Jewish Culture Day on the South Bank
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The Song of Songs
26 November 2006, 7.45pm - 9.45pm Purcell Room
Includes: The Song of Songs (first performance) Kyla Greenbaum, Shofar Fanfare for the 350th anniversary (first performance) Malcolm Miller, King Ahaz excerpts from the great 1912 Yiddish Opera by Britain's major liturgical composer Samuel Alman.
Gwendolen Burton soprano
Eliot Alderman tenor
Benjamin Seifert baritone
The Zemel Choir
The Wallace Chamber Ensemble
Benjamin Wolf conductor
Supported by Pearson plc
Programme:
The Song of Songs, Kyla GreenbaumA setting of a section of the sensual book of the Old Testament, this work is scored for Clarinet, Horn, String Trio, Double Bass, Percussion, Solo soprano
Classical scholars generally agree that there was a strong influence from Persian poetry of the period. The erotic religious imagery is not found elsewhere in the Bible and is rarely found in Western religious verse. The Allegorical character of the poem expresses the love of God for his people in terms of the love between a man and a woman and the love of nature. Such richness of ambiguity is inspiring for a composer. Then too, the drama of loss, regret and renewal gives shape to the structure of the music. Kyla says 'I try to ally to spirituality'
Kyla Greenbaum has had a long and distinguished career as an interpreter and composer of contemporary music, as well as being a respected concert pianist. She has premiered many important 20 th century works, including the first European performance of Schoenberg’s Piano Concert at a BBC Prom in 1945 (described in the Music Review as a ‘historic Prom’). She has made many important recordings on BBC Radio 3 , such as the World Premiere of Skalkottas’ Piano Concert no 2 in 1954, the European premiere of Prokofiev’s Piano concerto no 2 in 1956 and the European premiere of Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues in 1970 and premieres of younger British composers including Alan Bush, James Iliff and Aubrey Bowman and many others. Because of her great contribution to the support of contemporary music in this country, we are proud to commission a work from such a distinguished member of the Jewish community.
Anniversary Fanfare for Solo Shofar, Shofar Chorus and Instrumental
Ensemble
Malcolm Miller
Prologue - Fanfare
I Persecution II Immigration III Struggle IV Tradition V Emancipation VI Assimilation – Cadenza VII Celebration
Epilogue - Fanfare
The shofar, the only biblical instrument still in current use, is traditionally blown on the Jewish New Year and on major public occasion and it seems appropriate to mark the 350 th Anniversary of Jews in Britain with its powerful, distinctive sound. I have aimed to reflect both the lyrical as well as signalling aspects of this instrument in this concertino-like work. The framing Fanfares are drawn from the traditional calls: T’kiah, a single sustained blast, Shevarim, three shorter calls, and Teruah, the rapid staccato pattern of nine or more notes. The seven titled sections attempt to characterize aspects of Anglo-Jewish history to mark its sevenfold fifty-year Jubilee. Each varied mood is evoked though the shofar’s lyrical capability and the transformation of the traditional motifs in a variety of contemporary idioms, chromatic (I & V), atonal – textural (III). There are allusions to Ladino (II) and Klezmer (- VII) styles as well as to some familiar British themes (Cadenza - VI). The central section IV is a tuneful fantasy on contemporary Anglo-Jewish cantillation motifs derived from an ancient source. Malcolm Miller © 2006
Gwendolen
Burton, soprano
Gwendolen is a freelance singer based in London, where she is in demand as
a recitalist, soprano soloist and cantorial soloist. This year, Gwendolen made
her US debut – a solo recital in New York , just “off Broadway” – and
has previously given concerts in Israel and in Argentina . She has performed
leading roles in Carmina Burana, Dido and Aeneas, the Merry Wives of Windsor
and Ruddigore, has made several recordings and has broadcast with the BBC.
She also runs a private teaching practice and has given voice coaching to choral
singers, working with a conductor and an accompanist to create a workshop for
choir members. Gwendolen has studied at Cambridge , at LCM and GSMD with Amanda
Thane, and more recently with Richard Jackson, Sally Bradshaw and Jennifer
Daikin. As a YIVO Institute scholar, she studied Yiddish at Columbia University
, New York and, in her spare time, runs a Yiddish group for residents at Nightingale
House.
Eliot
Alderman, Tenor
Eliot trained to Postgraduate level at the Guildhall School of Music, following
a first degree in Physics at Cambridge University . His opera credits include
Don Basilio Le Nozze di Figaro and Scaramuccio Ariadne auf Naxos ,
and recently Monsieur Triquet Eugene Onegin for British Opera, as well
as numerous oratorio and concert performances, and wide professional experience
in his previous life as a baritone, including the creation of several opera
roles. He is also an active conductor, directing several choral groups in the
London area, and is the Assistant Musical Director of the London Jewish Male
Choir. Eliot studied chazanut (the Jewish cantorial tradition) at the Tel-Aviv
Cantorial Institute with Naftali Herstik and Raymond Goldstein of the Jerusalem
Great Synagogue, as well as privately with Moshe Haschel of St. John’s
Wood Synagogue and with Richard Rosten. He is regularly in demand as a synagogue
cantor.
Benjamin
Seifert, baritone
Benjamin Seifert studied Modern Languages at St Peter’s College Oxford,
and has recently completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Music where
he was a postgraduate student of David Maxwell Anderson and Audrey Hyland.
In 2004 he was a soloist in ENO’s For the Public Good. He made
his debuts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Seter’s Sabbath Cantata and
at the Wigmore Hall in London Voices. He has performed with British
Youth Opera and Opera Holland Park . Recent operatic roles include Colas in Bastien & Bastienne and
Zaretsky in Opera by Definition’s production of Eugene Onegin.
In September he sung the role of Harlekin in a concert performance of Ariadne
auf Naxos at the Windsor Festival. Oratorio work includes Fauré’s
Requiem, Mozart’s C Minor Mass and Handel’s Dixit Dominus. Benjamin
is grateful to the Sir Richard Stapley Memorial Trust, the Mercers’ and
Haberdashers’ Companies for their support.
Nathan Isaac - She Walks in beauty (Eliot) - 2' or If
that high world (Eliot) - 2'
Cowen, F - Serenade (Eliot) - 2'
Cowen, F - At the mid hour of night (Ben) - 2' or
Somewhere (Ben) - 2'
Finzi - ?(Ben) - 2'
Knapp - Chess (Eliot or Gwendolen) - 2'
Wolf - Come buy, come buy (Gwendolen) - 2'
Benedict - I come, I come, my heart's delight
(Ben.Gwendolen) (2')
Greenbaum - Song of Songs - (18') - Gwendolen and orchestra Miller - Shofar
piece - 8'
Interval
Sullivan - Oh is there not one maiden breast/Avu iz do
a Meydl Sheyn (Gwendolen/Eliot/Chorus) - 5'
Sullivan - Poor Wandering One (Gwendolen and Chorus) - 4'
Sullivan - When a felon's not engaged (Ben and chorus) - 2' 14''
Alman - Baritone aria - 3'??
Alman - Tenor aria - 5'
Alman - Trio, act 1 (Eliot, Ben, Gwendolen) - 9'
Alman - Choral Scene (Ben, Eliot, Chorus) - 10'
The Zemel Choir
The Zemel Choir is the UK ’s leading mixed-voice Jewish Choir. In
the fifty years since its creation it has performed in major venues throughout
the UK and overseas, appeared on television and radio, and made a number of
acclaimed recordings. Recent UK performances have included concerts at the
Queen Elizabeth Hall and St John’s Smith Square , while overseas tours
have taken the choir to the USA , Canada , Israel and Eastern Europe . Dedicated
to cross-community music-making, it has performed in concerts at venues including
Jewish Music Institute events in Cantgerbury and St Paul ’s Cathedrals,
York Minster and Westminster Abbey. The Zemel Choir has participated in a special
edition of Radio 4’s Sunday Worship. The choir performs a wide variety
of repertoire, both Jewish and non-Jewish, drawing on the rich cultural history
of both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, singing in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and
English.
The Wallace Ensemble chamber orchestra
The Wallace Ensemble is a young, professional chamber orchestra. It has
performed regularly in and around Central London , with recent concerts taking
place at St James' Church, Piccadilly. These have included a Composition Prize,
a Schools Concert and two concerts focussing on works with a Jewish connection.
The orchestra was founded in 2001 by Benjamin Wolf, Andrew Morley and Hazel
Cropper, then conducting students at Trinity College of Music. It has performed
for Sir Malcolm Arnold's 80th birthday and for the Savile Summer Prom, and
also in a number of concerts at Regent Hall ( Oxford St ) and Charlton House.
It has continually sought to promote the cause of young soloists, many of whom
have gone on to successful professional performing careers. Both Andrew Morley
and Benjamin Wolf have written works for the orchestra. Wolf's first piano
concerto (L'Chaim), financed by a JMI Millennium Award, was performed
by the Wallace Ensemble, and the pianist Charles Owen, in November 2003.
Benjamin
Wolf conductorBenjamin Wolf studied at Classics at University College , Oxford , and Conducting and Composition at Trinity College of Music, London . He has conducted for the BBC Proms, and participated in masterclasses with the BBC Singers, the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Lithuania. He is co-founder/conductor of the Wallace Ensemble, a young professional orchestra, as well as Musical Director of the Zemel Choir and conductor of the Norwood Green Singers and the Rushmoor Choir. A keen participant in Jewish music, he sings as cantor at Belsize Square Synagogue, and is choirmaster at Hendon Reform Synagogue. He regularly conducts the Quorum Chamber Choir, with whom he recorded a CD in 2003. As composer, he has written works for the Zemel Choir, and also a piano concerto based on Jewish themes, first performed thanks to a grant from the JMI Millennium Award Scheme by the Wallace Ensemble in November 2003. Ben performs as solo pianist and accompanist, including recent performances of Jewish Art Song with mezzo-soprano Ruti Halvani.
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