Download Celebrations and Remembrance in 2016

ST AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH
Baring Road, Grove Park, SE12 0DX
Celebrations and
Remembrance
in 2016
All Saints, All Souls,
Shakespeare (1616),
The Somme and Dublin (1916)
with
ROBERT MUNNS
International Concert Organist
SALLY MUNNS
Reader
6 p.m.
Sunday 30th October 2016
PROGRAMME
1. William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
From Henry V's Agincourt Speech and the Deo Gracias
a. Agincourt Hymn
attrib. John Dunstable (1390-1453)
b. Passacaglia (Death of Falstaff)
Sir William Walton (1902-1983)
c. Touch her soft lips and part
Sir William Walton
'Richard' - Carol Ann Duffy (b1955) Eulogy at the internment of the
III in Leicester Cathedral on 26th March 2015
d. Elegy from 'Richard III '
body of Richard
Sir William Walton
2. The Somme (1st July-18th November 1916)
from the German Perspective:
From 'Christmas 1914' - Carol Ann Duffy
a. Passion, Op.145 (1916)
Max Reger, (1873-1916)
Reger's short life was shattered because of his Christian faith.
A harmonisation by J.S.Bach of the Chorale 'O Mighty Love' will be
played first.
The Easter Rising, Dublin, 1916
'Hate' (Dublin, 28th April 1916) - James Stephens (1880-1950)
b.
'St Patrick's Breastplate, Op.101/5
Sir C.V. Stanford (1852-1924)
Stanford, born in Dublin, had great influence on future generations
taught at Cambridge and the Royal College
Vaughan
Williams.
of English Composers he
of Music. His students included Herbert Howells and
The Somme from the British Perspective:
'In Flanders Fields' - John McRae (1872-1918)
c. Prelude on Psalm 23, Op.32 (1916)
Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.....
Howells was Assistant Organist at Salisbury Cathedral during World War I and had the tonal
qualities of the 1875 'Father Willis' Organ very much in mind.
3. The Gathering Storm, 1933-39
a. 'Desseins Eternels' (1936)
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
'God in his love has sent his Son, through Jesus Christ, to the glory
of his grace' (St Paul to
France's greatest voice in music of the Twentieth Century was in a
concentration camp in
the Ephesians)
Silesia 1940-41 where he wrote 'Quartet for
very slow
the End of Time' for performance in the camp. This
contemplative movement from 'La Nativité' shows the composer reflecting on what was
to come three years later.
'Holocaust' - Barbara Sonek (1942-2010)
b. Choral Dorien (1938)
Jehan Alain (1911-1940)
The extraordinary heroism of this composer whose action at the
1940 led to him killing 16 enemy troops before
awarded the Croix
Saumur on 20th June
he was killed in a motor cycle ambush. He was
de Guerre posthumously for his bravery and buried by the Germans
military honours. His music is among some of the most original of the 20th century.
w ith fu l l
Anthem for Doomed Youth - Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
4. British music by pupils of Brahms (1833-1897)
a. Christ Redemptor....(1912)
Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918)
The Soldier - Rupert Brooke (1887-1915)
b. 'O Sadness and Bitter Pain' (1891)
Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944)
One of a set of 6 Chorale Preludes by a very great female composer who became notorious in
1913 for her association with the
Suffragette Movement. Her enormous musical output has never
been fully appreciated because she was a lady born at the wrong
quite outstanding.
time. This very short gem is
'Do not stand at my Grave and weep'... Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
5. Acclamations
Acclamations - Christus Vincit! (1949)
Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
Langlais was the blind Titulaire at St Clotilde, Paris, where his predecessors included Franck
and Tournemire. This, the final
movement of his Suite Mediévale should sum up our thoughts and
help us face a somewhat uncertain future in 2016.
Robert Munns has enjoyed a long and satisfying career as a concert organist, conductor and church
musician since his days as a scholarship holder of the Royal Academy of Music. His many subsequent
overseas tours have included performances, master classes and broadcasts on five continents that have
attracted great acclaim.
In England Robert Munns has performed at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts in the Royal Albert
Hall and at the St Alban's Festival, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the Royal Festival Hall.
He was for some years appointed principal organist to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and has also
appeared as guest soloist with the London Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Orchestras.
His many overseas appearances include Washington Cathedral, the Kaiser Wilhelm Church in Berlin, St.
Peter's Cathedral Geneva and the Laurenskirk Rotterdam. Appearances in the East include Hong Kong,
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Adelaide and at the Melbourne International Festival. In 1992 he was the first
British organist in forty-five years to give concerts in Romania following the end of communist rule.
In the United Kingdom, the Royal Academy has honoured him for his services to British music, and
since 1996 he has made yearly concert tours to the United States, which have become major draws in
the organ concert seasons across the continent. Also, as a teacher, he has universal recognition,
numbering several internationally admired organists among his pupils. Since 1994 Robert has given
major workshops and classes in Berlin, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada and the United States.
Among Robert Munns's recordings, ranging from a disc of Rheinberger organ sonatas from Norwich
Cathedral to music by Joseph Jongen and Reger from Southwark Cathedral, is a particularly valuable
recent CD, intriguingly entitled Flying Visits - Around the World in 72 Minutes, containing no fewer
than sixteen pieces by various composers. This was recorded on the organ of St Michael and All
Angels in Croydon. Surrey and is an exceptionally interesting and varied collection of shorter works
from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Although he is now reducing his recital schedule, during the last three years he has performed at King's
College, Cambridge and the Cathedrals of Aberdeen, Blackburn, Carlisle, Chester, Salisbury, Truro,
Winchester, Westminster and Southwark.
Sally Munns has now retired as a performer after a successful and varied career as a singer, although
she remains in demand as a teacher. She is delighted to be joining her husband in tonight's programme.