Conductor's Notes

Gordon Jack Musical Director and Conductor

Another December recital, my third as Musical Director of the Choir, and I've taken the opportunity once again to expand the choir's repertoire. Yes, they have performed the Chichester Psalms before - three times in fact since 1975. But Geoffrey Bush and Ariel Ramirez are new composers that the choir have been getting know over the past three months.

We are singing the Ramirez (Our Nativity: Navidad Nuestra) in its original language - Latin American Spanish. Spanish is not a language I feel confident about and I had no idea about the Latin American version, so I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Judit Moscoso, a Spanish teacher at Robert Gordon's College. She was very generous with her time and went through the text, syllable by syllable, teaching me the correct way to say the words. I am very grateful to her because, as you will read in the programme notes, Ramirez transported the story of the Nativity to Argentina, so it is only right that you should hear the way the language is spoken in that part of the Spanish speaking world.

Gordon Jack

 

Loudspeaker Icon - link to pronunciation of Navidad Nuestra words

Navidad Nuestra Pronunciation