LONDON ORIANA CHOIR OPENS 2018/2019
SEASON AT SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL WITH BACH AND LEADING SUFFRAGETTE COMPOSER ETHEL
SMYTH
· Concert at Southwark Cathedral on
Saturday 3rd, November
· Pre-concert talk by Dr Christopher
Wiley from the University of Surrey on the extraordinary life of Dame Ethel
Smyth
· Continues the choir’s commitment to
championing the work of women composers under its five15 initiative
For its first concert of the 2018/19 season, the London Oriana Choir is pairing
two major choral works written more than a hundred and fifty years apart under
compellingly different circumstances, the Magnificat by J S Bach and Mass in D
by Ethel Smyth.
First
performed in Leipzig in 1733, the Magnificat in D is one of Bach's most popular
vocal works, written when the composer was Kantor at the Thomasshule in the
city. On the other hand, Ethel Smyth had to contend with opposition from her
father to pursue a career in music, ultimately becoming a prolific composer,
writing chamber music, choral works and opera, as well as orchestral, piano and
vocal pieces.
Born
in Kent in 1858, Ethel Smyth was a remarkable woman who lived a rich and varied
life in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of
the 20th. She also spent time in Leipzig, studying at the University
where she met Tchaikovsky, Dvořák,
and Grieg. She lived through some of the most turbulent times with regards to
women’s rights and was herself a leading suffragette, giving up music for two
years to devote herself to the cause. She was the first woman to have an opera
performed at Covent Garden in 1902 and at the New York Met in 1903 – it was
more than another 100 years before other female composers could claim this
honour. In recognition of her work as a composer and writer, Smyth was made a
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1922, becoming the
first female composer to be awarded a damehood.
“By
performing the rarely-heard Ethel Smyth Mass alongside the Bach Magnificat, we
are continuing our commitment to bringing the work of women composers to a
wider audience as part of our five15 initiative”, said Dominic Ellis-Peckham, musical
director of the London Oriana Choir. “It is a beautiful and sensitive setting
of the Mass text, while at the same time full of energetic writing. We are very
thrilled to be giving a prominent spotlight marvellous piece and hope that our
continued and passionate attention to the work of women composers results in
equality for all composers, regardless of gender.”
The
concert will take place at Southwark Cathedral at 7.30pm on Saturday 3rd
November, together with the Meridian Sinfonia. There is also
a pre-concert talk from 6.45pm to 7pm on the extraordinary life of Ethel Smyth
by the renowned expert Dr Christopher Wiley from the University of Surrey.
Tickets are available from www.londonoriana.com