A Mass of Life
by Frederick Delius
Sir Thomas Beecham said of Frederick Delius: “no other English composer offers more beauty in sound”
Of all the neglected and unknown choral works, in the view of many, this tops the list.
“A MASS OF LIFE” is a MASTERPIECE
At Choir of the Earth, we feel it is important to support lesser known works and to take on big projects which are less likely be performed by local choirs. As a choir with members from all over the world, we feel an obligation to bring you choral experiences that you would not normally otherwise have. Our Mahler 8 was a case in point.
“The Mahler Symphony No. 8 was the most phenomenally wonderful music I have ever sung! The exhilaration of singing this amazing masterpiece is beyond words”
And now we move to A MASS OF LIFE by Delius.
Lesser known pieces remain lesser known because of the financial risks involved. Mozart can usually be guaranteed to fill a concert hall and the fact that A MASS OF LIFE is unknown almost guarantees that it remains unknown.
At Choir of the Earth, we feel we have a responsibility to bring such a masterpiece to the world and we are so excited to do so. Ben England BEM, our Musical Director, and Mark Strachan BEM, our Founder, are united in their passion for this piece of music and are both desperate to share it with you.
So we both ask for your trust and your belief.
Join us for
A Mass of Life
What is “A Mass of Life” all about?
A Mass of Life is a major choral work by English composer Frederick Delius, based on the German text of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1885). Delius was not a religious man and this is a secular work focussing on human joy and happiness.
Sir Thomas Beecham conducted the first complete performance of the work in London in 1909 and it is the largest of Delius's concert works, being written for four SATB soloists, double choir and orchestra.
Here is a YouTube recording of this fabulous work and I urge you to listen to this in full at least 10 times and to read the comments written:
Here is a video with our moving score:
And please do read & listen to Sir Thomas Beecham himself discussing the work in his own distinctive style: https://www.gianmariagriglio.it/mass-of-life/
And there’s more!
We are partnering with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Sir Mark Elder for this project. This is the first of we hope several partnerships between us - the ideal marriage of analogue and digital music making.
We shall learn A MASS OF LIFE in the usual way, with Ben England BEM as his big, major and important project for Autumn 2022.
We shall learn it in German.
The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra are giving this work its Norwegian Premiere on 22|23 September 2022 conducted by Sir Mark Elder. Our “recording track” for the project will be Sir Mark Elder’s LIVE conducting of the Bergen concert. We shall then combine the Choir of the Earth version with the BPO version to create a unique performance in November 2022 of both choirs singing the whole work together.
Both choirs will use the same score and the partnership will be complete with both choirs sharing best practice together.
“We are delighted to work with Choir of the Earth for the Norwegian Premiere of A MASS OF LIFE to bring this masterpiece to a wider audience. As we will use Choir of the Earth’s learning tracks as part of our teaching for our choir, this is a true partnership which may well be repeated the future.”
-Håken Matti Skrede, Chorus Master, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
Choir of the Earth Version
So how will this affect our version? We shall learn A Mass of Life as if it were another project.
We have commissioned Richard Gowers to play the piano and Fieri Consort to sing the ‘voice louder’ parts of the choral passages to aid our recording (not the solo parts).
We shall learn the chorus parts with Ben England BEM in sectional rehearsals
We shall then use Sir Mark Elder’s conducting from his performances on 22|23 September for our own individual recordings.
We shall combine all voices in the studio for an online concert in November featuring the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and choir, soloists and Choir of the Earth all conducted by Sir Mark Elder.
Rehearsal Timings
Ben will teach Part One from 18th July to 5th August 2022 and Part Two from 22nd August to 16th September 2022. We shall broadcast an online version of the Bergen/Choir of the Earth combined version in November 2022.
Here are the rehearsal times (Morning is 11:00 - 12:30 and Afternoon is 15:00 - 15:30 UK time)
WEEK ONE
Monday 18th July
Full Choir at 15:00
Tuesday 19th July
Morning: Basses
Afternoon: Altos
Wednesday 20th July
M: Tenors
A: Sopranos
Thursday 21st July
M: Altos
A: Basses
Friday 22nd July
M: Sopranos
A: Tenors
WEEK TWO
Monday 25th July
Full Choir at 15:00
Tuesday 26th July
M: Basses
A: Altos
Wednesday 27th July
M: Tenors
A: Sopranos
Thursday 28th July
M: Altos
A: Basses
Friday 29th July
M: Sopranos
A: Tenors
WEEK THREE
Monday 1st August
Full Choir at 15:00
Tuesday 2nd August
M: Basses
A: Altos
Wednesday 3rd August
M: Tenors
A: Sopranos
Thursday 4th August
M: Altos
A: Basses
Friday 5th August
M: Sopranos
A: Tenors
WEEK FOUR
Monday 22nd August
Full Choir at 15:00
Tuesday 23rd August
M: Sopranos
A: Altos
Wednesday 24th August
M: Altos
A: Sopranos
Thursday 25th August
M: Sopranos
A: Basses
Friday 26th August
M: Altos
A: Tenors
WEEK FIVE
Monday 29th August
Full Choir at 15:00
Tuesday 30th August
M: Basses
A: Altos
Wednesday 31st August
M: Tenors
A: Sopranos
Thursday 1st September
M: Sopranos
A: Basses
Friday 2nd September
M: Altos
A: Tenors
Cost of the Course
As an unknown work, you will be taking a gamble with us. Why sign up for something you don’t know? Well, here’s why you should join right now:
LOVE IT OR YOUR MONEY BACK!
We shall refund you in full if you still don’t like it by the time Ben has finished the teaching on 2nd September 2022. What’s not to like? You either fall in love with it and stay, or you can have your money back.
Which leads us to cost. Putting on this course costs the Choir a significant amount. Yet to price it too high would deter you from coming. So we have decided on a tiered pricing system which allows those with deeper pockets to help those on a budget. The prices may look extreme, yet we need to invest in the future and so do help us if you can.
