2025, October: Stanford & Parry
Accompanist: Howard Beach
Parry: ‘Blest pair of sirens’ (8 part anthem) and ‘There is an old belief’ from Songs of Farewell
Stanford: ‘Coelos ascendit’ from Three Latin Motets, and Canticles in G (with soprano and baritone semichorus)
Nick’s note:
“In this workshop we’re exploring some beautiful classic choral pieces by two major figures in the British musical world of the early 20th century: Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) and Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918).
Parry’s ‘Blest Pair of Sirens’ written for 8-part chorus, was commissioned by Stanford to be sung by the Bach Choir alongside the first London performance of Hector Berlioz’s Te deum in 1887. It is a setting of the words to John Milton’s ode ‘At a Solemn Musick’. Considered to be one of the outstanding English choral works it has remained a standard in church music. One of its higher-profile performances in the 21st century was by the choirs of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011.
‘There is an old belief’ is one of Parry’s six motets ‘Songs of Farewell’ and is scored for SSATBB. Parry composed the sequence during the First World War when several of his students at the Royal College of Music were killed in action. The words are by John Gibson Lockhart and it’s a wonderfully moving piece.
Parry’s contemporary Charles Villiers Stanford was born in Ireland but is generally considered one of the foremost composers of Anglican music of his time. He was a huge influence on a number of composers at the Royal College of Music, where he taught, including Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst and Herbert Howells.
‘Coelos ascendit’ is one of his three Latin motets written for the choir of Trinity College Cambridge where he was both an undergraduate and later Director of Music. It’s an exciting piece scored for two choirs and I’m sure we shall have fun with it.
Stanford composed settings of the canticles for Evensong in many keys, but the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in G are notable for being based around treble and bass solos. We hope some Sopranos and Basses will volunteer to sing these at our workshop as a semi-chorus.”
2025, February & March: Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, plus motets by Bruckner & Mendelssohn
Accompanist: Howard Beach
Nick’s note:
“Brahms began writing his ‘German Requiem’ in 1865 shortly after the death of his mother. He was 32. Rather than set the traditional words of the Catholic Requiem Mass, Brahms chose texts from the bible that focused on the living, with an emphasis on hope – in some senses a Humanist requiem. It didn’t entirely meet with approval from clerics. Ein deutsches Requiem is Brahms’ longest work and is wonderfully dramatic. The (SATB) chorus sings in all seven movements, two with Baritone solo and one with Soprano soloist.
Although generally performed with full symphony orchestral accompaniment, Brahms created a version for four hands/one piano. The marvellous Howard Beach will attempt to play all four hands for our workshops!
We will be singing the Requiem in German using the Peters edition, and will cover the whole work over our two workshop days, plus additional short motets by Bruckner (February) and Mendelssohn (March). Bruckner’s Christus factus est is a gem of a piece for SATB, and Mendelssohn’s setting of Psalm 43 is an exciting motet for double choir.
2024: Vivaldi Dixit Dominus RV595 (February 3rd) and Handel Dixit Dominus (March 2nd)
Accompanist: Howard Beach
Soprano duet in the Handel sung by Shona Knight and Sally Moss Tallon
Nick’s note:
“Dixit Dominus (Psalm 110) has inspired many composers to write their finest music and at this workshop we explored one of three versions by Antonio Vivaldi. RV595 is written for 5 voices SSATB and includes some complex and agile choral writing. We looked at all the movements, and gave everyone a chance to sing the solo sections as well.
Around the same time that Vivaldi was writing his Dixit Dominus, the youthful Handel was visiting Italy in 1707 when he wrote his five-voice setting, a well-known and much-loved piece which is extravagant in its demands of the singers. It was a white-knuckle ride but worth it!”
2023: Mozart Solemn Vespers (February 18th) and Mass in C Minor (11th March)
Another exciting pair of workshop days at St Michael’s! Once again we were joined by the brilliant Howard Beach on chamber organ and Shona Knight (soprano) sang the lovely Laudate dominum in the Vespers.
Nick’s note:
“The Vesperae solennes de confessore is an intimate work. It is a set of psalm settings, all for chorus, including Dixit Dominus and Beatus Vir and includes the well known Laudate Dominum for Soprano solo and backing chorus.
Mozart wrote his Mass in C minor in 1783 but never completed it. If he had, it would be as long as Bach’s Mass in B minor! Nevertheless it contains seven big choruses, ranging from four-part choir to double choir. A great work indeed.”
2022: Bach Mass in B Minor
We tackled the mighty B Minor Mass over three workshop days!
2021: Purcell Anthems (October 16th)
In our first workshop day after the pandemic lockdowns we sang some joyous Purcell.
Nick’s note:
“In 1682 Purcell became Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, aged 23, and many of his anthems were written in these very early 1680s. As the decade progressed, he turned his attention more towards writing for Court celebrations, and the theatre including Opera.
Purcell’s anthems are of two types: Full anthems written for full choir, often in a single section without breaks, while Verse anthems set each sentence of text separately, often featuring small solo groups of singers.
We sang two of each type:
I was glad when they said unto me (verse anthem) dates from 1682-3 but was most notably sung at the very start of the coronation of James II on 23 April 1685. Musically this was a very grand occasion and featured eleven anthems by the major composers of the day. Purcell’s two contributions began and ended the service.
O God, Thou art my God, another verse anthem, ends with an Hallelujah section which became the well known hymn tune ‘Westminster Abbey’.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my crying come unto thee is a Full anthem written for 8 voices SSAATTBB. In these 34 bars of music 8 voices work some of the most intense and chromatic counterpoint written by Purcell.
Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts (2nd Setting). Purcell first set these ‘funeral sentences’ when he was 13 years old, subsequently revising them at least twice. But he felt moved to write a new, more solemn version for the funeral of Queen Mary in 1695. And later the same year, this setting was sung again at Westminster Abbey at his own funeral. In complete contrast to the counterpoint of Hear my prayer, this setting is entirely homophonic creating a truly profound mood.”
2020: Bach Motets (over 6 days in February, March 2020 and March 2021)
We managed three of our workshop days before the pandemic hit, then had to wait until the Spring of 2021 before we could hold the final three. Well worth the wait!
2019: Bach Magnificat (October)
Our first Bach workshop day was a huge success and laid the foundation for what was to come. Here’s a short video of the informal performance at the end of the afternoon, featuring the movement Omnes omnes generationes (soprano solo Liz James, accompanist Howard Beach):