RIEVAULX (score & parts)

Althea Talbot-Howard writes:
The Genesis of the Piece?:
In August 1990, a friend who was studying on the Royal Academy of Music's postgraduate course with me, kindly invited me to visit Yorkshire. I stayed with him and his parents for three days, and, during that time, we drove over to Rievaulx Abbey.
We arrived at the end of day, and we were the only ones there. We were able to walk straight onto the site, and I really enjoyed seeing this beautiful monument for the first time, just as the late summer day began to draw to a close.
Rievaulx Abbey was only in use for 400 years. It has been a ruin longer than it served as a functioning monastery! For many centuries, visitors have travelled from near and far to see it. Some of those happy occasions feature towards the middle of the piece, inspired by the picture at the bottom of this page.

Performance Notes:
Rievaulx can be performed by four or five players, depending upon whether or not Bells & Part One (see below) are doubled.
?The piece begins with the ringing of the Compline bells. Compline was the early evening monastic service.
Either tubular or Aluphone bells - or a single handbell - can be used.
?Seven bars into the A1 section, the bass instrument plays the first line of 'Te lucis ante terminum' ('To You before the End of Day') - a famous Gregorian chant commonly sung at Compline. The upper instruments soon follow.
Other compositional features of the A1 section are parallel organum in fifths and octaves, and a Guillaume de Machaut chromatic perfect cadence.
The A2 section at the end concludes with my answering melody to the musical question posed by the traditional Te Lucis melody.
Each section is labelled on the score, in lieu of rehearsal marks, in order to help performers to see the structure.
I do hope you will enjoy it!

Rievaulx - A Study in Memory, in Arch Form received its world premiere at the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival on 18 August 2021, performed by Eleanor Sullivan, Drake Gritton, Fergus McCready & Michael Sluman, who perform in the video above. They gave three additional UK performances in November 2021 at the Leeds & Leicester International Lunchtime Concert Series; and at the Brunel Museum, London. The London premiere was given by the Klosely Qvartet & Ben Quilter at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, Greenwich, on 9 November 2021. The piece was also rehearsed at a UK double-reed chamber music course. In 2022, performances include a gala concert at Radley College Chapel in March 2022, featuring a mixed group of oboes & clarinets; the BC365 Concert at St Alfege Church, Greenwich, in June; and the USA premiere at the International Double Reed Society Conference on 27 July 2022.
The Klosely Kvartet - with Ben Quilter on Tubular Bells - rehearses at St. Alfege Church, Greenwich, on 30 June 2022. Natacha Hansen, Soprano Sax; Louis Suc, Alto Sax; Steph Barker, Tenor; Lily Skinner, Baritone.

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