The Song Company | Songs from a Strange Land
Sunday Oct 8, 2023, St Mary’s Crypt, Sydney
In their third program for 2023, under the guest direction of early music specialist Christopher Watson, The Song Company pay homage to William Byrd, a man who crafted some of the most exquisite vocal compositions ever conceived. 2023 marks the 400th anniversary of his death.
Nestled beneath the grandeur of St Mary’s Cathedral, The Crypt provided an appropriate backdrop for this musical journey, its stone arches and timeless ambiance perfectly complementing the historical significance of the concert. Acoustically, for this type of concert, the space couldn’t be better. As five singers standing in a round produced the first tentative chords of Byrd’s Tristitia et Anxietas, a poignant reflection on inner turmoil, I felt a veil of sorrow lift up to the vaulted ceiling and settle gently, yet heavily, over the audience as the music shrouded us in mourning. Breathtaking.
Watson then introduced the concert, briefly explaining the turbulent backdrop of 16th-century England in which William Byrd’s compositions found their voice. He bore witness to the upheaval and persecution faced by the Catholic community and his music often mirrored these trials. The Catholics worshipped in clandestine chapels, perhaps similar to the Crypt, where Byrd’s compositions likely filled the air, exploring themes of isolation and exile. In the shadows of exile within his homeland, Byrd’s faith remained steadfast. His compositions frequently radiated themes of devotion and praise. Watson elegantly framed this concert with two of Byrd’s monumental works: Tristitia et Anxietas and Tribue Domine (an entreaty to the Almighty for the strength to praise amidst human frailty). As Watson noted, he would take us from ‘the most miserable to the most jolly’ of Byrd’s output.
The themes explored by Byrd resonate universally as modern composers continue to draw inspiration from similar texts. Watson chose for the first half of the concert Longing by Paul Stanhope and How Shall we Sing in a Strange Land by Joseph Twist. Both overlaid modern poetry against biblical texts of exile and destruction, Stanhope quoting a Palestinian poet and Twist choosing Oogeroo Noonuccal’s A Song of Hope. Both, with their beautiful word painting, were eerily timely considering today’s news and current affairs. Listening to these works I was struck by just how good Australian choral composers are. To use a sporting metaphor, we continue to punch above our weight – as a small Commonwealth nation our choral output is substantial and exceptional thanks to these two composers and their many contemporaries. I believe their music reaches into the Australian psyche, as I am sure Byrd’s did in his own time and place.
That said, my favourite piece was actually New York composer David Lang’s I Want to Live. Seven simple words ‘I want to live where you live’, which could be interpreted any way one wished. Was it a love song? A connection to stolen country? The murmured yearnings of exile? An evocation of invasion even? Whatever you imagined, this gentle reflection on a repeated few words was sung hauntingly by the three upper voices (Susannah Lawergren, Amy Moore and Jessica O’Donoghue), progressing from a plaintive hopefulness to a pleading, then despairing crescendo. Later in the program the three women sang the English folk song Ah Robin, again in trio, this time with backs to each other. They deeply know each others’ voices and it shows in their remarkable ability to both blend subtly and let an individual voice ring out as required. A simple but compelling performance – and another highlight.
Squarely set in the middle of the program was the next of Byrd’s works, a lament, Ye sacred muses, dedicated to his friend and mentor, Thomas Tallis, which echoed themes of profound loss. Sung with mournful emotion, “Tallis is dead, the Music dies.”
Then, Roxanna Panufnik’s Kyrie, a contemporary and vaguely jazzy nod to Byrd’s polyphonic Mass for Five Voices, in which you could hear a little bit of Byrd’s melodic material and the mirroring of his harmonic devices throughout.
Pelle Gudmunsen-Holmgreen’s You and I and Amyas II was an opportunity for the male voices to shine, and brightly they did! Timothy Reynolds, Chris Watson, Hayden Barrington and James Fox produced a remarkably tight and clear sound for such a ‘forgiving’ acoustic. The humorous use of the voice to produce instrumental-like glissando sounds gave the impression of town gossips oohing and aahing at the antics of the characters in this old English text which, like so many folk songs, had an underlying ominous tone.
The second half also featured two works by English composer Gabriel Jackson, In all His works and (Song) I Gaze Upon You, both glorious celebrations of life, love and praise, one written for a funeral and one for a wedding. Like many composers of his generation, Jackson has been influenced by Byrd and continues to contribute to the evolving legacy of English choral music.
The final work of the concert was Byrd’s Tribue Domine, a monumental hymn of praise to God, its symbolism deeply intertwined with its religious and historical context, a wide ranging work of extraordinary harmonies sung by an extraordinary ensemble.
Christopher Watson, making his directorial debut with The Song Company, wove the music of contemporary artists with the timeless compositions of William Byrd to create a musical journey that traversed the depths of human emotions, from isolation and sorrow to praise and celebration. The concert was a fitting tribute to one of the greatest masters of the choral tradition. Long may it live!
Photography: Oliver Miller
