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Regards from Rochester by award-winning British composer Thomas Hewitt Jones was commissioned by Rochester Choral Society to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2023. The work received its premiere on 18th March 2023 in Rochester Cathedral and was subsequently performed in Wells and Glastonbury respectively in April 2023.

The town of Rochester in Kent is drenched in history. Regards from Rochester celebrates the rich history of the Medway Towns, exploring themes and valuable human stories while relating them to contemporary society. From the first Saxon settlement through to historic stronghold, from pillar of British naval history through to industrial centre and inspiration for Charles Dickens, composer Thomas Hewitt Jones feels that this “postcard from Rochester” celebrates and exudes compassion for our planet, social conscience, humanity and kindness – values that are incredibly important to our world today.

Director of Music, John Mountford, says: “Rochester Choral Society has passed some significant milestones recently, with 2022 marking the 100th anniversary of our first performance in Rochester Cathedral. We wanted to commission a piece which reflected the diversity of this area’s rich and turbulent history, with a historically accurate, humorous and engaging new piece. We wanted to find somebody with a connection and passion for the Medway Towns and who wanted to help raise awareness of the cultural and social heritage of the area.”

Composer Thomas Hewitt Jones, who lives in Rochester, says: “I was delighted when John Mountford approached me to commission this work for Rochester Choral Society’s very exciting 150th anniversary. Quite early on in our discussions, we decided that the richness of Medway’s history was conducive to a new text, so the result is a 10-movement oratorio which we hope tells the story of the area with sweeping melody and angularity where appropriate. I have written it to be as both engaging and as musically interesting as possible.” 

John Mountford believes that choral societies are an essential part of national music-making after the COVID era. “Music is central to the lives of so many people; it binds community and enhances wellbeing for singers and audiences alike.

For Thomas Hewitt Jones, writing Regards from Rochester has been an extremely fulfilling and wholesome commission, not only given the richness of local history, but also due to the strength of the musical heritage of Rochester Choral Society dating all the way back to 1873.

“It was a privilege and a pleasure to discover many historic riches of the Medway area, which is often referred to in relation to Charles Dickens, the former Dockyard and as a stronghold to and from London, but in fact contains numerous other riches. Spending extensive time in Rochester library and reading around the history in detail, it became swiftly apparent that the area’s rich social history made up for any perception Medway may have externally of lack of charm; as the text and music were forming, I was delighted to have conversations with local Medway Council operative John Lester, who is an 8th generation of the Lester family in Rochester and who offered personal anecdotes of life in Medway since the Victorian era, some of which I have incorporated into the work. Above and beyond the history books and local connections, in this work I have aimed to reflect throughout the work on the nature of life in 2022, both beyond the recent pandemic (which let’s face it indelibly changed life as we know it) and also in the shadow of contemporary issues that affect our society, not least our collective sense of identity and perhaps most importantly, the current climate change crisis.”

This debut recording of Regards from Rochester features the BBC Singers, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and Rochester Choral Society, with Harriet Mountford (soprano) and Simon Thorpe (baritone), conducted by John Mountford

Recorded at Henry Wood Hall, London, Regards from Rochester is released by Vivum Music Ltd on all streaming platforms. Physical CDs available from the Rochester Cathedral shop and Rochester Choral Society

For further press information/review copies/interviews, please contact Frances Wilson frances_wilson66@live.com

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Fellow blogger, Thoroughly Good, has posted a helpful article full of useful information, contact details and draft texts for you to express your concern about the proposed demise of BBC Singers, and cuts to funding of other BBC classical musicians/orchestras.

If you care about classical music in the UK, please consider writing to your MP and/or the BBC.

Find out more here

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Neil Franks, Chairman of Petworth Festival and a passionate supporter of music and musicians, has written this response to Ben Lawrence’s article which appeared in The Telegraph on 8 March.

Ben Lawrence’s article about the very unfortunate cuts the BBC have announced highlights the very unhealthy attitude towards classical music that has developed from the very institutions that are supposed to champion the cause and give it a boost, not pour cold water on it.

BBC Singers

Classical music continues to be the sacrificial lamb that bureaucrats and politicians seem to take pleasure in slaughtering and then displaying what they think are their heroic and triumphant achievements in saving money

Culture, and especially music has already been viciously cut from the school curriculum – again for the same reason: an easy target

The more our population, especially the young, see these cuts happening, the more music disappears from the radar screen and the more their pre-conceived impression that the subject is old-fashioned and boring is somehow validated, so the damage is dramatically magnified and perpetuated for future generations which also means dramatically increasing the cost of the inevitable need to revive it in the future. In other words, this is a false economy let alone fundamentally damaging to the essential component of our lives – culture!

What next – are our cultural administrators going to pack up all the grand masters in our art galleries, wrap them all up in boxes and put them in the basement so they can use the galleries as gaming zones and burger cafes?

Come on everyone – let’s shout from the rooftops about classical music and make it MORE accessible in an inspired way – it’s not rocket science.

The enormous efforts made by talented, dedicated musicians to become what they are is already a huge sacrifice on their part. They know that their future earnings after years of commitment involved in learning and perfecting their craft, is often pretty limited and too many are discouraged and end up competing for other jobs. This latest news will just add to that discouragement

The fashionable term “levelling up” can be put to very constructive use with musicians. Encourage them to succeed and send them all around the country to festivals, regional venues, schools etc etc to expose everyone to their great talents. The very thought of closing down one of the worlds most important cultural institutions, ENO, and thinking that the solution is packing them off somewhere else is not practical. Of course the whole country deserves their product, but that’s not a practical way of making it happen. Capitalise on its value where it is

Please please please could we re-think this very damaging action and encourage human passion, culture and talent instead of destroying it!

Reinventing the Salon Concert

Petworth Festival 2023

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7372kArthur Sullivan, Haddon Hall

Following the critical success of ‘The Mountebanks’, John Andrews’ recording of Sullivan’s late opera ‘Haddon Hall’ with the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers  and a cast featuring Sarah Tynan and Henry Waddington was released at the weekend.

Further information and buy CD

Meet the Artist interview with John Andrews

 

img_5978En Pleine Lumière volume 1 – Sandra Mogensen, piano

This first album in the “en pleine lumière” project features 10 composers born in the mid-19th century, including Mel Bonis, Cecile Chaminade, Germaine Taillferre and Amy Beach.

Further information and buy CD

Meet the Artist interview with Sandra Mogensen