Please scroll down to see examples of three of papagena's current programmes:
Nuns and Roses
The Darkest Midnight
My Heart is Ready
Nuns and Roses
Ranging from the chant of Hildegard of Bingen to the hoovering fantasia of Stephen Hatfield, from Purcell to Katy Perry, this programme is a musical cocktail of folk, medieval classical and contemporary styles, woven into a tapestry which is both sacred and profane, tender, witty and urbane.
Cattle Call - Scottish trad. arr Katy Cooper
Veni, Veni Emmanuel - Michael John Trotta
Otche Nash - Nikolai Kedrov
Crown of Roses - P I Tchaikovsky
O Jesulein zart - Winnie Brückner
There is no Rose - English 15th century
O Virtus Sapientiae - Hildegard of Bingen
Shen Khar Venakhi - Armenian arr. Komitas
Hamisha Asar - Flory Jagoda arr. Suzzie Vango
God says Yes - Paul Carey
Lauliku Lapsepoli - Veljo Tormis
Changeling’s Lullaby - Jess Arrowsmith/Lady Maisery
Pseudo-Yoik - Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
Kakwa Moma - Bulgarian Volkslied arr. Knorrn
Ca’ the Yowes - Scottish arr. M Coleridge
Lagan Love - Trad Irish
Hebridean Spinning Song - Trad arr. Mark Hewitt
Mouth Music - arr. D Keane & J Faulkner
Jack’s Valentine - Libby Larsen
Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap arr. S T-Flowers
Three Ways to Vacuum your House, Part 1 - Stephen Hatfield
Music for a While - Purcell arr. Gunnar Eriksson
Firework - Katy Perry arr. Jim Clements
Du bist die Ruh - Franz Schubert arr. J Clements
Sweet Child of Mine - Guns ‘n’ Roses arr. S Vango
The darkest midnight
Medieval, Celtic and contemporary carols with seasonal songs. (The following version features accompaniment and solo items from Lynda Sayce (lute, theorbo, gittern, guitar) but may be adapted to be performed a cappella.)
Nowell, tydinges trew - English 15th century
Serafin que con dulce harmonia - Joan Cererols
Ave Maris Stella - Plainsong/C Monteverdi
Riu, riu, chiu - Mateo Flecha
Maria durch ein Dornwald - German trad.
Shen khar venakhi - Georgian Orthodox
Balulalow - Suzzie Vango
O Jesulein zart - Winnie Brückner
The Scottish Hunt’s Up - Jacobean
Wexford carol - Irish trad. arr S Vango
Darkest midnight - Irish trad.
Behold, here is the best morning - Welsh trad.
Carol of the Bells - Leontovich arr E Drury
Dou way Robin/Sancta Maria - English 15th century
There is no rose - English 15th century
Sweet was the song the Virgin sang - English 15th century
Nativity - John Tavener
Corpus Christi carol - Britten arr W Brückner
River - Joni Mitchell arr J Clements
The snow it melts the soonest - Winnie Brückner
My Winter coat - The Roches
God says yes - Paul Carey
Veni, veni Emmanuel - Brückner/Michael J Trotta
MY heart is ready
A programme contrasting the rhapsodic chants of 8th century Byzantine Abbess Kassia with the lush harmonies of Russian and Armenian Orthodox music, together with folksongs and lullabies from Eastern Europe and the Baltics. Yuri Yukechev (b.1947) is a Russian composer living in Siberia. His music is little known in the West but his cantata My Heart is Ready, setting verses from the Psalms of David, is a stunning work for women’s voices. The 9th century nun Kassia led the most extraordinary life and is the earliest woman whose music is preserved in written notated form.
Yuri Yukechev -
My heart is ready
· In peace I lie down
· Preserve me, O God
· Turn thou to me
· Turn from evil
· I delight to do thy will
Kassia -
Tin pentachordon lyran (The five-stringed lute)
Doxazomen sou Christe (We praise your great mercy)
Yper tin ton Hellenon (Above the teachings of the Greeks)
I en polles amarties (The fallen woman)
Otche nash (Our Father) - Nikolai Kedrov
Crown of Roses - P I Tchaikovsky
Blagoslovi (Bless the Lord, O my Soul) - Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Movements from the All-Night Vigil Op 9 - Pavel Chesnokov
Shen Khar Venakhi - Trad. Georgian
Movements from Sharakans - Trad. Armenian arr Komitas
Lauliku lapsepoli - Veljo Tormis
O Jesulein zart - Winnie Brückner
Aylye, lulye - Trad. Yiddish
Brooms - Feodosiy Rubtsov
as she stood
(programme under development):
Settings of the Stabat Mater text interlaced with musical reflections on contemporary themes of waiting, motherhood and love.