2006-2011
Tuesday
12th April 2011: we took part in a
joyful "singfest" at a packed Emmanuel Church, West Hampstead.
We sang Cantique de Jean Racine by
Fauré, and the other five choirs sang a wide range of pieces, including a
protest song against public spending cuts. The event raised over £900 for Marie
Curie Cancer Care.
Sunday 6th March 2011: Fauré’s Requiem, and also Cantique
de Jean Racine, interleaved with various pieces for cello quartet. We
enjoyed this concert so much we repeated it on Sunday 13th March, this time with the Mozart horn
quintet in E flat, at St Augustine’s Church Kilburn –
a fantastic venue and our first concert not at St Anne’s. See the poster
and the programmes for the first and second concerts; and
also (thanks to Glyn and Adam) some photographs.
Sunday
12th December 2010: Wolcum
Yole: a concert of lullabies and carols for Christmas, including (with the
Juniors) A Ceremony of Carols by Britten, and Richard Pygott's Quid petis O fili. See poster and programme.
Sunday
27th June 2010: DIDO AND AENEAS: a
concert performance, including the Juniors, of scenes from Purcell's opera
(1689), with dramatised readings from Vergil's account in the Aeneid. View the poster and the programme.
Sunday
25th April 2010: The programme included Claudio Monteverdi Beatus Vir, and Ecco mormorar l'onde and O primavera (five-part madrigals); Samuel Barber Sure on this
shining night; Henry Purcell My
beloved spake; and a number of
poems on the theme of the concert – “Spring awakening - renewal and
rebirth”.
Sunday 6th December 2009: Bach Christmas Oratorio, parts 1 and 3, sung in English. See poster and programme.
Sunday
22nd February 2009: a
concert of Lenten polyphony, including the Josquin
Mass Pange Lingua, and Civitas
Sancti Tui by Byrd, interspersed with poems. See poster and programme.
Sunday
13th December 2008: two
performances of The Christmas Story by Heinrich Schutz, in a semi-staged production, also involving
the Juniors. See the poster
and the programme.
Sunday
18th May 2008: the
Spring section from The Seasons by
Joseph Haydn, a wonderfully joyous
work celebrating the springtime renewal of life. Settings of two e e cummings
poems, which David Till wrote in
1980. The choral music was complemented by a Mozart piano concerto (K449) played by the late Geoff Dancer, who has also accompanied
Mary Phillips in earlier concerts, using our new piano. See the poster and the programme, and Geoff’s memorial
site.
Sunday
26th November 2007:
a concert of Christmas music from Handel’s
Messiah, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the opening of the church of
St Anne and St Andrew (see programme).
20th May 2007, with the theme of “Creatures”
(poster here, and programme here): Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb, a
setting of some wonderful words by Christopher Smart. Carnival! - an adaptation of Saint-Saens's
Carnival of the Animals, adapted by Gwyn Arch, with words by Jeremy Browne; Taverner:
The Lamb; Madrigals, part songs and some Cole Porter, sung by Quintabile –
their first public appearance; and various songs sung by the children.
2000-2005
17th
April 2005 - Concert to
mark the 500th Anniversary of the birth of Thomas Tallis, including
music by Vaughan Williams, Byrd, Gibbons and Wilbye. See full programme here.
25th July 2004 -
St Anne’s Centenary
Service. Anton
Bruckner:
Locus iste (by special request of Fr Fergus), and William Byrd: Laudibus in sanctis.
18th May 2003: `Northern Lights' Concert: including music
from northern European countries.
The next concert took place on 17th November 2002
at 6.30pm at St Anne and St Andrew, 125 Salusbury Road, NW6. This was a St Cecilia's
Day concert: the programme included Britten `Hymn to St Cecilia', Purcell `Welcome to all the pleasures', and Stravinsky 'Apollon Musagete'; the
Junior Singers also took part.
The Singers also made their first
trip abroad, to the Abbaye de Mondaye (in Normandy) from 12th to 18th August
2002; the idea was to go for a few days of relaxation and
gentle work on repertoire for later concerts. We gave a short concert at the
end of our stay, and took part in Vespers for the feast of the Assumption (15th
August) and for mass on Sunday morning (18th August). Repertoire included: Josquin
- Missa sexti toni 'L'homme armé'; Britten - Hymn to St Cecilia; Debussy -
Trois chansons de Charles d'Orléans; Josquin - Salve Regina; Schutz - Cantate
Domino.
On 27th April 2002 David Till
celebrated his 60th birthday: we presented a concert with the theme 'Sing unto
the Lord', with settings in different languages and from different times -- Bach 'Singet dem Herrn', Purcell
'O sing unto the Lord', Schutz 'Cantate Domino', and James Macmillan `A new
song'. We were accompanied in
the Purcell by Queens Park Strings, who also performed Elgar's `Introduction
and Allegro' and Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor with Jane Afia as soloist.
There were also arrangements of pieces by Bach for wind trio, beautifully
played by Nicholas Murray, Judith Rhoades and Hugh Rosenbaum This concert
raised about £1100 for a start-up fund for the choir in its new form as a
registered charity.
On 2nd December
2001 we presented a programme of Advent and Christmas music.
This included: Britten
Hymn to the Virgin, Kodaly Veni veni Emmanuel, Bruckner Virga Jesse, Peter
Maxwell Davies O sacrum convivium, Gibbons This is the record of John,
Palestrina Alma remptoris mater, Byrd Rorate coeli desuper. The junior choir also participated,
singing O little town
of Bethlehem, Gifts by Bob Chilcott, and a Merry Christmas round. There were also pieces for organ, played
by Peter Walter and David Till, duets for basses, sung by Cedric Lee and David
Till and Tchaikovski's December (the Seasons), played by Martin Keuneman and
Sue Clark.
We presented a concert on 20th May 2001 at the church,
including Handel 'My
somg shall be alway', Purcell 'Jehovah quam multi sunt hostes mei' and Schutz
'Die mit Traenen saeen'. The programme
also included the concerto grosso in F, Op 6 No 2, by Handel, and Martin
Keuneman played two movements from a Bach solo violin suite.
Concert with Kaleidoscope Wind Band
on 12th November
2000: this included Bach Lutheran Mass in
F; also on the programme were Seascape, by
Ruth Gipps, and Suite in D, by Arthur Bird, both of these for Wind Band; also
-- perhaps the only known composition for double wind quintet and choir! -- Beim Abschied zu singen, by
Robert Schumann. We had around
30 singers for this concert: the music of the Lutheran Mass was truly
uplifting; there was wonderful concentration in the rehearsals and the
performance was very satisfying as a result of much hard work on some tricky
notes both during the rehearsals and at home.
We presented a Spring Concert on 21st May 2000. This included the Magnificat by Arvo Part, two
graduals by Bruckner, and Cantate Domino by Schutz; rounds by Byrd and David
Till; also taking part was
Martin Keuneman, who played Bach cello Suite No 3 on the viola, and a slow
movement from a solo viola sonata by Hindemith. This was a most enjoyable
event.
1998-1999
On 16th May 1999, we presented a
concert with strings: Purcell, Sing unto the Lord, Rejoice in the Lord alway; Elgar,
Serenade for Strings Op 20; Schutz, Mein Sohn, warum hast Du uns das getan? The string band, Fiddlesticks and Friends,
included local string players and friends from a little further away, led by
Jane O'Connor-Afia.
Our first concert was presented in the new church at 6 pm on Sunday 8th March 1998.
The programme included Lenten music by Tallis, together with anthems by Purcell, and rounds
by Byrd and Clemens. Also
taking part were Nick Hartley and Dennis Cook, guitars, and Andrew Hope and
Emma Johnson, baritone and baroque harp; they performed instrumental music and
songs from Italy, Germany and Spain. The proceeds (around £250) went to St
Luke's Hospice (more details here), as part
of the Mayor of Brent's Charity Appeal, 1997/98.
Please note that the settings we
used in some of these concerts, prior to 2006, is available on the scores page.
Last updated: December 11,
2011.