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic, as well as productions for WAAPA, Pacific Opera and OzOpera, and he has performed with Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Australian Chamber Orchestra, The Song Company and Musica Viva.

He studied singing and conducting at the University of Sydney and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, continuing his conducting studies with Simon Halsey, Vance George, Daniel Barenboim and John Eliot Gardiner, amongst others.

His repertoire at SPC has included Bach’s Passions and Christmas Oratorio, the Mozart, Verdi, Duruflé and Fauré requiems, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. He champions Australian composers, and has premiered works by Matthew Hindson, Elena Kats-Chernin, John Peterson, Daniel Walker, Rosalind Page, Peter Sculthorpe, Andrew Schultz and Ross Edwards. In 2011 he premiered his own work Brighton to Bondi with the Festival Chorus. He has also conducted musical theatre programs including Bernstein’s Candide, which won

multiple BroadwayWorld Sydney awards.

Under his direction, SPC received a Helpmann Award for Oedipus Rex and Symphony of Psalms, directed by Peter Sellars, and was nominated for a Limelight Award for Purcell’s King Arthur.

He was chorus master for the Adelaide Festival productions of Saul (2017), Hamlet (2018) and Requiem (2020), and he has prepared choirs for Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Edo de Waart, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Simon Rattle. He has recorded for the ABC and conducted film scores for Happy Feet, Mad Max Fury Road and Australia.

Recent conducting highlights include Sweeney Todd (West Australian Opera), Jandamarra by Paul Stanhope and Steve Hawke (SSO), Michael Tippett’s A Child Of Our Time (Adelaide Festival) and Carousel (State Opera South Australia).

In 2001 he was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal and in 2021 the Medal of the Order of Australia.

Brett Weymark is passionate about singing and the role music plays in both the wellbeing of individuals and the health and vitality of a community’s culture. He believes music can transform lives and should be accessible to all.

Sydney Philharmonia Choir’s 2023 season reflects highlights of his distinguished tenure with the organisation and the strengths of the choirs he leads.

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Chamber Singers Brett Weymark Artistic and Music Director Elizabeth Scott Associate Music Director Tim Cunniffe Assistant Chorus Master and Principal Rehearsal Pianist Claire Howard Race Rehearsal Pianist SOPRANOS Briar Babington† Jodie Boehme Nikki Bogard Maria Lopes Lucy Lush Raphaela Mazzone Stephanie Mooney† Charlotte Moore Jayne Oishi*† Allison Rowlands

ALTOS Kate Clowes Liz Fuggle Vesna Hatezic Georgia Luikens Rachel Maiden Clara Mazzone Pepe Newton Judith Pickering*† Beverley Price Jacqui Singer† Megan Solomon Priscilla Yuen

TENORS Kevin Chan* Matthew Flood† Michael Gray Tom Hazell† Mel Keenan Boghos Keleshian† Emanuel Kunick Rajah Selvarajah† Robert Thomson Alex Walter Declan Wildes†

Sydney Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra FIRST VIOLINS Fiona Ziegler Concertmaster Michele O’Young Emily Qin SECOND VIOLINS Léone Ziegler Vanessa Tammetta Emma Tingay

VIOLAS Nicole Forsyth Rachel Dyker James Eccles

DOUBLE BASSES David Cooper Nicole Murray-Prior Bold = Principal

CELLOS Anthea Cottee Clare Kahn Rosemary Quinn

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BASSES Andy Clare† Ian Davies Simon Harris* Selwyn Lemos Dion Marks Robert Mitchell Bruce Watson Allan Yap * Soloists – Anderson † Soloists – MacMillan

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

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VICE-REGAL PATRONS The Hon. Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales and Mr Dennis Wilson VICE PATRONS Prof. the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO Lauris Elms AM OBE DMus (Syd) AMBASSADOR FOR SINGING Yvonne Kenny AM BOARD Jacqui Wilkins Chair Claire Duffy President Katie Blake, Stuart Goddard, Terence Kwan, Jill Lester, Elizabeth Neilsen, Georgia Rivers STAFF Brett Weymark OAM Artistic & Music Director Dr Elizabeth Scott Associate Music Director Tim Cunniffe Assistant Chorus Master & Principal Rehearsal Pianist Mark Robinson Artistic Operations Manager Chizuru Maruyama Choirs Administrator Susan Gandy Orchestra Coordinator Simon Crossley-Meates Marketing Manager Naomi Hamer Office & Box Office Administrator Sarah Howell Philanthropy Manager John Liebmann Finance Manager PROGRAM CREDITS Yvonne Frindle Editor and Design Tone Bullen, Smörgåsbord Cover Artwork Immij NSW Printer

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Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presents the art of choral singing at the highest standard, and develops the talents of those with a passion for singing, in Sydney and beyond. Founded in 1920, it has become Australia’s finest choral organisation and is a Resident Company of the Sydney Opera House.

Led by Artistic and Music Director Brett Weymark OAM and Associate Music Director Dr Elizabeth Scott, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs comprises three auditioned and three community choirs that perform repertoire from choral classics to musical theatre and commissions by Australian composers. SPC presents its own annual concert season as well as collaborating with leading conductors, soloists and orchestras in Australia and overseas. In 2002, SPC was the first Australian choir to sing at the BBC Proms (Mahler’s Symphony No.8 under Sir Simon Rattle), returning again in 2010 to celebrate its 90th anniversary. The Choirs perform in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s season every year, as they have done for more than 80 years. SPC also presents community singing events throughout the year – Chorus Oz (the annual Big Sing), Big Heart Sing at the Sydney Opera House and choral workshops throughout Sydney and NSW. 2020 was Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ centenary and saw the realisation of the 100 Minutes of New Australian Music project, featuring commissioned works by composers including Elena Kats-Chernin, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon and Brett Dean. In 2022 the Choirs took part in the reopening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, performing Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and in 2023, Brett Weymark celebrates his 20th anniversary as Artistic Director.

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Thank you We applaud the generous involvement of our partners in supporting Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. $500 – $999 Carole Bailey Jock Baird – in memoriam Annette McClure Caroline Bessemer Sue Bowring Ian Davies James Devenish Jane Diamond Nancy Fox AM Fiona Hulton Penny le Couteur Kevin Lee Anna Lo Brian Lobb – in memory of Jennifer Lobb Elaine Macdonald Mary Mortimer and Donald Denoon William Napier Robbie Nicol Jennie Orchard Peter Phillips AO and Jane Phillips Beth Rahman Paul Roper Félicité Ross Meg Shaw Ellen Wu Anonymous (3) We also thank our donors who contribute up to $500. Every gift makes a difference to what we are able to achieve.

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