Colourise London Choral Sinfonia & Michael Waldron

• Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958): 5 Mystical Songs (Version for Voice, String Orchestra & Piano):
• 1 Williams: 5 Mystical Songs (Version for Voice, String Orchestra & Piano): No. 1, Easter 05:07
• 5 Mystical Songs (Version for Voice, Strings & Piano):
• 2 Williams: 5 Mystical Songs (Version for Voice, Strings & Piano): No. 2, I Got Me Flowers 03:01
• 3 Williams: 5 Mystical Songs (Version for Voice, Strings & Piano): No. 3, Love Bade Me Welcome 05:36
• 4 Williams: 5 Mystical Songs (Version for Voice, Strings & Piano): No. 4, The Call 02:00
• 5 Williams: 5 Mystical Songs (Version for Voice, Strings & Piano): No. 5, Antiphon 03:13
• Lennox Berkeley (1903 – 1989): Variations on a Hymn by Orlando Gibbons, Op. 35:
• 6 Berkeley: Variations on a Hymn by Orlando Gibbons, Op. 35 18:52
• Peter Warlock (1894 – 1930): Capriol Suite (Version for String Orchestra):
• 7 Warlock: Capriol Suite (Version for String Orchestra): No. 1, Basse-danse 01:23
• 8 Warlock: Capriol Suite (Version for String Orchestra): No. 2, Pavane 01:49
• 9 Warlock: Capriol Suite (Version for String Orchestra): No. 3, Tordion 01:02
• 10 Warlock: Capriol Suite (Version for String Orchestra): No. 4, Bransles 01:57
• 11 Warlock: Capriol Suite (Version for String Orchestra): No. 5, Pieds-en-l'air 02:58
• 12 Warlock: Capriol Suite (Version for String Orchestra): No. 6, Mattachins 01:07
• Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending (Arr. P. Drayton for Violin & Choir):
• 13 Williams: The Lark Ascending (Arr. P. Drayton for Violin & Choir) 15:54
• Total Runtime 01:03:59

Info for Colourise

The catalyst for this album came with the chance discovery of a vocal score of Berkeley’s Variations on a Hymn by Orlando Gibbons. Not ever having heard of the piece, I saw the forces it is scored for and thought it fit rather well the remit of the LCS. A little research soon revealed that the piece had never been recorded, nor was there anything of a performance history either. I could tell there was a piece of real merit and substance here, and it most definitely deserved an outing. All this coincided with the arrival of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Planning live performances was impossible but working towards a recording further down the line seemed doable. January 2021 came and we – like so many others – had to cancel the planned recording. By January 2022, the project finally happened. I would like to add my personal thanks to the Lennox Berkeley Society, who have been so helpful and supportive since my very first email to them, not to mention patient as the pandemic forced recording plans to keep being postponed.

Berkeley was not unique in looking to the past for inspiration. Knowing that his Gibbons Variations would require string orchestra, I immediately thought that Warlock’s Capriol Suite might provide a suitable companion on this album. I have fond memories of playing the piano duet version alongside my sister as children. Perhaps unfairly relegated to the realms of school orchestras and amateur groups, the Capriol Suite is a real tour de force and has a surprisingly sparse catalogue of high-level recordings. It is technicolour in each movement’s effects, whilst remaining authentic to the medieval inspiration at its core. The final movement – Mattachins – forever reminds me of the end of Ravel’s La Valse (written six years earlier) as the poise and grace of everything before gradually descends into chaos and self-destruction.

The 5 Mystical Songs of Vaughan Williams need little introduction, and their earlier George Herbert texts provide a continued rhythm alongside the Berkeley and Warlock. I had always thought the songs existed in two versions; one being a full, large-scale orchestrated version and the other being a keyboard reduction of said orchestration for piano and/or organ. The obvious practical implications of both versions put heavy parameters around the number of singers, size of venue etc. Despite their huge popularity, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a version existed for string orchestra and piano (with the chorus and baritone solo parts the same as other versions), created by the composer himself. I was not aware this version existed, and the publisher confirmed that it had never been recorded in this arrangement before. I believe these pieces are Vaughan Williams at his absolute best, and whilst the music does not itself need ‘discovering’, I hope this chamber-orchestra version sheds a new light on it. I also hope this version may provide new opportunities for performances from groups of all shapes and sizes, who may want to perform these pieces with forces larger than just a keyboard instrument, but without the huge resources of the version for symphony orchestra.

Andrew Staples, tenor
Roderick Williams, baritone
Elena Urioste, violin
London Choral Sinfonia
Michael Waldron, conductor

Nick Pritchard
is gaining fast recognition for his performances of the music of Bach and in particular his interpretation of the Evangelist in the Passions. Described as a ‘Masterly Evangelist’ in The Guardian, he has sung the role in Bach’s St John and Matthew Passions around the world and his recording of the St John Passion (Evangelist) for Deutsche Grammophon with Sir John Elliot Gardiner was nominated for a Grammy Award for best Choral Performance (2023). Recent performances of the piece include those with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra at the Concertgebouw under Jonathan Cohen, for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Polyphony and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.

On the concert platform he has performed with Ensemble Pygmalion, Concerto Köln, Les Talens Lyriques, Les Violons du Roy, L’Orchestre du Chambre de Paris, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Concert, Early Opera Company, Philharmonia Orchestra, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Gabrieli Consort, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Early Opera Company and he made his BBC Proms debut with Britten Sinfonia under David Bates performing Mozart’s Requiem. He has performed under conductors including Harry Bicket, John Butt, Laurence Cummings, Jonathan Cohen, Christian Curnyn, Maxim Emelyanychev, Adam Fischer, Emmanuelle Haïm, Simon Halsey, George Petrou, Raphaël Pichon, Christophe Rousset, Sir András Schiff and Ryan Wigglesworth.

A fine actor and equally at home on the operatic stage, roles have included Oronte, Alcina in a new Tim Albery production for Opera North, Lysander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream as part of the Aldeburgh Festival’s 70th anniversary, Tamino, Die Zauberflöte for Glyndebourne on Tour and for Irish National Opera and Peter Whelan, Prologue The Turn of the Screw and Ferrando, Cosí fan tutte for Opera Holland Park, Amphinomus, The Return of Ulysses for the Royal Opera House, Purcell’s The Indian Queen for the Opéra de Lille, Théâtre de Caen, Opera Vlaandern and Grand Theatre Luxembourg all under Emmanuelle Haïm as well as Albert Albert Herring, John/Angel 3, Written on Skin, Colonel Fairfax, The Yeomen of the Guard, Acis, Acis and Galatea and the title role in Candide. A regular performer of New Music he has also given several World Premieres, including creating the role of Matthew in Mark Simpson’s opera Pleasure (Opera North, Aldeburgh and The Royal Opera House), Through these Pale Cold Days, a song cycle for Tenor, Viola and Piano written by Ian Venables for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, Sleepsinging by Cassandra Miller (with David Bates and La Nuova Music at Wigmore Hall), Daniel Kidane’s Songs of Illumination (with Ian Tindale at the Leeds Lieder Festival), Gabriel Jackson’s Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (with The Choir of Merton College, Oxford and Benjamin Nicholas) and Bob Chilcott’s Christmas Oratorio (The Three Choirs Festival and Adrian Partington).

In August 2023 Nick gave his Edinburgh International Festival recital debut with pianist Ian Tindale which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 including works by Gabriel Fauré, Francis Poulenc and Benjamin Britten. He has also given recitals with Gary Matthewman, James Bailieu, Simon Lepper, Sholto Kynoch, Christopher Glynn, Graham Johnson and Malcolm Martineau at Wigmore Hall, Oxford International Song Festival, Leeds Lieder Festival, Ryedale Festival, Lammermuir Festival and Two Mores Festivals.

The 23/24 season highlights include a US tour of Handel’s Allegro and Bach’s B Minor Mass with Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra with two performances at Carnegie Hall, New York, performances with Early Opera Company, Les Talens Lyrique Lully’s Atys at l’Opera Royal de Versailles and at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Evangleist with Irish Baroque under Peter Whelan, Residentie Orkest under Richard Egarr and Stavanger Symfoniorkester under Masato Suzuki, George Benjamin’s Written on Skin (John/Angel 3) with the Finnish Radio Symphony conducted by the composer, Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music and the Flemish Radio Choir and Britten St Nicolas at the Aldeburgh Festival.

Miriam Allan
The “sublime singing” (Gramophone, 2017) of Soprano Miriam Allan has been enjoyed across the world, from her native Australia, through Japan and Singapore, as well as at festivals throughout Europe and North America and the Funeral of HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Recent engagements saw her return to Australia for a recital tour of Haydn’s Canzonettes with fortepianist Erin Helyard, as well as performances of Vivaldi with Pinchgut Opera, productions of The Indian Queen (Purcell) in Caen, Antwerp and Luxembourg with Emmanelle Haim and Concert d’Astree, as well as Bach’s B Minor Mass with Berner Kammerchor, St Matthew Passion with John Butt and Dunedin Consort and two documentary recordings with Sir John Eliot Gardiner around the life and work of Monteverdi for Mezzo and Stage+. Recordings of Gesualdo Madrigals with Les Arts Florissants were awarded several international prizes.

Highlights during the 2021-22 season saw Miriam perform with Philippe Herreweghe & Collegium Vocale Gent; multiple projects with Les Arts Florissants & Paul Agnew, as well as engagements at the Wigmore Hall with Jonathan Cohen & Arcangelo; return performances for Christian Curnyn & Early Opera Company; Messiah in Madrid and Oxford with The Instruments of Time and Truth and concerts at King’s Place with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

“the vocal magic of the night…she took the audience’s breath away.”

On the opera stage she is a regular company soloist with Pinchgut Opera, for whom she has sung Isifile (Giasone, Cavalli) and Costanza (Griselda, Vivaldi). For the Innsbruck Festival she has sung Galatea (Acis & Galatea, Handel), whilst she has taken various roles in The Fairy Queen for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opera Comique, Paris, and Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. Other roles include Queen of the Night (Magic Flute, Mozart), Musica and Proserpina (Orfeo, Monteverdi) and various roles in Dardanus, Rameau.

She has appeared alongside Sir John Eliot Gardiner & English Baroque Soloists, Masaaki Suzuki & Bach Collegium Japan, Nicholas Collon & Aurora Orchestra and Lars Ulrik Mortensen & Concerto Copenhagen as well as conductors William Christie, Stephen Layton and Laurence Cummings and orchestras the BBC Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, Les Violins du Roy, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Academy of Ancient Music.

She has sung Mozart Mass in C Minor in Lincoln Centre, New York, Bach Magnificat in the Musikverein, Vienna, Handel Messiah in Sydney Opera House, Haydn Die Schöpfung at the Barbican, London, Rameau In Convertando in Chapelle Royale, Versailles and appeared in Mozart Opera Galas at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Salle Pleyel, Paris.

Her discography includes the Gramophone award winning series of Monteverdi Madrigals with Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew, with whom she can also be seen in the DVD release of Orfeo as Proserpina , as well as the Mozart Requiem with Leipzig Kammerorchester, a recital of Handel and Purcell on ABC Classics and Pinchgut Opera’s series of live recordings.

Reviewing the latter’s release of Giasone, Gramophone remarked that her “stylish [Isifile] steals the show several times,’ whilst Voix des Arts wrote of the same performance “the timbre is one of polished gold from the top to the bottom.”

The London Choral Sinfonia
is a dynamic professional ensemble, who specialise in bringing new life to a wide range of choral and orchestral music, striving to deliver world-class performances of mid-sized repertoire.

Each season the LCS performs in a number of concerts across London, at venues including Cadogan Hall, St John’s Smith Square and Kings Place. These performances involve collaborations with emerging composers to commission new works, whilst also seeking to shine a light on lesser-known pieces in the canon of classical music.

Recent concerts have included ‘Colourise: Music from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ with violinist Jack Liebeck, and ‘Sword in the Soul: Music for Good Friday’. Each year the ensemble also enjoys smaller concerts, including their music and wine, Tasting Notes series, as well as private events and social gatherings for Friends of the LCS.

The ensemble’s 2023-24 Season sees the launch of two exciting new initiatives: a singing competition and a composition competition.

Since 2019 the LCS - in association with Orchid Classics - has released seven albums, ranging from popular Christmas music (O Holy Night) to a 3-disc project of more music by Richard Pantcheff. Recordings also feature world-premiere recordings by Vaughan Williams, a rediscovered cantata by Lennox Berkeley (Colourise), music for Passiontide (Sword in the Soul) and their newest release, a double disc of music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. September 2023 sees the release of an album of music by Sir Stephen Hough.

Michael Waldron
is establishing himself as one of the leading conductors of his generation. His work has been praised in the national press and appears frequently in concerts in the UK and internationally.

Michael works regularly with many of the top choirs and orchestras, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Polyphony, London Mozart Players, Holst Singers, and City of London Choir.

Operatic collaborations including projects with the Royal Opera House, Iford Opera Festival, Buxton Festival Opera, West Green Opera, and Opera Della Luna, building on his experience in the worlds of vocal and instrumental music gained during his time as Organ Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Booklet for Colourise