STANDING OVATION FOR WORLD PREMIERE PERFORMANCE

The Angel of Mons world premiere was a resounding success on Saturday night. A capacity crowd and standing ovation proved to me that the new work captures the spirit of the WWI centenary. The players and singers were all so gifted and showed so much goodwill - a huge thank you to everyone involved!

Sopranos: Elizabeth Adams, Harriet Astbury, Shona Astbury, Emily Wilsea

Altos: Nick Robinson, Emma Wragg, Chlöe Pardoe, Hilary Punnett

Tenor: Cameron Richardson-Eames, Martin Pickering, Mark Wilde

Bass: Johnnie Riches, Padraig Staunton, Tim Emberson, Sachin Gunga

Orchestra: Caroline Siriwardena, Clare Bhabra, Kerry-Ann Geary, Hazel Parkes, Sara Chambers, Cassandra Hodgson, Deirdre Bencsik, Glenis Malkin, Ayse Osman, Hugh Webb

Below is a review of the night written my Maxine Adams:

Standing Ovation for World Premiere Performance

The Angel of Mons by Grimsby-born composer Patrick Hawes was received with a standing ovation by a capacity audience at its world premiere performance. The concert at St Michael & All Angels Church Edenham took place on August 23rd 2014, exactly one hundred years since the episode which has inspired its creation.

Much has been documented about the evening of August 23rd 1914, when, during fierce fighting, the Lincolnshire Regiment were among many men to see an Angel-like apparition in the sky and hear a man’s voice commanding them to “Go back, go back.” This event has become known as “The Angel of Mons” and is the only recorded “supernatural” event of the war. Patrick Hawes and his brother Andrew Hawes, librettist, have worked on the assumption that there was an Angel and “understood its intervention to be evidence of God’s pity for his children…”

The Angel of Mons, which formed the second half of the concert, is scored for soprano soloist, choir, strings and harp, and tells the story in six movements, from the optimistic march to Mons, the appearance of the Angel, through to the anxious wait of those left at home. Andrew Hawes’ words capture perfectly the gradual darkening of mood as the men, led off to “fight heroically” become “broken scattered, leaderless and lost”. The Angel is set apart, singing words based on scripture.

Patrick Hawes’ music took the listener on an emotional journey at the end of which it was impossible to remain unaffected. The relentless and sinister beat of the opening march For King and Country gave way to the intimate scoring of Angel’s Charge - a delicate interplay between solo violin and soprano soloist - the Angel. The terrifying March to Mons was dramatically depicted by the full forces of choir and orchestra. There were moments of exquisite beauty in Out of the Depths as the Angel’s voice soared above the choir. Perhaps the most moving section of all was the final movement Let Them Give Thanks Whom The Lord Has Redeemed - the simultaneous singing of Psalm 107 by men’s voices, along with the well known hymn tune Glory to Thee my God, this night, sung by high voices, as the women waited anxiously at home, alone.

Specially formed for the performance, the Edenham Festival Consort was made up of singers and players from around the region, including students from Birmingham Conservatoire and Trinity College Cambridge. The choir sang with a professionalism all the more impressive as they had only come together three days before the concert. The small and extremely able string orchestra was led by Caroline Siriwardena, and special mention must go to harpist Hugh Webb who played such a pivotal role throughout. Soloists were Grace Davidson (soprano), who sang the role of the Angel with breathtaking beauty, Mark Wilde (tenor) and Martin Pickering (baritone) who gave moving performances during the first half of the concert.

In his introduction, Patrick Hawes explained to the audience that he had failed to find a larger stage for the first performance of The Angel of Mons, hence the decision to hold the concert at Edenham. As the last notes drifted away, there was a lengthy, eloquent silence. Judging by the applause and standing ovation that followed, the audience at Edenham felt themselves privileged to have been part of this world premiere performance. 

IN CONVERSATION WITH…..PATRICK HAWES

The WWI Centenary Partnership recently interviewed me about my works connected to The Great War and you can see my interview either by being a member of the partnership and clicking HERE to link to their website:

OR 

if you're not a member you can click HERE and use this link to see a copy.

Tickets for the WORLD PREMIERE concert of The Angel of Mons on 23rd August 2014 can be purchase HERE.

THE ANGEL OF MONS

On my album Angel there is a track called Out Of The Depths.  This is an excerpt from a larger work called The Angel of Mons and I am writing this blog as the piece is nearing completion.  

Yesterday there was a large article in the Telegraph about 'myths' surrounding the war - I did not even bother to read it because I am well aware of what the doubters say and the elaborate explanations they give to 'prove' that the apparition could not have appeared.  To them I say it is far easier not to believe than to believe.  What would the writer of yesterday's article say if confronted face-to-face by a soldier who fought in the battle of Mons and actually witnessed the angel?  To me, it is entirely feasible that an angel of God should appear at a time of such crisis in the history of mankind.  

While writing this work I have come to feel great empathy with the innocent young men who, on the one hand, were keen to fight for King and Country, and on the other, had no idea whatsoever of the horrors that were to befall them.  My brother's libretto perfectly capture the spirit of optimism which soon became discoloured during the march to Mons; the use of the psalms is a perfect way of connecting with the prayers of both those who fought and those who waited anxiously at home.  

As well as Out Of The Depths the soprano soloist has two other solos - Angel's Charge and Angel's Lament.  One of these is accompanied by solo violin the other by string quartet, and both rely on plainsong.  It is important that the angel is set apart from the rest of the performers, singing words entirely based on scripture.  

I am so looking forward to the premiere on 23rd August which will be the exact centenary of the apparition.  The concert is taking place at my brother's church in Lincolnshire and all profits will go to the Royal Anglian Regiment Benevolent Charity.

The Angel of Mons concert is on 23rd August 2014 at 7:30pm in St Michael & All Angels Church, Edenham (nr. Bourne), Lincolnshire, PE10 0LS.

Tickets priced at £20, £15 and £10 are available by clicking here.

LECTURE AND CONCERT

Well, it's been a busy few days!

Last week I delivered my lecture to the Temenos Academy (Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales).  Entitled 'The Emperor's New Clothes: A Vision of British Music in the 21st Century', I outlined where I think our nation's music is headed and where it needs to go, covering some very contentious issues along the way!!!  The transcript and audio recording will be available soon.

Then it was on to the beautiful Romsey Abbey to rehearse and conduct the Winchester Consort in a repeat of the sensational concert we gave in Winchester Cathedral a couple of years ago.  The concert was part of a the Romsey Festival and we had a really lovely programme of music: Vaughan Williams, Harris, Parry and a few of my works including The Twenty-Third Psalm, Out of the Depths and Song of Songs.  The consort sounded as fantastic as always.

BBC RADIO 3 - IN TUNE

Really enjoyed chatting to Suzy Klein on BBC Radio 3's In Tune programme yesterday.

Recorded in the main BBC Radio Broadcasting House, I was there to talk about the inspiration behind my new work 'Eventide: In Memoriam Edith Cavell' which is to be premiered in Norwich Cathedral on 12th July 2014.

We also discussed another premiere I have coming up connected with the First World War;  The Angel of Mons will be premiered in my brother's church in Edenham Lincolnshire, and they played an excerpt from it Out of the Depths which also appeared on my album Angel.

So lots happening and we had lots to talk about about!

Tickets for The Angel of Mons are now on sale at www.eventbrite.co.uk

SONGS FOR REMEMBRANCE

Do you sing in a choir?

Is your choir looking for new repertoire to mark the centenary of the First World War? 

Why not use some of these new works that I've written for various choirs, and be amongst the first choirs to perform the works after their premieres?

Click HERE for an interactive version of the advert to see the scores or hear excerpts of the music.

THE BIG DAY - ANGEL AT ST JOHN'S SMITH SQUARE

I got home late last night from London after an amazing few days.  We stayed very near to St John's Smith Square and I came to realise what a fantastic part of London this is. The weather was amazing on Sunday evening and it was great to feel like a tourist walking over Westminster Bridge past the London Eye and back through Whitehall.  We took the picture below of me outside St John's during our walk when we had a quick look around ahead of the big day.

Me outside St John's the night before the concert

Then came the day of the concert!  There was so much to do and I was lucky I could take a back seat from this as my manager Andy Berry took care of everything so I could focus on the music - getting the tea and coffee ready for the performers during the rehearsal, making sure that the risers on stage were out and at the right height, that seats and stands were in the right place and making sure everyone had their music etc etc.

In all we had five hours of rehearsals - Edward Higginbottom polished the choir-only items and then the orchestra arrived with the soloist singers.  The rehearsals ended with Clio Gould playing 'Angel Song' which left us all in a wonderfully mellow mood ahead of the concert.  

Then the audience started to arrive with lots of people buying tickets on the door and the hall was almost full.  As I walked on to the stage I could see a mass of faces and this really fired me up.  It was great to see some of the Classic FM team there including John Suchet, Jane Jones and Margherita Taylor.

L-R: John Suchet, me, Jane Jones

Every single item went according to plan and I couldn't have asked any more from the performers with wonderful solos by Nick Pritchard (tenor) and Grace Davidson (soprano).  The final cadence of Handel's 'Let their celestial concerts all unite' from Samson was nothing short of electric and sparked off rapturous applause.  For me to conduct such wonderful music by my absolute hero George Frideric Handel alongside my own music with world-class performers is an experience I will never forget.  Thank you to all who took part and thank you too to the warm appreciative audience.  

Taking a bow: Me with the RPO, Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom, Nick Pritchard (tenor) and Grace Davidson (soprano)