A dynamic exploration of the questions we face in modern times and our responsibility to act, this cantata presents questions about how we might build a better world – ‘a love song for the planet’.
…the one thing we need more than hope is action… Act. Do something. The words of environmental activist Greta Thunberg are threaded through fragments of poetry by David Hart and the conductor Kurt Masur ’s own account of the dangerous moment in 1989 when he stood up publicly against the East German state, opening the Gewandhaus doors to protestors during the candlelit demonstration that was a key element leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall shortly afterwards.
After a fragmentary Prelude with hints of Bach’s Cantata Nun komm der Heiden Heiland BWV 61/62, the choir sings Johnson’s own words: Gentle flame, guide our way in an uplifting Advent call to the manger. This mood is quickly disrupted by insistent whispers and foot stamps, with the question:
If talk changes its rhythm, will God appear?During a baroque violin solo the choir whispers:
I only speak when I think it is necessary – words that reveal Greta Thunberg’s early experience of being an elective mute. Greta’s more recent call to action –
Once we start to act hope is everywhere – is followed by a final presentation of David Hart’s poetry:
If talk changes its rhythm will God appear? If a different rhythm is worked will the talkers fall down blessed? If the talk is of the pennywort or the chough, if the talk is of the weevil or the shy seal?An earlier version of the work (performed without the final movement) entitled Gentle Flame Cantata (2019) was commissioned by Jeffrey Skidmore with support from Wild Plum Arts, ‘Made at the Red House’ and Stable Music Ltd receiving a 5***** review from Midlands Music Review for the premiere performance at the Bradshaw Hall, Birmingham, conducted by Jeffrey Skidmore with students at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
The first performance of I Stand At The Door was on 5th December, 2021 at Birmingham Town Hall by Ex Cathedra Choir and Baroque Orchestra with Mezzo-soprano Gabriella Liandu and Baroque violinist Lucy Russell, directed by Jeffrey Skidmore (OBE).
