Choir and Organ Magazine, December 2006

'Vocal Colour'

Nigel Short talks to Shirley Ratcliffe about the rise of his vocal group Tenebrae

CHOIR AND ORGAN MAGAZINE NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2006

Tenebrae Article:

VOCAL COLOUR

Nigel Short talks to Shirley Ratcliffe about the rise of his vocal group Tenebrae

During the five years of its existence Tenebrae has been performing to wide critical acclaim. What is the background that impelled the group's founder/director Nigel Short to enter such an over-crowed market? 

'From an early age I wanted to be in the King's Singers and was lucky enough to be able to realise this dream. Once I knew the quality of my singing was going downhill I quickly decided to stop and try doing something else,' he says with engaging frankness. This entailed spending a season in the Alps, which brought him to the realisation that he still wanted to be involved in choral music. 'I began thinking of what I most wanted to do for the second half of my career. The ultimate for me was a choir that would try to combine the ensemble skills of the King's Singers, the big dynamic range of Westminster Cathedral Choir, the ability to tackle a wide variety of repertoire together with a commitment to try and present concerts with a slightly theatrical element.' It was in this area that Short thought he might find a niche. 'To begin with I had no burning ambition to be a director but there weren't any groups developing in this way. I decided to go it alone and see if I couldn't share my vision with other like-minded musicians,; 

What influenced Short's musical career? 'The King's Singers and Simon Preston. I was appointed as a lay vicar to the choir at Westminster Abbey and found Simon's driving rhythmic energy and intensity absolutely electrifying. His ability to make the most familiar and mundane music come alive was a tremendous example of how never to take music for granted. I also sang at Westminster Cathedral as a deputy under David Hill and then as a permanent member of the choir when it was directed by James O'Donnell. Both are exceptional musicians and they wanted the same precision as Simon but with a far more expansive style. Much of that was to do with the core repertoire and the building. The choir is tucked away right at the east end of the cathedral. There was no point in performing music at breakneck speed - by the time it reached the congregation it would have been a complete cacophony. As a singer I adored James Bowman's sound. He has a gift for communicating and it's something I have to work very hard at with professional singers. I love it when we sing from memory and don't hide behind the physical barriers of a music stand or folder. 

The musical background of the singers in Tenebrae is distinct: King's College Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral, which is not unusual. Add to this the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the English National Opera and you're stepping into new territory. Why? 

'Firstly to create a rich sound with a huge dynamic range - opera, recital and older singers tend to have a wide variety of vocal colours and the courage to use them in concert - and to help develop the "communication skills" of the choir. I certainly don't want 20 singers swooning and waving their arms about but there has to be something facially and physically that gives intensity to the singing. Those who are comfortable on the operatic stage show how effective it is to be physically aware of how to move in front of an audience, even if its only how to walk onto stage. This is something amateur choirs are so good at and put pro singers to shame.'

When it comes to blending the voices are there any difficulties? 

No, the people I choose have all had a background in choral singing and instinctively know how to blend. Because some have bigger voices they tend to work harder at sorting out their soft singing. Consequently they have a far more effective sotto voce and this adds a special quality to the soft singing. Because their voices are bigger they have more control over intonation and quality of sound over the other end of the dynamic range as they don't have to push so much.'

What was Short looking for at the outset? 

'I didn't have any specific voices in mind; it was essential people turned up wanting to push a few boundaries and try something new, even if it meant working harder for the same money as the usual choral gig. Luckily for me there was no shortage of singers wanting to get involved.' 

A further idea was to have a series of specially commissioned 'signature works' for the group. What does this mean? 

'Every group has its own identity, often through the repertoire it specialises in. With Tenebrae I want that to be through the quality of our musical presentation and the visual aspect too. We can best show this aspect off with works specially composed for the group that bear this in mind.' The first of these works was The Dream of Herod written by Short himself; the second is Joby Talbot's Path of Miracles, which is inspired by the medieval pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella. 

'I first had the idea for such a piece back in 2001,' says Short. 'I've always been aware that any movement in our concerts must have a purpose and enhance the music. The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella intrinsically revolves around a journey and seemed perfect. I got in touch with Gabriel Crouch [former colleague in The King's Singer and record producer] to explain the concept and we began working together on it in 2002 - the whole project has been a long time in gestation.'

For Joby Talbot his musical pilgrimage has been three-and-a-half years in the making. 'I travelled to Northern Spain with my family,' he tells me, 'and we visited many of the important points on the Camino. These included the abbey at Roncesvalles, and the great, distinctive cathedrals of Burgos, Leon and Santiago. The buildings made such an impression on me that they gave me the symphonic structure for the piece.' The four movements of Path of Miracles are named after the four locations. 

The next task was to construct a libretto. 'I contacted Robert Dickinson whose poem Proofs about medieval French saints I'd read previously. He had a college approach to the text and contributed a lot of his own poetry juxtaposed with extant medieval texts, which I then edited to fit my own musical ideas.'

As Talbot travelled along this ancient route several of the places affected him deeply, particularly Santiago Cathedral. 'The place where thousands of visitors had placed their hand on the wall when they bend to kiss the head of St James has left a deep imprint. When I put my hand into it I felt an electrical connection. There is an ecstatic quality about the place.' Written for a cappella choir, his music reflects this - it is highly dramatic and profound.' It's the largest piece I've written and has the magnitude of an orchestral commission,' Talbot reflects. 'For me personally it was a steep learning curve, and having early rehearsal time with Tenebrae meant I learnt even more.'

The work received its premiere at the 2005 city of London festival. In 2006 Tenebrae took it on the northern Spanish pilgrimage tour 'El Camino en Castilla y Leon'. The experience was inspirational for all of them. 'As a musician it was the most fulfilling thing I've ever done,' Short remarks. 'The piece is such a challenge that when it goes really well there's an incredible sense of elation and relief. After the first complete performance in Burgos the whole audience immediately jumped to their feet and several of the choir had tears in their eyes.' 

Short aims to have a new commission for Tenebrae about every two years. He affirms that the next piece he is writing is called Rhenus Flavius. 'The libretto is written by the Swiss-German playwright Jürg Fankhauser and has passages in the languages of the countries the river flows through - even Romansch! It has a part for a narrator which will be spoken in the language of whichever country we happen to be performing in.' 

The future is looking very promising for the group. Collaborations with the English Concert has produced several performances. 'They are perfect for repertoire such as Handel's Dixit Dominus.' A new partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra and the LSO LIVE label commences in December. Short explains how this came about. 'When Sir Colin Davie's asked for a small professional choir for LSO LIVE's forthcoming recordings of Handel's Messiah and Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ, Kathryn McDowell, the LSO's general manager, very kindly asked us. Kathryn had been the festival director when we premiered Path of Miracles at the city of London festival. We're very excited and tremendously proud to be involved with Sir Colin's next landmark recording in his Berlioz series.' 

Will recording live create any problems? 'I don't envisage any problems, as we've done two live recordings before. Sir Colin is conducting the concerts and will be putting the choir through their paces in December, The important thing for us is not to do anything different from our usual routine and perform our socks off for the audience. Plus there will be one of the world's greatest conductors standing in front of us so no, bo problems.' Tenebrae's new CD Miserere is released on the Signum Label. The repertoire reflects favourite pieces of both singers and audience. Short tells me there are two discoveries: one by Russian composer Alexandrov Sheremetiev, the other by Polish composer Pavel Lukascewski. 

A trans-European tour of Rhenus Flavius a planned and, in 2007, a US tour in November and a Messiah tour of Swiss cathedrals with the Lausanne Sinfonietta in December. It looks certain that Tenebrae will be making waves in musical circles for some considerable time to come.