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- Richard Blackford
Not In Our Time (2010)
- Chester Music Ltd (World)
Commissioned for their Centenary by the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus.
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- SATB chorus, children's chorus
- Baritone, Tenor
- 55 min
- Tom Junod, Hilda Doolittle
Programme Note
Not in Our Time is about the universal theme of how religion is used as a pretext or justification for war. The piece opens with an orchestral cataclysm - the reverberation of the collapse of the Twin Towers and the shock waves it sent around the world. From it emerge the soft, measured tones of George W. Bush, whose references to "crusade" and "God is not neutral" also sent, in their turn, shockwaves around the Arab world.
Not in Our Time takes extracts from speeches of the last two American presidents as bookends. Obama's Cairo University speech about reconciliation is the antithesis of Bush's evangelical call to arms and to demonise the "evildoers".
The primary texts deliberately juxtapose speeches and poems on holy war and divinely sanctioned violence a thousand years apart, from the first Crusade, to 9/11. I reprise four times, however, Hilda Doolittle’s poem "Not in our time, O Lord, the ploughshare for the sword": first in sorrowful response to the militant Arab reaction to President Bush, by the
Childrens' Chorus in response to Pope Urban II's call for the first Crusade, in commentary on Abul-Muzzafar Al-
Abyurdi's poignant vision of the aftermath of war and, finally, in passionate response to the terrifying call for Holy War in the sermon given in Jerusalem after Saladin's victory in 1187AD. The universality of H.D.'s poem is reminiscent of the Passion Chorale in which the text is repeated but its context and musical setting is different.
The result of Pope Urban II's launch of the first Crusade at Clermont in 1095AD was the unification of the warring knights of Europe in a common purpose; namely to slaughter Muslims, sanctioned in the name of God. The cry of the two thousand present, "God wills it", is well documented, and mirrors the cry for Holy War in the Sermon at Jerusalem by Mohammed Ben Zeky ninety-two years later. In my work, Urban's cry launches a musical/military setting of the Crusader hymn O Crux ave spes unica, with percussion and blazing trumpets setting the scene for the immense throng that journeyed to the Holy Land under the banner of the Cross. By contrast, the poet Abul-Muzzafar's fragile song of the ravaging effects of war is overwhelmed by the Crusader juggernaut hymn.
Parts III and IV are also mirrors - Part III describes the Fall of Jerusalem by Fulcher of Chartres at which, almost incredibly, the blood-spattered Crusaders, fresh from slaughter, pile into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to worship Jesus. In choosing the resplendent Latin hymn Lucis largitor splendide, I try to evoke the magnificence and power of
Christian devotion in a sustained choral sequence. At the centre of the work is the contemporary reporter Tom Junod's description of the nameless man falling from the World Trade Centre, a man who seemed to embody humanity's fall that day.
Aftermath explores the experience of the individual affected by warfare. The Chorus, as if tormented by the unbreakable cycle of violence asks, in a passage from the Old Testament Book of Habakkuk, “How long, O Lord? I cry for help - but you do not listen!” In a contrasting section, the Children’s Chorus sings a fragment of the poet from the town of Ma'arra, completely destroyed by the Crusaders. The question of God's will, so confidently attested by the warmongers, is unanswered by the Chorus.
In Part VI the call for holy war that begun with Pope Urban II in Part II, is now taken up by Mohammed Ben Zeky following Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in 1187AD. His cry to "Purify the rest of the earth of those nations with whom God and his messenger are angry" prompts the Chorus' final, desperate plea of "Not in our time, O Lord". Both the
tenor and baritone protagonists unite for the first time to sing words from Barack Obama's Cairo address in 2009, in which he challenges young people of all faiths to "re-imagine the world". In citing the peaceful messages of the Quran, the Torah and the Bible he is effectively pleading for an end of the crusader mentality in the hope that "The Holy land
of the three great faiths is the land of peace God intended it to be".
Richard Blackford 21/12/10
Not in Our Time takes extracts from speeches of the last two American presidents as bookends. Obama's Cairo University speech about reconciliation is the antithesis of Bush's evangelical call to arms and to demonise the "evildoers".
The primary texts deliberately juxtapose speeches and poems on holy war and divinely sanctioned violence a thousand years apart, from the first Crusade, to 9/11. I reprise four times, however, Hilda Doolittle’s poem "Not in our time, O Lord, the ploughshare for the sword": first in sorrowful response to the militant Arab reaction to President Bush, by the
Childrens' Chorus in response to Pope Urban II's call for the first Crusade, in commentary on Abul-Muzzafar Al-
Abyurdi's poignant vision of the aftermath of war and, finally, in passionate response to the terrifying call for Holy War in the sermon given in Jerusalem after Saladin's victory in 1187AD. The universality of H.D.'s poem is reminiscent of the Passion Chorale in which the text is repeated but its context and musical setting is different.
The result of Pope Urban II's launch of the first Crusade at Clermont in 1095AD was the unification of the warring knights of Europe in a common purpose; namely to slaughter Muslims, sanctioned in the name of God. The cry of the two thousand present, "God wills it", is well documented, and mirrors the cry for Holy War in the Sermon at Jerusalem by Mohammed Ben Zeky ninety-two years later. In my work, Urban's cry launches a musical/military setting of the Crusader hymn O Crux ave spes unica, with percussion and blazing trumpets setting the scene for the immense throng that journeyed to the Holy Land under the banner of the Cross. By contrast, the poet Abul-Muzzafar's fragile song of the ravaging effects of war is overwhelmed by the Crusader juggernaut hymn.
Parts III and IV are also mirrors - Part III describes the Fall of Jerusalem by Fulcher of Chartres at which, almost incredibly, the blood-spattered Crusaders, fresh from slaughter, pile into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to worship Jesus. In choosing the resplendent Latin hymn Lucis largitor splendide, I try to evoke the magnificence and power of
Christian devotion in a sustained choral sequence. At the centre of the work is the contemporary reporter Tom Junod's description of the nameless man falling from the World Trade Centre, a man who seemed to embody humanity's fall that day.
Aftermath explores the experience of the individual affected by warfare. The Chorus, as if tormented by the unbreakable cycle of violence asks, in a passage from the Old Testament Book of Habakkuk, “How long, O Lord? I cry for help - but you do not listen!” In a contrasting section, the Children’s Chorus sings a fragment of the poet from the town of Ma'arra, completely destroyed by the Crusaders. The question of God's will, so confidently attested by the warmongers, is unanswered by the Chorus.
In Part VI the call for holy war that begun with Pope Urban II in Part II, is now taken up by Mohammed Ben Zeky following Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in 1187AD. His cry to "Purify the rest of the earth of those nations with whom God and his messenger are angry" prompts the Chorus' final, desperate plea of "Not in our time, O Lord". Both the
tenor and baritone protagonists unite for the first time to sing words from Barack Obama's Cairo address in 2009, in which he challenges young people of all faiths to "re-imagine the world". In citing the peaceful messages of the Quran, the Torah and the Bible he is effectively pleading for an end of the crusader mentality in the hope that "The Holy land
of the three great faiths is the land of peace God intended it to be".
Richard Blackford 21/12/10
Media
Not in Our Time, Part I "Inferno": Prelude
Not in Our Time, Part I "Inferno": George W. Bush
Not in Our Time, Part I "Inferno": Adam Gadahn and Ayman Al-Zawahiri
Not in Our Time, Part I "Inferno": Poem. "Not in Our Time" by H.D.
Not in Our Time, Part II "The First Crusade": Pope Urban II
Not in Our Time, Part II "The First Crusade": Hymn. Vexilla Regis
Not in Our Time, Part II "The First Crusade": Abul-Muzzafar Al-Abyurdi
Not in Our Time, Part III "The Fall of Jerusalem": Fulcher of Chartres
Not in Our Time, Part III "The Fall of Jerusalem": Hymn. Lucis Largitor Splendide
Not in Our Time, Part IV "The Falling Man": Tom Junod
Not in Our Time, Part V "Aftermath, Chorus": "How Long, O Lord?"
Not in Our Time, Part V "Aftermath, Chorus": Poem Fragment "I do not know"
Not in Our Time, Part VI "God's Will": "Mohamed Ben Zeky"
Not in Our Time, Part VI "God's Will": Barack Hussain Obama
Scores
Reviews
Fiercely paced and vividly dramatic, it's a huge sing and a grateful one. It's perfectly designed to stretch the chorus without asking the impossible. …..Out of this melting-pot comes something that speaks for itself, and with tremendous force….And that's the only test: the whole thing worked. Against the odds. Writing this piece was like walking into a minefield, and too hesitant a step – in the interests of subtlety, good taste or whatever – could have been the end of it. But Blackford has proceeded fearlessly, intuitively, maybe rashly, but with confidence in his own craft. Which is considerable. Not in Our Time is a terrific piece whose textual content may cause choirs and audiences to think: is this for us? Emphatically it is.
14th September 2011
Not in Our Time stands in a powerful tradition of English oratorios that are highly political and overtly pacifist, drawing upon texts old and new to make the link between the contemporary and specific on the one hand, and the timeless and absolute on the other. I believe what the world needs now is a message of healing, of moderation and shared humanity – and that is precisely what Blackford provides in this new work. It may take a while for his natural optimism to break through, but when it does, it is glorious. Drawing alarming parallels between the Christian-Muslim conflicts of 900 years ago and the comparable miseries of today, he forces his audience to look in the eye a profound, hideous truth: century after century, men abandon their shared humanity all too readily, using religious rhetoric to inspire nauseating atrocities. The texts used are alternately shaming and moving – and both the lyrical inspiration and the orchestration are of the highest level . Not in Our Time is perhaps closer to Tippett than to Britten – rooted in tonality whilst pushing at its boundaries when anger strikes – but both influences are palpably there, without the slightest hint of it being derivative. Invention is all – and there is invention aplenty. This is a paean of and to hope, a proclamation of shared humanity and, above all, a great oratorio for the peacemakers. This is a serious piece, but infinitely rewarding. Frankly, the more people who listen to it, the better, happier and more at peace with itself the world will be.
13th September 2011
Richard Blackford showed great daring in confronting one of the major issues of our time – the apparently irreconcilable rift between Christianity and Islam which harks back to the time of the Crusades. ……a wonderfully stirring Crusaders’ marching hymn, Vexilla regis prodeunt, with a terrific brass and percussion accompaniment which makes them sound truly invincible. Jerusalem falls under their pitiless onslaught and they wade through the blood of their victims to worship at the Holy Sepulchre with the hymn Lucis largitor splendide – a thrilling outpouring of praise full of contrapuntal complexity, which both the adult chorus and the children’s chorus handled with relish and skill. Not in Our Time is an ingenious and provocative work which raises important issues for our time. Apart from that it is very strong and varied musically with some imaginative orchestration and really challenging items for the chorus to get their teeth into. Richard Blackford has composed a work which is stimulating both musically and intellectually, and choral societies who appreciate a challenge should be vying with each other to perform it. It proved a magnificent climax to a concert inspired by the tragic events of a decade ago and deservedly received a standing ovation.
12th September 2011
Discography
Richard Blackford: Not In Our Time
- LabelNimbus
- Catalogue NumberNI6161
- ConductorGavin Carr
- EnsembleBournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra
- SoloistPaul Nilon (tenor), Stephen Gadd (baritone)
- Released14th November 2011
