Tchaikovsky Liturgy of St John Chrysostom

Saturday 28th January 2023

Ely Cathedral with Ipswich Choral Society

Saturday 4th February 2023

The Chapel of St Augustine, Tonbridge School

We performed Tchaikovsky’s settings of texts taken from the Divine
Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. We had performed it the previous week in Ely Cathedral which has been an amazing experience – collaborating with Ipswich Choral Society. For our own concert we were in chapel in Tonbridge School.

This is the most celebrated of the Eucharistic services of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Tchaikovsky felt a deep connection with this part of Orthodox worship, writing to a friend that, ‘it is impossible not to be profoundly moved by the liturgy of our own Orthodox Church… to be startled from one’s trance by a burst from the choir; to be carried away by the poetry of this music; to be thrilled when… the words ring out, ‘Praise the name of the Lord!’ – all this is infinitely precious to me! One of my deepest joys!’

The concert opened with a setting of the Prayer for Ukraine. It took place in the glorious setting of St. Augustine Chapel at Tonbridge School.

The programme also featured solo organ pieces including works by Dupré, Vierne, Rheinberger and Reger; this was an opportunity to hear the marvellous Marcussen Organ in the chapel.

Intense and stirring, made all the more thrilling in the
atmosphere of the chapel, we hope you enjoyed our performance as much as we did.

 

 

POULENC – GLORIA

SATURDAY 26TH NOVEMBER 7.30PM

ST MARTIN’S, BRASTED

We performed a selection of music – Mendelssohn’s Lauda Sion, Magnussen’s beautiful setting of the Shakespeare lyric Fear No More, Vierne’s Les Angelus (for soprano solo and organ) and Poulenc’s Gloria; this last piece we performed to celebrate our twentieth anniversary – it was one of the pieces we performed for our first concert.

We were delighted to be joined by Soprano Gwen Martin and Organist Charles Andrews. Robin Walker, our director of music, conducted

Poulenc’s Gloria, completed in 1960, is one of his best-known works. It moves through many moods from jocular to mysterious, from melodious to joyous – sparkling with energy and excitement even its quieter more intricate moments and most especially in its glorious fanfares. The complex organ part evokes the brilliance and drama of a full orchestra. We enjoyed performing this 20 years ago and were delighted to return to it again to celebrate our anniversary.

First performed in 1846, though not published until after Mendelssohn’s death, Lauda Sion was composed to commemorate the 600th anniversary of Corpus Christi. It is celebratory and majestic, most often described as adopting a melodious Italianate style, and reaches a dramatic climax before a calm conclusion in the final movement.

Jonas Magnussen’s setting of the Shakespeare’s song from Cymbeline – Fear no More the Heat ‘o the Sun – simply stirs with soulful beauty.

Gwen Martin and Robin Walker performed Vierne’s Les Angelus, a work of wonderful clarity, at times intense, at others serene, perfect for in St Martin’s church.

SATURDAY 25TH JUNE 7.30PM

St. Mary’s Church, Platt

Sprig of Thyme

Conductor Robin Walker

We were delighted to perform our programme of American and English folk songs with music by Vaughan Williams, Rutter, Copland and Frahm.

We conjured a world of ballads and love songs where you could walk country lanes and sail the seven seas; find many wonders and curiosities – from American bandicoots to ghostly lovers – and hear the calls of the Ohio river boatmen and listen to the philosophies of the Miller of Dee.

In the 150th anniversary year of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ birth we sung Five English Folk Songs, together with John Rutter’s Sprig of Thyme; together these represent a lovely collection of songs, some recognisable, others less well-known.

Aaron Copland’s sound world is unmistakable in his settings of old American songs, whether he is reworking a minstrel song that recalls America’s majestic rivers or updating a lively farmyard nonsense song.

We were particularly excited to present the world premiere of Late-Night Lyrics by Frederick Frahm including a setting of the poem by Emily Dickinson, ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’. Late-Night Lyrics is a set of three sophisticated and subtle songs on three very different themes.

At times infectious, energetic tunes, at others wistful storytelling, these songs were wide ranging, bringing a host of characters (and animals!) to life. Folk songs tell us many things about beauty and loss, nature and the rhythms of life; this proved to be a perfect selection for a summer’s evening to celebrate the many stories they tell.

St. Mary, Kippington

KODALY – MISSA BREVIS and VERDI – FOUR SACRED PIECES

Conductor Robin Walker

We are delighted to be presenting this programme of richly layered and
dramatic sacred pieces. This is the concert we had been about to perform when
covid struck in 2020 and we are very pleased to be returning to these pieces
once again.

Kodály was born in Hungary and stayed there during the Nazi occupation. In
the last stages of the war he took refuge in the Budapest Opera House and it
was there that he composed Missa Brevis, building on an
earlier work composed in 1942. Its first official premiere was at the Three
Choirs Festival in Worcester in 1948.

The piece is imbued with folk melodies and romanticism. There are moments of
yearning and moments of joyousness; intense and rich, gentle and haunting,
exuberant and exultant, this piece is wonderful to perform and we hope you will
enjoy discovering it if you have not heard it before. 

Four Sacred Pieces, Quattro pezzi sacri, were
written separately between 1886 and 1897, towards the end of the Verdi’s life.
 They were published together in 1898 and they are generally performed in
the publisher’s order, rather than chronologically.

Ave Maria was a piece composed to try and harmonise the
enigmatic scale. Intended  as an exercise, it was not originally written
for public performance. The melody is sung by each line in turn and the other
parts harmonise around it, resulting in a lush and beautiful piece.

Stabat Mater is a theatrical composition as the music moves
between the different dramatic moods of the crucifixion.

Laudi alla Vergine Maria is a setting of a prayer in Canto
XXXIII of Dante’s Paradiso, a joyous hymn to the Virgin Mary, for four female
voices a cappella. Gentle and beautiful this is a moment of peace.

Te Deum is a setting for double chorus and provides another
opportunity for operatic drama. The piece ranges from lyrical passages to
thundering climaxes, providing stirring contrasts of mood and movement. This is
the piece Verdi wanted buried with him when he died.

The series as a whole provides music of great beauty and drama. If you came
to our performance of Christmas Oratorio in 2019, you will know we can promise
you an exciting and exhilarating concert. We hope you will join us on the 26th
March.

(UPDATED – when we actually performed the concert covid had unfortunately prevented Charles Andrews from playing the organ)

 

SATURDAY DECEMBER 18^TH 7.30pm. ST MARY’S PLATT

We were very sad to have to cancel our Christmas concert due to the Omicron strain of Covid that was on the

After our recent successful concert – a Serenade to Music – The Cantate Choir return again with our Christmas concert taking place at St.Mary Platt on Saturday 18^th December.

We were overwhelmed with the fantastic audience who joined us for our November concert, after such a long wait. Now we are back again to celebrate Christmas with a wonderful programme of carols and music for the festive season, with the organ in full song.

We will be performing a variety of traditional Christmas carols from across the ages and we will be including audience favourites too – come and sing along! Having had to cancel Christmas concerts last year we are looking forward to returning full of excitement and good cheer. The Christmas season is well upon us and we hope you will join us to celebrate the festivities in the traditional way!

Tickets are £12 (U18 £6.00). They are available from members of the choir, on the door or online at www.eventbrite.co.uk

For the latest covid precautions at our concerts click here.

13th November, St. Martin’s Brasted

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We were delighted to be back rehearsing for this Autumn. It was a challenging 18 months being unable to gather, sing and plan for concerts since we had to postpone our Spring 2020 concert so many months ago. We have been very excited to be able to rehearse again and have an exciting series of concerts lined up. This first concert of 2021 was particularly exciting as we had such a wonderful audience come to our performance to welcome us back.

Our first welcome back concert for 2021 took place on 13^th November at St Martin’s Church, Brasted at 19.30.

We had missed singing so very much that our first programme was a collection of our favourite pieces which we had not been able to perform for a while. Our concert Serenade to Music was a celebration of music and included a range of contemplative, uplifting and majestic works by Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Britten and Stanford.

We celebrated music and harmony with pieces that explore the inspiring nature of music and song from composers across the centuries. Our concert included performances of Ave verum, Mozart and My heart is inditing by Handel. We sang Mendelssohn’s How lovely are the Messengers together with Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music, including pieces by Stanford and Britten (Hymn to St Cecilia) and concluding with the stirring Blest Pair of Sirens by Parry. These included settings of words drawn from the Bible, as well as verses by Shakespeare, Milton and Auden, all exploring and celebrating music in its many uplifting guises.

Director of Music Robin Walker conducted and Ian Shaw will joined us on the organ.