{"id":2881,"date":"2011-06-16T09:33:40","date_gmt":"2011-06-15T23:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=2881"},"modified":"2011-06-16T09:33:40","modified_gmt":"2011-06-15T23:33:40","slug":"js-bach-in-the-21st-century-the-sydney-chamber-choir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=2881","title":{"rendered":"JS Bach in the 21st century &#8211; the sydney chamber choir"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-2883\" href=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/shows\/js-bach-in-the-21st-century-the-sydney-chamber-choir\/2881.html\/attachment\/bach2future\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2883\" title=\"bach2future\" src=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/bach2future-100x100.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a>\u201cAn opportunity to shake hands across the centuries\u201d. So says conductor Jonathan Grieves-Smith, who will be travelling from Melbourne to conduct the Sydney Chamber Choir in their concert \u201cBach to the Future\u201d this weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Anchored by three of JS Bach\u2019s immortal motets (\u201cKomm, Jesu, komm\u201d, \u201c Singet dem herrn ein neues lied\u201d , and \u201cLobet den herrn\u201d) \u00a0the programme features two premieres and\u00a0 propels us into the 21<sup>st<\/sup>century with the music of \u00a0composers less familiar to Sydney audiences but who are gifted choral writers &#8211; American Stephen Paulus\u00a0 described in The New Yorker as \u201c a bright, fluent inventor with a ready lyric gift\u201d; Richard Marlowe, one time director of music at Trinity College, Cambridge; from Latvia, Eriks Esenvald, and Australian Joseph Twist, himself a member of the choir which will perform the world premiere of his \u201cVor Singet\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Grieves \u2013Smith says \u201cThey have each taken chorales or hymns and added a layer of loveliness, drawing music from past centuries and returned it to ours with a lightness of touch and much beauty\u201d. Added to these are works by Samuel Barber, Peteris Vasks and Gabriel Jackson. (Australian premiere).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Grieves-Smith went on to illustrate the nexus between the selected Baroque motets and the contemporary elements of the programme: \u201cJohann Sebastian Bach used chorale tunes composed during the previous century and while maintaining their direct appeal from &#8216;man&#8217; to God, enriches their expressive range with daring harmony and exquisite nuance. The ambition of the contemporary composers in this programme is to in the footsteps of Bach and add texture and expressive range without losing simplicity.<\/p>\n<p>Bach&#8217;s motet&#8217;s are of course much larger than chorales! Words cannot easily explain the genius of Bach. These are choral symphonies and tone poems and should simply not be missed when such a wonderful choir is performing them!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Jonathan Grieves-Smith is Chorus Master with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He has held positions with\u00a0major choirs\u00a0in England and has been guest conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hall\u00e9 Orchestra. He has\u00a0toured with\u00a0 the Chorus of the Academy of St Cecilia, the London Mozart Players and pianist Nelson Freire, and has conducted\u00a0choirs in both Sydney and the UK. \u00a0He is clearly excited to be working with the Sydney Chamber Choir. \u201cThe Sydney Chamber Choir has a singular and terrific record in performing and commissioning new music as well as refreshing music of the past and have, of course, in their Artistic Director, Paul Stanhope, one of the most talented, brilliant and generous composer\/conductors in the country. I feel very fortunate to have been asked to conduct them and rehearsing them has been a complete joy\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel Jackson&#8217;s wonderful &#8216;Not no faceless angel&#8217; will receive its Australian premiere in the concert. \u201cIt is not related to the world of hymns but instead (like the Barber) is a very direct expression, using simple images and a very direct appeal. His is some of the most beautiful, transforming, exquisite and intense music being written for choir in the world at the moment\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Music being written \u2018at the moment\u2019 may well apply to the genre of \u2018New Music\u2019 \u2013 a description often\u00a0used, but infrequently discussed. Grieves \u2013Smith believes that in a sense, all music is \u2018new\u2019. \u201cWe must be rigorous in seeking the truth of the work and bringing it as new to a contemporary audience, very much like an art conservator revealing the painting behind the accretions of tobacco smoke and pollution, the wear\u00a0and tear\u00a0\u00a0of life on a wall\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, what I refer to is music composed recently. Music directors and artistic directors have a duty to be continually refreshing the canon of choral music by commissioning and performing. To commission Australian composers with international partners ensures Australian composers are known and performed overseas and commissioning international composers ensures an international awareness of the work of choirs here.<\/p>\n<p>Co-commissioning is also part of a solution to the perplexing question of how a composer can get a work heard beyond its premiere, given the prohibitive cost and risk of presenting a concert or making a recording. \u201cCo-commissioning allows more people to hear a work and in more places; this greater audience and number of performers gives the possibility of further performances\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Composers through the ages, from Schubert to Shostakovich have been inspired to re-invent the music of Bach, and it is reassuring to see the practice continue. Grieves-Smith observes\u00a0 \u201c Composers and performers learn from extraordinary minds, we are magpies, we walk in the footsteps of giants\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Also visit our post on composer Joseph Twist talking about his composition &#8216;Vor Singet&#8217;,\u00a0 premiering this weekend.<\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cAn opportunity to shake hands across the centuries\u201d. So says conductor Jonathan Grieves-Smith, who will be travelling from Melbourne to conduct the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"sls_format":[],"class_list":["post-2881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shows"],"acf":{"deck":"","is_featured":false,"media_type":"standard","audio_embed":"","video_url":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>JS Bach in the 21st century - the sydney chamber choir - Sounds Like Sydney<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=2881\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JS Bach in the 21st century - the sydney chamber choir - Sounds Like Sydney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cAn opportunity to shake hands across the centuries\u201d. 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