Seven Deadly Sins Programme

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seven deadly sins

PROGRAMME

Frank Martin: Mass for Double Choir – Kyrie

GREED

Ravel: Nicolette
Poulenc: Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence – No 1. Timor et Tremor
PRIDE
Passereau: Il est bel et bon
Mel Bonis: Ave verum corpus
ENVY
Alex Watson: On Envy*
Poulenc: Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence – No 2. Vinea mea electa
GLUTTONY
Messiaen: O Sacrum Convivium
Poulenc: Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence – No 3. Tenebrae factae sunt
SLOTH
Saint-Saens: Calme des Nuits
Debussy: Quand j'ai ouy le tambourin
Poulenc: Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence – 4. Tristis est anima mea
LUST
Lassus: Il estoit une religieuse
Stravinsky: Ave Maria
Stravinsky: Pater noster
Debussy: Dieu! Qu’il la fait bon regarder!
Lassus: Timor et Tremor
WRATH
Sophie Nolan: Ira Vos Totos Consumet*
Frank Martin: Mass for Double Choir - Agnus Dei

*RNCM Composition Student Commission

Programme Notes

Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.

Join Kantos for a sumptuous feast of musical transgression, choral indulgence, and heart-wrenching pleas for forgiveness.

The performance will feature world premieres from up-and-coming RNCM student composers Sophie Nolan and Alex Watson, and hair-raising cautionary tales that will make you think twice about straying from the straight and narrow...

Frank Martin: Mass for Double Choir – Kyrie

Frank Martin composed his Mass for Double Choir between 1922 and 1926 and it was his only work for unaccompanied choir. It was such a personal work that Martin kept the score hidden in a drawer for forty years, saying that: ‘I did not want it to be performed … I considered it … as being a matter between God and myself. I felt then that an expression of religious feelings should remain secret and removed from public opinion.’

Translation

Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

GREED

maurice Ravel: Nicolette

Completed in 1915, Nicolette is one of Ravel’s Trois Chansons, his only work for unaccompanied choir. He began the composition, set to his own texts, in response to the outbreak of World War I, in which he hoped to be enlisted to fight for France. While he waited, he wrote these three songs in the tradition of 16th century French chansons. In Nicolette, the main theme is followed by three variations; the main theme introduces Nicolette, then follows the wolf, the page and the ugly old man. Different voice parts in the choir portray each character, with the tenors notably using their falsetto voices to represent the gentle page.

Translation

Nicolette, à la vesprée,
S`allait promener au pré,
Cueillir la pâquerette, la jonquille et le muguet.
Toute sautillante, toute guillerette,
Lorgnant ci, là de tous les côtés.

Rencontra vieux loup grognant,
Tout hérissé, l`œil brillant:
"Hé là! ma Nicolette, viens-tu pas chez Mère-Grand?"
A perte d`haleine, s`enfuit Nicolette,
Laissant là cornette et socques blancs.

Rencontra page joli,
Chausses bleues et pourpoint gris:
"Hé là! ma Nicolette, veux-tu pas d`un doux ami?"
Sage, s`en retourna, très lentement, le cœur bien marri.

Rencontra seigneur chenu,
Tors, laid, puant et ventru:
"Hé là! ma Nicolette veux-tu pas tous ces écus?"
Vite fut en ses bras, bonne Nicolette,
Jamais au pré n`est plus revenue.

Nicolette, at twilight,
Went for a walk through the fields,
To pick daisies, daffodils, and lilies of the valley.
Skipping around, completely jolly,
Spying here, there, and everywhere.

She met an old, growling wolf,
On alert, eyes a-sparkle:
"Hey there! Nicolette, my dear, won't you come to Grandmother's house?"
Out of breath, Nicolette fled,
Leaving behind her cornette and white clogs.

She met a cute page,
Blue shoes and grey doublet:
"Hey there! Nicolette dear, wouldn't you like a sweetheart?"
Wisely, she turned around, poor Nicolette,
very slowly, with a contrite heart.

She met an old gentleman,
Twisted, ugly, smelly and pot-bellied:
"Hey there! Nicolette dear, don't you want all this money?"
She ran straight into his arms, good Nicolette,
Never to return to the fields again.

francis Poulenc: Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence – No 1. Timor et tremor

Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence were composed by Poulenc in 1938-39. He wrote these four sacred motets, setting Latin texts for penitence, at different times across these years. The text for the first motet, Timor et Tremor, combines verses from Psalms 54 and 30 whilst the other three motets are based on three responsories for Holy Week. The motets are a showcase of Poulenc’s distinctive choral style, including terraced dynamics, small ‘blocks’ of phrase writing and frequently changing meter.

Translation

Timor et tremor venerunt super me,
et caligo cecidit super me:
miserere mei, Domine, miserere mei,
quoniam in te confidit anima mea.
Exaudi, Deus, deprecationem meam,
quia refugium meum es tu et adjutor fortis.
Domine, invocavi te, non confundar.

Fear and trembling came over me,
and darkness fell over me:
have mercy on me, Lord, have mercy on me,
for my soul trusts in you.
Hear, O God, my prayer,
for you are my refuge and my strong helper.
Lord, I have called upon you, I shall not be confounded.

PRIDE

pierre Passereau: Il est bel et bon

Passereau’s Il est Bel et Bon sees two women gossiping about their husbands and taking pride in the ‘pleasures’ they are finding whilst their husbands feed the chickens. The text is a 16th century French poem that uses birds as an allegory for sex. The clucking sounds of the chickens are heard in the choral lines towards the end of the piece. A very lively and fast-paced song, it is said to have been sung on the streets of Venice.

Translation

Il est bel et bon, commère, mon mari.
Il était deux femmes toutes du pays.
Disanst l'une à l'autre – ‘Avez bon mari?’
Il ne me courrouce, ne me bat aussi.
Il fait le ménage,
Il donne aux poulailles,
Et je prends mon plaisir.
Commère, est-ce pour rire
Quand les poulailles crient:
Petite coquette (co co co co da), qu'est ceci?

He is handsome and good, friend, my husband.
There were two women of the country,
saying to one another: ‘Do you have a good husband?’
He doesn't get angry at me or beat me either.
He does the chores, he feeds the chickens,
and I take my pleasure.
Friend, it is funny when the chickens call out: ‘Co co da’
Little chick, what is this?

Mel Bonis: Ave verum corpus

Mélanie Hélène Bonis, known as Mel Bonis (1858–1937), was a prolific French late-Romantic composer. She wrote more than 300 pieces and attended the Paris Conservatoire, where her teachers included César Franck and her fellow students included Claude Debussy. Saint-Saëns said about Bonis: ‘I never imagined a woman could write such music!’. Ave verum corpus is a prayer about Jesus’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament and the redemption found in suffering for believers.

Translation

Ave, verum corpus natum
de Maria Virgine:
vere passum, immolatum
in cruce pro homine:
cuius latus perforatum
fluxit aqua et sanguine:
esto nobis praegustatum,
in mortis examine.
O Jesu dulcis, O Jesu pie,
O Jesu Fili Mariae.
Miserere mei. Amen.

Hail, true body, born
of the Virgin Mary,
having truly suffered, sacrificed
on the cross for mankind,
from whose pierced side
water and blood flowed:
Be for us a foretaste of the Heavenly banquet
in the trial of death!
O sweet Jesus, O holy Jesus,
O Jesus, son of Mary,
have mercy on me. Amen.

ENVY

Alex Watson: On Envy

For this piece I wanted to achieve quite a simple depiction of the detrimental effect Envy can have on others. Envy by Mary Lamb is a reflection on this emotion through the lens of a beautiful rose tree jealous of the equally beautiful flowers of other plants which lead it to much unnecessary anger and I tried to reflect this by creating a serene harmonic scene which gradually get corrupted with the voices quickly dying out at the end as the rose tree frets. As the tree's positive qualities are mentioned the voices return and the warm harmony returns along with it.

Francis Poulenc: Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence – No 2. Vinea mea electa

Translation

Vinea mea electa, ego te plantavi:
quomodo conversa es in amaritudinem,
ut me crucifigures et Barrabbam dimitteres.
Sepivi te, et lapides elegi ex te,
et ædificavi turrim.

O vineyard, my chosen one. I planted thee.
How is thy sweetness turned into bitterness,
to crucify me and take Barabbas in my place?
I protected thee; I took the hard stones away from thy path,
and built a tower in thy defence.

GLUTTONY

Olivier Messiaen: O Sacrum Convivium

O Sacrum Convivium is an offertory motet for four-part choir, composed and published in 1937. It was commissioned by a clergyman, Abbé Brun. Messiaen never wrote any other sacred compositions that were intended to be used in the liturgy, saying in a letter: ‘I understand completely your desire to renew the liturgy and your horror of recent hymns—which I share! Unfortunately, I believe my music to be much too complex to be of use to you: it can only be played on the piano, on the organ, and above all by an orchestra, and is intended only for an initiated élite. I think it would be unsingable by a congregation and also by young children.’

Throughout O Sacrum Convivium the choir move in homophony with frequently changing time signatures and a slow tempo allowing the text its natural stresses. It’s one of Messiaen’s most well-known works but he said it was not representative of his style.

Translation

O sacrum convivium, in quo Christus sumitur;
recolitur memoria passionis ejus;
mens impletur gratia;
et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur.
Alleluia

O sacred banquet, wherein Christ is received;
the memorial of his passion is renewed;
the soul is filled with grace;
and a pledge of future glory is given to us.
Alleluia

francis Poulenc: Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence – No 3. Tenebrae factae sunt

Translation

Tenebrae factae sunt, dum crucifixissent Jesum Judaei:
et circa horam nonam exclamavit Jesus voce magna:
Deus meus, ut quid me dereliquisti?
Et inclinato capite, emisit spiritum.
Exclamans Jesus voce magna ait: Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum.

Darkness fell when the Jews crucified Jesus:
and about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.
Jesus cried with a loud voice and said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

SLOTH

camille Saint-Saëns: Calme des Nuits

Calme des Nuits is the first of a pair of choruses published in 1883, with the words also written by Saint-Saëns himself. It has long note values and slow harmonic movement, with a soft dynamic almost throughout. In this way, the listener feels suspended in the most still of evenings. Suddenly, in the centre of the piece, a declamation of the ‘bright sun’ is heard loudly and rhythmically faster paced. But shortly afterwards, we return back to the calmness of the opening music which eventually slows and fades into almost nothing to finish.

Translation

Calme des nuits, fraîcheur des soirs,
Vaste scintillement des mondes,
Grand silence des antres noirs
Vous charmez les âmes profondes.
L'éclat du soleil, la gaité,
Le bruit plaisent aux plus futiles;
Le poète seul est hanté
Par l'amour des choses tranquilles.

Stillness of the night, cool of the evening,
Vast shimmering of the spheres,
Great silence of black vaults
Deep thinkers delight in you.
The bright sun, merriment,
And noise amuse the more frivolous;
Only the poet is possessed
By the love of quiet things.

Claude Debussy: Quand j'ai ouy le tambourin

Soloist: Lorna Day

Quand j’ai ouy le tambourin is the second of Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orléans. This song was finished 1908 and the set of songs are his only work for unaccompanied choir. They are settings of the poetry of Charles, Duke of Orléans (1394-1465). In this song, we hear an alto soloist singing a drawn out and ‘sleepy’ melody over the top of the sound of the distant drum which is depicted by the rest of the choir’s percussive ‘la – la – la’ motif.

Translation

Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin
Sonner pour s’en aller au may,
En mon lit n’en ay fait affray
Ne levé mon chef du coissin;
En disant: il est trop matin,
Ung peu je me rendormiray,
Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin
Sonner pour s’en aller au may.
Jeunes gens partent leur butin;
De Nonchaloir m’acointeray,
A lui je m’abutineray;
Trouvé l’ay plus prochain voisin,
Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin!

When I heard the drum
Summoning us to go maying,
I neither leapt from my bed
Nor lifted my head from the pillow.
And I said: it is too early.
I shall sleep a little longer:
When I heard the drum
Summoning us to go maying.
Let the young divide their spoils,
I shall be happy to remain indifferent
And share my spoils with him –
For he was my nearest neighbour,
When I heard the drum beat.

francis Poulenc: Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence – 4. Tristis est anima mea

Soloist: Elspeth Piggott

Translation

Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem:
sustinete hic et vigilate mecum.
Nunc videbitis turbam quæ circumdabit me.
Vos fugam capietis, et ego vadam immolari pro vobis.
Ecce appropinquat hora, et Filius hominis
tradetur in manus peccatorum.

Sorrowful is my soul even unto death.
Stay here, and watch with me.
Now you shall see the mob that will surround me.
You shall take flight, and I shall go to be sacrificed for you.
The time draws near, and the Son of Man
shall be delivered into the hands of sinners.

LUST

Orlande de Lassus: Il estoit une religieuse

This short French chanson, by 16th century Renaissance composer, Lassus, is a secular work with an entertaining story. The song makes clever use of wordplay related to religious language; a nun from the Order of Ave Maria is so enamoured with a Father, that they carry themselves off to bed. There is a double entendre in the joining of the Father and the Hail Mary into one Pater Noster (Our Father). Lassus uses the style of sacred choral writing satirically for extra entertainment in his story-telling chanson.

Translation

Il estoit une religieuse
De l’Ordre de l’Ave Maria
Qui d’un Pater estoit tant amoureuse
Que son gent corps avec le sien lya.
L’abesse vint demandant qu’il y a.
Lors respondirent l’un et l’autre
Le Pater et l’Ave Maria
Sont enfiléz en une Patenostre.

In years gone by there was a holy nun
From the Order of Hail Mary
Whose love for a Father was so wanton
That the two to bed themselves did carry.
What’s up, the Abbess asked, her voice wary.
And they answered, all abother
The Father and the Hail Mary
Are joined together in one Our Father.

igor Stravinsky: Ave Maria

Ave Maria was composed in Paris in 1934. Having grown up with Russian Orthodox faith in his childhood, Stravinsky moved away from religion as a young adult and returned to his faith in his later years. At this time he composed short sacred pieces for unaccompanied choir because the church restricted the use of musical instruments in liturgical works. It is a very simple piece that moves in homophony. Originally written with Slavic text, Stravinsky later composed a Latin text version to publish in the United States when he was struggling to make money after moving there. The original manuscript by Stravinsky was kept by fellow musician Nadia Boulanger.

Translation

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus Christus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Christ.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

igor Stravinsky: Pater noster

Pater Noster is another work written during Stravinsky’s return to faith in his later years; this setting of the prayer ‘Our Father’ was composed in 1926 to commemorate his return to the church. Like the Ave Maria, this work was originally written in Church Slavonic (Otche nash), but later was rearranged to have a Latin text. Shifting time signatures and homophony allow the text to be delivered in a chant like manner.

Translation

Pater noster, qui es in caelis,
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
Adveniat regnum tuum.
Fiat voluntas tua
sicut in caelo et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie,
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo.
Quia tuum est regnum
et potentia et gloria
in sæcula sæculorum
Amen.

Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

claude Debussy: Dieu! Qu’il la fait bon regarder!

Dieu! Qu’il la fait bon regarder! is the first of Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orléans. This song was written in 1898 and is a rich and passionate love song:

Translation

Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder,
La gracieuse bonne et belle;
Pour les grans biens que sont en elle,
Chascun est prest de la louer.
Qui se pourroit d’elle lasser?
Tousjours sa beauté renouvelle.
Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder,
La gracieuse bonne et belle!
Par deça, ne delà, la mer,
Ne scay dame, ne damoiselle
Qui soit en tous biens parfais telle!
C’est un songe d’y penser.
Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder!

Lord! how good to look on her,
The good and fair and gracious lady;
For the high qualities within her,
All are eager to praise her.
Who could ever tire of her?
Her beauty always increases.
Lord! how good to look on her,
The good and fair and gracious lady!
The ocean knows of no woman in any quarter,
Married or single, who is as perfect
As she in every way.
You would never dream of such a thing;
Lord! how good it is to look on her!

orlande di Lassus: Timor et Tremor

The motet, Timor et Tremor, was first printed in 1564. Lassus sets the text in various juxtaposing styles to depict the meaning of the words, which are a combination of Psalms 54 and 30. Most strikingly, the motet ends with a syncopated interplay of the voices on the words ‘non confundar’.

Translation

Fear and trembling came over me,
and darkness fell over me:
have mercy on me, O Lord, have mercy on me,
for my soul trusts in you.
Hear, O God, my prayer,
for you are my refuge and my strong helper.
Lord, I have called upon you, I shall not be confounded.

WRATH

Sophie Nolan: Ira Vos Totos Consumet

Ira Vos Totos Consumet is a piece about wrath, and highlights the hypocrisy of Christian wrath when wrath is one of the seven deadly sins. Imagery of hell, damnation and despair is prevalent throughout, and it is inspired heavily by Dante's Inferno and the Dies Irae from Verdi's Requiem. A saturated harmonic texture, juxtaposition of time signatures and a hyperfocus on the text all contribute to a feeling of unease and mounting tension. A prominent theme is that of those in glass houses not throwing stones, and the wrathful elements of the piece eventually break apart in a shattering climax.

Translation

Ira vos totos consumet
Salva me
Cito appropinquit mundum devorabit
Dies lucis
Dies tribulationis et angustiae
Dies calamitatis et miseriae
Dies tenebrarum et caliginis
Dies nebulae et turbinis
Dies veritatis prope est

Anger consumes you entirely
Save me
It is fast approaching and will devour the world
Day of light
Day of trouble and difficulty
Day of calamity and misery
Day of darkness and gloom
Day of clouds and storms
The day of truth is near

Frank Martin: Mass for Double Choir - Agnus Dei

Translation

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

THE CHOIR

SOPRANOS
Sarah Keirle
Charlotte Laidlaw
Elspeth Piggott
Megan Rickard
Rosa Sparks

ALTOS
Louise Ashdown
Lorna Day
Rachel Gilmore
Phoebe Watts

TENORS
Alistair Donaghue
Alexander Kyle
Robin Morton
Louis de Satgé

BASS
Jonny Hill
Patrick Osborne
Henry Page
Matthew Secombe

THE TEAM

Artistic Director Ellie Slorach
General Director Claire Shercliff
Communications Coordinator Eve Powers
Design Sam Gee

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