(1) 1624 portrait of Sweelinck, engraved by Jan Harmensz Muller; (2) Samuel Scheidt
The Orpheus of Amsterdam – Sweelinck and his pupil Scheidt
VOICES & INSTRUMENTS
Tutor: George Parris
St Mary’s Parish Church, 44 Moss Lane, Sale M33 6GD
Reviewer: Kirsten Flores
It was a beautiful late spring morning when I arrived at St Mary’s Parish Church in Sale. With ample parking and a large well-provisioned kitchen, this is a great venue for workshops, and we gathered in the large gymnasium at the back of the church in preparation for the day’s workshop. I did my best to dispel memories from my school days of PE classes and exams, and instead appreciated the acoustic qualities promised by such a high ceiling.
There was a relaxed feel to the morning, with welcome teas and coffees, along with some delicious homemade flapjacks made by Christine. Well-produced music booklets were waiting for us to collect on a table, along with a rather cryptic sheet setting out the allocation of voices and instruments for the three pieces we were to cover, and thanks go to Bob for allocating the troops so ably.
Our workshop leader for the day was George Parris. Fresh-faced and tall, George is a professional singer, the Founder and Artistic Director of The Carice Singers (named after Elgar’s daughter and founded in 2011), an Associate Conductor of Ex Cathedra and one of the Co-Artistic Directors of the Aurore Renaissance Music Festival in Helsinki, Finland. He has degrees in Music from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford and studied Conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki between 2017-2020. As a singer he has been trained in early music and ensemble singing, performed contemporary choral works with the Helsinki Chamber Choir and has appeared as a soloist alongside the Helsinki and Finnish Baroque Orchestras in works by Stradella, Purcell and Gilles. This was his first time leading a NWEMF workshop, and he was clearly looking forward to having the chance to spend the day working on pieces by two of his favourite composers.
There was a nice balance of 12 singers and 12 instrumentalists, along with the welcome addition of an organist who kept us more or less on the straight and narrow with regard to tuning and note-giving. George arranged us in a shallow semi-circle spanning nearly the full length of the room, with the instrumentalists on the front row, and the singers ranged behind. We were divided into two choirs, with the sopranos flanking either side, the basses in the centre, and the inner parts in between. We kept this formation throughout the day, even when coming together to sing the five-part Magnificat.
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) was the figurehead of the Netherlands’ ‘golden age’ and was primarily known as the organist of the city’s Oude Kerk where his improvisations earned him the nickname as “The Orpheus of Amsterdam”. Sweelinck was prolific across other genres and composed over 250 chansons, madrigals and motets.
We started the morning with Sweelinck’s setting of Psalm 42, Ainsi qu’on oit le cerf bruire, for two equal SATB choirs, written in 16th century French rather than his native Dutch because he preferred how it sounded and used its lyricism to great effect. George first took us through the pronunciation in a flawless French accent – his insistence on clear diction was a recurring theme throughout the day – and then we got started.
The psalm (or pseaume in old French) is in two parts. Throughout there are wonderful dialogues between both choirs, often imitative in style with rising and falling passages passed back and forth between choirs before coming together with resplendent homophonic sections. Some sections have a definite madrigalian feel (for example his use of rests and syncopation for the word sospire), and there is a sense of the free and flamboyant improvisational style that the composer was renowned for, tempered by more reverential passages.
After the first play through, George took us back through various sections, focusing in on individual parts, the nuances of the language and where the stresses should go. This careful dissection and practice helped us understand the architecture of the piece much more, and resulted in a more coherent sound the second time around.
The second part of the psalm contains more wonderful examples of word painting, and the use of micro-chromaticism, for example with the word pleurs (tears). George spent some time getting us to minimise the distance between the half notes to exaggerate this effect. Some unexpected key changes also helped create a mood of sorrow – it is worth listening to a recording to hear just how special this section is. The opening theme then returns, followed by a short triple time section, and on the last few pages, the phrase fair’ au temple son offrande is passed between all voices of the both choirs like a volleyball before ending on a triumphant major choir.
George thought it unlikely that this piece would have been played with instruments, and was more probably sung in private by the more piously-natured given Holland was officially Lutheran at the time. But the addition of instruments, particularly the sackbuts and cornets, brought an extra dimension to this performance, and particularly enhanced the tutti sections.
Sweelinck was almost as well-renowned as a teacher as he was a composer, and he taught many of the musicians who would become the core of the north German organ school. One of his pupils was Samuel Scheidt (a name which has caused many a snigger in choir stalls throughout the land). Scheidt was born in 1587 in Germany, and after his early studies, he travelled to Amsterdam to study with Sweelinck, returning to be appointed court organist, and subsequently Kapellmeister, to the Margrave of Brandenburg. He was one of the few musicians to remain in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War, ending up as musical director of three churches in Halle until his death in 1654.
Scheidt was a prolific composer and wrote a large amount of keyboard and organ music, as well as sacred vocal music. Our next piece was his eight-part motet, Christ lag in Todes Banden, written in 1620. Based on a well-known hymn of the day, the first section for Choir 1 starts out with each voice in turn stating the theme, and then builds in complexity with some wonderful flourishes in the tenor part, before handing the baton over to the second choir, which restates the theme homophonically before developing it with halved note values. The two choirs then come together for a final grand iteration before moving on to the next phrase. This structure is repeated throughout the motet to great effect (and Sweelinck’s influence can be clearly seen here), with clever variations of the theme appearing throughout the parts. Overall, it is a most accomplished piece with much to enjoy, and George’s direction helped us bring it to life.
We broke for lunch and then returned to the motet for the final polish. George spent more time rehearsing the instruments and choirs separately, and we were treated to the opening section played just by the cornets and trombones, who rightly deserved a round of applause. We followed that with some work on the final Alleluia section, before we played the full motet from start to finish.
After a short break, we started on Sweelinck’s Magnificat, which had been set by George himself. Composed for five voices, this was for me the most lyrical piece of the day, as well as the most challenging. As we progressed through the piece, George talked more about the devices Sweelinck’s cleverly employed in his compositions – his signature moves. He noted that Sweelinck often has one part which is out of step with the others, and there is a perfect example of this in the opening two bars, with the tenor line starting and finishing the phrase a beat behind the other parts. There’s also a return to the chromatic progression in all parts with the words timentibus eum (fearing him), and yet more clever word-painting with a descending line for deposuit potentes de sede (he deposed the powerful from their seats), and ascending lines for et exaltavit humiles (he exalted the lowly). The most striking moment is when the choir is reduced to a single note at the end of the phrase et divites dimitis inanes (he sent the rich away with nothing). There are lots of complex rhythms and syncopation, particularly in the second part, and the parts are woven masterfully together throughout. There is a real sense of joy throughout this whole piece, with flamboyant touches that are both startling and delightful.
Throughout the day, it was clear that George was enjoying spending time working on the nuances of this music. He had clearly done a lot of preparation, and I felt we were in safe hands throughout. He was unfailingly polite and endlessly encouraging, with an understated sense of humour that had us chuckling throughout the day. As well as the need for clear diction, he also stressed the importance of singing and playing lyrically, to tell the story of the piece through phrasing and dynamics. And it was a joy to hear him sing when he demonstrated particular phrases – he has a beautiful voice.
George has a real gift for bringing the best out of people, and overall, the day was well-paced and well-balanced, and I left with the sense that we had all achieved something special from this workshop. I hope it won’t be too long before he comes back to do another one.
Kirsten Flores
First published in June 2023 Newsletter
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