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Welcome to the 49th season
of St Albans Chamber Choir
I am delighted to welcome
you to my first season as Conductor of St Albans Chamber Choir. I am looking
forward immensely to working with these talented singers with a programme that
embraces a wide variety of music from across the centuries.
Our first concert
entitled Love and Remembrance includes pieces written to commemorate
momentous events. The Requiem by Cornish composer George Lloyd
was “Written in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales”, whilst Herbert Howells
was commissioned to write Take him, earth, for cherishing for the
memorial service in Washington Cathedral of another iconic figure of the 20th
century, President John F. Kennedy. Robert Ramsey’s beautiful anthem
How are the mighty fallen is a poignant expression of David’s grief
at the death, in battle, of his great friend Jonathan, son of King Saul.
2008 starts with a January
concert in the beautiful acoustic of the chapel of All Saints Pastoral Centre, London Colney and a programme juxtaposing
French motets and chansons with the beautiful Mass in G minor by Ralph
Vaughan Williams, who in 1908 studied orchestration with Maurice Ravel
in Paris.
The start of Holy Week is
prefigured by our March concert in St Saviour’s Church where we present some
fine Baroque works for choir and orchestra including the much loved Dixit
Dominus by George Frideric Handel.
Late spring sees the Choir
returning to Old Welwyn with a programme of well-known favourites mixed with
some exciting works written in the last twenty-five years by composers who have
achieved enormous popularity amongst the ordinary listening public. We then
conclude the season with a jazz-inspired programme that includes the delectable
Birthday Madrigals by John Rutter and a dazzling setting by
Jonathan Dove of the ancient murder-mystery fable Who killed Cock
Robin? — who is your money on?
We look forward to seeing
you.
John Gibbons, Conductor
2007-08
Concert Schedule
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Saturday
10 November 2007, 7.30pm
Love & Remembrance
Homewood Road URC, St Albans
A thought-provoking programme of music
reflecting the themes of love, friendship and remembrance.
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How are the mighty fallen
I love the Lord
Selig sind die Toten
Requiem |
Robert Ramsey (c.1595-1644)
Jonathan Harvey (b.1939)
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
George Lloyd (1913-1998) |
and works by Herbert Howells and John
Ireland
Tickets £12, (£1* )
* The £1 ticket price is for young people and students in
full-time education.
Concert Publicity
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Saturday
19 January 2008, 7.30pm
Entente Cordiale
All
Saints Pastoral Centre, London Colney
A celebration marking the 50th
anniversary of the death of Vaughan Williams, who studied orchestration with
Maurice Ravel, with his beautiful Mass in G minor interspersed by a
wide range of French motets and chansons.
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Mass in G minor |
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) |
and works by Claudin de Sermisy, Guillaume
Costeley, Camille Saint-Saëns, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel
Tickets £12, (£1* )
* The £1 ticket price is for young people and students in
full-time education.
Concert Publicity
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Saturday
15 March 2008, 7.30pm
Stabat Mater
St Saviour's Church, St Albans
On the eve of Palm Sunday, Handel’s popular Dixit Dominus is
contrasted with Antonio Bononcini’s sublime setting of the Stabat Mater.
The Choir will be joined by the period-instrument Chameleon Arts Baroque
Orchestra.
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Stabat Mater
Aurora lucis rutilat
O vos omnes
Dixit Dominus |
Antonio Bononcini (1677-1726)
Orlando Lassus (c.1532-1594)
Carlo Gesualdo (c.1560-1613)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) |
Tickets £12, (£1* )
* The £1 ticket price is for young people and students in
full-time education.
Concert Publicity
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Saturday
17 May 2008, 7.30pm
Bach to the Future
St
Mary's Church, Old Welwyn
Choral favourites including the theme to
The Vicar of Dibley, some hypnotic music by Arvo Pärt, and masterpieces
by J.S. Bach and John Tavener.
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Komm, Jesu komm
Totus tuus
Littlemore Tractus
A Hymn to the Mother of God
Psalm 23
Immortal Bach |
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Henryk Górecki (b.1933)
Arvo Pärt (b.1935)
John Tavener (b.1944)
Howard Goodall (b.1958)
Knut Nystedt (b.1915) |
Tickets £12, (£1* )
* The £1 ticket price is for young people and students in
full-time education.
Concert Publicity
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Saturday
5 July 2008, 7.30pm
Summer Blues
Homewood Road URC, St Albans
Jazz-inspired
works for choir, piano and double-bass by the doyen of modern choral
composition, John Rutter, and jazz legend George Shearing. The programme
also includes a dazzling setting of the traditional fable Who killed Cock
Robin? by Jonathan Dove.
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Birthday Madrigals
Songs and Sonnets from Shakespeare
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John Rutter (b.1945)
George Shearing (b.1919) |
and works by Adrian Willaert, Percy
Grainger and Jonathan Dove
Tickets £12, (£1* )
* The £1 ticket price is for young people and students in
full-time education.
Concert Publicity
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Tickets
for all concerts are priced £12, with a special price of £1 for children and
students in full-time education. Season tickets are available offering a saving
for the whole series of 5 concerts.
Please note
that in a change from previous seasons, all concerts will now start at
7.30pm.
For this season, items may not be performed in the order indicated above. Any
amendments to programmes, together with details of soloists and accompanying
instrumentalists, will be included in publicity for individual concerts.
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