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PAEAN (score & parts)

PAEAN (score & parts)

 
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Printed Edition
Composer:Woolfenden, Guy (1937-2016)
Instrumentation:SATB choir. 2tpt. hn. tbn. tba.
Publisher Ref:ariel_pae_cs0076

Price: £35.00
Qty
Skill Level:E
Duration:10'00
Publisher:Ariel Music
Year of Issue:2001
I was absolutely delighted and challenged to be asked by Professor John Cox to compose a piece of music to be performed at the opening ceremony of the 2001 Mind Odyssey. It was decided early on that the piece should involve a chorus, drawn largely from alumni of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a brass quintet. Further ideas evolved that the lyrics should, if possible, in some way both celebrate and reflect the noble professions of Medicine, Psychiatry and the Arts.
After an exhaustive search and valuable help from Dr David Kingsley and Prof Cox, I settled on three lyrics from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The first ‘Sing to Apollo’ is a hymn of praise to “Physics, and to poesy’s king”, for indeed Apollo was the god of medicine, music and poetry. The lyric also includes the word “Paean”, traditionally a hymn of praise in ancient Greece, originating from Apollo’s title “Paiân” – the physician of the Gods. The word “Iô” is an exclamation of joy – like “hooray”, for example.
In contrast to the celebratory nature of ‘Sing to Apollo’, with its prominent parts for the brass, the second movement is largely unaccompanied, and is a gentle setting of Robert Greene’s ‘Sweet Are the Thoughts’, which persuasively promotes the benefits of cultivating peace of mind and a simple life-style. In 1592, two years after writing this charming lyric, Robert Greene revealed, in a famous attack on William Shakespeare, that he was deeply envious of the rival poet, calling him “an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers that with his tiger’s heart wrapped in a player’s hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you”. So much for preaching that “a mind content both crown and kingdom is”!
The third movement sets Sir Walter Raleigh’s exquisite lyric ‘What is our life?’. Its frequent use of theatrical imagery is masterly: the womb becomes the “tiring” or “attiring” room where man is dressed for the “short comedy” of life, and the grave does service as a “drawn curtain when the play is done”.
I did not feel it appropriate to end the piece with those sombre thoughts, so devised a way where the celebratory mood of the opening Paean could return in a short and uplifting coda. Paean is dedicated to Professor John Cox with heartfelt gratitude for his help and encouragement.
- Guy Woolfenden

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