Monteverdi Vespers
by berberis on Jun.24, 2006, under Choir, Concerts, LCS, Rehearsals
Saturday, 24th June 2006, St Mary’s Church, Lewisham.
Claudio Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers of 1610)
Soprano: Emma Murphy
Countertenor: Magid El-Bushra
Tenors: Tom Raskin, Adam Tunnicliffe
Basses: Patrick Ardagh-Walter, Charles PottSydenham High School Junior Choir (Director: Caroline Lenton-Ward)
Eton Chapel Cornetts and Sackbuts
Cornetti: Nigel Paul, David Staff, Daniel Weitz
Sackbuts: Sue Addison, Tom Hammond, Andrew Harwood-White
Violins: Barbara Barros, Hazel Brooks
Violas: Wendy Kelly, Alexandra Lawrence
Cello: Abigail Wall
Violone: Bill Hunt
Chittaron: Robin Jeffrey
Chamber Organ: Martin KniziaConductor: Stefan Reid
This was interesting. It’s a big score, physically as well as in content. Any sensible person would have cut it in half to make it easier to carry for the duration of the concert. It’s also available in three colours: red – Lauda Jerusalem & Magnificat transposed fown a fouth; blue – Lauda Jerusalem & Magnificat untransposed; green – any other transposition you might desire. Ours was red. Nice and cheerful.
The alto part is all over the place. We start the Domine ad adiuvandum on an A (composers do like this note for altos) and get a high F# towards the end. Promising. But Dixit Dominus sees us on the tenor line, and here we stay until the end. We complained bitterly about this during rehearsals – and during the following AGM, and for some time afterwards – but, to be fair, there are still some interesting things to sing, including Ave maris stella: Hymnus a 8, which has some beautiful harmonies. There is a suspension in bar 37 – the second minim – which I would like to be able to play at the press of a button.
According to the index, this was written for no more than 10 voices. So you can imagine that, with upwards of 140 people, some of the parts were going to be challenging to do well. Even if everyone’s paying attention, things can easily go astray if one person comes in early/late/on the wrong note. Perhaps this was why Stefan decided to divvy up some of the sections to a semi-chorus, for which I volunteered. He further divided the phrases between a couple of voices, and Kate and I got bars 46-53 in the Laudate Pueri a 8.
It went okay – I was a little nervous, but a few nerves are good to stop you getting complacent – so I was very surprised when Stefan approched me after the concert to tell me I should be singing more solos. It was heartening to have my contribution recognised and appreciated.
