The Annual

 Glebe Music Festival

In conjunction with The Glebe Society Inc

Annual Saint Cecilia‘s Day concert as part of the Glebe Music Festival

Josie and the Emeralds

St Cecilia

2015

Sunday 22nd November, 4pm

Glebe Town Hall
170 St Johns Rd, Glebe

Programme

Texts

Programme notes

Welcome to our Saint Cecilia 2015 concert. Welcome to all the pleasures... For this was the title of one of Purcell's most adored odes written to celebrate Saint Cecilia's Day, November 22, 1683.

We will begin with an arrangement I have made of one of its most popular arias:
Here the Deities.
In 1689, Purcell published a keyboard version:
A New Ground: and this is the inspiration for my version you will hear today with marimba.

There are no stories about Saint Cecilia's prowess as a musician but really, what a small quibble! That she is said to have heard heavenly music "inside her heart" was apparently enough for her to be celebrated since mediaeval times as the patron saint of music. And who are we to query this tradition?

Cantantibus organis is the first antiphon at Vespers of the Feast of St. Cecilia. A longer version of the text is found in the setting of brilliant Franco-Flemish composer Orlando de Lassus (or Lasso or Roland de Lassus). Several composers including Palestrina and Cima set this text as well as its original chant form.*

Lassus was said to have such a beautiful singing voice as a youth that he was kidnapped three times because of it. His vast output in both the secular and sacred musical world seems to vary from the sublime to the ridiculous. Not afraid to raise a few eyebrows, several of his masses were based on secular French chansons considered risqué at best. In Bonjour,mon coeur he seems to be having a lot of fun with poetic and musical conventions of love.

A sub-theme of today's program is dance, so we would like to include a work by the author of a seminal 16th century dance treatise, Thoinot Arbeau. His Belle qui tiens ma vie started life as a French mediaeval carol and in this arrangement I have tried to keep some of that simple beauty. But I could not resist giving some ornamental lines to the upper three instruments, which include somewhat unusually the inner voices of treble 2 and tenor viols.

One muse that we are also celebrating today is Terpsichore, the Muse of Dance. But first, we present a more complex interpretation of the muse according to George Kirbye in That muse which sung the beauty of thy face. Here we learn that the muse need not always sing good tidings and indeed there is a dark side to this apparently sweet song.

Recently I have been searching YouTube for music sung by Syrian refugees. Perfumed with Blood is the title of a lament sung by a young Syrian refugee woman about the destruction of war and particularly the destruction of her homeland. We will play this video today with permission of its producers, the Norwegian Refugee Council. I have borrowed the title of her song to add a personal musical response. This is in two parts. The first part continues her lament where the ascending and descending lines gradually diverge, building up intensity to a point of great distress. The second part is inspired by a video I found of a young Syrian refugee boy in a Lebanese refugee camp where he sings C hou badna Nsawi. This is a well-known Arabic song of longing for one's lost loved ones. I am grateful to Fadi El Azzi for his translation of the text.

Handel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day is a cantata setting the poem by the English poet John Dryden. The premiere was on 22 November 1739 at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre,London. One of its most beautiful arias, What Passion Cannot Music Raise and Quell,features an extended cello solo where the cello represents the passion of Music.

Little is known these days of the once well-regarded English organist and composer Michael East. (or Easte, Est, Este.) HisFancies of Three Parts contain a fantasia for each of the nine muses. They bear the inscription that they are "for two Treble Viols and a Bass Viol, so made as they may be plaid and not sung". Today we perform hisTersicore (sic.), the Muse of Dance.

You Meaner Beauties Of The Night is a setting by East of a poem by Sir Henry Wotton, and was one of the most popular poems of the time. It is addressed to "his mistress, the Queen of Bohemia", i.e., Elizabeth, daughter of James I. Each verse compares one powerful and shining example from nature, with its lesser multitude of similar beings – eg in verse 1, thestars pale beside the moon’s rays; in verse 2, the small violets are nothing compared to the rose, and in verse 3, the birds in the woods cannot compete with Philomel, or Philomela, a Greek goddess who was turned into a bird. All the above are mere metaphors for the point made in verse 4: that Princess Elizabeth far outshines all other female royalty!*

Young composer/performer Jacques Emery’s settings of two poems of e. e. cummings (1894 – 1962) cleverly use the quirky punctuation and layout of cummings (who eschewed capitals) in their musical phrases. The melding sound worlds of marimba, viol consort and voice are used most effectively in these atmospheric miniatures.*

In the last couple of months I've taken up beginner swing dancing classes where we are learning some basic Lindy Hop moves. Swing dancing ("Jitterbug") and Lindy Hop developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s -1940s beginning in Harlem, New York City. It is possible that Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears observed Lindy Hop during
their stay in New York from 1939 - 1941. And why do I mention that? Inspired to write some music for swing dancers, I imagined Britten dancing with his friend W.H.Auden. Let me explain this uncertain logic.

When Britten was searching for a text for his Hymn to Saint Cecilia he ended up asking the poet W.H.Auden. They had previously collaborated on many works before they irrevocably fell out in 1947.

The Hymn to Saint Cecilia turned out to be their last collaboration. Even though Peter Pears in 1980 claimed that Britten intended to say goodbye to Auden with this work, the poet must have been blissfully unaware, for throughout 1940 he sent his poem in sections along with advice on how Britten could become a better artist.

Debate continues as to the meaning of the poem but one interpretation places Auden as a self appointed mentor for Britten's "social development" and thinking he was possibly in with a chance to become his lover. Thus the poem contains lightly veiled personal advice for Britten, telling him to stop acting like a genius child and celebrate lost innocence as a consequence of growing up.

Whatever the case, I thought it would be fun to swing some of the musical motives and harmonies from Britten's Hymn to Saint Cecilia as a homage to him. Saint Cecilia must be venerated too of course, and thus she is asked to bless our beloved Ben!

Programme notes by Brooke Green, *paragraphs by Josie Ryan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Susan Christie, Allison Balberg, Catherine Carroll, Marjan Medhat, Rachel Walker,
Richard and Joan Milner, Patricia and Laurie Green.

Biographies

Josie and the Emeralds are Josie Ryan and The Emerald City Viols. Based in Sydney,
Australia, the group performs rarely heard works from the Renaissance and arrangements and compositions by their director, Brooke Green. They have also performed contemporary repertoire by Ross Edwards, Elena Kats-Chernin, Arvo Part and Andrea Pandolfo. Brooke Green’s arrangement of Pandolfo’s Albanese - a moving lament from the perspective of a refugee mother – has been popularly viewed on You tube. Josie and the Emeralds’ programmes have been variously themed around topics as diverse as the lives of Jeanne d’Arc, Orlando Gibbons and Dorothy Porter. One of their most sumptuous programmes was for the National Gallery of Australia:
Music and Painting of the Italian Renaissance exploring connections between music and art. Since 2011, Josie and the Emeralds have presented concerts in Sydney and Canberra and appear each year at the Glebe Music Festival. They have been critically acclaimed for performing “…adoringly: not merely with precision and finesse, but a palpable and abiding admiration….” (Brad Syke, Australian Stage 08/01/2013). Their recordings have been broadcast on ABC Classic FM. Their CD The Emerald Leopard is on Tall Poppies: “No polishing required when emeralds shine this brightly” (Paul Bell-Cross, Limelight, July 8, 2015)

Josie Ryan graduated from Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a grant from the Dutch Government enabled her to complete her Masters degree specializing in Early Vocal Music and Historical Performance Practice at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. She studied with Rita Dams, Jill Feldman, Barbara Pearson and Diane Forlano, participating in master classes and private lessons with Emma Kirkby, Evelyn Tubb and Barbara Schlick. During her thirteen years in the Netherlands Josie performed as an ensemble singer with various leading groups across Europe, including The Tallis Scholars, The Amsterdam Baroque Choir and Collegium Vocale Gent. Her operatic roles include Rameau’s Les fetes d’Hebe (Iphise), Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Ninfa) and Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo (Anima beata). Josie is frequently engaged as a soloist with ensembles including the St Mary’s Singers, the Choir of Christ Church St Laurence, Australian Baroque Brass, The Sydneian Bach Choir, Coro Innominata, SUMS, Sydney University Graduate Choir, The Oriana Chorale, Salut! and The Marais Project. A regular performer with Pinchgut Opera, The Australian Brandenburg Choir and Cantillation, she is a frequent guest with the Choir of St James’ King Street and a member of the St Mary’s Cathedral Special Services Choir and Hallelujah Junction. In 2014 Josie particularly enjoyed participating in the 8-voice performance of Bach’s St John Passion conducted by Thomas Wilson in the crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral. Her numerous CD and DVD recordings include the role of Liebe in Schmelzer’s sepolcro Stärke der Lieb, Monteverdi’s 5th and 6th books of Madrigals, and Vivaldi’s Magnificat in duet with Emma Kirkby. The ABC Classics CD Mysteries of Gregorian Chant, which topped the ARIA Classical Charts for several months in 2014, featured Josie as a soloist with The Singers of St. Laurence.

Brooke Green, graduated with a Masters in Early Music Performance from the Early Music Institute, Bloomington, Indiana University, where she studied viol and vielle with Wendy Gillespie. Previously, as a baroque violinist, Brooke spent several years in London, performing with ensembles such as The Hanover Band, The Brandenburg Consort, The London Handel Orchestra, Midsummer Opera and The City of London Chamber Players. In Australia, Brooke has performed as a soloist with The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, led various baroque ensembles and played in others led by Fiona Ziegler. From 1993 as director of Backgammon, Brooke directed many innovative programmes of music on period instruments, in London, Sydney, Tasmania and Honolulu. For The Viola da Gamba Society of America, Brooke has given a recital of 17th century music for solo treble viol and directed a program of Australian contemporary music for viol consort. As a vielle player, Brooke has toured with the US-based Ensemble Lipzodes and directed multi-media, theatrical productions including Machaut’s Le Remede de Fortune, Queer Medieval Tales and O Fortuna for MONA FOMA. In 2014, Brooke performed with Consort Eclectus and The Hilliard Ensemble for The Festival of Sydney. In 2013 Brooke’s The Shades for Viol Quartet won the Audience Prize at the Leo M.Traynor Tenth International Competition for New Music for Viols, Viola da Gamba Society of America. Her suite for Viol Quartet Shades of Presence Past and her songs for soprano and viols: Emerald Elixirs are published by PRB Music, San Francisco.

In 2010, Laura Moore completed her Bachelor of Music Performance (Cello) at the Victorian College of the Arts under the direction of Josephine Vains. During this time, she also studied Viola da Gamba with Miriam Morris. Laura has participated in master classes with Jordi Savall, Les Voix Humaine, Paolo Pandolfo and Vittorio Ghielmi. She is a regular performer in Melbourne and Sydney with Consort Eclectus and Josie and the Emeralds. She has also made guest appearances with The Australian Chamber Orchestra, Ironwood, Latitude 37, Camarata Antica and numerous other early music ensembles. In 2015, Laura recorded for ABC Classic’s CD Royal Consorts with Latitude 37. She is a passionate primary school teacher and values the importance of musical education.

Fiona Ziegler began her violin and piano studies with her mother, violinist, Eva Kelly, later studying violin with Christopher Kimber and Harry Curby, piano with Nancy Salas and cello with Lois Simpson. Fiona, also a prominent baroque violinist has performed with Ensemble de la the Reine, The Marais Project, The Sydney Consort, Concertato, The Australian Forte Piano Trio, the Renaissance Players and The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. She has also performed regularly with The Sydney Chamber Choir, Coro Innominata, The Sydney Soloists and has led the Sydney Philharmonia since 1992. As a chamber musician Fiona has performed with the Gagliano String Quartet, The Sydney String Quartet. Trio Pollastri, the Vuillaume Trio, the Grevillea Ensemble; and Plektra and Completely Plucked on mandolin and mandola. Fiona is an Assistant Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony.

Catherine Upex studied cello with Dorothy Sumner and Georg Pedersen. She attended the University of Sydney, graduating with a BMus (Hons) (majoring in Performance) in 1997. In 1994, while studying Baroque performance as part of her degree, Catherine started learning the viola da gamba with Jennifer Eriksson. Since 2000, Catherine has performed regularly with the Marais Project and played on several Marais Project CDs including Viol Dreaming (2007), Love Reconciled (2009) and Lady Sings the Viol (2012). She has also performed on the viola da gamba in masterclasses with Wieland Kuijken, Jaap ter Linden, Susie Napper and Margaret Little and has played with several ensembles including the Renaissance Players, Salut! Baroque, the Sydney Consort, La Folia, Backgammon, Thoroughbass and The Opera Project. As well as the bass viol Catherine enjoys playing treble viol and has performed on it with the Seaven Teares viol consort since 2010. She has also taught cello at several Sydney schools and currently teaches at the Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School and Lane Cove Public School.

Imogen Granwal began cello lessons with James Tennant as a child in New Zealand. She moved to Sydney to embark on undergraduate studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. By 1998 she had completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Performance Cello with the late Lois Simpson. Imogen is currently pursuing a Masters degree on viola da gamba at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Daniel Yeadon and Neal Peres da Costa. Her diverse musical interests are perhaps the trademark of her career. Her long-standing fascination with the music of Latin American has led to over a decade of collaboration and performance with Chilean folk musicians in the contemporary Latin American ensemble Trio Matiz.
This interest recently merged with her passion for Early Music and Historical Performance Practise with a concert of Early Music from Latin America with her group Baroque Iluminata. Imogen is co-artistic director of The Pearl and Dagger Company which produced the 17th century masque Cupid and Death to full houses in 2014. Imogen has recently joined Josie and the Emeralds on bass viol. As well as loving historical performance, Imogen has a keen interest in both historical clothing and cookery, and regularly dresses in Victorian era clothing just for fun.

Nicole Johnson studied percussion under the tutelage of Wyana Etherington, Gary France and Veronica Bailey. Niki was a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra Young Symphonists Program from 2010-2013. In years 2011, 2012, 2013 she attended the Australian Percussion Eisteddfod and placed 1st Intermediate 4 mallet solo (2011-2012), 3rd in Senior 4 mallet solo(2013 ), and 2nd in Senior Two Mallet (2013). Niki was Principal Percussionist with the Canberra Youth Orchestra in 2013 and for the first half of 2014. In 2014 she was a top 10 finalist in the ACTcent showcase for musical excellence and was the recipient of the ACT Board of Studies Recognition of Excellence Award for outstanding Achievement in the Performing Arts. Niki is currently the recipient of the Greenberg Gurney Jensen Scholarship at the Sydney Conservatorium where she is currently studying for a Bachelor of Music Performance Degree under the tutelage of Daryl Pratt.

Jacques Emery completed Year 12 at Mosman High in 2014, including composition as part of his HSC. He studies double bass with David Campbell and percussion with Phillip South. As a jazz player he performs with a number of ensembles, ranging from trio to big band. He has been principal timpanist with Sydney Youth Orchestra and a member of SYO Philharmonic on both double bass and percussion.

String Instruments

• Brooke’s treble viol: Jane Julier, Devon, England, 2002, after Henry Jaye, c.1630

• Brooke’s tenor viol: Jane Julier, Devon, England, 2014, after Henry Jaye

• Fiona’s tenor viol: Ingo Muthesius, Berlin, 1968

• Fiona’s violin: Franciseus de Emilianus, Rome, 1733

• Imogen’s bass viol: Peter Vavrous, 2002

• Laura’s cello: Germany, 18th century, converted by Simon Brown

• Laura’s treble viol: Melbourne, Noel Terry, 2015

• Jacques’ double bass: unknown maker, Europe, mid 19th century