Saturday 4 December 7 pm

St. Philip’s Cathedral

Birmingham Bach Choir

Conductor: Paul Spicer

Organist: Callum Alger

Soloists from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire:

Soprano: Isabella Abbot Parker

Mezzo: Hope Pugh

Tenor: Timothy Burton

Baritone: Alex Pratley

Vaughan Williams - O Clap your hands

Leighton - Give me the wings of faith

Walton - Set me as a seal

David Bednall - The Dear Bargain (premiere)

Britten - Rejoice in the Lamb

Dvorak - Mass in D

Ticket prices:

 Central Nave: £18 (concessions £16)

 Nave Aisles or Gallery £14

Students/children only available on the door at £6

BUY TICKETS HERE

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Select Seat Area/Price

Central Nave £18.00 GBP Central Nave Concession £16.00 GBP Side Nave or Gallery £13.00 GBP

If you have any problems ordering tickets online please email our Ticket Officer here.

Please note: seats are not allocated prior to the concert. You choose your seat on arrival*

If you purchase Nave Aisles or Gallery you have a choice of seating in either of these areas. Please be aware that some seats in the Aisles & Gallery have restricted views.

* If new Covid restrictions are introduced choice of seating may be more restricted.

We are keen to perform the programme as specified but due to the changing pandemic situation we may have to make changes nearer the time.

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David Bednall

David Bednall is recognized as one of the leading choral composers of his generation. He studied for a PhD in Composition with Professor John Pickard at the University of Bristol and is signed to Oxford University Press. He combines this with an extensive career as organist, conductor, and lecturer.

He won prizes in Improvisation and Performance at the examination for FRCO and a CD of improvisations with Malcolm Archer received excellent reviews. His teachers included Dr. Naji Hakim and David Briggs. He has improvised on live radio, and performed extensively in the UK and abroad, including a recital at Notre-Dame de Paris. He appeared as stunt-organist on Dr Who.

His compositions are widely performed, broadcast on Radio 3, 4, and Classic FM. www.davidbednall.com

Inspiration Behind The Dear Bargain

As ever when writing choral music, the text is the primary inspiration – many have said it, but it is always important to remember that the words came first and therefore must be respected and given crucial importance. There are many approaches to this of course, but for me this means a careful attention to not only the broad and specific meanings and mood, but also the stress and emphasis of different words. This is important not only on a small scale (to ensure they are correctly heard and in a natural rhythm), but also on a larger scale in that the length of time spent on sections of the poem and the treatment of them will inevitably produce some feeling of the importance of various themes in the text – this will require the composer’s interpretation of course and reflect something of their own views.

The planning of the setting in this regard is important as well – I start by writing out the text by hand and then deciding on various aspects of its structure. Musical considerations and textural ones hopefully work together here – points of climax for example. These should come obviously at important points in the text, but also at points where they are needed musically and the thrill of a melisma will be apposite the mood of the poem. Variety of musical texture is also important and so I try and decide where this might be needed, i.e. an unaccompanied moment, full choir and organ, a unison line, a solo, or imitation. This should of course be secondary to the text, but hopefully the two will be felt to be a natural partnership. It is a cliché but a true one to say that a good setting should bring out the natural hidden music of the poem, and in a good setting I find it hard to ever ‘un–hear’ an admired musical line behind the poem. I tend to compose ‘inspirationally’ rather than ‘systematically’; by that I mean I respond to the lines of the poem rather than making them fit into any pre–ordained musical material. I also generally work from the beginning to the end (not as standard as it might sound!) but this will often mean that certain moments have already taken shape in the mind so that they can be alluded to beforehand (the introduction being a case in point).

Particular images struck me on first reading this text many years ago – the opening, ‘should mankind dwell in the deep hell’, ‘Let him go weep’, ‘Still would the youthful spirits sing’, and most powerfully of all ‘Why should the white Lamb’s bosom write The purple name Of my sin’s shame?’. These moments become landmarks in a way – Gerald Finzi once said that he never set a poem where there wasn’t one moment which he immediately set in his head on first reading, and this was certainly the case for me here.

My job then is to try and create music which fits and ideally expands the text – within a coherent language this will involve tension and relaxation, darkness and light, richness and sparseness, and moments where the music can soar and relish certain words. In a poem of this length it didn’t seem appropriate to have too much textural repetition (the final ‘Amen’ being the exception) and I also decided to set the poem in its entirety. This has its challenges as there are a number of moments where similar ideas are stated at length, but my hope is that the musical variety and contrasts ensures that it remains fresh and arresting – here the listener must of course be the judge! I was also keen that the chorus should enjoy their work, with lines and parts which, whilst most importantly creating the ‘whole’, should be enjoyable on their own terms and provide interest and variety, an occasional challenge, but nothing which would be unreasonably difficult or tough to sing. Again, the choir will be the judge of this.

It has been an immense pleasure and also a challenge to work on this beautiful text and I hope that it has given enjoyment to the performers – I was also keen to write a work which did not present immense difficulties and which might find use in the future in other performances; one of the great sadnesses for me are the large libraries of works which perhaps only saw the light once and then for worse (or possibly better!) never re–emerged again. Here of course the composer must take responsibility and I hope that I have done justice to this poem and as importantly, introduced it to a new audience.

DB March 2020

19 December 2021 at 3.30pm

 St Alban the Martyr, Highgate, Birmingham

A beautiful service of nine readings and carols performed by Birmingham Bach Choir.

Conductor: Paul Spicer

Organist: Paul Carr

Programme to be announced shortly

No tickets are needed. All are invited to take a break from the hubbub of Christmas and chill in the serenity of the church and music.

2 April 2022  7 pm

St Philip’s Cathedral

Birmingham Bach Choir

Conductor: Paul Spicer

Organist: Martyn Rawles

Trumpeter: tba

A beautiful programme for remembering

Vaughan Williams:
Lord, thou hast been our refuge

Prayer to the Father of Heaven

Five Mystical Songs

Holst:                         
Turn back O Man

Spicer:                       
Sound the Invisible Trumps (Premiere)

Finale from Suite for Organ

Parry:
Blest Pair of Sirens

Ticket prices:

 Central Nave: £18 (concessions £16)

 Nave Aisles or Gallery £14

Tickets will be on sale here from 1 November

Background to Sound The Invisible Trumps:

This new work was commissioned by the choir during the pandemic having been generously funded by our past President, the late Pauline Round in her will.

It stands as a testament to this very moment in time of pandemic crisis and to Pauline’s close relationship with us.

Each movement uses a different poem for the libretto (including anonymous texts from the 12th century,  the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, Walter de la Mare, and Pauline Round).

The title, Sound the Invisible Trumps is from the poem by Walter de la Mare.

 Paul says of the work:… "it is essentially a ‘darkness to light’ theme with the pandemic as the backdrop.

     A very big and satisfying job resulting in 7 movements and 23 minutes of music.

     I am particularly happy with the final movement which really dances its way through and should be quite exciting.

     These quick, upbeat movements are always the hardest to do and it was very important that this one should be a complete release from all that has gone before.

     Pauline is the overall dedicatee of course, and I am very pleased to have been able to use two of her poems.

     These are what I call the ‘sorbet’ courses between bigger, fully-fledged pieces. They are both unaccompanied."

Mike Lloyd is the sub-dedicatee of the second movement, husband to Merryn, soprano, and close friend of the Choir, who tragically did not survive the covid virus.