Notes from Geoffrey Whittington, choir member, relating to the pieces we’re performing on 14 December in Emsworth:
This this concert we will be presenting a selection of favourite carols and other Christmas pieces. Among the rarities are motets by Guerrero and Victoria and a piece new to us by Chesnokov.
‘Beati Dei Genetrix Maria’ by Guerrero
Fransisco Guerrrero (1528-99) was a Spanish priest and composer whose works we have often performed. This six-part piece (two sopranos, two altos) venerates Mary, and (as usual with Guerrero) has plenty of melodic and harmonic interest. We are just singing the first half and towards its close there are descending runs in all parts, perhaps invoking the femininity and purity of Mary.
‘Vidi Speciosam’ by Victoria
Tomas Luis da Victoria (1548-1611) was another of the great Renaissance composers from Spain, a generation after Guerrero, and we regularly perform works by him. Like the Guerrero work, this is a six-part piece devoted to Mary. The translation of the first line is very poetic : ‘I saw her, beautiful, like a dove, rising over streams of water’; Victoria often has parts moving together in threes and some unusually long phrases. As always, it is smooth and enjoyable to sing.
Kievan Chant ‘Spaseniye Sodelal’ (Salvation is created) by Chesnokov
Pavel Chesnokov (1877-1944) was a Russian composer and conductor who composed a large number of choral works. Kievan Chants are a recognised liturgical form which date from the 16th and 17th Century when Southwestern Russia and present-day Ukraine was under the rule of the Lithuanian and Polish kings. The words are written in the script Church Slavonic, the standard script of the Eastern Orthodox Church. While in very standard block harmony, it is a moving piece and the rise to the top A in the soprano and tenor voices is thrilling.
‘Cantique de Noel’ by Adam
Adolphe Adam (1803 – 1856) was a pioneer French opera composer, best remembered today for ‘Giselle’. This beautiful hymn dates from 1850 and is arranged by Peter as a solo soprano line with a rippling piano accompaniment with two interjections from the choir for emphasis. One can imagine how Faure was perhaps later inspired by it for his Cantique de Jean Racine 15 years later.