Our Current Concert Programme
Enjoy an Evening of Great Music
We normally present 2, and occasionally 3 concerts per year. (Just click below to find out the details and how to book your seats). These are in addition to singing events like our “Come and Sing” event, which you can find by clicking the last button below.
Winter/Christmas Concert
Schubert Mass No. 2 in G Major, D 167. Britten – Ceremony of Carols. Fauré – Cantique de Jean Racine.
Franz Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G major, D 167, composed in 1815, is a luminous example of his youthful mastery of sacred music—a true “Missa brevis” or short mass. Remarkably, Schubert completed it in less than a week (March 2–7). It’s the most celebrated of his three shorter masses.
Scored modestly for soprano, tenor, and bass soloists; SATB choir; string orchestra; and organ, the piece exudes a devotional and contemplative atmosphere. Solo passages are sparse, emphasizing the collective worship experience.
The mass unfolds across six movements—Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei—and typically lasts around 22 minutes. In essence, Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G major stands as a gentle and lovingly crafted work, combining graceful melodies with simple yet expressive scoring.
Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 is a beloved choral work composed in 1942. It draws on medieval English texts and Gregorian chant, scored for treble voices and harp, spanning 11 movements and bookended by processional chants. Its vivid contrasts—from exuberant carol settings to soulful lullabies and a central harp interlude—combined with its historical genesis during wartime travel, make it a timeless and evocative Christmas classic.
Gabriel Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine was composed in 1865 whilst Fauré was still a student at the École Niedermeyer de Paris. Although compact in scale, the “Cantique” displays in microcosm many of the hallmarks of Fauré’s later sacred style: a serene, flowing melodic line, refined harmonic warmth and transparent texture.
Originally written for mixed chorus and organ (or piano), the work has since appeared in arrangements for strings, harp and orchestra.
The Listener will observe how the vocal lines soar with lyrical calm in the opening, how the harmony shifts gently yet in subtle expressive ways, and how a restful introspection is sustained throughout — a quietly radiant invocation that still speaks with youthful grace and devotion.
There will be additional carols for the audience to join with the choir.
Spring Concert
Title and description of supporting pieces.
The Armed Man : Mass for Peace – Karl Jenkins
The Armed Man is a mass by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins (1999) commissioned for the Millennium and dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo crisis. It is subtitled “A Mass for Peace” — a choral and orchestral work that blends the traditional Catholic Mass with texts from many cultures, religions, and historical sources. Beyond Latin liturgical texts (Kyrie, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei), it includes the medieval French folk‐song L’homme armé, the Islamic Call to Prayer, excerpts from the Mahābhārata, poems by Rudyard Kipling, Tennyson, John Dryden, Jonathan Swift, and other texts.
The piece traces a journey from the build-up to war, through conflict and destruction, to mourning and, finally, hope and peace. It opens with the sound of marching feet, a military atmosphere, and the L’homme armé theme. Then comes the Call to Prayer and the Kyrie, followed by cries, laments and scenes of horror. But it ends with a more peaceful outlook, both musically (major key, serene chorale) and textually.
Premiered in April 2000 at the Royal Albert Hall, It quickly became one of Jenkins’s most popular works, widely performed around the world, valued for its emotional impact and its message of peace.
Summer Concert
At present we are not planning a Summer concert this season,
…..But watch this space!
