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Friday 24 March 2023 at St Simon Zelotes Church
Programme Immortal Bach J.S.Bach arr. Knut Nystedt O Nata Lux Thomas Tallis Crucifixus á 8 Antonio Lotti My Prayer (Psalm 102: 1) Bob Chilcott (after Henry Purcell) Haec Dies (Psalm 118: 24) William Byrd Drop, drop, slow tears from Crucifixus Pro Nobis Kenneth Leighton (words by Phineas Fletcher) Easter Chorale (Op.40) Samuel Barber (words by Pack Browning) Agnus Dei (transcribed from Adagio for Strings Op.11) Samuel Barber ---INTERVAL--- Thule, the Period of Cosmography The Andalusian Merchant Thomas Weelkes Her Army - WORLD PREMIERE Jamie Cumming-Wesley (words by Siobhan Tebbs) The tide rises, the tide falls Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) Sea Songs For Choir - WORLD PREMIERE 1: The Sound 2: The Sea 3: The Sky Mike Dixon (words by Susan Penhaligon) Swimming over London Bob Chilcott (words by Charles Bennett) Programme notes HER ARMY Written by the poet Siobhan Tebbs, Her Army is an abstract reflection upon the role of nature – particularly the ocean – as a reassuring constant in all our lives, regardless of the challenges we are facing. There are subtle references to mental health, anxiety and (temporary) joy, and a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that, inevitably, regardless of our choices, feelings or opinions, the ocean will endure. The text is set to music by Jamie Cumming-Wesley (the poet’s brother). The music is as much shaped by the sounds of the words as by their meaning. Her Army has a loose form in relation to both harmony and melody. Jamie is inspired by the works of Eric Whitacre, Arvo Pärt and Gabriel Jackson. SEA SONGS FOR CHOIR Music by Mike Dixon - Poems by Susan Penhaligon Susan says: The Sound is about my father, who was in the Navy during WW2. Once, I sailed into Plymouth on a training yacht and passed all these decommissioned boats and I thought of him. The Sea was written for a fisherman I knew in St Ives. The Sky is about St Ives, my home town and the influx of visitors taking over every summer and how much I didn’t want it to change. Of course, it has. Mike says: I read Susan’s poems and they immediately invoked a musical response from me - they needed to be sung! I am originally from Plymouth so the words of the first one particularly take me back to the days of my youth, seeing the great ships along the river Tamar. They are in simple four part choral harmony and with tunes that are reminiscent of sea shanties from the past. We were delighted to join forces with the Harlequin Chamber Choir for a joint concert at the beautiful St Stephen Wallbrook in the City, as part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival on 11 June 2022. The programme Saint-Saens - Calme des nuits (Combined choirs) Saints Seans - Les fleurs et les arbres (Combined choirs) Certon - La La La, je ne l’ose dire (Harlequin) Debussy - Dieu! Qu’il la fait bon regarder (Harlequin) Poulenc - Salve regina (Chantage) Andrews - O lux beata trinitas (Chantage) ____ McGlynn - Geantrai (Chantage) MacMillan - Gallant Weaver (Chantage) Taylor - Lonesome road (Chantage) Simon & Garfunkel - Sound of Silence (Harlequin) Runestad - Let my love be heard (Harlequin) Howells - Take him earth (Chantage) Harris - Bring us O Lord God (Combined choirs) With rehearsals and performances on hold for over two years due to the pandemic, it was a joy to finally perform together in front of an audience at St Mary's Iffley, near Oxford on 2 April 2022. All proceeds from the concert were donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Appeal. Our programme Monteverdi – Cantate Domino Gesualdo - Ave Dulcissima Maria Byrd - Vigilate Lobo – Versa Est In Luctum Andrews - O lux beata trinitas Poulenc - Salve regina Saint-Saens - Calme des nuits Saint-Saens - Les fleurs et les arbes Britten - Chorale Old French INTERVAL Mantyjarvi - Shakespeare Songs Whitacre - Sleep MacMillan - Gallant Weaver Adele - Rolling in the deep Porter - The way you look tonight  Chantage joined forces with fellow chamber choirs Coro and ccFREIA to host the inaugural London International Choral Conducting Competition. During the course of the competition weekend, we worked with all six competition finalists, sang for youth conducting workshops and performed in a Gala Concert Performance. The highlight was the Grand Final performance, during which we sang new choral composition, 'The Cries of Music' by Janet Wheeler with each competitor and witnessed the announcement of the inaugural competition winner - Julia Selina Blank from Germany, We were delighted to perform Bach's glorious Baroque Masterpiece, the Christmas Oratorio, with the Lawes Baroque Orchestra, in the beautiful setting of St Peter's Church, Hammersmith.
Rebecca Lea, Soprano Eleanor Minney, Mezzo Soprano Christopher Bowen, Tenor Jimmy Holliday, Bass We were thrilled to take part in the City of Derry International Choir Festival in October 2017, placing third place in the international competition. Thanks to Lorcan Doherty for the beautiful photographs.
As part of our ongoing project to record the first album dedicated exclusively to the choral music of emerging Swedish composer Mårten Jansson, we were delighted to perform an evening of Swedish music on 2 March 2017. We were warmly hosted by the choir of the Swedish Church in Marylebone, performing some joint pieces together including Gloria from Jansson's Missa Popularis. We also performed a selection of his compositions that we will be recording, including the premiere of Triptyk, a set of three spiritual songs set to texts by Kerstin Dillmar. Thank you to everyone who came along to listen and to Mårten himself for joining us and sharing some of the stories behind his music. We were thrilled to perform a selection of our favourite festive music at a truly unique venue this Christmas - the stunning London Museum of Water and Steam. Our programme included:
See some of the highlights below: Watch Chantage perform "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"Watch Chantage perform "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"Photographs from the concert
Back in 2014, Chantage teamed up with the Aurora Orchestra to perform the world premiere of MELD, by Benedict Mason at the BBC Proms. Written specifically for the Royal Albert Hall, the performers used the entire space during the piece - and it was filmed with multiple cameras positioned around the hall.
Released this week, and available online until 4 July 2016, you can view the complete performance here: Chantage gave the UK premiere of Mårten Jansson’s 'Missa Popularis' in celebration of the Patronal Festival for St Dunstan-in-the-West, Fleet Street, on Sunday 21 May 2016.
Joined by a string ensemble made up of members of the Orchestra of the City, Chantage was honoured by the presence of the composer at the special performance. |
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