Stephen Varcoe

Last updated

Stephen Varcoe
Born
Christopher Stephen Varcoe

(1949-05-19) 19 May 1949 (age 70)
Lostwithiel, Cornwall
Education King's College, Cambridge
OccupationClassical bass-baritone
Organization Betty Roe Society

Christopher Stephen Varcoe (born 19 May 1949 in Lostwithiel, Cornwall) is an English classical bass-baritone singer, appearing internationally in opera and concert, known for Baroque and contemporary music and a notable singer of Lieder.

Lostwithiel small town and civil parish in Cornwall, England

Lostwithiel is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 census. The Lostwithiel electoral ward had a population of 4,639 at the 2011 census. The name Lostwithiel comes from the Cornish "lostwydhyel" which means "tail of a wooded area".

A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende Holländer, Wotan/Der Wanderer in the Ring Cycle and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Wagner labelled these roles as Hoher Bass —see fach for more details.

Lied musical form; term in the German vernacular to describe setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music

The lied is a term in the German vernacular to describe setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for songs from the late fourteenth or early fifteenth centuries or even to refer to Minnesang from as early as the 12th and 13th centuries. It later came especially to refer to settings of Romantic poetry during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and into the early twentieth century. Examples include settings by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Hugo Wolf or Richard Strauss. Among English speakers, however, "lied" is often used interchangeably with "art song" to encompass works that the tradition has inspired in other languages. The poems that have been made into lieder often center on pastoral themes or themes of romantic love.

Contents

Professional career

Stephen Varcoe was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and King's College, Cambridge, where he sang in the choir. He later completed a PhD at the University of York. In 1977 he won a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation. [1]

The Kings School, Canterbury Independent, day and boarding school in Canterbury, Kent, England

The King's School is a 13–18 mixed, independent, day and boarding school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is held to be the oldest continuously operating school in the world, having been founded in 597 AD. It is Britain's oldest public school.

Kings College, Cambridge college of the University of Cambridge

King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city.

Choir of Kings College, Cambridge Choir

The King's College Choir is a British choir. It is considered one of today's most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great English choral tradition. It was created by King Henry VI, who founded King's College, Cambridge, in 1441, to provide daily singing in his Chapel, which remains the main task of the choir to this day.

On the opera stage he appeared in Haydn's L'infedeltà delusa in Antwerp, in Debussy's Fall of the House of Usher in Lisbon and London, in John Tavener's opera Mary Of Egypt for the Aldeburgh Festival, and he performed the part of Plutone in Peri's Euridice at the Drottningholm Festival in Sweden. He also performed the parts of Death in Gustav Holst's chamber opera Savitri , Demetrius in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Salieri in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Mozart & Salieri.

<i>Linfedeltà delusa</i> opera

L'infedeltà delusa, Hob. 28/5, is an operatic burletta per musica by Joseph Haydn. The Italian libretto was by Marco Coltellini, perhaps reworked by Carl Friberth, who also took part in the first performance.

<i>La chute de la maison Usher</i> (opera) unfinished opera by Claude Debussy

La chute de la maison Usher is an unfinished opera in one act by Claude Debussy to his own libretto, based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher". The composer worked on the score between 1908 and 1917 but it was never completed.

John Tavener British composer

Sir John Kenneth Tavener was an English composer, known for his extensive output of religious works, including The Protecting Veil, Song for Athene and The Lamb.

He performed Alexander Goehr's Sonata About Jerusalem with Oliver Knussen and the Schoenberg Ensemble, Bach's St Matthew Passion with Trevor Pinnock, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sir John In Love with Richard Hickox and the Northern Sinfonia, and Schubert's Mass in E flat major with Roger Norrington and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. [1]

Alexander Goehr English composer

Peter Alexander Goehr is an English composer and academic.

Oliver Knussen British composer and conductor

Stuart Oliver Knussen was a British composer and conductor.

<i>St Matthew Passion</i> passion by Johann Sebastian Bach

The St Matthew Passion, BWV 244, is a Passion, a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew to music, with interspersed chorales and arias. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of classical sacred music. The original Latin title Passio Domini nostri J.C. secundum Evangelistam Matthæum translates to "The Passion of our Lord J[esus] C[hrist] according to the Evangelist Matthew".

In the field of historically informed performance, Varcoe recorded in 1984 with Hans-Martin Linde Bach's Missa in A major and the Missa in G major . [2] He recorded several Bach cantatas with John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, including an early 1990 recording of Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 , together with Ruth Holton and Anthony Rolfe-Johnson. [3] He also recorded with the group Bach's St John Passion and St Matthew Passion and participated in the group's Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000. He recorded Bach's Magnificat and Mass in B minor with Hickox and the Collegium Musicum 90. [4]

Historically informed performance Approach to the performance of classical music

Historically informed performance is an approach to the performance of classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which a work was originally conceived.

Hans-Martin Linde is a noted virtuoso flute and recorder player of (mainly) baroque and early music.

Bach cantata cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

The cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach consist of at least 209 surviving works.

His recording of songs of Charles Villiers Stanford with pianist Clifford Benson was acclaimed in the International Record Review in 2000:

Charles Villiers Stanford Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the University of Cambridge before studying music in Leipzig and Berlin. He was instrumental in raising the status of the Cambridge University Musical Society, attracting international stars to perform with it.

He sounds as if he has been singing Stanford all his life, and his warm, natural baritone, finely judged legato and sensitivity to words are a joy throughout. [5]

Varcoe wrote a book on the art of singing English song: Sing English Song: a practical approach to the language and the repertoire. [6]

He was appointed the President of the Betty Roe Society in 2010. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme</i>, BWV 140 chorale cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, also known as Sleepers Wake, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, regarded as one of his most mature and popular sacred cantatas. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the 27th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 25 November 1731.

Philipp Nicolai German Lutheran pastor, hymnwriter

Philipp Nicolai was a German Lutheran pastor, poet, and composer. He is most widely recognized as a hymnodist.

<i>Schübler Chorales</i> musical composition

Sechs Chorale von verschiedener Art: auf einer Orgel mit 2 Clavieren und Pedal vorzuspielen, commonly known as the Schübler Chorales, BWV 645–650, is a set of chorale preludes composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Georg Schübler, after whom the collection came to be named, published it in 1747 or before August 1748, in Zella St. Blasii. At least five preludes of the compilation are transcribed from movements in Bach's church cantatas, mostly chorale cantatas he had composed around two decades earlier.

<i>The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach</i> 1968 film by the French filmmaking duo of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet

The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach is a 1968 film by the French filmmaking duo of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet. It was their first full-length feature film, and reportedly took a decade to finance. The film stars renowned harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt as Johann Sebastian Bach and Christiane Lang as Anna Magdalena Bach. The orchestral music was performed by Concentus Musicus and conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. It is the first of several Straub-Huillet films to be based on works of classical music. The film was entered into the 18th Berlin International Film Festival.

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme psalm

"Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" is a Lutheran hymn written in German by Philipp Nicolai, first published in 1599 together with "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern". It appears in German hymnals and in several English hymnals in translations such as "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying", "Wake, O wake! with tidings thrilling", and "Up! Awake! From Highest Steeple". Johann Sebastian Bach based a chorale cantata on the hymn, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, one of its many settings for organ and for voices.

<i>Alles nur nach Gottes Willen</i>, BWV 72 church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Alles nur nach Gottes Willen, BWV 72, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig in 1726 for the third Sunday after Epiphany and first performed it on 27 January 1726. Bach used the opening chorus for the Gloria of his Missa in G minor, BWV 235.

<i>Schwingt freudig euch empor</i>, BWV 36 church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Schwingt freudig euch empor, BWV 36, in Leipzig in 1731 for the first Sunday in Advent. He drew on material from previous congratulatory cantatas, beginning with Schwingt freudig euch empor, BWV 36c (1725). The Gospel for the Sunday was the Entry into Jerusalem, thus the mood of the secular work matched "the people's jubilant shouts of Hosanna". In a unique structure in Bach's cantatas, he interpolated four movements derived from the former works with four stanzas from two important Advent hymns, to add liturgical focus, three from Luther's "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" and one from Nicolai's "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern". He first performed the cantata in its final form of two parts, eight movements, on 2 December 1731.

<i>Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats</i>, BWV 42 church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach composed for the 1st Sunday after Easter

Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the first Sunday after Easter and first performed it on April 8, 1725.

Peter Kooij is a Dutch bass singer who specializes in baroque music.

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern chorale by Philipp Nicolai

"Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" is a hymn by Philipp Nicolai written in 1597 and first published in 1599. The hymn for Pentecost "O Heilger Geist, kehr bei uns ein" by Michael Schirmer is sung to the same tune.

Vox Christi

Vox Christi, Latin for Voice of Christ, is a setting of Jesus' words in a vocal work such as a Passion, an Oratorium or a Cantata. Conventionally, for instance in Protestant music of the Baroque era, the vox Christi is set for a bass voice.

<i>Wachet! betet! betet! wachet!</i> BWV 70 church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! is the title of two church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed a first version, BWV 70a, in Weimar for the second Sunday in Advent of 1716 and expanded it in 1723 in Leipzig to BWV 70, a cantata in two parts for the 26th Sunday after Trinity.

<i>Ich bin ein guter Hirt</i>, BWV 85 church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Ich bin ein guter Hirt, BWV 85, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the second Sunday after Easter and first performed it on 15 April 1725.

<i>Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen</i>, BWV 215 Bach cantata, BWV 215

Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen, BWV 215, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the cantata gratulatoria or Dramma per musica in Leipzig as a Festmusik für das kurfürstlich sächsische Haus for the anniversary of the election of August III, Elector of Saxony, as King of Poland, and first performed it on 5 October 1734 in the presence of the Elector.

Sleepers Awake may refer to:

Paul Matthen

Paul Seymour Matthen (1914-2003) was an American bass-baritone, musical scholar and music pedagogue. He attended Columbia University, where he studied chemistry in addition to music. While there he was a student of Friedrich Schorr.

Greta De Reyghere is a Belgian soprano who specializes in early music and Baroque music in historically informed performance but also performs a variety of other classical music in concert. She is a teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Liège.

<i>Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme</i> (J. C. F. Bach)

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, Wf XV:2, is a German chorale motet composed around 1780 by Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, a son of Johann Sebastian Bach. It is based on Philipp Nicolai's hymn "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme". The motet in E-flat major is written for a four-part choir. It is structured in three movements, quoting in the last movement his fathers's chorale setting.

Chorale German Protestant church hymn, and several musical forms (e.g. organ chorale, four-part chorale) derived from it

Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale:

Julia Kleiter German singer and opera singer

Julia Kleiter is a German operatic soprano and a concert singer. After her debut as Mozart's Pamina at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, she has appeared at major international opera houses, especially the Zurich Opera, and festivals, including the Salzburg Festival. She is also active as a concert singer, and has recorded Bach with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, among others.

References

  1. 1 2 "Stephen Varcoe (Bass-Baritone)". bach-cantatas.com. 2006. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  2. "Hans-Martin Linde Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works". bach-cantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  3. "Cantata BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme". bach-cantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  4. "Richard Hickox & Collegium Musicum 90 Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Work". bach-cantatas.com. 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  5. "Songs Vol 1 / Stephen Varcoe, Clifford Benson". arkivmusic.com. 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  6. Varcoe, Stephen (2000). Sing English Song: a practical approach to the language and the repertoire. London: Thames Publishing. ISBN   0-905210-73-5.
  7. Iain Sneddon (November 2010). "Let me Introduce Betty Roe". Musical Opinion .