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Songs of Truth and Glory

On June 28th 2008 at Dorking Halls Surrey Peter Farrant will be conducting the Reigate and Redhill Choral Society in a programme of English music. Along with works by Vaughan Williams, John Ireland and Karl Jenkins the concert will include Howard's settings of five George Herbert poems entitled 'Songs of Truth and Glory' for choir and orchestra, originally commissioned for the 2005 Three Choirs Festival and played to celebrate Howard's 70th birthday year. Vaughan Williams own settings of Herbert are deliberately juxtaposed in this concert and Howard will be present to talk about this.

CD for Naxos

Howard features as both composer and pianist on a new CD of his music for Naxos with the violinist Madeleine Mitchell. They are recording at the idyllic Potton Hall Studios in Suffolk, the release being intended for late October. It will feature premiere recordings of the 'Violin Sonata', 'Pennillion' and 'Jazz Dances' with the addition of an existing unreleased recording of the Piano Quartet.

Granpa in Adelaide

Windmill Performing Arts in conjunction with The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra conducted by Timothy Sexton are presenting Howard's 'Granpa' June 12-14 2008. Director is Andy Packer and Designer Geoff Cobham. The musical work was originally created by Howard from a book by John Burningham as an animated children's opera for television, with the part of Granpa played by Peter Ustinov. However a lively performance by the City of Hong Kong Chamber orchestra in 2005 denoted it as a 'concert opera' in its own right and it will be most interesting to find out what Windmill make of it.

CONCERT AT THE CADOGAN HALL, LONDON

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra are presenting a concert of Howard Blake's music on Tuesday October 28th 2008 at 7.30pm at The Cadogan Hall, London to celebrate his 70th birthday. It will include the concert version of ‘The Snowman’ narrated by Nigel Havers with ‘Walking in the Air’ sung by Robert William Blake.

The Piano Concerto will be played by the brilliant Shanghai-based pianist William Chen and the London premiere of the dramatic oratorio ‘The Passion of Mary’ will feature soprano Patricia Rozario, tenor Martyn Hill, Swedish bass Lars Avidson and the choir of London Voices, directed by Terry Edwards. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by the composer.

Box office 020 7730 4500 www.cadoganhall.com  

Enquiries: Anna Menzies 0771 161 7718 anna@annamenzies.com

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: info@rpo.co.uk

 

Further Programme Details 

Part One

THE SNOWMAN (Concert version for solo treble, narrator and orchestra, opus 310, 1983)

Music, lyrics and narration by Howard Blake based on the book by Raymond Briggs.

Narrator Nigel Havers, solo treble Robert William Blake.

 

Composer’s note: The theme of ‘Walking in the air’ entered my mind as long ago as 1970 whilst walking on a Cornish beach.  I thought it might be the opening of a symphony but abandoned it. Eleven years later I happened to walk into a film production company and see a nine-minute  pencil sketch based on Raymond Briggs’  picture-book ‘The Snowman’. I felt instantly that this was where the theme belonged and said: ‘I would love to set this whole story to music. It wouldn’t need any words and I have a song that would work with it like a dream.’ Jeremy Isaacs agreed and the 26-minute animated film was made by Channel 4. While it was being drawn I worked on the lyrics and orchestration, conducting the complete orchestral score in July 1982 with The Sinfonia of London and the superb treble voice of Peter Auty, a treble in  St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir. The film was first shown at Christmas 1982, was nominated for an Oscar and won many prizes. The  CBS Masterworks album was released the following year and its first concert performance took place at The Barbican that  December, since when concert performances of it have sprung up all over the world. In 1985 Aled Jones’s single of it went to number 3 in the hit parade and since 1997 a two-act ballet (The Snowman Stage Show) has run every year at Sadler’s Wells’ Peacock Theatre, becoming the longest-running Christmas show in London. My  son Robert William presently sings in the famous  Stockholm Boys Choir and joins us  for this evening’s performance.

 

CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA (opus 412, 1991)

Concert work in three movements: 1. Tranquillo-Allegro 2. Andante Espressivo 3. Vivace

Soloist: William Chen

The piano concerto was originally commissioned by The Philharmonia to celebrate the 30^th birthday of their patron Diana, then HRH, The Princess of Wales. The soloist in the premiere was the composer in a gala concert at the Royal Festival Hall in 1991. But the soloist on this  occasion will be William Chen, now piano professor at Shanghai Conservatoire. He studied in the Sydney Conservatorium and The Royal Academy in London, meeting Howard Blake in 2002 at a performance of ‘Lifecycle’, his 24 pieces for solo piano. He asked if he could study the pieces with the composer and in 1993 made a marvellous recording of  them for ABC Classics.

 

Composer’s note: Just before Christmas 1989 The Philharmonia  asked if I would compose a Piano Concerto for Princess Diana's 30th Birthday. I started looking at scores of the innumerable piano concertos by great composers, and wondered if I dare write one at all. On  St. Valentine's Day 1990 my publisher and his wife came over to  dinner at my studio and asked what I intended to write. I said: ‘I  would like the concerto to be a portrait of Diana. The opening motif should contain the possibilities of a complete picture within it. It should be a very simple motif that is innocent and gay and full of life and compassion and joy all at once. I went over to the piano and played a simple 4-note motif that came from nowhere at all.  I knew immediately that it would be the basis of the work but I wasn’t at all sure how. Weeks later I heard in my head what sounded like an impossibly-high counter melody on strings and the symphonic working-out  of these two strands were to  provide the raw material for the first movement. After playing the concerto at the RFH I was invited to meet the Princess in the Royal Box. She was well-informed on music and the piano in particular since her grandmother Ruth Lady Fermoy had been a concert pianist. I presented Diana with a specially-bound copy of the score and  later received a letter: ‘…to receive such a beautiful concerto as a birthday present is a very special honour and I deeply appreciate it..’

 

Interval

Part Two

 

THE PASSION OF MARY (opus 577, 2006)

A Dramatic Oratorio (first London performance)

Soprano: Patricia Rozario

Tenor: Martyn Hill

Bass-Baritone: Lars Arvidson

Solo treble: Robert William Blake

Chamber choir: London Voices, (director Terry Edwards)

 

Composer’s note: In 1998 I attended a splendid performance of my dramatic oratorio ‘Benedictus’ for solo tenor solo viola, choir and orchestra given in Sherborne Abbey by the Summer Music Society of Dorset.. The Lady Digby as director of the festival asked if I would consider writing a new work on a similar scale - a ‘companion-piece’ - but with the principal protagonist a soprano rather than a tenor. Through discussion an idea began to emerge of a view of the life of Jesus as seen through the eyes of Mary the Mother. It was pointed out to me that the time-honoured ‘Stabat Mater’ poem expresses Mary’s grief at the foot of the cross, but I started to consider broadening the concept to encompass far more than that in a series of linked ‘scenes from the life’ as related in scripture. Unfortunately at this point in my life I was forced to postpone the creation of  such a work indefinitely due to unprovoked and vicious  litigation pursued against me by a music publisher. Greatly to their credit, The Summer Music Society of Dorset nevertheless went boldly ahead and commissioned the work, helped by South-West Arts and the generous assistance of members of the society. The work was not completed for 4 years and first performed in Sherborne Abbey in 2002 to coincide with the 40^th anniversary of the festival. Patricia Rozario sang the soprano solo part of Mary, which had been specially written for her, whilst the other roles were spoken. The Choir of Winchester Cathedral and The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra were conducted by David Hill and the work received a wonderful standing ovation.

 

However, having now heard the work I started to feel that it would be further improved if some of the other roles could be sung. David Hill suggested the work might also be effectively extended by adding a final chorus based on the ‘Salve Regina’. In 2006 after various false starts I completed a substantially- rewritten and and completely-sung  version, re-naming it ‘The Passion of Mary’. The first performance of this was given in St.Gorans Church in Stockholm in October 2007 and the concert on October 28^th at the Cadogan Hall will celebrate the first London performance.

Festival Mass in Bristol, March 29th 2008

Howard will visit  Bristol for a performance of his 'Festival Mass' for a cappella 8-part choir on Saturday 29th March 2008 at 7.30 at St Mary Radcliffe's Church, given by the Bristol Bach Chorus conducted by Peter Leech. It will be preceeded by a question and answer session at 6.40.

An all Howard Blake concert in Suffolk Saturday March 8th 2008

Suffolk composer Helen Burrows has put together a remarkable collection of Howard's music for his 70th year. It takes place in Woodbridge Quay Church this Saturday. The draft programme can be viewed as a pdf document here (approx. 4.5mb filesize).

Easter Anthem in Swedish!

The first performance of an anthem for Easter will be given at St. Gorans Kyrka, Stockholm at 11am on Easter Sunday, March 23rd 2008. It is scored for two trumpets, two trumbones, organ, percussion and SATB choir and was specially commissioned with Swedish text taken from Psalm 118. "Herrens hand har visat sin kraft".

The Land of Counterpane

The Richmond Orchestra present a concert for children which includes Howard's setting of poems by Robert Louis Stevenson from his collection 'A Child's Garden of Verses' with the choir of Queen's Primary School, Kew. The concert also features his 'Nursery Rhyme Overture' . The German School, Petersham, Saturday 3pm February 3rd 2008

The Snowman 2007 programme note

Howard Blake reads his 2007 programme note describing the 25 years of The Snowman animated film and the 10 years of The Snowman Stage Show in London's West End. He then plays "Walking in the Air".

View the recording here.

THE SNOWMAN BALLET in the USA

The first performance of Howard Blake's revised full-length 2-act Ballet of The Snowman was given by Ballet Bellevue (Seattle) on 24th November choreographed by Jennifer Porter with the Orchestra of Ballet Bellevue conducted by Philip Tschopp. Howard worked at break-neck speed to complete the digital score, but completing it should mean that Chester Music (London) will soon be able to release a printed version.

The SNOWMAN IN FINLAND

Howard visited the city of Tampere, 2 hours north of Helsinki November 21-22 to see the opening of a beautiful small-scale version of the stage show of The Snowman presented at the Comedy Theatre. It lasted 62 minutes and received a rousing ovation from a sold-out  theatre whilst Howard's visit actually made it onto national TV!

THE BEAR IN BATH

Jason Thornton conducted splendid concert performances of both The Bear and The Snowman, narrated with great verve by the celebrated actress Stephanie Cole and the Bath Philharmonia Orchestra.  Afterwards Jason interviewed Howard about his musical career and he responded to questions from the audience

BENEDICTUS AT ST ALBAN'S CATHEDRAL

Howard Blake's dramatic oratorio 'Benedictus' was given a 21st birthday performance in St Alban's Cathedral on Saturday November 17th at 7.30pm with Martyn Hill (tenor) the St Albans Bach Choir and The Sinfonia Verdi conducted by Andrew Lucas. The world premiere of the work was given in the cathedral in 1986 by the St Albans Bach Choir when the soloist was Robert Tear and the conductor Sir David Willccks.

SONY-BMG CD RELEASE

James Nesbitt the popular Irish actor has recorded a splendid re-voicing of the narration for the classic CD of 'The Snowman', to be released on SonyBMG on November 26th 2007. Howard Blake's much-loved original orchestral recording is intact but re-mastered  along with Peter Auty's memorable treble solo in 'Walking in the Air.' Howard wrote both music and lyrics for the famous animated film and then went on to write the narration and produce the album for CBS Masterworks which went platinum. Ownership transferred to Sony in the late eighties and is now with Sony-BMG who celebrate its succesful 25th year with this beautifully-produced booklet and album.

The SNOWMAN STAGE SHOW 2007/8

The Snowman Stage show is based on the book by Raymond Briggs, choreographed by Robert North, directed by Bill Alexander with music and lyrics by Howard Blake.Three theatres will be staging The Snowman Stage Show this Christmas

The Peacock Theatre, Sadler's Wells' theatre in London's West End will open its 10th winter season on December 6th 2007 running 2 or 3 times a day nearly every day except Christmas until January 7th 2008.

For details see: http://www.sadlerswells.com/peacock/2007_2008/snowman2007.asp
 

The Edinburgh Festival Theatre will open its own production on 12th December which will run to 30th December

 

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre will not run a show in Christmas 2007 but will run a season in 2008/9

 

The Lowry Theatre Salford will run a season 11-19 January 2008

 Programme note:

It’s 25 years since Howard Blake wrote the musical score and lyrics for the Channel 4 cartoon film ‘The Snowman’ with its song ‘Walking in the Air’, but the song remains as popular as ever, featuring last Christmas in a new duet version that Howard created specially for Aled Jones, whilst the complete Snowman soundtrack recording with both music and story is out on SonyBMG in a deluxe package with an illustrated booklet. Performances of the concert version of the Snowman- sometimes with narration, sometimes with orchestra and projected film- take place in many countries, from Taiwan to Toronto, from Hong-Kong to Budapest. The stage show that first came into being in  1993 grew out of Raymond Briggs’ timeless picture-book, Diane Jackson’s marvellous animated cartoon and Robert North’s beautiful ballet, but the music (nearly 80 minutes of it) in a sense grew directly out of the song, as Musical Opinion critic Robert Matthew-Walker recently observed: ‘Walking in the Air is used as the basis for  a virtually continuous set of symphonic variations; a subtle and fully-wrought score which entrances the ears of all who are brought into the magical world it conjures up’. The show has gone from strength to strength and a new production of the show has been built so that children in Scotland and The Midlands can enjoy it as well as those in London’s Peacock. John Stalker, who was the original producer, now manages The Edinburgh Festival Theatre who will open the show on December 13^th while The Lowry Manchester will run it in January 2008 for the first time. Remarkably, and much to Howard’s delight, the same creative team is still in place after 9 years, while Jeremy Young, the musical director/pianist and Clare Findlater, flautist have been playing on the show for 6 years. When asked why this is, all involved tend to say: ‘because we enjoy doing it so much!’ – and thankfully audiences feel the same!

THE BEAR (Piano/Vocal Score with Narration)

Howard Blake's score for the animated film 'The Bear' was completed in 1998 when the film was first shown on Channel 4. In 1999 Howard wrote a narration and adapted the score for concert performance. However, despite the full score, orchestral parts, voice parts and narration being available from that time, no complete Piano/Vocal score has been available until 18th January 2007. The Christmas season 2006/7 produced a flurry of interest in the work. The film achieved a top UK TV viewing slot of 6.30pm Christmas Eve, and live concert performances were given in several major venues including The Helix Dublin and the City Concert hall, Hong Kong. Spurred on by this Howard set about creating a playable piano score himself and the resulting 50-page book is now available for sale. It includes the sung parts for girl soprano, tenor and bass with all the lyrics which need to be sung in the concert version. (In the film more than half of the lyrics were omitted including Charlotte's, due to an antipathy to lyrics and songs expressed by producer John Coates!); the narration with its own cue numbers that can be used if the narrator needs to be cued; and the start procedure if a DVD is projected.

However, apart from all these past complications Howard feels it actually works really well transcribed for keyboard and is a lot of fun to play.