Recent Posts

Music to bring light to the new year!
Littlemore Tractus was composed by Arvo Pärt in 2000 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Cardinal Newman’s birth. It is a setting of the final lines of Newman’s sermon, Wisdom and Innocence, a prayer for eternal peace.

Otčenáš (Our Father), composed by Leoš Janáček in 1901, was revised in 1906 for chorus, harp and organ. The music combines the sacred with the humanistic, employing Janáček’s characteristic Czech folk rhythms and harmony.

Gustav Holst’s The Hymn of Jesus was composed between 1917 and 1919. Taking its text from the apocryphal Acts of John, the music is mystical and visionary, moving from serene plainsong to drama and exquisite beauty.

Franz Schubert’s setting of Psalm 23 (The Lord is my Shepherd), for upper voices, was written in 1820. The familiar text is set with beautiful and lyrical simplicity. The choir will be joined by the harp, combining to create a sense of calmness and serenity.

Ecce beatam lucem (Behold the blessed light) was composed by Jonathan Dove in 1997. The work is an ecstatic and shimmering setting of a text inspired by light and its source in the sun, the moon and the stars, as a divine creation.

The programme will also include works by Jonathan Rathbone, Charles Wood, William Wordsworth and David Bednall, and will feature soloists Tom Winpenny (Organ) and Ruby Aspinall (Harp).

Please join us for a concert of music to lighten the winter darkness and for
drinks and nibbles afterwards.

Programme:
Ecce Beatam Lucem – Jonathan Dove
Psalm 23 – Franz Schubert
Otče náš – Leos Janacek
O Nata Lux – Jonathan Rathbone
Ceremony or Carols Op. 28 – Gabriel Fauré – (Interlude, Ruby Aspinall – Harp)
Littlemore Tractus – Arvo Part

Interval

Hail Gladdening Light – Charles Wood
De Profundis – William Wordsworth
I am the light of the world – David Bednall
La Source – Alphonse Hasselmans
Toccato from Suite No 1 – Florence Price – (Tom Winpenny – Organ)
The Hymn of Jesus – Gustav Holst (arr. John Gibbons)

Joining for the performance we welcome the following soloist musicians:
Ruby Aspinall – Harp
Tom Winpenny – Organ
Sarah Strachan – Soprano

Please join us for drinks and nibbles in the Octagon after the concert.

Tickets available in advance or on the door (please book early to avoid disappointment)

A full programme booklet will be available on the door.

On International Women’s Day we are putting female composers in the spotlight and celebrating the music of Women of Notes from the 1800s to today. Representing the 19th century are two pieces from the world renowned composer and pianist Clara Schumann – Abendfeier in Venedig and Gondoliera.

Bringing us up to the present day our programme has, as its centrepiece, the exquisite Requiem by Canadian composer Eleanor Daley. We are delighted to include Stabat mater by Alissa Firsova who grew up in St Albans, and the World Premiere of Sound the flute by Maya Kitay, a former choral scholar at Clifton Cathedral. Cumulus by the London based composer Sze Ying Chan has just won 1st prize at the 10th Japan International Choral Composition Competition and this will be its European Premiere. Completing the programme are pieces by Cecilia McDowall and Amy Beach. Please join us to show your support for these incredible Women of Notes.

Programme to include:

• Reading/Poem – Phenomical Women – Mary Angelou
• Let the Music be Heard – Errollyn Warren
• Reading/Poem – “Hope” is the thing with feathers – Emily Dickinson
• Abendfeier in Venedig – Clara Schumann
• Stabat Mater – Alessa Firsova
• Reading/Poem – My life closed twice before its close – Emily Dickinson
• Requiem – Eleanor Daley

Interval

• Sound the Flute – World Premiere! – Maya Kitay
• Reading/Poem – At Midnight – Natsuko Higuchi
• Cumulus – European Premiere! – Sze Ying Chan
• Reading/Poem – Hour – Carol Ann Duffy
• Gondoliera – Clara Schumann
• Peace I leave with you – Amy Beach
• Reading/Poem – Wild Geese – Mary Oliver
• Crystal Spheres – Cecilia McDowall

By happy coincidence this coincides with our annual performance in the Lady Chapel of St Albans Cathedral. Tickets will be available from the Cathedral Box Office.