A Brontë Mass

Today, November 24, an extraordinary event will take place in Leeds. The world premiere of A Brontë Mass, composed by Phillip Wilby:

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Leeds Philharmonic Chorus

David Hill conductor
Leigh Melrose baritone
24/11/2007 7.30pm
Leeds Town Hall

A centenary and a première frame Vaughan Williams’s mystical fifth symphony. The much admired choral conductor David Hill leads the RLPO and Leeds Philharmonic Chorus in a world premiere of Philip Wilby’s Brontë Mass, which incorporates poems by the Brontë family. The programme opens with Vaughan WIlliam’s Toward the Unknown Region, first heard at the Leeds Festival 100 years ago.

Vaughan Williams Toward the Unknown Region
Vaughan Williams Symphony No 5
Wilby Brontë Mass (world première)

Pre-concert talk 6.45pm
Albert Room
Judy Blezzard discusses the evening’s works.
Entry is free to ticket-holders for the concert but space is limited so please arrive early to avoid disappointment.

Philip Wilby introduces the piece like this:

A Brontë Mass
Philip Wilby (2007)
Commissioned in memory of John Brodwell
For David Hill and the Leeds Philharmonic Choir

John Brodwell was well known to many in West Yorkshire, both as a passionately engaged local musician, and as a long-term member of the Leeds legal community. His sudden death in 2003 came as a shock, and this composition has been made as a memorial and celebration of his life, which touched and enhanced so many others. One of John’s major connections was with Woodhouse Grove School, and through it with the work of the Bronte family, and the Yorkshire landscape that they did so much to project onto the national imagination. Thus, working in partnership with the Leeds Philharmonic Committee, I have written this Bronte Mass, combining texts from the Latin Mass Ordinary with four poems by the Bronte children.
The work is divided into two halves; the first is a Memorial, comprising three sections. Charlotte Bronte’s poem ‘The autumn day’ sets a reflective tone at the outset, which is quickly dispelled by a stormy and bell-laden setting of the Sanctus. Anne Bronte’s ‘A Prayer’, with its linked themes of faith and doubt ends this part of the composition, here set for a cappella choir and solo trumpet. The second half is celebratory in tone, opening with Emily’s ‘No Coward Soul’, setting Branwell’s ‘Memory, and concluding with the Latin Gloria. My musical style has been clearly influenced by that great oratorio tradition which John loved, and did so much to promote. As a personality, John was both forthright and determined, and Emily Bronte’s words, which open the second part of my piece, catch something of John’s public persona.

No coward soul is mine,
No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere:
I see Heaven's glories shine,
And faith shines equal, arming me from fear.

Philip Wilby.
Skelton Windmill 2007

Read here the libretto.

More information on the Brontë Parsonage Blog.

Categories: Music, Poetry