Nazareth Cantata

Aware that I might be swamping this forum with my music, nevertheless I can't help but share a few more pieces with you. This cantata is made up of six pieces written in a deliberately arcane "Victoriana" style, which may surprise those of you who are more familiar with my serial music! A short explanation is due, therefore.

In 1877 in Northampton, UK, an orphanage was set up by the Sisters of Nazareth, and built originally next door to the Cathedral. Looking for funds to help pay for the orphanage (which became known as Nazareth House), various events took place, including the setting of some poems of the then Bishop of Northampton, Kerril Amherst, to music by a local Oxford-trained composer Brook Sampson, and performed in Northampton in 1878.

The music to the 1878 Cantata has been lost to us, although both contemporary press reports and letters of Bishop Amherst show that the performance was a reasonable success, with considerable funds being raised for Nazareth House through their performance.

Nazareth House still exists today, although it has moved to another part of Northampton. (The original site is now a private College). Nazareth House has ended it's function as an orphanage, and changed direction to become a care home for the elderly, but it is still run by the Sisters of Nazareth, and is open to all. Two years ago, a survey of the current convent and care home indicated some critically serious problems with the fabric of the buildings, and closure was threatened. Funds were desperately needed to repair the building and to remove deadly asbestos. At around the same time, some letters of Bishop Amherst were discovered in the archives at Bishops' House, which included a full copy of the texts used in the original 1878 Cantata.

In a joint commission by the fundraisers for Nazareth House and the Dean of Northampton Cathedral, I was invited to "re-create" a performing version of the Cantata, writing my own original music, but expressing myself in what might be considered a typically "Victorian" idiom. I chose to set the hymn "To Christ the prince of Peace" as an introductory piece to the Cantata.

It is intended that the Canata will be performed next year around the tomb of Bishop Amherst in the Cathedral at Northampton, and funds raised once again to aid Nazareth House.

So, with out any more ado here is my Nazareth Cantata. I wonder what Brook Sampson would have thought of it....

<center><table border=1><tr><td>1
Nazareth Song 1.not (152.8 k)</td></tr></table></center>

<center><table border=1><tr><td>2
Nazareth Song 2.not (50.0 k)</td></tr></table></center>

<center><table border=1><tr><td>3
Nazareth Song 3.not (53.7 k)</td></tr></table></center>

<center><table border=1><tr><td>4
Nazareth Song 4.not (73.2 k)</td></tr></table></center>

<center><table border=1><tr><td>5
Nazareth Song 5.not (81.2 k)</td></tr></table></center>

<center><table border=1><tr><td>6
Nazareth Song 6.not (122.2 k)</td></tr></table></center>