Joie de vivre A concert of French choral and organ music

Exultate Singers conducted by David OgdenWith Richard Johnson organSaturday 27th September at 7.30pm

O sacrum convivium! Olivier Messiaen

O salutaris hostia Pierre Villette

Kyrie from Messe Solonnelle Jean Langlais

O sacrum convivium Pierre Villette Vers l’espérance Thierry Escaich

Litanies à la Vierge Noire Francis Poulenc

Salve Regina Francis Poulenc

Exultate Deo Francis Poulenc

Gloria from Messe Solonnelle Jean Langlais

Interval

Sanctus from Messe Solonnelle Jean Langlais

Quatre motets sur des thèmes Grégoriens Maurice Duruflé - Ubi caritas - Tota pulchra es - Tu est Petrus - Tantum ergo

Toccata: Finale from Symphonie no 5 Charles Marie Widor

Salut Dame Sainte Two motets by Francis Poulenc Seigneur, je vous en prie Conducted by Martin Le Poidevin

Hymn à la Vierge Pierre Villette

Panis angelicus Pierre Villette

Agnus Dei from Messe Solonnelle Jean Langlais

Exultate Singers conducted by David Ogden with organist Richard Johnson

Joie de vivre A concert of French choral and organ music

A taste of Francein St Mary RedcliffePrograMMe noteS by DavID ogDen

The Seine, Paris

The art music of 20th century France was dominated by composers who were organists. From the legacy of Fauré, Franck, Widor and Vierne

a strong line of composers emerged who drew on each other for inspiration and developed each other’s ideas. Much of their music was inspired by the Roman Catholic liturgy: settings of the Mass and popular religious texts.

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) wrote O sacrum convivium! whilst he was organist at Sainte-Trinité in Paris. The rich slow moving harmonies create a profound mystical and almost ecstatic sound world. o Sacrum Convivium is a Latin prose text honouring the Blessed Sacrament

written by Saint Thomas Aquinas. Refer to the enclosed sheet for translations of all tonight’s sung texts.

The Messe Solennelle by Jean Langlais (1907-1991) provides a framework for tonight’s concert. The piece clearly shows the influence of the other composers whose work will be heard this evening. Langlais was blind from the age of two and thanks to the generosity of a cousin he was able to attend a blind school where his musical talent was recognized. In 1927 he won a place to study organ, composition and improvisation at the Paris Conservatoire where he met fellow student Olivier Messiaen. After graduating he began a career as an international concert artist and

was appointed Organist of Ste Clotilde in Paris in 1945 where he remained until 1987.

His music is almost exclusively sacred and fuses together the polytonality of Poulenc, the modal modulations and dissonances of Messiaen’s music and Durufle’s use of quasi-plainsong melodies.

Langlais had a special devotion to the Virgin Mary, so it is particularly appropriate that tonight’s performance takes place in a church dedicated to her. Langlais’ friend Marie Bigot had been cured from her blindness after visiting Lourdes but the composer was not tempted to visit: “If I could see like everyone else, I would have followed in my Father’s footsteps as a stone-cutter. One must believe that the Virgin Mary had other plans for me, which came about because of my blindness. So may her will be done.”

Pierre Villette (1926-1998) was a contemporary of Pierre Boulez at the Conservatoire National Superieure de Musique in Paris. Unlike Boulez he focussed much more on intimate and small-scale works for chamber ensembles and choirs.

He drew on early music, especially Gregorian chant, which he had sung as a child, and combined it with the exotic textures and harmonies inherited from Messiaen and Poulenc. After the death of his father, Villette went home from Paris to run the family business. The strain took its toll on his health and for the rest of his life he spent long periods in the Alps recuperating and composing.

Both O salutaris hostia and Hymne à la Vierge date from this period. The former sets words by St Thomas Aquinas and is notable for its jazzy harmonies. The latter was

dedicated to the composer’s future wife, Josette, and is a setting of a poem by Roland Bouheret.

Villette’s choral music is both sensual and spiritual. The motet O sacrum convivium is clearly influenced by Messiaen in its shifting complex harmonies and it even quotes from Messiaen’s setting. The music constantly changes tempo, echoing the inflections of the text.

Towards the end of his life Villette’s music became much less complex. In his last motet, Panis Angelicus, a flowing melody

is accompanied by more straightforward harmonies. As the words point towards the hope of eternal life and a chance to glimpse the light of heaven, the music shifts upwards in semitones to a clear C major chord.

Vers l’espérance by Thierry Escaich (b. 1965) is the third movement from a set of poems for organ based on extracts from Alain Suied’s collection Le pays perdu. A well known recitalist, Escaich is now organist of Saint-

Etienne-du Mont in Paris.

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) first entered Parisian musical circles as a member of Les Six. Heavily influenced by Debussy, his music is a cocktail of frivolity and sensuality but with roots in his Roman Catholic faith. In 1936 Poulenc was on holiday with the baritone Pierre Bernac, when news reached them of the sudden death in a car accident of their friend, the composer and critic Pierre-Octave Ferroud. Shocked and devastated, Poulenc and Bernac went ahead with their planned trip to France’s most important pilgrimage site, Rocamadour, the home to the famous shrine of the Vierge Noire - the Black Madonna, believed to have miraculous powers.

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‘The atrocious extinction of this musician so full of vigour had left me stupefied. Pondering on the fragility of our human frame, the life of the spirit attracted me anew.

“Rocamadour led me back to the faith of my childhood. This sanctuary, certainly the most ancient in France, had everything to subjugate me. Clinging in full sunlight to a steep craggy rock. Rocamadour is an extraordinary place. With a courtyard in front, a very simple chapel, half hollowed into the rock, shelters a miraculous figure of the Virgin, carved in black wood by Saint Amadour, the little Zacchaeus of the gospel who had to climb a tree to see Christ.’

Poulenc began writing the Litanies à la Vierge Noire on the evening of his return and in just seven days wrote this simple and deeply personal litany. In it, he tried to depict “the mood of peasant devotions that struck me so deeply. The invocation must be sung simply, without pretension.” The piece marks a turning point from the irreverence and flippancy of Poulenc’s youth to a greater understanding of, and response to, his Roman Catholic faith.

The two motets Salve Regina and Exultate Deo show the contrasting elements of

Poulenc’s style: on the one hand a deep lyricism and simplicity reminiscent of plainsong and on the other a complex and quirky angular style with vibrant rich harmonies but with the phrasing and brilliance of Palestrina.

Salut Dame Sainte and Seigneur, je vous en prie are part of the Quatre petites prières de Saint François d’assise for unaccompanied men’s voices. They express the saint’s unconditional devotion and love for God.

The organist Maurice Durufle (1902-1986) looked to plainsong for inspiration in almost all of his works. The four motets of 1960 are each based on the requisite Gregorian chant. All four pieces have the sense of timeless flow of plainsong whilst containing the warmth created by simple and delicate harmonies.

The Toccata from the Symphonie no 5 by Charles Marie Widor (1844-1937) is probably the most well known piece in the organ repertoire. An organ symphony was a collection of pieces rather than a self contained work. This piece has overshadowed not only the rest of the movements in the work but Widor’s organ output as a whole.

Above: Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris Above right: the pilgrimage site of Rocamdaour

O sacrum convivium! in quo Christus sumitur: recolitur memoria passionis ejus: mens impletur gratia: et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur. Alleluia.

O sacred banquet! in which Christ is received, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory to us is given Alleluia.

Translations

Oliver Messiaen and Pierre Villette O Sacrum Convivium!

Pierre Villette O Salutaris Hostia

O salutaris Hostia,Quae caeli pandis ostium:Bella premunt hostilia,Da robur, fer auxilium.Uni trinoque DominoSit sempiterna gloria,Qui vitam sine terminoNobis donet in patria.Amen.

O saving Victim, open wideThe gate of Heaven to man below;Our foes press on from every side;Thine aid supply; Thy strength bestow.All praise and thanks to thee extend,For ever more, bless’d one in three.O grant us life that shall not end,In our true native land with thee.Amen.

Jean Langlais Messe Solonnelle - Kyrie

Kyrie eleison Christe eleison Kyrie eleison

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.

Seigneur, ayez pitié de nous. Jesus-Christ, ayez pitié de nous. Jesus-Christ, écoutez-nous. Jesus-Christ, exaucez-nous.

Dieu le père, créateur, ayez pitié de nous. Dieu le fils, rédempteur, ayez pitié de nous. Dieu le Saint-Esprit, sanctificateur, ayez pitié de nous.

Trinité Sainte, qui êtes un seul Dieu, ayez pitié de nous.

Sainte Vierge Marie, priez pour nous. Vierge, reine et patronne, priez pour nous

Lord, have pity on us. Jesus Christ, have pity on us. Jesus Christ, hear us. Jesus Christ, grant our prayers.

God the Father, creator, have pity on us. God the Son, redeemer, have pity on us. God the Holy Spirit, sanctifier, have pity on us.

Holy Trinity, who are one single God, have pity on us.

Holy Virgin Mary, pray for us. Virgin, queen and patron, pray for us.

Francis Poulenc Litanies à la Vierge Noire

Vierge que Zachée le publicain nous a fait connaître et aimer,

Vierge à qui Zachée ou Saint Amadour éleva ce sanctuaire Priez pour nous, priez pour nous.

Reine du sanctuaire, que consacra Saint Martial, Et où il célébra ses saints mystères, Reine, près de laquelle s’agenouilla Saint Louis Vous demandant le bonheur de la France, Priez pour nous, priez pour nous.

Reine, à qui Roland consacra son épée, priez pour nous. Reine, dont la bannière gagna les batailles, priez pour nous. Reine, dont la main délivrait les captifs, priez pour nous.

Notre-Dame, dont le pélerinage est enrichi de faveurs specials, Notre-Dame, que l’impiété et la haine ont voulu souvient détruire, Notre-Dame, que les peuples visitent comme autrefois, priez pour nous.

Agneau de Dieu, qui effacez les péchés du monde, pardonnez-nous. Agneau de Dieu, qui effacez les péchés du monde, exaucez-nous. Agneau de Dieu, qui effacez les péchés du monde, ayez pitié de nous. Notre-Dame, priez pour nous, Afin que nous soyons dignes de Jésus-Christ.

Virgin, whom Zacchaeus the tax-collector made us know and love,

Virgin, to whom Zacchaeus or Saint Amadour raised this sanctuary, Pray for us, pray for us.

Queen of the sanctuary, which Saint Martial consecrated, And where he celebrated his holy mysteries, Queen, before whom knelt Saint Louis Asking of you good fortune for France, Pray for us, pray for us.

Queen, to whom Roland consecrated his sword, pray for us. Queen, whose banner won the battles, pray for us. Queen, whose hand delivered the captives, pray for us.

Our Lady, whose pilgrimage is enriched by special favours, Our Lady, whom impiety and hate have often wished to destroy, Our Lady, whom the peoples visit as of old, Pray for us, pray for us.

Lamb of God, who wipes out the sins of the world, pardon us. Lamb of God, who wipes out the sins of the world, grant our prayers. Lamb of God, who wipes out the sins of the world, have pity on us.

Our Lady, pray for us, To the end that we may be worthy of Jesus Christ.

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae,vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.ad te clamamus exsules filii Evae,ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentesin hac lacrimarum valle.Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuosmisericordes oculos ad nos converte;et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile,show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Francis Poulenc Salve Regina

Exultate Deo, adjutori nostro: jubilate Deo Jacob.

Sumite psalmum et date tympanum: psalterium jucundum cum cithara.

Buccinate in neomenia tuba: insigni die solemnitatis vestrae.

Rejoice in God our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob.

Take the psalm and bring hither the timbrel: the merry harp with the lute.

Blow the trumpet in the new moon, even on our solemn feast day.

Francis Poulenc Exultate Deo

Jean Langlais Messe Solonnelle - Gloria

Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.

Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te.

Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.

Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens. Domine Fili unigenite Jesu Christe,

Domine Deus Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.

Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Suscipe deprecationem nostram.

Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris.

Quoniam tu solus sanctus. Quoniam tu solus Dominus Quoniam tu solus altissimus. Jesu Christe.

Cum Sancto Spiritu in Gloria Dei Patris, Amen.

Glory be to God on high and in earth peace good will towards men.

We praise you, we bless you, we worship you, we glorify you.

We give thanks to you for your great glory.

Lord God, Heavenly King, God the Father almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ:

O Lord God Lamb of God, Son of the Father.

Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Receive our prayer.

Who sits at the right hand of the Father.

For you alone are holy, you alone are the Lord, You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ.

With the Holy Ghost, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Jean Langlais Messe Solonnelle - Sanctus

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra Gloria tua.

Benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Maurice Duruflé Quatre motets sur des thèmes Grégoriens - Ubi Caritas

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor. Exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur. Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum. Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ’s love has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him. Let us fear, and let us love the living God. And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

Tota pulchra es

Tota pulchra es, Maria et macula originalis non est in te. Vestimentum tuum candidum quasi nix, et facies tua sicut sol. Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te. Tu gloria Jerusalem, tu laetitia Israel, tu honorif centia populi nostri. Tota pulchra es, Maria.

You are completely pure, Mary, and the stain of original sin is not within you. Your clothing is white like snow, and your face is like the sun. You are completely pure, Mary, and the stain of original sin is not within you. You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you are the honoured of our people. You are completely pure, Mary.

Tu es Petrus

Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam.

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.

Tantum ergo

Tantum ergo sacramentum veneremur cernui, et antiquum documentum; novo cedat ritui, praestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui. Genitori genitoque laus et jubilatio, salus, honor, virtus quoque; sit et benedictio, procedenti ab utroque compar sit laudatio. Amen.

Bowing, let us venerate this great sacrament. May the old symbol give way to the new rite.May faith supplement our defective senses. To the Father and the Son, praise and jubilation, salvation, honour, power and blessing be given! Equal praise to the Spirit who proceeds from them both! Amen.

Francis Poulenc Salut Dame Sainte

Salut, Dame Sainte, reine très sainte, Mère de Dieu, ô Marie qui êtes vierge perpétuellement, élue par le très saint Père du Ciel, consacreé par Lui avec son très saint Fils bien aimé et l’Esprit Paraclet, vous en qui fut et demeure toute plenitudede grace e tout bien! Salut, palais; salut, tabernacle; salut maison; salut vêtement; salut servante; salut mere de Dieu! Et salut à vous toutes, saintes vertus qui par la grace et l’illumination du Saint Esprit, Êtes verse es dans les coeurs des fidèles et, d’infidèles que nous sommes, nous rendez fidèles à Dieu.

Hail holy Lady, most holy Queen, Mother of God, O Mary, you who are forever virgin, chosen by the most holy heavenly Father, sanctified by Him with His most holy and beloved Son and the Holy Spirit, which is the Comforter, you who were and shall remain in the complete fullness of grace and perfect goodness! Hail to the palace; hail to the tabernacle; hail to the house; hail to the vestments; hail, handmaiden; hail, Mother of God! And hail to all you holy virtues which through grace and light of the Holy Spirit are poured into the hearts of the faithful, and make us, who are unfaithful, faithful unto God.

Seigneur, je vous en prie, que la force brûlante et douce de votre amour absorbe mon âme et la retire de tout ce qui est sous le ciel. Afin que je meure par amour de votre amour, puisque vous avez daigné mourir par amour de mon amour.

Lord, I beg you, let the burning and tender power of your love consume my soul and remove it from all that is beneath the heavens. And so I may die through love for your love, as you submitted yourself to die through love for my love.

Francis Poulenc Seigneur, je vous en prie

Pierre Villette Hymn à la Vierge

Ô toute belle Vierge Marie, Votre âme trouve en Dieu le parfait amour Il vous revét du manteau de la Grâce comme une fianceé pareé de ses joyaux.

Alléluia, alléluia. Je vais chanter ta louange, Seigneur, Car tu as pris soin de moi, Car tu m’as enveloppeé du voile de l’innocence, Car tu m’as faite avant le jour, Car tu m’as fait précéder le jaillissement des sources.

Vous êtes neé avant les collines Ô sagesse de Dieu, porte du Salut Heureux celui qui marche dans vos traces Qui apprête son cœur a la voix de vos conseils. Avant les astres vous étiez présente Mère du Créateur au profond du ciel. Quand Dieu fixait les limites du monde Vous partagiez son cœur étant à l’œuvre avec lui.

Roland Bouhéret

O beautiful Virgin Mary, In God your soul discovers perfect love. It cloaks you with the mantle of Grace like a betrothed adorned with her jewels.

Alleluia, alleluia. I will sing your praise, Lord, for you have looked after me, for you have covered me with the veil of innocence, for you have made me before the day, for you have made me go before the gushing of fountains.

You were born before the hills, O wisdom of God, the way to salvation. Happy is he who walks in your footsteps, who prepares his heart to listen to your advice. You were present before the stars, Mother of the Creator, in the very depths of heaven. When God was creating the world, working with Him you shared His heart.

Pierre Villette Panis Angelicus

Panis angelicus fit panis hominum; Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum: O res mirabilis! Manducat Dominum. Pauper, servus et humilis. Te trina Deitas unaque poscimus: Sic nos tu visita, sicut te colimus; Per tuas semitas duc nos quo tendimus, Ad lucem quam inhabitas. Amen.

The angelic bread becomes the bread of men; The heavenly bread ends all prefigurations: What wonder! a poor and humble servant consumes the Lord. We beg of You, Triune God that you visit us, as we worship You. By your ways, lead us who seek the light in which You dwell. Amen.

Jean Langlais Messe Solonnelle - Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi; Miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi; Miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi; Dona nobis pacem.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of world; have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of world; have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of world; grant us peace.

1. Tomorrow shall be my dancing day

A t i m e f o r s i n g i n gExultatE singErs conduc tEd by david ogdEn

A t i M e F O r s i n g i n gThe new CD from Exultate Singers - to be released November 2008

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day Gardner • Hymn to the Virgin Britten • Abendlied Rheinberger • Christ whose glory fills the skies Carpenter • Sing joyfully Byrd • O little one sweet Bach • Die himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes Schutz • Ave Verum Byrd • Come Sunday Duke Ellington • What sweeter music Rutter • Lay a garland Pearsall • Super flumina Babylonis Victoria • Geistliches Lied Bruckner • Song of Ruth Ogden • Sing lullaby Traditional • Salvator mundi Tallis • Lully, lulla Leighton • My spirit sang all day Finzi • Where riches is everlastingly Chilcott • O vos omnes Ginastera • And so it goes Billy Joel

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number of CDs @ early order price of £11.99 (full price will be £12.99) Join exultate singers’ free mailing listPlease add me to your postal mailing list and/or please add me to your email list

Please make your cheque payable to exultate singers and send this form with your cheque to Exultate Singers, 13 Oak Grove, Easton in Gordano, North Somerset BS20 0LN or hand to a steward at the concert. To order online, visit www.exultatesingers.orgYour CD will be despatched as soon as they are manufactured - expected early november.

DAVID OGDEN is much in demand as a conductor and director of choral and church music workshops, courses and festivals in the UK and abroad. As well as Exultate Singers, he conducts City of Bristol Choir, the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir, Midlands and South West Cathedral Singers, and the youth choir, Bristol Voices. He is Director of the Bristol Schools Choral Centre and Director of Music at the

thriving parish church in Westbury-on-Trym, in north Bristol.

David has conducted numerous concerts of all kinds of music, from jazz and songs from the shows to first performances by contemporary composers, along with an extensive repertoire of choral anthems, motets, oratorios and large-scale choral works. In June 2007 he made his debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

In the UK, he works extensively with the Royal School of Church Music, and with the BBC in religious broadcasting, conducting BBC TV’s Songs of Praise, BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship, BBC Radio 2’s Sunday Half Hour and BBC Radio 3’s Choral evensong. He has conducted choirs on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the World Service. His compositions are sung worldwide and regularly broadcast on BBC radio.

His best-known work, Christ has no body now but yours was chosen by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be included in a radio broadcast in December 2007, and his anthem Love’s redeeming work is done was performed by 250-strong choir in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI as part of a Papal Mass during his visit to the USA in April 2008. The Mass was celebrated by the Pope and a congregation of 40,000 in the Washington Nationals Baseball Stadium. www.davidogden.co.uk

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RIcHARD JOHNSON combines a professional career as a patent attorney with a busy schedule of musical activities. His double life began at Oriel College in the University of Oxford, where he held both the organ scholarship and an academic scholarship in physics. Whilst at Oxford, Richard studied the organ with Martin Schellenberg and was also Director of Music at Pusey House and founder conductor of the Oxford University Medical

Society Orchestra. After leaving Oxford, Richard was briefly Organist and Choirmaster at the Crown Court Church of Scotland in Covent Garden, London before moving to Bristol, where he is actively involved in music, as member of Exultate Singers, accompanist to the City of Bristol Choir and Assistant Director of Music at Westbury-on-Trym Parish Church. Richard holds the LRSM diploma in organ performance.

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EXULTATE SINGERS

Exultate Singers was founded in order to sing Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4 for a live broadcast on Sunday, 15th September 2002. It has gone on to give over 70 concerts, broadcasts and other appearances in locations varying from concert venues in Bristol such as the Colston Hall, St George’s, St James’ Priory, St Mary Redcliffe Church and St Alban’s Church; appearances in other venues around the South West in Dulverton, Amberley, Bath, Lacock, Weston-Super-Mare, Brompton Regis, Alveston, the National Trust Victorian house of Tyntesfield, Berkeley Castle and Salisbury Cathedral to venues further afield as diverse as Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey, Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, St Mary’s Church in Swansea and St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. In October 2007 the choir toured Germany, singing in Bach’s Church in Leipzig and in Berlin, Potsdam and Brandenburg, and giving an impromptu a capella performance at Colditz Castle.

In May 2008 the choir recorded a new CD with John Rutter which will be available in November. The choir will sing services at Salisbury Cathedral on 6th and 7th September, and will join forces with City of Bristol Choir for a performance of Britten’s War requiem in Bristol’s Colston Hall on Remembrance Sunday, 9th November, marking the 90th anniversary of the Armistice. In 2009 the choir has been invited to sing at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

With a repertoire of over 300 separate pieces - ranging from two-minute anthems to whole works such as Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert - the choir has sung music from plainsong and Renaissance masterpieces to contemporary music, jazz and spirituals. It has appeared on BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4, the BBC World Service and BBC television, and has performed pieces in an array of different languages including Russian, Latin, Aztec, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Quechua, Tagalog, Welsh and Icelandic.

Soprano Liz Bagshaw; Ursula Bowlt; Susan Green; Rachel Irwin; Joanna Osborn; Pippa Ramsay; Eleanor Roylance; Emma Walton; Beth Williamson; Jo Wyld.

Alto Felicity Ball; Jenna Cooper; Alison Harris; Jessica May; Judith Ogden; Gillian Patch; Susan Pontin.

Tenor David Ball; David Brown; Oliver Condy; Richard Bunce.

Bass Nick Abbott; Richard Bacon; Chris Gray; Richard Johnson; Martin Le Poidevin; Mike Osborn; Nic Pillow; Charlie Wyld.

Exultate Singers is grateful for the support of:

John Lewis Partnership

Richard Pedlar Architects A well established practice located in Bristol with a reputation for high quality design and service. 4 Grove Road, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6UJ Tel: 0117 974 2612 www.rpca.co.uk

Bowen May chartered Accountants Specialists in small and medium sized businesses. Friendly, professional service offering a free initial meeting and sensible fees. Call 01249 720341 or email rod@bowen-may.co.uk

Providence Music Shop Bristol’s biggest classical CD and printed music shop. 1, St George’s Road, Bristol, BS1 5UL Tel: 0117 927 6536

Just Mosaics Original decorative and functional mosaics pieces handmade to your specifications. Visit www.justmosaics.co.uk or phone 07944 635487

Programme designed by Judith Ogden and printed by David Harrison Printing 0117 957 1493

WArrequiem

Benjamin Britten

cITy OF BRISTOL cHOIR | EXULTATE SINGERSRED MAIDS’ SCHOOL CHAMBER CHOIR WESTBURY-ON-TRYM CHURCH GIRLS’ CHOIRwith CHELTENHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAconducted by David Ogden

Rachel Chapman sopranoRichard Edgar-Wilson tenor Alastair Chapman baritone

Remembrance Sunday, 9th November 7.30pmcOLSTON HALL, BRISTOL

Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem is one of the most enduring works of the last century, combining words from the Requiem Mass with Wilfred Owen’s powerful poetry describing his experience in the First World War trenches. Marking the 90th anniversary of the Armistice, this concert brings together a chorus of 250 singers and full symphony orchestra for what will be a memorable performance in Bristol’s colston Hall.

TIcKETS £20, £17, £14 (students in full time education / under 18s £10) available online at www.exultatesingers.org or from Colston Hall Box Office on 0117 922 3686