BACH’S CHRISTMAS ORATORIO
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
DEBORAH CHEETHAM FRAILLON and MATTHEW DOYLE
Tarimi Nulay– Long time living here†
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248: Part I – The Birth of Jesus
JOSEF RHEINBERGER
Abendlied (Evening Hymn), from Three Sacred Songs, Op.69 No.3
J.S. BACH
Part II – The Annunciation to the Shepherds
INTERVAL
J.S. BACH
Part III – The Adoration of the Shepherds
MICHAEL PRAETORIUS arranged JAN SANDSTRÖM
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen (Lo, how a rose e’er blooming)
J.S. BACH
Gloria in excelsis Deo– Cantata for Christmas, BWV 191
Brett Weymark conductor
Penelope Mills soprano | Margaret Plummer mezzo-soprano
Andrew Goodwin tenor | Christopher Richardson bass-baritone
Chamber Singers
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra
Saturday 16 December 2023 at 2pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
†100 Minutes of New AustralianMusic 2020 commission
The performance will run for approximately 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval.
Pre-concert talk at 1:15pm in the Northern Foyer with choristers Charlotte Moore andDionMarks and host Michael Field, supported by 2MBSFine Music.
Welcome
For as long as I can remember, Christmas Day has followed a predictable timetable. Coffee, rise and shine, the dog tearing apart the wrapping paper… then, just as preparations for lunch begin, I’ll put on a recording, listen to the opening bars of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and know that it is Christmas.
From the first timpani notes and the waking up of oboes and flutes, to the cascading scales of the strings, the unfurling excitement of this music says something remarkable has taken place. It ismusic of drama, vitality and story telling as Bach brings the Christmas story alive. Because the nativity story is so familiar, we can hear the connections Bach makes between text and music, thought and emotion. We can relate to the majestic sweep of the orchestra announcing the arrival of the Christ child, to the simplicity of a duet between voice and violin signifying mother and child, to the hushed chorale as whispered lullaby. As in Bach’s passions, the choruses rouse emotion, the evangelist recites gospel passages, the chorales are collective responses to the events, and the soloists give our most private and personal reactions a voice.
I’ve always loved this music, and I cannot believe that it’s nearly 20 years since last we performed this work that speaks to us
so directly. In this concert we perform the first three cantatas, interspersed with moments for choir alone, functioning much as the liturgy and sermon would have done in Bach’s time. And we finish with Bach’s powerful Christmas cantata BWV 191, which you may recognise as the Gloria from his monumental Mass in Bminor.
As in our own time, Bach’s world was not without its international tensions, its violence and injustices. But in this music we find hope and a collective sense of the answer: that through listening, making space for others, knowing how our parts interact and intersect, and knowing we are mere fragments of a whole, we can together build monuments in sound of great unity and cohesion. For surely music is as powerful a force for good today as it was in Leipzig in 1734.
Brett Weymark OAM Artistic and Music Director
We acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country we rehearse, sing and work, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. Our voices bring to life the songs of many cultures and countries, from across the ages, ina spirit of sharing, learning and understanding. The ancient customs and cultures of this land inspire us to createharmony– inmusic and in our society.
PHOTO: KEITH SAUNDERS
An Oratorio in Instalments
Unlike that other beloved ‘Christmas’ oratorio, Handel’s Messiah – which was intended for concert performance in theatres during Lent– Bach’s Christmas Oratorio was composed specifically for liturgical use during the 1734 Christmas season. Its six parts (or cantatas) would have been heard in six different church services, complete with sermons.
It is, in other words, an oratorio to be experienced in instalments: six cantatas that lead us through episodes in the birth of Christ. It’s a far cry from the self-contained drama of oratorios such as Handel’s Israel in Egypt, or even Bach’s own Passionoratorios, which take us on a dramatic journey in a single sitting. For this reason, it is sometimes arguedthat the Christmas Oratorio is not an ‘oratorio’ at all. But while it is true that it doesn’t conform to the oratorio genre as it was known in the 18th century, all the evidence– especially in the music itself– suggests that Bach conceived the work as an integrated whole.
from the Bible. (In this there’s a kinship with Messiah, itself not a typical oratorio.)
Bach’s model was not the oratorio – an Italian import not much cultivated in Leipzig– but the Lutheran historia of the 16th and 17th centuries. In addition to the use of Biblical quotations, these works featured a solo Evangelist part (a narrator, in effect), some dramatic treatment of individual characters, and reflective interpolations that bring the story back to the perspective of the Christian believer. It’s as if Bach is striving for a type of oratorio that would have an affinity with the Lutheran liturgy: less a spiritual entertainment and more an act of worship. And yet, although this is liturgical music– satisfying the requirements of the Christmas services– Bach has created a monumental work with a single artistic vision.
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio isn’t quite–and yet is more than– your typical oratorio. And this goes beyond its unusual multi-part structure. The oratorio of Bach’s day was characterised by a poetic libretto and an emphasis on drama. Narration and dialogue took precedence over reflection. The Christmas Oratorio departs from that pattern, combining prose and reflective poetry in a text dominated by quotations
The result is a conceptual juggling act. We can listen to each cantata as a vignette and contemplate how it might have been experienced by Bach’s listeners, in the context of prayers, the service, a sermon, and congregational singing. Or we can turn our attention to the characteristics that Bach most certainly intended but would never have been able to realise in performance in 18th-century Leipzig: the larger harmonic structure, the play of contrasts between rich and colourful groups of instruments, the satisfying working out of a continuous narrative.
What’s truly impressive is that Bach establishes a compelling sense of unity in a way that would have been apparent to even the most inattentive of the Leipzig parishioners, and even in the serialised form in which it was first heard.
First, Bach’s label for the music. Not ‘SixCantatas’ but ‘Oratorio Which Was Performed Musically During the Holy Christmas [Season] in Both Principal Churches of Leipzig.’ This was printed at the top of the published libretto, available to all. All would have been aware that each cantata was a part of a larger work, especially since Bach numbered the musical sections continuously as if dividing a single piece. And none would have been puzzled, since the feasts from Christmas Day to Epiphany were regarded as one integrated festival.
Second, Bach makes bold musical gestures, varying the colours of his orchestra from cantata to cantata in a way that would have been impractical or extravagant for a single ‘concert’; using key relationships to establish an overarching structure and set off each cantata from the next; and using repeated choruses and chorales to tie the work together.
Third, and this could not have escaped attention, Bach took liberties with the lectionary in order to create a more satisfying and logical narrative. Although a cantata typically took its theme from the lesson for the day, it made no dramatic sense to include the Prologue to the Gospel of John (‘In the beginning was the Word’) or to have the holy family fleeing to Egypt before the arrival of the Magi. Bach’s priority was the drama, and the first three
parts themselves form a satisfying group, based on a nearly complete passage from the Gospel of Luke, recounting the birth of Christ and the arrival of the shepherds.
She wrapped him in cloths andplaced him in a manger, because there was no room forthem in the inn.
If the Electress Maria Josepha of Saxony had attended the Leipzig Thomaskirche on Christmas Day in 1734, she would have found the music strangely familiar. The grand chorus that had bid her good health on her birthday– ‘Sound, you drums! Ring forth, trumpets! Sounding strings, fill the air!’– was now heralding the birth of the Christ child, leaving Bach’s striking opening with solitary timpani to make its own effect.
The just-turned-eleven Crown Prince, would have recognised in the exquisite alto aria of Part II (‘Sleep, my Dearest’) the temptations of Pleasure from his birthday cantata, Hercules at the Crossroads, but with the original seductive text replaced by a lullaby for the Saviour.
No one would have found this kind of recycling incongruous. Bach himself believed the purpose of all music – sacred and secular– was for ‘the refreshment of the spirit and the glory of God.’
And recycling (including the ‘parody’ technique– setting new words to existing music) was common among baroque musicians. It was a helpful strategy if the composer was busy or rushed– and by 1734 Bach was heavily involved with the performances of the famous Collegium Musicum as well as his many obligations
for the church. But while a lesser composer may have adopted it only for expediency, Bach recognised the symbolic potential of the parody technique. Either way, it was not looked down on as it might be today–obsessed as we are with Romantic concepts of originality and inspiration. Even so, the Christmas Oratorio is remarkable for the amount of recycling it contains. In the first three parts alone we hear all the choruses and arias from the birthday cantata for the Electress (BWV214), as well as several arias from Hercules at the Crossroads (BWV 213). Bach possibly planned the Christmas Oratorio and these secular cantatas in tandem, intending all along to reuse the material. The texts of the originals are both by Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrici), and so skilfully is the poetry rewritten and transformed to fit the themes of the new work that it’s often speculated that he was the anonymous librettist for the Christmas Oratorio as well. In any case, Bach must have worked closely on the preparation of the text: ensuring that the new words fit easily with the existing music and its expressive ideas.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to
them, and the glory of the Lord shone aroundthem.
Part II of the Christmas Oratorio elevates traditional baroque gestures to new heights. The use of Gmajor to convey tenderness and a bucolic lyricism; the ancient ‘cradle-rocking’ song, with its roots in mediæval convents; the lilting pastoral sinfonia; the use of oboes to suggest the
bagpipes of the shepherds– these were ciphers in the baroque world, part of an accepted code. In Bach’s hands these gestures acquire new sophistication, while still retaining their power to communicate to the faithful. The Sinfonia, for example, carries the voices not only of shepherds, but of angels, represented by the strings and the flutes. The use of G major is not merely a signal of a pastoral mood, but provides a secure harmonic link to the cantatas in D major that surround it.
When the angels had left themand gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thingthat has happened.’
When in Part III Bach returns to D major and to the festive orchestral colours of the first cantata, there is a tangible sense of coming home that mirrors perfectly the arrival of the shepherds at their destination and our starting point– a lowly stable with its holy occupant, ‘just as they had been told’.
In its first three cantatas, the Christmas Oratorio makes the journey from the stable to the shepherds in the fields and back again. We take you on that same journey in one joyous concert program. While we may not be presenting the music in its original, ‘authentic’ context of a festive liturgy, we are surely realising Bach’s original conception of a work that celebrates the mystery of the Nativity with perfection of architecture, brilliance of expression, and the humility of an authentic faith.
Abridged from a note by Yvonne Frindle © 2003
The Words
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
TARIMI NULAY– LONG TIME LIVING HERE
Tarimi nulay ngalawa yura
garrabarra baraya yagu barrabugu ngyiningi ngara ngyiningi berong
Long time here live the people dancing and singing today and tomorrow, your way of knowing your way of belonging
Words by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, translated into Gadigal by Matthew Doyle
Part I –The Birth of Jesus
No.1 Chorus
Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage, Rühmet, was heute der Höchste getan!
Lasset das Zagen, verbannet die Klage, Stimmet voll Jauchzen und Fröhlichkeit an!
Dienet dem Höchsten mit herrlichen Chören Lasst uns den Namen des Herrschers verehren!
No.2 Recitative – Evangelist
Es begab sich aber zu der Zeit, daß ein Gebot von dem Kaiser Augusto ausging, daß alle Welt geschätzet würde. Und jedermann ging, daß er sich schätzen liesse, ein jeglicher in seine Stadt. Da machte sich auch auf Joseph aus Galiläa, aus der Stadt Nazareth, in das jüdische Land zur Stadt David, die da heisset Bethlehem; darum, daß er von dem Hause und Geschlechte David war, auf daß er sich schätzen liesse mit Maria, seinem vertrauten Weibe, die war schwanger. Und als sie daselbst waren, kam die Zeit, daß sie gebären sollte.
Shout, rejoice, rise up, glorify the days, praise what the All Highest this day has done!
Set aside fear, banish lamentation, strike up a song full of joy and mirth! Serve the All Highest with glorious choirs! Let us worship the name of the Lord!
And it came to pass at this time, that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, thatall the world should be taxed; and everyone went to be taxed, each to his owncity. Then also Joseph arose from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, into the land of Judaea, to the city of David, which iscalled Bethlehem; because he was of thehouse and lineage of David; and he took with him to be taxed Mary, his espoused wife, who was with child. And when they were there, the time came sheshouldbe delivered.
CHRISTMAS ORATORIO
No.3 Recitative (Alto)
Nun wird mein liebster Bräutigam, Nun wird der Held aus Davids Stamm
Zum Trost, zum Heil der Erden
Einmal geboren werden.
Nun wird der Stern aus Jakob scheinen, Sein Strahl bricht schon hervor.
Auf Zion, und verlasse nun das Weinen, Dein Wohl steigt hoch empor.
No.4 Aria (Alto)
Bereite dich, Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben, Den Schönsten den Liebsten bald bei dir zu sehn!
Deine Wangen
Müssen heut viel schöner prangen
Eile, dein Bräutigam sehnlichst zu lieben!
No.5 Chorale
Wie soll ich dich empfangen, Und wie begegn’ ich dir?
O aller Welt Verlangen,
O meiner Seelen Zier!
O Jesu, Jesu, setze
Mir selbst die Fackel bei, Damit, was dich ergötze, Mir kund und wissend sei.
No.6 Recitative – Evangelist
Und sie gebar ihren ersten Sohn, und wickelte ihn in Windeln und legte ihn in in eine Krippen, denn sie hatten sonst keinen Raum in der Herberge.
No.7 Chorale (Sopranos) with Bass
Er ist auf Erden kommen arm Wer will die Liebe recht erhöhn
Die unser Heiland vor uns hegt?
Daß er unser sich erbarm, Ja, wer vermag es einzusehen, Wie ihn der Menschen Leid bewegt?
Und in dem Himmel mache reich
Des Höchsten Sohn kommt in die Welt
Weil ihm ihr Hell so wohl gefällt
Now shall my beloved Bridegroom, now shall the hero of David's house for the solace and salvation of earth at last be born.
Now will the star of Jacob shine, its radiance breaks through already. Up, Zion, and leave weeping now, thy good mounts on high!
Prepare thyself, Zion, with tender desire the Fairest and Dearest to behold with thee soon!
Thy cheeks today must shine the lovelier; hasten most ardently the Bridegroom to love.
How shall I receive Thee and how encounter Thee ? Oh, desired of all the world, oh, my soul's adornment! Oh, Jesu, Jesu, set the torch by me Thyself, whereby that which pleases Thee, may be manifest and known to me.
And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no other room for them in the inn.
He came poor upon earth. Who can extol the love aright, our Saviour cherishes for us, for that he pities us; yea, who is capable of comprehending, how man's distress so moved Him?
Make us rich in heaven
The son of the All Highest comes into the world because its salvation pleases Him so well
Und seinen lieben Engeln gleich. So will er selbst als Mensch geboren werden.
Kyrieleis!
No.8 Aria (Bass)
Großer Herr, o starker König
Liebster Heiland, o wie wenig
Achtest du der Erden Pracht!
Der die ganze Welt erhält
Ihre Pracht und Zier erschaffen, Muß in harten Krippen schlafen.
No.9 Chorale
Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein
Mach dir ein rein sanft Bettelein, Zu ruhn in meines Herzens Schrein, Daß ich nimmer vergesse dein!
ABENDLIED
Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, und der Tag hat sich geneiget.
Luke 24:29
and like unto His beloved angels that He will Himself be born as man.
Lord have mercy on us!
Great Lord and mighty King, beloved Saviour oh how little dost Thou esteem earthly pomp! He who maintains the whole world and did create its ornament and splendour must sleep in a hard manger.
Oh little Jesu my heart's love make Thy self a clean soft little bed in which to rest in my heart's inmost shrine that I may never forget Thee.
Bide with us, for evening shadows darken, and the day will soon be over.
This tiny six-part motet is the best known of the choral works that Josef Rheinberger (1839–1901) composed for use in Catholic church services. He counted composers such as Brahms and Mendelssohn among his influences, but he also found inspiration in the Bach Revival of the 19thcentury. The first version of the Abendlied or ‘Evening Hymn’ was composed when he was a teenager, not yet 16, and revised in 1863. The text is taken from Luke’s account of the road to Emmaus appearance: the two disciples inviting Jesus–whom they’ve yet to recognise –to stay with them.
CHRISTMAS ORATORIO
Part II – The Annunciation
No.10 Sinfonia
No.11 Recitative – Evangelist
to the Shepherds
Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend auf dem Felde bei den Hürden die hüteten des Nachts ihre Herde. Und siehe, des Herren Engel trat zu ihnen und die Klarheit des Herren leuchtet um sie, und sie furchten sich sehr.
And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid.
No.12 Chorale
Brich an, o schönes Morgenlicht, Und laß den Himmel tagen!
Du Hirtenvolk, erschrecke nicht, Weil dir die Engel sagen, Daß dieses schwache Knäbelein
Soll unser Trost und Freude sein, Dazu den Satan zwingen
Und letztlich Friede bringen.
No.13 Recitative – Evangelist
Und der Engel sprach zu ihnen: Fürchtet euch nicht, siehe, ich verkündige euch große Freude die allem Volke widerfahren wird. Denn euch ist heute der Heiland geboren, welcher ist Christus, der Herr, In Der Stadt David.
No.14 Recitative (Bass)
Was Gott dem Abraham verheißen, Das läßt er nun dem Hirtenchor Erfüllt erweisen.
Ein Hirt hat alles das zuvor
Von Gott erfahren müssen.
Und nun muß auch ein Hirt die Tat
Was er damals versprochen hat, Zuerst erfüllet wissen.
No.15 Aria (Tenor)
Frohe Hirten, eilt, ach eilet, Eh’ ihr euch zu lang verweilet, Eilt, das holde Kind zu sehn. Geht, die Freude heißt zu schön, Sucht die Anmut zu gewinnen, Geht und labet Herz und Sinnen!
No.16 Recitative – Evangelist
Und das habt zum Zeichen: Ihr werdet finden das Kind in Windeln gewickelt und in einer Krippen liegen.
No.17 Chorale
Schaut hin, dort liegt im finstern Stall, Des Herrschaft gehet überall.
Da Speise vormals sucht ein Rind, Da ruhet jetzt der Jungfrau’n Kind.
Break through, oh lovely light of morn, and let the heavens down!
You shepherd folk, be not afeared, because the angel tells you, that this weak babe shall be our comfort and joy, thereto subdue the devil and bring peace at last.
And the angel said unto them: Fear not, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
That which God promised Abraham, He now lets be manifested to the shepherd band, fulfilled. A shepherd it was had to learn all this before from God, and how also must a shepherd . first know the act fulfilled, which He promised.
Joyful shepherds, haste, oh, haste, lest you tarry too long, haste to see the lovely babe. Go, the joy is all too fair, seek to gain grace, go, and refresh heart and mind.
And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
Behold here: there in a dark stable lies the One who has dominion over all. Where, before, an ox sought food, there now rests the Virgin's Child.
No.18 Recitative (Bass)
So geht denn hin, ihr Hirten, geht, Daß ihr das Wunder seht;
Und findet ihr des Höchsten Sohn
In einer harten Krippe liegen, So singet ihm bei seiner Wiegen
Aus einem süßen Ton
Und mit gesamtem Chor
Dies Lied zur Ruhe vor!
No.19 Aria (Alto)
Schlafe, mein Liebster, genieße der Ruh, Wache nach diesem vor aller Gedeihen
Labe die Brust, Empfinde die Lust
Wo wir unser Herz erfreuen!
No.20 Recitative – Evangelist
Und alsobald war da bei dem Engel die Menge der himmlischen Heerscharen, die lobten Gott und sprachen:
No.21 Chorus
Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe, und Friede auf Erden und den Menschen ein Wohlgefallen.
No.22 Recitative (Bass)
So recht, ihr Engel, jauchzt und singet, Daß es uns heut so schön gelinget!
Auf denn! Wir stimmen mit euch ein, Uns kann es, so wie euch, erfreun.
No.23 Chorale
Wir singen dir in deinem Heer
Aus aller Kraft Lob, Preis und Ehr, Daß du, o lang gewünschter Gast, Dich nunmehr eingestellet hast.
INTERVAL
So go then hence, you shepherds, go, that you may witness the miracle; and if you find the Son of the most High lying in a hard manger, then sing Him by His cradle, in a sweet voice and with full choir, this lullaby to rest.
Sleep, my Dearest, enjoy Thy rest, from henceforth watch over the wellbeing of all, Refresh The breast, experience the joy, there where we gladden our hearts.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying:
Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Then fittingly, you angels, rejoice and sing, that things turn out so favourably for us this day. Up then! We will join in with you, for we can rejoice just as you.
We sing to Thee in Thy host with all our might and main: praise, honour and glory, that Thou, O long-desired guest, hast now appeared.
CHRISTMAS ORATORIO
Part III – The Adoration of the Shepherds
No.24 Chorus
Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen, Laß dir die matten Gesänge gefallen, Wenn dich dein Zion mit Psalmen erhöht!
Höre der Herzen frohlockendes Preisen, Wenn wir dir jetzo die Ehrfurcht erweisen, Weil unsre Wohlfahrt befestiget steht!
No.25 Recitative –Evangelist
Und da die Engel von ihnen gen Himmel fuhren, sprachen die Hirten untereinander:
No.26 Chorus
Lasset uns gehen gen Bethlehem und die Geschichte sehen, die da geschehen ist, die uns der Herr kundgetan hat.
No.27 Recitative (Bass)
Er hat sein Volk getröst’, Er hat sein Israel erlöst, die Hülf aus Zion hergesendet und unser Leid geendet. Seht, Hirten, dies hat er getan; Geht, dieses trefft ihr an!
No.28 Chorale
Dies hat er alles uns getan,
Sein groß Lieb zu zeigen an; Des freu sich alle Christenheit Und dank ihm des in Ewigkeit. Kyrieleis!
No.29 Duet (Soprano And Bass)
Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen
Tröstet uns und macht uns frei.
Deine holde Gunst und Liebe, Deine wundersamen Triebe Machen deine Vatertreu Wieder neu.
No 30 Recitative – Evangelist
Und sie kamen eilend und funden beide, Mariam und Joseph, dazu das Kind in der Krippe liegen. Da sie es aber gesehen
Ruler of Heaven, hear our stammering tones, let our feeble singing please Thee, when Thy Zion exalts Thee with psalms! Hear our hearts' triumphant praise, when we now display our awe before Thee, because our welfare is assured.
And when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another:
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
He has comforted his people, He has delivered His Israel, sent help out of Zion and ended our suffering. Behold, shepherds, this has He done; go, this is what you will find!
This has He done for all of us His great love to proclaim in that all Christendom shall rejoice and thank Him for it to all eternity. Lord have mercy on us!
Lord, Thy compassion, Thy mercy comfort us and make us free.
Thy gracious favour and love Thy wondrous desire make new once more Thy father-faith.
And they came with haste and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they
hatten, breiteten sie das Wort aus welches zu ihnen von diesem Kind gesaget war. Und alle, für die es kam, wunderten sich der
Rede,die ihnen die Hirten gesaget hatten. Maria aber behielt alle diese Worte und bewegte sie in ihrem Herzen.
No.31 Aria (Alto)
Schließe, mein Herze, dies selige Wunder Fest in deinem Glauben ein!
Lasse dies Wunder, die göttlichen Werke, Immer zur Stärke
Deines schwachen Glaubens sein.
No.32 Recitative (Alto)
Ja, ja, mein Herz, soll es bewahren, Was es an dieser holden Zeit
Zu seiner Seligkeit
Für sicheren Beweis erfahren.
No.33 Chorale
Ich will dich mit Fleiß bewahren,
Ich will dir leben hier, Dir will ich abfahren, Mit dir will ich endlich schweben
Voller Freud
Ohne Zeit
Dort im andern Leben.
No.34 Recitative – Evangelist
Und die Hirten kehrten wieder um, preiseten und lobten Gott um alles, das sie gesehen und gehöret hatten, wie denn zu ihnen gesaget war.
No.35 Chorale
Seid froh dieweil, Daß euer Heil
Ist hie ein Gott und auch ein Mensch geboren, Der, welcher ist
Der Herr und Christ
In Davids Stadt, von vielen auserkoren.
No.24 Chorus (reprise)
published abroad the word which was spoken to them concerning the child. And all that heard it wondered at the tidings which the shepherds had told unto them. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Lock, my heart, this blessed wonder fast within thy belief
Let this miracle of the divine works ever be the strength of thy weak faith!
Yes, yes my heart shall guard for sure and certain proof that which, at this auspicious hour it has experienced for its bliss.
I will keep Thee diligently in my mind, I will live for Thee here, I will depart with Thee hence With Thee will I soar at last filled with joy, time without end there in the other life.
And the shepherds returned again, praising and giving thanks to God for everything that they had seen and heard, as it was told untothem.
Be joyful, meanwhile, that our Saviour is here born both God and man, He, who is the Lord and Christ in the city of David chosen of many.
ES IST EIN ROS ENTSPRUNGEN
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen aus einer Wurzel zart, als uns die Alten sungen: von Jesse kam die Art und hat ein Blümlein bracht mitten im kalten Winter wohl zu de halben Nacht.
Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung! Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung. It came a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter, when half spent was the night.
Translation by Theodore Baker
This a cappella miniature unites an anonymous German hymn tune from the 16th century, its enduringly popular harmonisation from 1609 by Michael Praetorius, and a Swedish composer best-known for his ‘Motorbike’ trombone concerto, written for Christian Lindberg. Jan Sandström’s setting of ‘Es ist ein Ros entsprungen’ divides the choir into two groups. Choir I presents the Praetorius harmonisation but in slow motion– its familiar rhythmic syncopations transformed into aching suspended harmonies. Choir II, divided into eight parts, envelops the original in Sandström’s own shimmering, hummed harmonisation.
CANTATA FOR CHRISTMAS, BWV 191
Part I
Chorus
Gloria in excelsis Deo Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Part II (‘post Orationem’)
Duet (Soprano and Tenor)
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto.
Chorus
Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum, Amen.
Glory to God on high and on earth peace to men of good will.
Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
All of J.S. Bach’s surviving cantatas are in German– the language of his listeners– with the exception of this one. With its Latin text, it’s unlikely it was performed in the Thomaskirche; one possible occasion was the thanksgiving service held in Leipzig’s University Church on Christmas Day in 1745 to celebrate the Peace of Dresden. Perhaps this is why Bach based it on the Gloria from his B minor Mass (BWV232), composed for the Elector of Saxony in Dresden. More likely he was working at great speed– news of the peace treaty had broken just days earlier. The opening Gloria with its trumpets and drums is instantly recognisable from the Mass. Part II (intended for ‘after the oration’) sets new texts to existing music. The duet for soprano and tenor features a joyous obbligato flute part, and the magnificent final chorus returns to the brilliant and triumphant colours of Part I.
About the Artists
One of Australia’s foremost choral conductors, Brett Weymark OAM is celebrating his 20th season with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Appointed Artistic and Music Director in 2003, he has conducted the Choirs throughout Australia as well as internationally. He has also conducted the Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Sydney Youth Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic, as well as productions for WAAPA, Pacific Opera and OzOpera, and he has performed with Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Australian Chamber Orchestra, The Song Company and Musica Viva.
He studied singing and conducting at the University of Sydney and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, continuing his conducting studies with Simon Halsey, Vance George, Daniel Barenboim and John Eliot Gardiner, amongst others.
His repertoire at SPC has included Bach’s Passions and Christmas Oratorio, the Mozart, Verdi, Duruflé and Fauré requiems, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. He champions Australian composers, and has premiered works by Matthew Hindson, Elena Kats-Chernin, John Peterson, Daniel Walker, Rosalind Page, Peter Sculthorpe, Andrew Schultz and Ross Edwards. In 2011 he premiered his own work Brighton to Bondi with the Festival Chorus. He has also conducted musical theatre programs including Bernstein’s Candide, which won multiple BroadwayWorld Sydney awards.
Under his direction, SPC received a Helpmann Award for Oedipus Rex and Symphony of Psalms, directed by Peter Sellars, and was nominated for a Limelight Award for Purcell’s King Arthur.
He was chorus master for the Adelaide Festival productions of Saul (2017), Hamlet (2018) and Requiem (2020), and he has prepared choirs for Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Edo de Waart, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Simon Rattle. He has recorded for the ABC and conducted film scores for Happy Feet, Mad Max Fury Road and Australia.
Recent conducting highlights include Sweeney Todd (West Australian Opera), Jandamarra by Paul Stanhope and Steve Hawke (SSO), Michael Tippett’s A Child Of Our Time (Adelaide Festival) and Carousel (State Opera South Australia).
In 2001 he was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal and in 2021 the Medal of the Order of Australia.
Brett Weymark is passionate about singing and the role music plays in both the wellbeing of individuals and the health and vitality of a community’s culture. He believes music can transform lives and should be accessible to all.
Sydney Philharmonia Choir’s 2023 season reflects highlights of his distinguished tenure with the organisation and the strengths of the choirs he leads.
Brett Weymark conductor
PHOTO: KEITH SAUNDERS
PHOTO: KEITH SAUNDERS
Penelope Mills performs across Australasia, appearing with the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Sydney Chamber Choir, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic, Sydney Concert Orchestra, Sydney Soloists and the Australia Ensemble, as well as Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. She works with leading conductors and ensembles and holds degrees from the Royal Northern College of Music and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Recent engagements include Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No.5, BBC Planet Earth II and Last Night of the Proms (SSO); Mahler’s Fourth Symphony (Australian Youth Orchestra); Messiah (St Andrew’s Cathedral); The Creation (Sydney University Graduate Choir); and Carmina Burana, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Handel’s Messiah and Saul, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, all with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. She gave the premiere of Carl Vine’s Wonders at the Sydney Opera House, and sang Miranda in the Australian premiere of The Tempest by Thomas Adès with the MSO, conducted by the composer. She has also performed Messiah with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Matthew Passion at the Sydney Town Hall, Carmina Burana at the Concourse, Chatswood, Bach cantatas and Mozart’s Requiem at StAndrew’s Cathedral, and appeared at the Sydney Opera House in the Taste of Opera series.
Margaret Plummer was a principal artist at the Vienna State Opera for seven years, during which time her roles included Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Mercedes (Carmen), Waltraute (Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung), Third Norn (Götterdämmerung), Flosshilde (Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung), Flower Maiden (Parsifal), Siebel (Faust), Varvara (Katya Kabanova), Tebaldo (Don Carlos), Herodias’ Page (Salome), Fenena (Nabucco), Meg Page (Falstaff, also for Hamburg State Opera), Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Hermia (AMidsummer Night’s Dream), Wood Sprite (Rusalka) and Fjodor (Boris Godunov).
Her key engagements for 2023 include house debuts at La Scala, Milan (Auntie in Peter Grimes) and the Bayreuth Festival (Flower Maiden), Flosshilde in Das Rheingold with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and Messiah with Perth Symphonic Chorus.
She has also sung Charlotte (Werther) and Marguerite (La Damnation du Faust) for the Tiroler Landestheater, Innsbruck; Beethoven’s Ninth with the Vienna Philharmonic; Haydn’s Theresienmesse with the Savaria Symphony Orchestra in the composer’s birthplace; Berg’s Seven Early Songs with the Tirol Symphony Orchestra; the Witch (Hansel and Gretel) with the SSO; Phoebe (Castor et Pollux) and Diane (Iphigenie en Tauride) for Pinchgut Opera; and in Mozart’s Requiem with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Penelope Mills soprano
Margaret Plummer mezzo-soprano
PHOTO: KURT SNEDDON BLUEPRINT STUDIOS
Christopher Richardson bass-baritone
Andrew Goodwin has performed with opera companies and orchestras in Europe, Asia and Australia, including the Bolshoi Opera, Gran Theatre Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, La Scala Milan, Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera, StPetersburg Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia, the Moscow and Melbourne chamber orchestras, and the New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide, Tasmanian and West Australian symphony orchestras, and as well as in recital with Daniel de Borah at Wigmore Hall and the Oxford Lieder, Port Fairy and Canberra International Music festivals.
This year he has returned to the QSO for Beethoven’s Ninth, to the SSO for Britten’s Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, and as Mime in Das Rheingold, and will sing Messiah with the MSO. He will also feature at the Brisbane Festival in Britten’s War Requiem, perform with the Australia Ensemble at UNSW, and in recital in Brisbane and Ukaria (Adelaide), and with the vocal ensemble AVÉ.
Recent engagements have included Handel’s Il trionfo with Yulia Lezhneva and Dmitry Sinkovsky (Zaryadya Hall, Moscow), Beethoven Nine with the Brandenburg State Orchestra, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Adelaide Festival), Jacquino in Fidelio (WASO), Nadir in The Pearlfishers (State Opera South Australia), Diary of One Who Disappeared and Rape of Lucretia (Sydney Chamber Opera) and the title role in Artaxerxes (Pinchgut Opera).
Christopher Richardson is a graduate of the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, and the recipient of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria Award and the Frances MacEachron Award at the Oratorio Society of New York’s Solo Competition at Carnegie Hall.
He has appeared with Pinchgut Opera, Opera Queensland, Handel in the Theatre, Canberra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Perth Symphonic Chorus, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society, Festival of Voices Hobart, Canberra Choral Society, the Allegri Ensemble, Hobart, and the Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, as well as Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.
Recent performances include Brahms’s German Requiem as guest soloist with The Song Company, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the ASO, and Messiah at St Andrew’s Cathedral and with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis. For Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, he sang Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Handel’s Coronation Anthems in 2022, Handel’s Samson in April, and ChorusOz Mahler 8 in June.
He has also been invited to appear in The Enchanted Island (10 Days on the Island Festival, Tasmania), The Genius of J.S. Bach (Melbourne Recital Centre); Beethoven’s Mass in C (Victoria Chorale), and Fauré’s Requiem (Perth Symphonic Chorus). He features on the CD of Calvin Bowman songs, Real and Right and True.
PHOTO: DANIEL SOMMER
Andrew Goodwin tenor
Chamber Singers
Brett Weymark Artistic and Music Director
Elizabeth Scott
Associate Music Director
Tim Cunniffe Assistant Chorus Master and Principal Rehearsal Pianist
Anke Ryan Language Coach
SOPRANOS
Briar Babington
Francesca Bailey
Jodie Boehme
Maria Lopes
Lucy Lush
Stephanie Mooney
Charlotte Moore
Amelia Myers
Nathalie O’Toole
Jayne Oishi
Katherine Thompson
ALTOS
Kate Clowes
Gillian DownesMorgan
Jessica Farrell
Vesna Hatezic
Rachel Maiden
Hannah Mason
Lindsay Paget-Cooke
Judith Pickering
Beverley Price
Megan Solomon
Priscilla Yuen
TENORS
Kevin Chan
Langzi Chiu
Matthew Flood
Michael Gray
Steven Hankey
Tom Hazell
Mel Keenan
Boghos Keleshian
Michael Kertesz
Rajah Selvarajah
Robert Thomson
Alex Walter
Declan Wildes
Isaac Wong
BASSES
Edwin Carter
Andy Clare
Paul Couvret
Ian Davies
David Fisher
Simon Harris
Jonathon Kelley
Selwyn Lemos
Dion Marks
Chris Masson
Finnian Murphy
Eric Nelson
Bruce Watson
Allan Yap
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra
FIRST VIOLINS
Fiona Ziegler
Concertmaster
Michele O’Young
James Armstrong
Sercan Danis
Emily Long
Leigh Middenway
Julia Russoniello
James Tarbotton
SECOND VIOLINS
Léone Ziegler
Caron Chan
Bridget Crouch
Anthony Donovan
Emma Hayes
Karina Hollands
Narine Melconian
Robert Smith
VIOLAS
James Eccles
Rachel Dyker
Nicole Forsyth
Suzie Kim
Georgina Price
Cecile Ross
CELLOS
Anthea Cottee
Anita Gluyas
Margaret Iddison
Rosemary Quinn
DOUBLE BASSES
Pippa McMillan
Theo Small
FLUTES
Rosamund Plummer
Kate Proctor
OBOES & OBOES D’AMORE
Matthew Bubb
Sarah Young
OBOES DA CACCIA (COR ANGLAIS)
Alexandre Oguey
Noah Rudd
BASSOON
Victoria Grant
TRUMPETS
Dominic Longhurst
Alex Bieri
Sophie Spencer
TIMPANI
Joshua Hill
HARPSICHORD
Nathan Cox
ORGAN
David Drury
Bold = Principal
Ruckers double harpsichord by Carey Beebe, Sydney, 2003. Continuo organ by Henk Klop, Garderen, TheNetherlands, 2004. Supplied and prepared by Carey Beebe Harpsichords.
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presents the art of choral singing at the highest standard, and develops the talents of those with a passion for singing, in Sydney and beyond. Founded in 1920, it has become Australia’s finest choral organisation and is a Resident Company of the Sydney Opera House.
Led by Artistic and Music Director Brett Weymark OAM and Associate Music Director Dr Elizabeth Scott, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs comprises three auditioned and three community choirs that perform repertoire from choral classics to musical theatre and commissions by Australian composers. SPC presents its own annual concert season as well as collaborating with leading conductors, soloists and orchestras in Australia and overseas. In 2002, SPC was the first Australian choir to sing at the BBC Proms (Mahler’s Symphony No.8 under Sir Simon Rattle), returning again in 2010 to celebrate its 90th anniversary. The Choirs perform in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s season every year, as they have done for more than 80 years. SPC also presents community singing events throughout the year– Chorus Oz (the annual Big Sing), Big Heart Sing at the Sydney Opera House and choral workshops throughout Sydney and NSW.
VICE-REGAL PATRONS
The Hon. Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales and Mr Dennis Wilson
VICE PATRONS
Prof. the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO
Lauris Elms AM OBE DMus (Syd)
AMBASSADOR FOR SINGING
Yvonne Kenny AM
BOARD
Jacqui Wilkins Chair
Claire Duffy President
Katie Blake, Stuart Goddard, Terence Kwan, Jill Lester, Elizabeth Neilsen, Georgia Rivers
STAFF
Brett Weymark OAM Artistic & Music Director
Dr Elizabeth Scott Associate Music Director
Tim Cunniffe Assistant Chorus Master & Principal Rehearsal Pianist
Mark Robinson Artistic Operations Manager
Melanie Penicka-Smith
Artistic Operations Coordinator
Chizuru Maruyama Choirs Administrator
Susan Gandy Orchestra Coordinator
Simon Crossley-Meates Marketing Manager
Naomi Hamer Office & Box Office Administrator
Sarah Howell Philanthropy Manager
John Liebmann Finance Manager
2020 was Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ centenary and saw the realisation of the 100 Minutes of New Australian Music project, featuring commissioned works by composers including Elena Kats-Chernin, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon and Brett Dean. In 2022 the Choirs took part in the reopening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, performing Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and in 2023, Brett Weymark celebrates his 20th anniversary as Artistic Director. Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Road, Dawes Point | (02) 8274 6200 | hello@sydneyphilharmonia.com.au sydneyphilharmonia.com.au
PROGRAM CREDITS
Yvonne Frindle Editor and Design
Tone Bullen, Smörgåsbord Cover Artwork
Immij NSW Printer
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Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Your gift, of any size, would make a vital contribution to ensuring our future.
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We also thank our donors who contribute up to $500. Every gift makes a difference to what we are able to achieve.
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Thank you
Weapplaudthegenerousinvolvementof ourpartnersinsupportingSydney PhilharmoniaChoirs.
FAURÉ’S REQUIEM
withJohnPeterson’s Shadows and Light andSamuelBarber’sAdagioforStrings
Thursday28March2024|7PM
SydneyTownHall
MENDELSSOHN’S ELIJAH
withstarbaritoneTeddyTahuRhodesasthe OldTestamentprophet
Saturday17May2024|7PM
SydneyOperaHouse