Woolman's Witness is our newest cantata setting Quaker history to music. The lyrics by Alec Davison tell the story of John Woolman, 18th century American Quaker and campaigner for the abolition of slavery. The music is by Peter Aviss, composer of contemporary music and long-term member of the Leaveners.
The cantata chronicles the story of John Woolman from the time he dons he suit of undyed wool as he refuses to use any products which rely on slavery for their production. He gives up his growing business in Burlington, New Jersey, in order to devote himself to travelling amongst Friends both in the colonies and in Britain to persuade Friends of the evils of owning slaves. He also wrote a pamphlet, A Plea for the Poor, pleading for better treatment of the working poor. At Easter 2002, living in the University of Reading and working at Leighton Park School, Reading, singers and instrumentalists shared in performing the world premiere of the cantata at the Royal College of Music, London on Saturday 6th April.
Rachael Howell was a member of the choir that performed Woolman's Witness, here are her experiences of the project:
This year's Leaveners Easter gathering was a fantastic experience. We met at lunch time on the Tuesday after Easter and, starting from scratch in many cases (including mine), we had four days to learn and rehearse the music before giving the World Premiere performance in London on the Saturday.
Woolman's Witness is a work of tremendous power, beauty and inspiration. Peter Aviss' music brings Alec Davison's words to extraordinary life. I know I was not the only person moved to tears by the music, the piece is so powerful that some of the audience gave us a standing ovation! At Meeting for Worship the next morning many people ministered about what an important experience it had been for them.
While the choir and orchestra were rehearsing, children aged 8-15 joined the Quaker Youth Theatre to produce a short video about the life of John Woolman.
Paul Levy was a volunteer facilitator on this project:
While the singers and musicians were learning their parts for Woolman's Witness seven QYT members were working from a script written by Rachael Veazey to create a film chronicling many of the major developments in the life of John Woolman. We staged him discovering his belief that slavery is wrong and saw him meet slaves and land owners. The film also showed the terrible conditions that the slaves had to endure.
This was a new style of project for The Quaker Youth Theatre; it enabled children of musicians and instrumentalists to be involved in Woolman's Witness. Working closely together in a small group towards an aim made it a very rewarding experience. Not only were we able to learn about the life of John Woolman, but we also created something new and exciting, and felt a real part of the Woolman's Witness project. We hope as many of you as possible will be able to see our video.
Roxanne Green was part of the group working on the video project, here is her account of a fun packed week in Reading:
At the end of March seven of us gathered at Leighton Park School to make a video about John Woolman. We'd been sent scripts beforehand, but as none of us had worked on a video before, we didn't really know what to expect. We read through the scripts a couple of times as well as having some 'lessons' on John Woolman and how to walk like men.
The next morning, after a short meeting for worship, it was straight to work. While Kathryn and Emily shot the 'death scene', the remaining four were taken into another room where Paul used black face paint and disgusting globules of Copydex in an effort to make us look like impoverished slaves. I somehow got volunteered to be the dying slave, and then had to chew foul-tasting blood capsules to make it look like I was coughing blood. Mid-way through the project, we were joined by Timmy, who at the tender age of 7 proved himself to be a fine thespian in possession of exhaustingly large amounts of energy. Alex, our video man, insisted on redoing my main scene over and over, which was exasperating as I had to stand in ridiculous, uncomfortable positions and repeat the line 'Ah! John Woolman!' so many times I thought I would forget how to say anything else. Friday saw us complete the video ahead of schedule, so that night, we had a small 'wrap party' with highly intellectual theological discussions going on until late in the night.
Next morning, we were treated to a short lie-in before tidying up the rooms we had been rehearsing in. We then took the trip to London to do front of house for Woolman's Witness. We had the afternoon to look around London, then staggered back to the Royal College of Music, to change into smart clothes and hand out complimentary programmes. It was our last night together, but we were all so tired we went to bed at a vaguely reasonable hour.
The next morning was tinged with sadness; we had to go home and leave wonderful sunny Reading. Eventually we said our goodbyes, packed up our mothers and went home. As we crossed the Severn Bridge and entered Wales, it began to rain.
Sallie Ashe was amongst the audience at the Royal College of Music, here is her account of the performance:
On Saturday April 6th, as a reward for an extra long session of Meeting for Sufferings, Jim and I attended the Royal College of Music to see the Leaveners' production of Woolman's Witness. The concert hall at the Royal College is beautifully proportioned, managing to be both spacious and intimate.
As the soloists appeared on stage we were surprised to see that the two men playing the part of Woolman - Barry Wilsher and Gordon Pullin - were dressed in simple white suits. This was to reflect Woolman's belief that rich people wearing elaborate - even dyed - garments further impoverishes the poor. The performance was well rehearsed, to which the participants later testified, and the choir and orchestra put their all into producing some wonderful moments of powerful crescendo. The work took the form of an oratorio with Barry and Jill Wilsher delivering the story of Woolman's life between each musical piece. Although the spoken story was well written and excellently performed I felt it could have been considerably edited. Peter Aviss's music was very accessible with strong and contrasting rhythms, from the jazzy opening number: 'Peculiar People'to the lyrical dark ballad 'Made Low' sung by Gordon Pullin. Amid the dramatic choral work were allusions to sea shanties and gentle refrains. The piece ended with an uplifting finale, 'The Call':
The God in our heart is the God in creation, invisible, manifest, kindling the flame.
His treasures are channels of love universal: our Call is to steward the gifts in his name. Our call to witness to his name.
There were three musical soloists: baritone Henry Herford, Gordon Pullin, Tenor and Lindsay Gowers, Soprano who were all first class; the love song by Lindsay Gowers as Sarah Woolman 'Dear John' was exquisitely moving. It was hard to decide who had the better arias - the tenor, or the soprano. The message about slavery was powerfully put, though Woolman's premise that rich people's self-denial will somehow improve the lot of poor people is perhaps more debatable.
I do hope that there will be further performances so that Friends in other regions have a chance to hear Woolman's Witness.
At the end of the concert when flowers had been offered to the conductor and soloists Alec Davison, who wrote the libretto and has long connections with the Leaveners, dedicated the work to Tina Helfrich, who is retiring from her position of Co-ordinator this year. This after 16 years of inspired service - and appropriately she received the best flowers of all.
