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Saturday 14 June 2008 7.30pm St Mary's Church, Saffron Walden & Saturday 28 June 2008 7.30pm St John's Church, Stansted Birthday Prom Crispian Steele-Perkins trumpet Richard Carr organ Janet Wheeler conductor |
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Join the choir and our special guest Crispian Steele-Perkins as we celebrate 125 years of the society’s music-making! The programme will pay homage to some of the greatest choral composers of the past from Byrd to Brahms and include favourite folksong arrangements, spirituals and the festival anthem Parry’s 'I was glad'. Crispian Steel-Perkins’ sparkling playing (with Gershwin and Mozart on the posthorn to the fore) will balance the choral items and also join with them to rousing effect, not least in pieces straight from the tradition of the Last Night of the Proms, when mezzo Diana Hoy will put in a triumphant solo appearance not to be missed. During the interval you can mingle with the choir over birthday cake and bubbly. We look forward to you joining us to celebrate our 125th birthday! The repeat of our 125th birthday concert is funded with the support of the SWCS Development Fund. |
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Saturday 8 March 2008 7.30pm St Mary's Church, Saffron Walden Bruckner: Mass in E minor Stravinsky: Mass Janet Wheeler conductor |
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If Beethoven's Missa Solemnis represents the culmination of the Viennese tradition of large-scale symphonic mass composition, these two works by Bruckner and Stravinsky embody an alternative trend towards a more simplified, liturgical style of mass. Stravinsky, describing his thoughts after looking through some scores of Mozart's masses, could almost have been speaking for both composers, "As I played through these rococco-operatic sweets of sin, I knew I had to write a Mass of my own, but a real one". Both works are accompanied by a group of wind and brass instruments and both use an eight-part choral texture, but they inhabit very different harmonic worlds… beautifully austere in the case of the Stravinsky but more romantic and sumptuous in Bruckner's, and both intensely moving. |
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Saturday 2 February 2008 10am - 4pm Sawston Village College Come & Sing with James Davey conductor of Chantage, the winners of the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year 2006 |
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James made his conducting debut in 1998 during his study of performance at the Birmingham Conservatoire. Inspired by singing in the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and the critically acclaimed Laudibus (National Youth Chamber Choir), James formed his own choir and, on graduating from Birmingham, took up residency at St Paul's Cathedral School as Music Assistant, from where he formed Chantage. James has studied conducting under many eminent choral figures and completed the Association of British Choral Directors Conducting Course. Working for local Music Services and also the BBC Singers as a workshop leader, James is currently in demand as a freelance choral conductor and choir trainer. James grew up in Saffron Walden and was head chorister at St. Mary's. We are delighted to welcome him back to the area and look forward to exploring with him the techniques and approaches that have brought Chantage such acclaim. Contact Carol Hunt on 01279 813392, email: singingday@swchoral.org.uk or click here to download an application form. |
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Saturday 8 December 2007 2:00pm and 5:30pm St Mary's Church, Saffron Walden The Spirit of Christmas Featuring Choirs and Instrumentalists from Saffron Walden and local village schools Results of the 2007 Spirit of Christmas Carol Competition Janet Wheeler conductor |
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The Spirit of Christmas annual concert has become a popular and much loved part of our season. Choirs and instrumentalists from local schools join with the choral society to sing and perform a variety of seasonal music. Traditional Christmas songs are intermixed with modern carols and instrumental items from both young performers and adults, building to a climactic ending of united voices. Nothing is more guaranteed to signal the start of the season of goodwill. Due to its popularity the concert is run twice with the primary schools taking part in the matinee performance and senior schools joining us in the evening One of the highlights of the concerts is the announcement of the winners for our annual Spirit of Christmas Carol Competition. There are prizes for junior and senior pupils who submit either as individuals or as small groups, a Christmas Carol. An independent panel of judges decide on the winners. The winning carols are then arranged for SATB with piano accompaniment and performed at the concerts by the choral society. For young aspiring composers it is the highlight of their evening to hear their own work being performed. In addition to the prizes generously provided by our sponsors, the winners each receive a CD of the winning carols. |
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Saturday 10 November 2007 7.30pm St Mary's Church, Saffron Walden Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Naomi Harvey soprano Diana Moore mezzo Joseph Cornwell tenor Anthony Stuart Lloyd bass-baritone Janet Wheeler conductor |
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The first page of the score bears the words: "From the heart - may it go to the heart". If ever a work came from the heart, it is this, whether in music of sublime awe-inspiring grandeur, of glowing beauty and touching humility, or of intoxicating joy. Beethoven knew the worth of what he had achieved, and described it to the publishers Schott as his greatest work. The Missa Solemnis has been said to encompass the architectural proportions of Bach, the poignancy of Mozart and the special inwardness of Beethoven. It stands beside the Bach B Minor Mass as one of the supreme monuments of choral music. |
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