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No 164 - 2001
6 Music at Douai March 2001 - February 2002
by Fr Oliver Holt OSB
THE ABBEY Church has continued to be used for many different types of concert and is becoming well known as a prestigious venue in our region. Many choirs, orchestras and other groups come here regularly, but we are also very happy to welcome debuts and we are not short of hopeful enquiries.
In March there was a return visit of the Arion Orchestra, under their conductor, Brien Stait, playing Vivaldi, Boccherini, and Handel with the soloist Robert Vanryne. Notable was the string playing of the orchestra.
As a prelude to Holy Week, the Reading Bach Choir conducted by Mark Shepherd performed Byrd's Five part Mass, Poulenc's Four Lenten Motets and Kenneth Leighton's expressive setting of Crucifixus pro nobis. The Good Friday Reflections were given by the Douai Abbey Singers, under their conductor Dr John Rowntree. As usual, the reflections were given by the monks and there was a large appreciative congregation.
Our Newbury Spring Festival concert in May was very unusual Sulis, a group of four musicians, Jacqueline Evill (soprano), Robin Blaze (counter tenor), Rachel Poger (violin and Tibetan singing bowls) and Celia Harper (composer, baroque harp and quartz crystal bowl) held the audience spellbound. Within ten minutes there was perfect stillness in the Abbey. The concert was listed as a 'healing meditation' and the group play to seriously ill patients in hospital and day care centres.
In June the Newbury Choral Society under their conductor Janet Lincé and with Adrian Bawtree at the organ gave a concert of music by Bruckner, Henryk Gorecki, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener.
Janet Lincé returned in July as conductor of the choir from North Oxfordshire called Choros, giving their first performance at Douai. The singers excelled in the wonderful acoustic of the Abbey, particularly in the famous but rarely performed forty part motet Spem in Alium by Tallis. Eight groups of singers were positioned around the periphery of the nave area and we were literally caught up in the superb polyphony.
In September Singscape made their third visit with Sarah Tenant-Flowers as conductor. They filled the church with the rich sonorities of Russian church music and music inspired by that tradition. Sarah dedicated one piece to the memory of those who died on September 11th - Schoenberg's Friede auf Erden, which must rank as one of the most extraordinary pieces ever heard in the Abbey Church. Although her choir includes many professional singers with a vast range of experience, very few of them had ever sung it before and the effect on the audience was electrifying.
The Vasari Singers under their conductor, Jeremy Backhouse, also sang in September. Their concert consisted of twentieth century pieces, including two settings written specially for the choir; they were also able to sell copies of a CD of music by Dupré which they had recorded in the Abbey Church in February.
I was very pleased to be present for another visit by Cambridge Voices whom I had heard in Paris singing in the wonderful church of St Etienne-du-mont in March. On that occasion they had performed La Vie Eternelle, composed by their conductor, Ian de Massini, and I had immediately asked if they would perform it when they came to Douai. The enthusiastic reception from the audience confirmed that it had been a popular request. They also gave the first complete performance of a Mass which Ian had written for the Douai Abbey Singers.
The Cecilia Consort directed by Janet Coxwell with Robert Patterson on the organ performed Mozart's Vespers and Duruflé's Requiem in October. It is good to see that this choir with a strong local following and very high standards includes many singers known to us, some of whom sing in the Douai Abbey Singers.
For many people the climax of the year must have been Sing for the Homeless, the performance of the second half of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, sung by a choir of 450 and conducted by Sir David Willcocks. Despite the fact that he had been in Canada from Monday to Thursday and had conducted at the Royal Albert Hall on the Friday night, his driving energy during the afternoon rehearsal and the performance would have been extraordinary for anyone, but for a man of 82 it was absolutely inspiring. The final figure for the money raised for the Cardinal Hume Centre was just £16,500. Everyone was thrilled with the soloists and with the orchestral players and those who sang clearly enjoyed themselves tremendously.
It was good to see the church full for a concert, in aid of the NSPCC, given by the choir of St Mary's School, Wantage, at the beginning of December; they sang a variety of pieces and obviously enjoyed the opportunity to sing in our wonderful acoustic.
The Advent Music and Reflections given by the Douai Abbey Singers and members of the community was particularly well attended and much appreciated. For the second time Commotio conducted by Matt Berry performed in one of Douai's more recent traditions, the New Year's Eve afternoon concert. The programme was very challenging and stretched the talent of the young choir under their conductor who first came here as a singer with the Rodolfus choir five years ago.
And so the year comes round again. 2002 has begun with a glorious concert of mainly baroque music by the Telemann Harpsichord Ensemble which consists of Adrienne Black (harpsichord) who is very well known to Douai audiences, having played the continuo part in the three Sing for the Homeless concerts, her husband Tim Watts (oboe) and Nicholas Roberts (cello).
In February the young musicians of West and Central Berks Music Centres gave their annual concert and all agreed that it was their best yet. We are very proud of our record of promoting music by young performers and we hope that they will in their turn form part of our faithful audience.
Finally can I remind people that promoting concerts is sometimes a nerve-wracking affair when we have to depend entirely on box-office takings. We have had various concerts when kind supporters have sponsored the cost, or some of the cost, of the evening. Sometimes they have done this just because they want to support Music at Douai, sometimes because they are planning a particular celebration and want to invite a large group of friends to share their musical enthusiasm with them. Either way helps and makes it possible for us to consider inviting new performers and planning different types of concerts. Please contact me if you, or perhaps the company you work for, would be interested in helping in this way.
Future Concerts
Saturday 20 April at 7.45 pm, Hertford College, Oxford, Chapel Choir, Director: Lee Dunleavy: Arvo Pärt: St John Passion.Saturday 4 May at 7.45.pm, Adderbury Ensemble. Monday 20 May at 7.45 pm, Newbury Spring Festival, a Cultural visit by the Tashi Lhunpo Monks from Tibet.
Saturday 8 June at 7.45 pm, Reading Bach Choir, conducted by Mark Shepherd: music by Malcolm Tippett, Nicolas Maw, Daniel Gawthrop, Thomas Jenneflet, and Mike Brewer.
Saturday 22 June at 7.45 pm, Newbury Choral Society, conducted by Janet Lincé: Bruckner: Mass in E minor, Brahms: Motets.
A major series for the summer will be Three Concerts of Baroque Music:
Sunday 14 July at 7.45 pm: Apollo and Pan, winner of the 2001 Early Music Network International Young Artists' Competition.
Saturday 27 July at 7.45 pm, London Baroque: music by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann and Fritz.
Sunday 18 August at 7.45 pm, James Bowman & Canzona music by Stradella and Legrenzi and Vivaldi, including Stabat Mater.
Tickets for all concerts are available from Newbury Corn Exchange tel 01635 522733. ‡
Index
Douai Society Dinner, May 18 2001 Extracts from a speech by Abbot Geoffrey Scott OSB
Fr Adrian Hastings 1929 - 2001
Pre-Vatican II Catholic: The Case of Oliver Welch by Adrian Hastings
Indian Interfaith Encounters by Fr Peter Bowe OSB
Impressions of El Salvador January 2002 by Fr Alexander Austin OSB
St Mary's Parish Studley by Fr Paul Gunter OSB
New Mass Setting: Roxanna Panufik's Douai Missa Brevis by John Rowntree
Go to index of Douai Newsletter.