Author: Niki

Hommage à Gombert: 20th Anniversary Concert (2010)

Saturday, 15 May 2010, 8pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 3

Renaissance composers frequently re-fashioned the musical material of motets or chansons into settings of Mass or
Magnificat. A composer might make such a parody of his own music, as is the case with Gombert’s eight-voice Credo,
modelled on his motet Lugebat David Absalon, or that of another composer, as is the case with the works of Lassus
and Monteverdi presented in this program, each based on a piece by Gombert. That these two later composers, each
considered the outstanding master of his generation, should pay homage to Gombert in this way is an indication of the esteem in which our composer was regarded during the fifty years after his death.

PROGRAM

Nicolas Gombert Lugebat David Absalon
Nicolas Gombert Credo
Nicolas Gombert Mort et fortune
Orlande de Lassus Magnificat tertii toni quinque vocum Mort et fortune
Nicolas Gombert In illo tempore
Claudio Monteverdi Missa da Capella a sei voci, fatta sopra il motetto In illo tempore del Gomberti

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Peter Campbell Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Jennifer Mathers Tim Van Nooten Kieran Rowe
Katherine Norman Rebecca Woods Vaughan McAlley Chris Potter
Kathryn Pisani Niki Ebacioni Stuart Tennant Alistair Clark
Claerwen Jones
Maria Pisani

 

Brumel’s "Earthquake" Mass (2010)

Saturday, 17 April 2010, 8pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 2

The challenge of writing many polyphonic lines without forbidden consecutive unisons, fifths or octaves was something that Renaissance composers relished. Most were contented to develop the technique to a maximum of six or eight voices, but there were those who set themselves higher goals, among whom Antoine Brumel was possibly the first to write a whole Mass for twelve voices. The work is based on the Easter Lauds antiphon Et ecce terrae motus, and our program complements it with contemporaneous works for the Easter season.

PROGRAM

Antoine Busnoys Victimae paschali laudes
Heinrich Isaac De Resurrectione Domini
Introitus: Resurrexi
Graduale: Haec Dies
Alleluia: Pascha nostrum
Prosa: Laudes Salvatori voce
Communio: Pascha nostrum
Josquin Desprez In exitu Israel
Antoine Brumel Missa Et ecce terrae motus
Kyrie – Gloria – Credo – Sanctus
Nicolas Gombert Regina caeli laetare


DISCANTUS CONTRATENOR TENOR BASSUS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Tim Van Nooten Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Jennifer Mathers Matthew Thomson Thomas Drent
Kathryn Pisani Rebecca Woods Frank Prain Alistair Clark
Kristy Biber Peter Campbell Stuart Tennant Chris Potter
Maria Pisani Niki Ebacioni Daniel Thomson Tim Daly
Katherine Norman Paul Bentley Nick Dinopolous

 

REVIEW

Tuesday, 20 April 2010, The Age [Melbourne], page 13.
Choir for connoisseurs rejoices in angelic praises
Clive O’Connell

THE latest program offered by the Ensemble Gombert, directed by John O’Donnell, divided cleanly into two
parts celebrating the Easter season. For Saturday evening’s first half, the singers worked through music for
four voices: Isaac’s De Resurrectione Domini that comprises settings of the propers for the Easter Sunday
Mass, bracketed by the Binchois motet Victimae paschali laudes and In exitu Israel attributed to Josquin
Desprez.

After interval, the choir expanded for the night’s sumptuous centrepiece, Brumel’s famous mass in 12 lines,
with a pendant motet for the same multiple layers, Regina coeli laetare, by the group’s patron composer.
A few changes in personnel find the group’s alto line taking in a pair of countertenors, Peter Campbell and
Paul Bentley, which gives the choral mix an added aggressive timbre, most immediately noticeable in parts of
the Isaac settings like the focal Prosa/Sequence with its polyphonic verses. In similar fashion, the four basses
in this part of the night were dominated by the reinforcing power of Tim Daly during the solid Josquin setting
of Psalms 114 and 115.

Brumel’s mass based on the plainchant Et ecce terrae motus received an impassioned reading, its opening
sections yielding powerful waves of sonority as chords changed texture with a vehement address. The score’s
longer sections — Credo and Sanctus/Benedictus — offer a wealth of textural variety, but where the
Gomberts excelled was in the massive blocks of interweaving chords, making a stunning impact in the
treatment of the words in excelsis with a sudden leap from a spare duet for soprano and countertenor lines to
an explosion of sonority: one of music’s finest depictions of the endless angelic praises that hurtle around
Heaven’s throne.
Clive O’Connell/Courtesy of The Age

Correction:
The composer named Binchois should instead be named Busnoys

Schumann, Brahms, Barber (2010)

Saturday, 13 March 2010, 8pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 1

The 19th-century revival of unaccompanied choral music began in Germany, principally in quest of the ‘purity of
tone’ that characterised the music of Palestrina and his contemporaries. Major composers soon began to write new works for the choral societies that sprang up everywhere, both Schumann and Brahms contributing significantly. Choral music is also a significant part of Barber’s output, including the popular Agnus Dei, which he adapted from a movement of his first string quartet.

PROGRAM

Robert Schumann Vier doppelchörige Gesänge
Samuel Barber Let down the bars, O Death
Samuel Barber Reincarnations
Samuel Barber Twelfth Night
Samuel Barber To be Sung on the Water
Samuel Barber Agnus Dei
Johannes Brahms Zwei Motetten, Opus 29
Johannes Brahms Zwei Motetten, Opus 74
Johannes Brahm Fest- und Gedenksprüche, Opus 109
Johannes Brahms Drei Motetten, Opus 110


SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Daniel Thomson Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Jennifer Mathers Tim Van Nooten Kieran Rowe
Katherine Norman Niki Ebacioni Vaughan McAlley Jerzy Kozlowski
Maria Pisani Rebecca Woods Stuart Tennant Alistair Clark
Claerwen Jones
Kathryn Pisani

 

Monteverdi Vespers (2010): Ballarat

Monday, 11 January 2010, 8pm
Loreto Abbey Chapel, Ballarat

Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields Festival

Claudio Monteverdi Vespro della beata Vergine (1610)
[version with continuo accompaniment only]

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Jennifer Mathers Peter Campbell Kieran Rowe
Carol Veldhoven Belinda Wong Tim van Nooten Julien Robinson
Katherine Norman Niki Ebacioni Vaughan McAlley
Claerwen Jones Rebecca Woods Stuart Tennant
Maria Pisani
Kathryn Pisani

 

Soloists: Deborah Summerbell (sop.), Carol Veldhoven (sop.), Katherine Norman (sop.), Jenifer Mathers (alto), Tim van Nooten (ten.), Vaughan McAlley (ten.), Peter Campbell (ten.), Julien Robinson (bass), Kieran Rowe (bass);

John O’Donnell – Chamber Organ

 

 

 

Christmas to Candlemas (2009)

Saturday, 12 December 2009, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 5

After two Venetian Christmas celebrations we return to our High Renaissance fare. Three years ago we performed Mouton’s Christmas motet Quaeramus cum pastoribus along with Morales’ Mass based upon it. This time we are singing another Mass based on the same motet, that by Mouton’s star pupil Adrian Willaert. The program is completed by a selection of motets by one of Gombert’s greatest contemporaries, the prolific but mysteriously named Clemens non Papa.

PROGRAM

Jean Mouton Nesciens mater
Jean Mouton Noe, noe, noe, psallite
Jean Mouton Illuminare, illuminare Jesusalem
Clemens non Papa O magnum mysterium
Clemens non Papa Pastores quidnam vidistis
Clemens non Papa Vox in Rama
Clemens non Papa Ab oriente venerunt magi
Clemens non Papa Videte miraculum
Jean Mouton Quaeramus cum pastoribus
Adrian Willaert Missa Quaeramus cum pastoribus

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Peter Campbell Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Jennifer Mathers Tim van Nooten Chris Potter
Maria Pisani Rebecca Woods Vaughan McAlley Tom Henry
Claerwen Jones Niki Ebacioni Stuart Tennant
Kathryn Pisani

 

REVIEW

Monday, 14 December 2009, The Age [Melbourne], page 14
Polyphonic Christmas splendour
Clive O’Connell

Melbournes finest choir took little time to weave an impressive fabric of a cappella polyphonic
splendour on Saturday evening. In a program that confined itself to Renaissance music written for Christmas
Day, the Feast of the Holy Innocents and the Epiphany, John O’Donnell’s 16 singers began with a work of
sumptuous amplitude, Jean Mouton’s 8-part Nesciens mater, in which they established a rolling richness of
deep colour that illustrated the paradox of the Nativity’s domestic simplicity expressed in music of
extraordinary complexity and eloquence.
Keeping to a simple format, the Gomberts followed three Mouton motets with four works in the same form
by Clemens non Papa.
Here also, the set’s opening established a radiant placidity as the familiar text of O magnum mysterium was
amplified to include acclamations of Christ’s birth scene, each half of the motet concluding with a powerfully
moving Nowell: moments when the composer’s expressive assurance found splendid realisation, thanks to
these gifted interpreters.
In the night’s second part, O’Donnell revisited Mouton with the still harmonically surprising Quaeramus cum
pastoribus, followed by Willaert’s Mass based on his teacher’s motet.
The Flemish composer’s lucid textures came in for dramatic treatment, O’Donnell and his choir bringing an
urgency of pulse to this work’s various parts with an occasional reduction to limpid two- and three-line
textures before the burnished glory of the final Agnus Dei gave a muted reflection of the program’s opening.
Once again, this group of well-matched voices enriched the festive season with musical performances of high
quality.
Clive O’Connell/Courtesy of The Age

Spanish Renaissance Vespers (2009)

Saturday, 28 November 2009, 5pm
Newman College Chapel, 887 Swanston Street, Parkville

Newman College 2009 Advent Festival

First Vespers for Advent Sunday
Australia’s specialists in Renaissance music, Ensemble Gombert perform a sixteenth-century Spanish First Vespers for the first Sunday of Advent.

PROGRAM

Tomàs Luis de Victoria Conditor alme siderum
Cristóbal de Morales Magnificat primi toni
Plainchant Psalms and Antiphons
Antonio de Cabazon Organ preludes

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Niki Ebacioni Peter Campbell Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Gowri Rajendran Tim Van Nooten Kieran Rowe
Claerwen Jones Rebecca Woods Vaughan McAlley Chris Potter
Kathryn Pisani Yi Wen Chin Stuart Tennant Alistair Clark

John O’Donnell – Organ

Anniversaries (2009)

Saturday, 7 November 2009, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 4

Four diverse composers are here thrown together by the accident of their dates of birth or death. 2009 commemorates the 400th anniversary of Croce’s death, the 350th anniversary of Purcell’s birth, the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death, and the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth. The result is a program spanning some two and a half centuries, giving us tastes of the Late Renaissance, High Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras.

PROGRAM

Henry Purcell Remember not, Lord, our Offences
Henry Purcell I was Glad
Henry Purcell Hear my Prayer, O Lord
Joseph Haydn Die Heiligen Zehn Gebote als Canons
Giovanni Croce Laudans exsultet gaudio
Giovanni Croce Anima mea liquefacta est
Giovanni Croce Regina caeli laetare
Giovanni Croce Quaeramus cum pastoribus
Felix Mendelssohn Drei Psalmen, Opus 78
1. ‘Warum toben die Heiden’ (Ps 2)
2. ‘Richte mich, Gott’ (Ps 43)
2. ‘Mein Gott, warum’ (Ps 22)
Felix Mendelssohn Sechs Sprüche, Opus 79
1. ‘Weihnachten’
2.  ‘Am Neujahrstage’
3. ‘Am Himmelfahrstage’
4. ‘In der Passionszeit’
5. ‘Im Advent’
6. ‘Am Charfreitage’
Felix Mendelssohn Three Motets, Opus 69
1. ‘Nunc dimittis’
2. ‘Jubilate Deo’
3. ‘Magnificat’

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Peter Campbell Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Jennifer Mathers Tim van Nooten Kieran Rowe
Fiona Seers Rebecca Woods Matthew Thomson Chris Potter
Maria Pisani Gowri Rajendran Daniel Thomson Alistair Clark
Claerwen Jones
Kathryn Pisani

2009 North American Tour Itinerary (2009)

Ensemble Gombert North American Tour 19 Sep – 5 Oct 2009

Singers
Soprano: Deborah Summerbell, Carol Veldhoven, Claerwen Jones, Maria Pisani, Kathryn Pisani
Alto: Belinda Wong, Niki Ebacioni, Rebecca Woods
Tenor: Peter Campbell, Tim Van Nooten, Vaughan McAlley
Bass: Kieran Rowe, Chris Potter, Andrew Fysh
Director: John O’Donnell
Tour Manager: Julie Drummond
Tour Extras: Tony McCarthy, Marshall Barker, Suzie Byrne, Jacky Ogeil, Arianna O’Donnell
Tour Committee: Fiona Seers, Julie Drummond, Niki Ebacioni, Claerwen Jones, Vaughan McAlley, Maria Pisani, Peter Campbell

SEPTEMBER Sat 19 0830 Check-in Tullamarine Airport, International Terminal
1120 Melbourne – Sydney (1 Hour 25 Mins) UA 840
1445 Sydney – San Francisco (13 hours 26 mins) UA 870
1111 Arrive San Francisco San Francisco Airport, International Terminal
Shuttle to hotel Grant Hotel, San Francisco

Sun 20 1330 Rehearsal Grace Cathedral
1500 Evensong Grace Cathedral
O/N Grant Hotel, San Francisco

Mon 21 Free Day
O/N Grant Hotel, San Francisco

Tue 22 1100 Check-out and meet in foyer Grant Hotel, San Francisco
1133 “BART” train: San Francisco – Millbrae Powell St BART Station
1300 Hotel check-in Travelodge SF Airport, Millbrae
1355 Caltrain: Millbrae – Palo Alto Millbrae Station
1700 Rehearsal Memorial Church, Stanford University, Palo Alto
2000-2115 Concert Stanford Memorial Church
2201 Caltrain: Palo Alto – Millbrae Palo Alto Transit Centre
2233 Arr Millbrae Station
O/N Travelodge SF Airport, Millbrae

Wed 23 0700 Shuttle to Airport
0730 Check-in San Francisco Airport, Terminal 3
0850 San Francisco – Chicago (4 hours 4 mins) UA 134
1555 Chicago – Detroit (1 hour 19 mins) UA 106
1814 Arrive Detroit Detroit Metro Airport, Terminal N
1845 Meet Robert Q Shuttle Detroit Metro Airport
2015 Arrive Windsor All Saints’ Anglican Church, Windsor
O/N Billets Windsor

Thu 24 1800 Rehearsal All Saints’ Anglican Church
1930 Concert Windsor All Saints’ Anglican Church
2130 Dinner with hosts Mick’s Irish Pub, 28 Chatham St E, Windsor
O/N Billets Windsor
Fri 25 0730 Meet Coach North end Ouellette Ave, Dieppe Park, Windsor
0800 Windsor – London
1100 Rehearsal Recital Hall, University of Western Ontario, London
1230-1320 Concert London University of Western Ontario, London
1430-1520 2nd Year Conducting Lecture London UWO, London
1600 Coach London – Guelph (via Stratford) Sightseeing, Stratford
2100 Arr Guelph – meet billets Harcourt Memorial Church, Guelph
O/N Billets Guelph

Sat 26 1200-1400 Rehearsal (with Guelph Chamber Choir) St Georges Anglican Church, Guelph
1400 Walking Tour Guelph
1630 Pre concert dinner with billets
2000 Concert Guelph (with Guelph Chamber Choir) St Georges Anglican Church, Guelph
O/N Billets Guelph

Sun 27 0800 Meet Coach Harcourt Memorial Church, Guelph
0830 Guelph – Toronto
1000 Rehearsal Metropolitan United Church, Toronto
1100 Service Toronto (sing from 1035) Metropolitan United Church Church, Toronto
1200 Coach to hotel & check-in Delta Chelsea Hotel, Toronto
1400-1500 Concert Toronto MU Church, Toronto
O/N Hotel Delta Chelsea Hotel, Toronto

Mon 28 Free Day
O/N Hotel Delta Chelsea Hotel, Toronto

Tue 29 0800 Toronto – Niagara Falls
1430 Niagara Falls – Rochester
1700 Rehearsal St Marys, Rochester
1745 Dinner at church St Marys, Rochester
1845 Meet billets St Marys, Rochester
1930 Concert Rochester St Marys Catholic Church, Rochester New York
O/N Billets Rochester
Wed 30 0845 Meet Coach St Marys, Rochester
0900 Rochester – Worcester Massachusetts
1600ish Arrive Worcester
O/N Hotel Crowne Plaza, Worcester
OCTOBER 0900 Coach to Boston (sightseeing)
Thu 1 1500 Boston – Worcester
1800 Rehearsal College of the Holy Cross, Worcester MA
1900-2000 Concert College of the Holy Cross, Worcester Massachusetts 
Dinner with hosts College of the Holy Cross, Worcester
2145 Coach to hotel
O/N Hotel Crowne Plaza, Worcester

Fri 2 0830 Coach to College of the Holy Cross
0900-1100 Seminar College of the Holy Cross, Worcester
1130 Worcester – Old Saybrook
1800 Rehearsal St Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Old Saybrook
1930 Concert Old Saybrook St Paul ELC
Dinner with hosts
O/N Billets Old Saybrook

Sat 3 1100 Meet Coach St Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Old Saybrook
1115 Old Saybrook – New Canaan
1300 Rehearsal First Presbyterian Church, New Canaan
1630 Meet at Concert Venue First Presbyterian Church, New Canaan
1700 Concert New Canaan First Presbyterian Church, New Canaan
1900 New Canaan – New York
O/N Hotel Hotel Grand Union, New York

Sun 4 1400 Rehearsal Church of the Transfiguration, New York
1500-1615 Concert New York Church of the Transfiguration
2000 End of Tour Dinner Heartland Brewery, Empire State (350 5th Ave)
O/N Hotel Hotel Grand Union, New York

Mon 5 1100 Check-out of hotel Hotel Grand Union, NY
1315 (TBC) Shuttle to airport
1430 Check-in JFK Airport, Terminal 7
1755 New York – Los Angeles (6 hours 16 mins) UA 25
2235 Los Angeles – Melbourne (18 hours 5 mins) UA 839

Tue 6 Lost Day (No Birthday, JO’D!)

Wed 7 1040 Arrive Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, Terminal 2

Tour repertoire: 2009 North American tour (2009)

Ensemble Gombert North American Tour 19 Sep – 5 Oct 2009
Singers
Soprano: Deborah Summerbell, Carol Veldhoven, Claerwen Jones, Maria Pisani, Kathryn Pisani
Alto: Belinda Wong, Niki Ebacioni, Rebecca Woods
Tenor: Peter Campbell, Tim Van Nooten, Vaughan McAlley
Bass: Kieran Rowe, Chris Potter, Andrew Fysh

Stanford, New York

Elliott Carter                                       Musicians wrestle everywhere

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Thomas Tallis                                     Loquebantur variis linguis

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                               O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Johann Sebastian Bach                      Jesu, meine Freude

Windsor

Healey Willan                            3 Motets in the Honour of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary

Josquin Desprez                       Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                             Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                       Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                    O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                       O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                      In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                           Sunrise on the Coast

Calvin Bowman                         Death, be not proud

Johann Sebastian Bach             Jesu, meine Freude

London

 

Healey Willan                                     3 Motets in the Honour of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Thomas Tallis                                     Loquebantur variis linguis

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Calvin Bowman                                  Death, be not proud

Guelph

 

Healey Willan                                     3 Motets in the Honour of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Thomas Tallis                                     Loquebantur variis linguis

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                               O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Intermission

Calvin Bowman                                  Death, be not proud

Philippe de Monte                              Super flumina Babylonis (combined with Guelph Ch Choir)

William Byrd                                      Quomodo cantabimus (combined with Guelph Chamber Choir)

Toronto

 

Healey Willan                                     3 Motets in the Honour of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Johann Sebastian Bach                      Jesu, meine Freude

Worcester

Elliott Carter                                       Musicians wrestle everywhere

Josquin Desprez                                Ave Maria…virgo serena

Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                               O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Johann Sebastian Bach                     Jesu, meine Freude

Rochester, New Canaan, Old Saybrook

 

Elliott Carter                                       Musicians wrestle everywhere

Josquin Desprez                                Inviolata, integra, et casta es Maria

Jean Mouton                                      Quis dabit oculis nostris

Nicolas Gombert                                Hodie nobis caelorum Rex

Clemens non Papa                             O magnum mysterium

Morten Lauridsen                               O magnum mysterium

Vaughan McAlley                               In principio erat verbum

Peter Campbell                                  Sunrise on the Coast

Intermission

Calvin Bowman                                  Death, be not proud

Johann Sebastian Bach                      Jesu, meine Freude

 

Voices of our Time (2009)

Saturday, 12 September 2009, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Road, Kew

Subscription Concert 3

With Barber, Carter and Lauridsen we make our first foray into American music. Barber’s wonderful 1938 setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ God’s Grandeur naturally invites comparison with Kenneth Leighton’s 1957 setting of the same poem, while Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia has been a long-standing request. The second half of the program features works by members of Ensemble Gombert, past and present.


PROGRAM

Elliott Carter Musicians Wrestle Everywhere
Morten Lauridsen O magnum mysterium
Samuel Barber God’s Grandeur
Kenneth Leighton God’s Grandeur
Benjamin Britten Hymn to St Cecilia
Peter Campbell Sunrise on the Coast [World première]
Vaughan McAlley In principio erat verbum [World première]
Vaughan McAlley Veritas de terra orta est [World première]
Calvin Bowman Missa Vexilla regis [World première] *

* Writing of this work was assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council.

SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Deborah Summerbell Belinda Wong Peter Campbell Julien Robinson
Carol Veldhoven Jenny George Tim van Nooten Kieran Rowe
Fiona Seers Niki Ebacioni Vaughan McAlley Chris Potter
Maria Pisani Rebecca Woods Stuart Tennant Alistair Clark
Claerwen Jones
Kathryn Pisani

 

REVIEW

Monday, 14 September 2009, The Age [Melbourne], page 14.
New is old as exemplary choir sings premieres
Clive O’Connell

It all depends on what you mean by “our time”, but the most recently written segments of the Ensemble
Gombert’s latest subscription recital sounded noticeably old-fashioned, if not antique.
After offering a small selection of American and British works, John O’Donnell and his exemplary choir sang
world premieres of short pieces by two of the Gombert tenor personnel.
First was Peter Campbell’s staid, only slightly adventurous Sunrise on the Coast, a setting of an A. B.
Paterson lyric; then came Vaughan McAlley’s responses to two Latin liturgical texts written in a vocabulary
recalling Renaissance masters and the Gabrielis’ Venice.
Calvin Bowman’s new Missa Vexilla regis uses parts of the eponymous plainchant and moves rapidly
through the familiar texts with a pleasure in candid sonorities, spiced by unexpected sideways harmonic
moves. Like his Australian colleagues on this night, Bowman avoids grinding dissonances, making this new
mass easy to assimilate.
The most contemporary-sounding music came in centenarian Elliott Carter’s Musicians Wrestle Everywhere,
a bristling 1945 mesh of polyphonic devices, against which Britten’s almost contemporary Hymn to St Cecilia
sounded tame, if rather rushed in this performance.
But the most affecting music-making emerged during two juxtaposed settings of the Hopkins sonnet God’s
Grandeur by Samuel Barber and Kenneth Leighton: similar but individual, sung with evenly spread
accomplishment right through to their spell-binding final bars.
Clive O’Connell/Courtesy of The Age