2.00pm Sunday 18th September, 2011
Presented by Moss Vale Uniting Church, cnr of Argyle and Spring St, Moss Vale (1.5hrs south of Sydney)
What follows is an edited version of the program notes for the concert on 18 September.
Southern Highlands Spring Concert
Moss Vale Uniting Church is celebrating the end of a long, cold winter with a “Spring Concert” to raise funds for two special local charities: “Triple Care Farm” which supports troubled teenagers and “The Angel Tree”, an organisation that ensures that the children of gaoled prisoners receive Christmas gifts.
I’ve been asked once again to provide the musicians. I have strong ties with the Highlands as my parents in law, Ken and Mary Pogson, are long term Moss Vale residents and members of Moss Vale Uniting Church. In 2010 we played to a packed house at Moss Vale Uniting with The Marais Project. At that concert, many in the audience got to hear the viola da gamba and harpsichord for the first time.
Background to the music and the viol consort
“Severn Teares” takes our name from a famous piece by John Dowland whose music makes an appearance in today’s concert at several points. Dowland lived and worked in England around the time of Queen Elizabeth, before English spelling was standardised. So “Severn Teares” is, of course, the old spelling of “Seven Tears”! Dowland and the other composers we play today wrote a great deal of beautiful and sophisticated music for viol consort which sounds very fresh to our ears even though some works are hundreds of years old.
The viol family has a history quite independent to the violin family and for a time, the two competed with each other for dominance. The viols eventually lost, but we are making a comeback! Technically, viols are constructed quite differently to the violin, viola and cello that make up the violin family. For example, we have 6 or 7 rather than 4 strings and we also make use of tied on frets. Our strings are made of sheep gut and strung at a lower tension than those of the modern violin or guitar. This means that viols “speak” more slowly, are softer and have great resonance. This wonderful resonance results in our consort “ringing on” for a moment or two after we finish playing each song – a lovely effect.
Unlike modern string players, viol consort members in olden times were expected to play at least two or more different instruments. Today Cathy will play treble viol, but she normally plays bass. Shaun is our virtuoso in that he plays bass viol, violin, theorbo (bass lute) and violone, the viol family version of the double bass. This afternoon he features on tenor viol. Imogen and Jenny will perform on the bass, but Jenny also plays treble viol and the smallest member of the viol family, the Pardessus viol. Imogen is a professional cellist by training but is also a skilled bass violist.
Much of the music for viol consort is “contrapuntal” which means it consists of a number of different instrumental voices intertwining with each other. The contrapuntal nature of the music means that at times audiences may have difficulty identifying a strong tune. Composers of this era tended to concentrate on writing for a number of different parts rather than on a single tune with an accompaniment. However, we encourage listeners to just to sit back and “take it all in”.
This concert will be the first time soprano Nicole Thomson has performed with us and we are very pleased to have her on board. She has sung in the past with The Marais Project with great success.
Viol Consort
Program
-Flow my tears; My thoughts are wing’d; Can she excuse – John Dowland (1563 –1626)
– Officicium Defunctorum – Cristobal Morales (c. 1500-1553)
– Une jeune fillette (Ma Belle) – Traditional (c.1575); arranged by Jennifer Eriksson
– Tant que vivrai –Claudin de Semisy (1490 – 1562)
– Gaillarde Mais pourquoi, Gaillarde La Lavandara, Ballo Milanese – Pierre Phalèse (c.1510–1575)
-Now O now – John Dowland
– Fantasia – John Bull (1562 or 1563 –1628)
– Abide with Me – Words: Henry Lyte, 1847. Music: William Monk, 1861; arranged by Jennifer Eriksson
– The Lord of Salisbury his Pavin – Orlando Gibbons (1583 –1625
– Farist Isle – Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695
– Hanacachap – Anon.; Cuaso SS.XV11
– Encore (a world premiere arrangement by Chris Keane!)
Performer Biographies
Nicole Thomson performed full-time for 11 years with “The Song Company”, a world-renowned Australian “a cappella” vocal sextet, before embarking on a free-lance career. Since this time Nicole has been performing all over the world in various genres, most recently in China as part of the World Expo. Nicole regularly works with Sydney based musicians including cellist Rachel Scott, with whom she travels and performs soprano and cello programmes. She has also previously appeared with “The Marais Project”. Employed by Musica Viva in Schools, Nicole helps present their ‘Song Safari’ programme to teachers, and is one of the featured ‘Musician in the Classroom’ specialists for 2011. She also provides music education through ‘Jellybeans in Schools’ and the Australian Children’s Music Foundation (ACMF).
Jennifer Eriksson completed her initial musical studies at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music studying music education and cello with Barbara Woolley. She subsequently studied the viola da gamba with Jaap ter Linden at the Rotterdam Conservatorium for three years where she completed post-graduate studies in baroque music. She founded “The Marais Project” in 2000 and also directs the Musica Viva in Schools ensemble, “Sounds Baroque”. Jennifer is widely recognised as one of Australia’s best known and most versatile viola da gambists having commissioned and premiered nearly ten new works by Australian composers as well as recording three CDs and appearing frequently on ABCFM.
Imogen Granwal gained a Diploma and Post Graduate Diploma of Music (Performance Cello) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music studying with the late Lois Simpson. Currently Imogen enjoys playing cello with the Lurline Chamber Orchestra and her string quartet Stringstory. Her interest in viola da gamba was awakened many years ago and she is delighted to be performing on the instrument with a number of ensembles including The Marais Project and Severn Teares. She has had lessons with Jenny Eriksson and Danny Yeadon and is currently completing a post graduate degree on the viola da gamba at Sydney Conservatorium.
Shaun Ng moved from Singapore to Europe in 1999 to study instrumental performance (violin and viola da gamba) with several of the leading practitioners of early music. In 2000, Shaun founded the early music ensemble “Musica Obscura” (Singapore), which he directed until the group disbanded in 2004 when he moved to Perth, Western Australia. In 2010, Shaun won an Australian Postgraduate Award to pursue his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Skilled on a number of instruments, he performs regularly with The Marais Project and many other ensembles. He is currently studying at the Sydney Conservatorium with Neal Peres da Costa, Alan Maddox and Daniel Yeadon.
Cathy Upex completed her Bachelor of Music (Honours) at Sydney University in 1997, performing the Saint-Saëns ‘cello concerto with the Sydney University Orchestra. She has performed with The Renaissance Players, the Conservatorium Baroque Orchestra, Salút, The Sydney Consort, Lautetia, La Folia, the Opera Project and Zarabanda. As well as being a skilled modern and baroque cellist and gambist, Catherine is a founder member of The Marais Project and appears on all three Marais Project CDs.
Jennifer Eriksson, September 2011
John Dowland