The Hannaford Street Silver Band with the Amadeus Choir, Bramwell Tovey And Lydia Adams, Guest Conductors

The Amadeus Choir, Lydia Adams, conductor, performs on Reconciliation,

Requiem for a Charred Skull, and A Thousand Ages
Recorded in Humbercrest United Church June 27-28/01 and
St. Patrick's Church Nov. 13-14/01, Toronto, Canada

The composers, in their own words ....

"AWAKENINGS represents a radical departure from my previous works for Hannaford. It is my most personal work, and novel both in its suggestion of a pro- grammatic theme and in its utilization of non-traditional sounds and techniques. The work 'awakens' with almost inaudi- ble tapping, and eventually reaches a massive fortissimo with full band fortified by antiphonal cornets spaced through- out the hall. At the close, pre-recorded children's voices are heard, leaving the listener unsure whether innocence has been lost or re-found. Much of the musical material for Awakenings was derived from a short piece for violin/viola and piano entitled Chanson pour Evelyne, composed as a birthday present for the daughter of some dear friends. Coincidently, Evelyne's mother is violinist Marie B~rard, soloist in Henry Kucharzyk's Corrall" - J. Scott Irvine

CORRAL (for Michael J. Baker) "A work for Violin and Silver Band may seem an odd pairing at first. I'll confess it was not one that had occurred to me when first proposed, but unlikely combinations can give new perspectives. What started as a plan for a 3 move- ment concerto was transformed by cir- cumstance and necessity into a single movement of simple form that features the violin creating a melodic role that is multiplied and supported by the brass. It was the need to acknowledge the recent passing of my friend and col- league Michael Baker, that finally gave the work its starting point. The piece is inspired by Baker's work, In Paradisum, and while it doesn't quote directly from that multi-movement piece, it uses some similar motives as the basis for it's own development and variation. The title is both a cryptic pun and a recollection of a young boy who traded his pony for his first trumpet." - Henry Kucharzyk

A THOUSAND AGES "When I was a youngster my father used to take me to the Canadian veteran's memorial services for those comrades who had been killed overseas in WW1. One of the hymns they sang was the Anglican hymn, St, Anne,beginning: "O God , our help in ages past." It was a hymn they had sung in church services near the front lines in France and Flanders. It has haunted me ever since, even coming to me in a dream. In my dream there was an echoing and turning of the hymn, sometimes distant, sometimes close, fragmented and bro- ken like ruined remnants of buildings and churches I saw in books as a kid. I want- ed to utilize a taped boy's choir, a men's choir and other material created out of Charles Gray's samplers and other equipment. l imagined sounds outside characters--perhaps ominous--the whole a constant build as in the literal sense of a storm in the distance. Naturally I think of all the destruction before and since that humanity has wrought, but I don't want to create a piece of message music. There are a lot of unrealized ideas- musical ideas- that I must realize. Computers make them fea- sible. I simply feel the need to do it." - Harry Somers

"Harry and I met in the early 90's over tennis and soon discovered a great deal of musical common ground. He was totally open-minded to any approach including the use of electronics, of which I have a great deal. We collaborated on a few projects and had plans for others. Harry mentioned A Thousand Ages about a year before he became ill and again a few days before his death. We discussed the piece a fair bit in those final days, however there were no specifics of the ending discussed except the feeling to be created and that the electronics would take the piece some- place else, taking over from the orches- tra and singers. Brainwell Tovey pre- miered A Thousand Ages in the original orchestral version at the 2000 Winnipeg New Music Festival and the possibility of a brass band version was subsequently suggested. I liked the concept because of the relationship to WW1 - brass/silver bands being the popular music of the day. Barbara Chilcott-Somers approved the idea of the band version. However, this had not been discussed with Harry nor did Harry ever hear any version of my ending. Hopefully, he approves of both!" - Charles Gray

RECONCILIATION for TTBB Chorus and Flugelhorn, a setting from Drum Taps by Walt Whitman, was commissioned for a Remembrance Day concert. The strong emotion of Whitman's text, a reconcilia- tion between a soldier and his dead enemy, is reflected in the stark simplicity of the music. Sombre flugelhorn calls in counterpoint with a choral hymn-like homophony of parallel root position tri- ads builds in intensity to a high climax. This loud penultimate phrase, "touch lightly with my lips", immediately precedes a hushed but peaceful denouement on the final words, 'the white face in the coffin' ." - Stephen Chatman

REQUIEM For A Charred Skull "This setting of the traditional Requiem Mass for the Dead is written for the unusual combination of choir and brass band. The impetus for its composition came from the contemplation of atroci- ties committed during the war in Kosovo and their proximity in time to the new millenium. Two thousand years of Christendom is meaningless to an inno- cent child about to be massacred. The brass band is a devastatingly powerful combination, with a homo- geneity of sound which is surpassed only by the string orchestra in terms of colour and subtlety. Three percussionists are employed on three different tuned instruments -- marimba, vibraphone and glockenspiel., which form the basis of the instrumental accompaniment in the more sotto race passages of the text. No brass instruments are used in the opening Requiem Aetemam. With their entry at the onset of the Dies Irae the full meaning of "Tuba mirum spargens sonum" is implied. Solo voices from the choir are used for the Recordare. The cantabile qualities of the brass are deployed without choir for the Lacrymosa and the yearning, almost hymn-like nature of the movement is related to the traditional text in a very close way. The Qffertorio is for male voic- es and lower brass. The elation of the Sanctus contrasts vividly with the despair of the Agnus De/with its juxtaposition of euphonium and soprano. The final note - Lux..[light] which terminates abruptly is deliberately ambiguous. I was initially reluctant to set the Requiem Mass and searched far and wide for a text that had a comparable dramatic impact. But the Requiem kept coming back to me with its simple, para- doxical message of terror and trust in the final judgement. The questions behind that paradox lie at the heart of this setting." - Bramwell Tovey

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J. SCOTT IRVINE (b. 1953) is a leading tuba player in the Toronto area where he performs with the Canadian Opera Company and Esprit Orchestra. He is also a member of True North Brass, which tours internationally. Irvine's Fantasia (1981/83) and Hannaford Overture (1986) are performed by bands across North America. His most frequently performed composition, Aubade (1988) for trumpet and organ has been issued in versions for cornet and band as well as for trumpet and string orchestra.

HENRY KUCHARZYK (b. 1953) maintains an active career in the forefront of Canadian contemporary music. He has been called "one of Canadian music's explorers" and the over fifty works in his catalogue reflect the variety of his musi- cal interests. His commissions include works for the Toronto Symphony, Nexus, Toronto Dance Theatre, Evergreen Club Gamelan, Piano Circus (UK), Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Esprit Orchestra, Studio Grame (France), the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He has had a long association with ARRAYMUSIC, first as Artistic Director for five years, and currently as its conductor.

HARRY SOMERS, O.C., (1925-1999), was one of Canada's most celebrated musicians. His music includes works for orchestra, choir, voice, instrumental ensemble and piano, as well as music for stage, film and television. His best known work is the opera Louis Riel, com- missioned for performance during Canada's Centennial Year, 1967. Somers described his artistic development thus: "Over the years I've worked consistently on three different levels with three differ- ent approaches to composition. On one level my approach has been what I call 'community music' or 'music for use': For example music for amateurs and music for school use. On a second level I've created 'functional music,' in the specific sense: music for television, films and theatre, where the composi- tion has to work in company with anoth- er medium and serve the demands of that medium. On a third level l have cre- ated without consideration for any limi- tations, sometimes completely experi- mentally, sometimes extending the line of a particular direction on which I had been working through a series of works.

STEPHEN CHATMAN (b. 1950), University of British Columbia Professor of Composition, has been the recipient of a Fulbright Grant, three B.M.I. awards, an M.B. Rockefeller Fund grant, and the Charles Ives Prize as well as commissions from the N.E.A., C.B.C., and The Canada Council. His works are published by Edward B. Marks, Boosey and Hawkes, Joberr, Presser, F. Harris, G.V. Thompson, Jaymar, and E.C. Schirmer, and recorded on C.R.I., C.B.C. Records and Centrediscs. His more than 40 published choral works are performed widely, and his orchestral compositions have been performed by the Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, New World, Winnipeg, Detroit, St. Louis, Berlin, B.B.C., Dallas, San Francisco and Sydney Symphonies.

BRAMWELL TOVEY, (b. 1953), British-born conductor/composer/pianist, became well-known to Canadians during his stellar tenure as Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Revitalizing Winnipeg's musical culture, Tovey pioneered new approachs to the challenge of leading an orchestra and founded the du Maurier New Music Festival, an annual nine-day event which attracted widespread attention and unprecedented popular support. Composers John Corigliano, Arvo Part, Louis Andriessen, Gavin Bryars, Joan Tower, R. Murray Schafer, Aaron J. Kernis and Mark-Anthony Turnage have been among the distinguished international composers who have artended world or North American premieres of their works in Winnipeg. Grammy award win- ning composer John Corigliano has called the WSO's New Music Festival "the greatest music festival in the World." In 1993, Bramwell Tovey was awarded an Honorary Associateship of the Royal Academy of Music, where he was for- merly a student. A thriving conducting career on both sides of the Aftantic has seen Tovey conduct every major orches- tra in Britain and Canada. Bramwell Tovey became Music Director of the' Vancouver Symphony in September 2000.

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REQUIEM For A Charred Skull

Requiem Requiem aeternam dana eis, Domine: Et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, Et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet.

Requiem Grant them rest eternal, Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. There shall be singing unto Thee in Zion, and prayer shall go up to Thee in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer, 0 Lord. Unto Thee all flesh shall come at last.

Requiem aeternam dana eis, Domine: Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Kyrie Eleison.Christe Eleison. Lux ....

Grant them rest eternal, Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Lord have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us.
Dies Irae Dies irae, dies ilia Solvet saeclum in favilla Teste David cum Sibylla Quantas tremor est futurus Quando judex est venturus, Cuncta stricte discussurus

Dies Irae Day of anger, day of mourning. When to ashes all is burning, Seer and Sibyl gave the warning. O what fear man's bosom rendeth, When from Heaven the Judge descen- deth on whose sentence all dependeth!
Tuba mirum spargens sonum Per sepulcra regionum, Coget omnes ante thronum Mars stupebit et natura, Cum resurget creatura, Judicanti responsura

Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth, Through earth's sepulchres it ringeth All before the throne is bringeth. Death with wonder is enchained, When man from the dust regained Stands before the Judge arraigned.
Liber scriptus proferetur

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