We were delighted to see so many friendly faces at our special Stanford 100 concert in St. Stephen’s Pepper Canister Church. Our audience experienced the sounds of Joyce’s Dublin as we performed a selection of Charles Villiers Stanford’s choral and organ works, marking the centenary of his death.
For this performance, Cuore were joined by special guest Siobhán Kilkelly on organ.
We performed Stanford’s beloved Three Latin Motets, the evening canticles in C major, his mammoth anti-war anthem, For lo, I raise up, plus the ethereal The Blue Bird.
Irish Premiere
Our programme also included the likely Irish (and possibly European) premiere of Stanford’s choral setting of Sweet Innisfallen.
This fell into obscurity after its US-only publication in 1923, a year before his death in 1924. How fitting then to premiere this in Stanford’s childhood church, with words evoking the beauty of the nature around our conductor’s home town of Killarney. And only a stone’s throw from Stanford’s birth place, in the heart of Georgian Dublin.
Yet more fitting still to sing this on Bloomsday: Joyce, himself a fine tenor, knew the words & tune (The Captivating Youth), and alluded to them in Finnegan’s Wake.
We are grateful to David Anderson for uncovering this piece in US archives and for putting his new edition in the public domain.
Complete Stanford Programme
Evening Service in C major (Op. 115):
- Magnificat
- Nunc Dimittis
Three Latin Motets (Op. 38):
- Justorum animae
- Coelos ascendit hodie
- Beati quorum via
Postlude in D minor (Op. 105, No. 6)
Intermezzo on an Irish Air (Op. 189, No. 4)
Sweet Innisfallen (Irish premiere)
The Bluebird (Op. 119, No. 3)
For Lo I Raise Up (Op. 145)