Programme - Hitchin Thespians

PART 1
1. ‘Magnificat’ – G. B. Pergolesi (1710-1736)
Soloists: Jane Homer - Soprano; Lucy Miller-White - Alto; Richard
Cowling - Tenor; Michael Steele - Bass.
To celebrate the 300 th anniversary of the birth of Pergolesi we begin
tonight’s concert with a performance of his ‘Magnificat’. Pergolesi’s life
and the history of his ‘Magnificat’ remain a mystery. He was born in
Ancona and studied with Durante and Feo the leading composers in the
Neapolitan School founded by Alessandro Scarlatti. Pergolesi became an
accomplished organist and composer of Opera Buffa as well as sacred
music. He died tragically early from tuberculosis. Musicologists have
often considered the ‘Magnificat’ to be the work of Francesco Durante
(1684-1755) but there appears to be sufficient evidence to suggest that it
is indeed the work of Pergolesi. The work is divided into 6 short
movements: ‘Magnificat’ (chorus); ‘Et Misericordia’ (soprano and alto
solos with chorus); ‘Deposuit potentes’ (chorus), ‘Suscepit Israel’ (tenor
and bass duet); ‘Sicut Locutus Est’ (chorus) and ‘Sicut erat in principio’
(chorus). The first and last choruses share the same music – a traditional
compositional device reflecting the text ‘as it was in the beginning’ and
both use a theme based on the plainsong Magnificat Tone 1 also used by
Montiverdi in his setting of the same text. The whole work is full of
simple beauty, charm and melodic interest.
2. Three Solo Songs:
a) ‘O Ravishing Delight’ – T. Arne
Soloist : Lucy Miller-White
From the Opera ‘The Judgement of Paris’ (1742), text by Congreve,
music composed by Arne when he was House Composer at Drury Lane,
this arrangement is by William H. Summings.
b) ‘Mad Bess’ – H. Purcell
Soloist: Jane Homer
Realised by Benjamin Britten.