2020 is finally behind us!! We can look forward to having the vaccine when that is being rolled out to us! I am being cautiously optimistic about the future, so hopefully we can begin rehearsals again and see you all in a concert soon.

I’d like to say a big thank you for all the lovely comments on our virtual concert posted on the 12th of December. I very much enjoyed listening to the choir’s old recordings of their Shows concerts, and it’s given me an even further guide on setting repertoire for the guys in the near future! My thanks go to Martin and John Rogers for putting it all together – they’ve been doing brilliantly keeping us all up to date with all the choir’s activities. Keep it up!

Franz Schubert (31st January 1797 – 19th November 1828)

Born in the Himmelpfortgrund suburb of Vienna, Schubert showed uncommon gifts for music from an early age. His father gave him his first violin lessons and his elder brother gave him piano lessons, but Schubert soon exceeded their abilities. In 1808, at the age of eleven, he became a pupil at the Stadtkonvikt school, where he became acquainted with the orchestral music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. He left the Stadtkonvikt at the end of 1813, and returned home to live with his father, where he began studying to become a schoolteacher. Despite this, he continued his studies in composition with Antonio Salieri and still composed prolifically. In 1821, Schubert was admitted to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde as a performing member, which helped establish his name among the Viennese citizenry. He gave a concert of his own works to critical acclaim in March 1828, the only time he did so in his career. He died eight months later at the age of 31, the cause officially attributed to typhoid fever, but believed by some historians to be syphilis.

Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (Trout Quintet), the Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 (Unfinished Symphony), the “Great” Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944, the String Quintet (D. 956), the three last piano sonatas (D. 958–960), the opera Fierrabras (D. 796), the incidental music to the play Rosamunde (D. 797), and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin (D. 795) and Winterreise (D. 911). Perhaps his most known piece is Ave Maria, sung in this extract by Pavarotti. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpYGgtrMTYs

Francis Poulenc (7th January 1899 – 30th January 1963)

As the only son of a prosperous manufacturer, Poulenc was expected to follow his father into the family firm, and he was not allowed to enrol at a music college. Largely self-educated musically, he studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, who became his mentor after the composer's parents died. Poulenc also made the acquaintance of Erik Satie; under whose tutelage he became one of a group of young composers known collectively as Les Six (a group of highly commended French composers). In his early works Poulenc became known for his high spirits and irreverence. During the 1930s a much more serious side to his nature emerged, particularly in the religious music he composed from 1936 onwards, which he alternated with his more light-hearted works.

Poulenc was one of the first openly gay composers, who was at ease with his sexuality in the context of his religious faith. There's still debate among music scholars who see the diverse range of styles in his music as an outward representation of Poulenc's inner moral wrestlings. During the completion of his opera, Dialogues des Carmelites, Poulenc suffered from severe depression, but his recovery led him to compose more serene music later in life. 

The death of his close friend Pierre-Octave Ferroud led to a religious awakening in 1936. As well as composing light music, he turned to more sombre themes, and his newly fervent Catholicism influenced his first sacred pieces. He continued to write in a range of styles, penning secular tunes alongside religious pieces. Even his sacred music had a cheeky edge: his Gloria caused a scandal due to its irreverence. The link posted allows you to follow the reduced score of the piece – you may notice how bizarre his harmonies were! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVpeU8_ZHEM

Eric Whitacre (2nd January 1970 – present)

Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre, is among today’s most popular musicians. His works are programmed worldwide and his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united singers from more than 145 countries. Born in Nevada in 1970, Eric is a graduate of the prestigious Juilliard School of Music (New York). He completed his second and final term as Artist in Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 2020 following five years as Composer in Residence at the University of Cambridge (UK).

His compositions have been widely recorded and his debut album as a conductor on Universal, Light and Gold, went straight to the top of the charts, earning him a Grammy.  As a guest conductor he has drawn capacity audiences to concerts with many of the world’s leading orchestras and choirs in venues such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), the Royal Albert Hall and Buckingham Palace (London).  Insatiably curious and a lover of all types of music, Eric has worked with legendary Hollywood composers Hans Zimmer, John Powell and Jeff Beal as well as British pop icons Laura Mvula, Imogen Heap and Annie Lennox.  Major classical commissions have been written for the BBC Proms, Minnesota Orchestra, Rundfunkchor Berlin, The Tallis Scholars, Chanticleer, Cincinnati Pops, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, National Children’s Chorus of America and The King’s Singers. Here, we hear Westminster Chorus sing his Lux Aurumque:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkasK9ldBWE

I hope you enjoy these extracts – they’re an interesting insight into what these composers were/are capable of creating for voice. And let’s hope for a better year this year!

Happy New Year to you all!

Tomos