Hastings Philharmonic sings to the glory!

Hastings Philharmonic Choir receives a standing ovation at Christ Church, November 2012.

Brazilian maestro Márcio da Silva has challenged the Hastings Philharmonic Choir to its best efforts yet under his direction – in its performance this Saturday of Claudio Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, one of the greatest and most complex choral pieces of all time, writes HOT reporter and second tenor Chris Cormack.

The work requires splitting the Philharmonic into two choirs and at times 10 different singing parts, leaving as few as three people in some parts and demanding virtuosi individual performances. Choirs, soloists and instruments are often paired off to create echo effects and even more complex reverberations that fill the space with exciting multiple layers of sound.

This performance takes place in Christ Church, St. Leonards, but the atmosphere can easily transport the listener to St Mark’s Cathedral in Venice as it was in the time of Shakespeare;  less than three years after publishing this work, Monteverdi succeeded in attaining the position of maestro di cappella at the famed Basilica San Marco. The Vespers may even have been written as his showpiece to get the job, for no specific occasion or place has been identified for the work’s premiere performance.

The ‘Vespers of the Blessed Virgin’, as published in 1610, consist of Latin texts applicable to the various feasts in the church year relating to the Virgin Mary as a common theme, but some of the  the music is known to have been written in much earlier years in different contexts. For instance, the opening piece, the exciting and forceful Dominus ad adjuvandum me festina (Oh Lord, make haste to help me) also served as the opening music for Monteverdi’s Orfeo, which is credited as the first full-length opera, making Monteverdi a founding father of the genre. Whether the drama of opera or religious fervour, this piece creates a dramatic opening for the Vespers, inspiring the glorification of God and exciting anticipation for the glorious works to follow.

One can easily imagine that the Vespers were composed with the echoing galleries of the Basilica San Marco in mind, and by 1610, Monteverdi may have been a successful, married forty-something employed in the court of Vincenzo I in Mantua as a singer, a viol player or gambist and as court composer, but he clearly had higher ambitions that resulted in a musical legacy that still delights 21st century audiences, which recently celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Vespers all around the world.

Conductor Márcio da Silva.

Conductor with brio

Márcio da Silva has carved out a career for himself by walking the extra mile to coax out the best performances from his singers and musicians. At only 30 years of age, he has performed and studied in three continents and has a prodigious work-rate. He is currently music director of two choirs, two orchestras and an opera company and, since arriving in Europe, he has conducted professional performances in Germany, Italy, Poland, the Czech republic, and Iceland, not to mention the UK and his home country. Márcio has also composed his own works – can we tempt him to have some of these performed at Hastings’ next International Composers’ Festival? Whatever the case, Hastings is lucky to have such musical talent working for us and we should soak up his performances here while we still have the opportunity!

Hastings Philharmonic Choir performs Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers at 7.00pm on Saturday 16 November at Christ Church, Silchester Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN38 0JB.

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