The department of performing arts
at University College Chester
presents Note-ability

22nd November 7.30pm
in The Chapel, University College Chester

Programme

Cantate domino - Giuseppe Pitoni  

Oculi omnium - Charles Wood
O magnum mysterium - Morten Lauridsen

Beati quorum via - Charles Villiers Stanford
Justorum animae - Charles Villiers Stanford
Coelos ascendit - Charles Villiers Stanford

Techno Mass - Robert Wilsmore
Kyrie eleison
Agnus dei
Sanctus
Little child pray
Alleluia

Interval

Little David play on yo' harp - arr. Malcolm Sargent
Steal Away - arr. Bob Chilcott
All my trials - arr. Norman Luboff
Plenty good room - Kirkby Shaw

Name that tune - Grayston Ives

Smoke gets in your eyes - arr. David Blackwel
When I fall in love - arr. John Doe
Tequila samba - Guy Turner

Encore: Let's do it - arr. David Blackwell

Note-ability

Soprano: Abigail Bennett, Sam Cocking, Lucy Copeland, Anita French
Alto: Julie Boultby (guest), Anne Constantine, Rebecca Goldring (guest), Kerry Hind
Tenor: James Allen, Nick Cartmell, Adrian Juffs, Robert Wilsmore
Bass:  Simon Cunnington, Malcolm Cocking, Peter Johnston, Mark Ramsey

Musical Director: Caroline Palmer

This was one of our best and most enjoyable concerts of the last few years.

Program notes for ‘Techno Mass’:
Taking freely from the forms of the traditional Mass and using compositional devices normally associated with computer produced trance music, these five pieces are a short contemplation on spirituality at the turn of the 21st Century.  The musical material does not develop, instead the listener is placed somewhere between minimalism and the spiritual dance floor. In ‘Kyrie Eleison’, the choir, backed by computer drum programming, is divided into left and right groups with simple polyrhythms bounced from left to right. ‘Agnus Dei’ was originally written as an electronic composition for the wedding of Simon and Michelle Piasecki using a sample from Puccini’s La Boheme. As with ‘Little child’, ‘Agnus Dei’ explores sampled dance music in slow motion. A small, exquisite melodic extract is placed on a pedestal and turned around slowly, as if it were a jewel exhibited in a museum. The ‘Sanctus’ uses a sample of Mozart’s Don Giovani, and explores the technique of building to a point and then letting go in full glory. ‘Little Child’ was written for a young Adam Essex, and presents, as if it were a slow sampled loop, a fragile and contemplative prayer for peace. The final piece in the short mass is ‘Alleluia’, composed in collaboration with Chris Armitage. At 7 minutes this is the longest and most demanding work on the singers. As with the ‘Kyrie’, the polyrhythms are bounced between left and right choirs in time with the drum programming. [Robert Wilsmore]