- News from our friends
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Date Posted: Sun, 17 Nov 2024
If you are in need of more Christmas spirit, we're happy to share that our friends the Potters Bar Choral Society will be holding their Chirstmas concert on Saturday 7th December. They will be performing excerpts from Bach's Christmas Oratorio as well as the usual Christmas carols for all to sing. Mince pies, stollen and mulled wine will be available during the intermission.
- Unveiling our composers
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Date Posted: Sun, 17 Nov 2024
Amongst the contemporary works in our programme are Cecilia McDowall's O Oriens, an Advent antiphon presenting Christ as the Morning Star, with the shimmering harmonies evoking light brought to those dwelling in darkness. Star of Rohini by Shruthi Rajasekar, premiered in December 2022, combines Hindu and Christian teachings, comparing the Star of Bethlehem with Krishna's nakshatra (birth star). We will also perform Seek Him that Maketh the Seven Stars by Jonathan Dove, a firm favourite in English church music since its composition in 1998.
Nova, Nova by Grayston Ives, published in 1972, tells the tale of the annunciation, setting a medieval anonymous poem. Oliver Tarney's The Wise Men and the Star (2019) sets words by contemporary poet Lucia Quinault which describe the wise men arriving in Bethlehem and finding Jesus. More everyday manifestations of stars are covered by American composer Daniel Elder's Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star as well as Chandos favourite Kate Rusby's Underneath the Stars.
- Eriks Ešenvalds' Stars
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Date Posted: Sun, 3 Nov 2024
Our centrepiece for this Christmas concert is Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds' beautiful choral piece, Stars.
Born in 1977, Eriks Ešenvalds is a prolific composer of mainly choral works, winning acclaim and awards for his compositions. He is currently serving as Head of the Department of Composition at the Latvian Academy of Music.
Stars was commissioned in 2011, setting to music a poem by the American poet Sara Teasdale (1884-1933). The lyrics evoke a sense of immensity and grandeur, which is amplified by the ethereal tuned wine glasses which accompany the choir.
As you can seen, Chandos members have been practising diligently during the rehearsal break with their wine glasses (filled for this purpose with water, of course). Come and hear the results on 5 December - book now for tickets.
- Christmas concert 5 December – ticket sales now open
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Date Posted: Sat, 2 Nov 2024
Book now for Chandos' star-themed Christmas concert on Thursday 5 December
As the nights draw in, let Chandos Chamber Choir transport you to the heavens for a carefully selected programme of choral music centred around the theme of stars. Our repertoire combines sacred and secular music, ranging from Monteverdi and Victoria to Cecilia McDowall and Eriks Ešenvalds.
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Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
Our programme has a strong Christmas theme, featuring the journeys of the Three Kings and the shepherds to Bethlehem, and also celebrates broader references to the stars. Perhaps the most striking of our pieces is Ešenvalds’ Stars, which may have you wondering if we have enough wine glasses left for our interval refreshments.
BOOK NOW to join us at 7pm on Thursday 5 December at St Gabriel’s, Pimlico for a star-studded evening of choral favourites, old and new.
- Vespers for the Blessed Virgin: Monteverdi’s magnificent masterpiece
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Date Posted: Sat, 19 Mar 2022
Whilst Monteverdi was a genius at transforming his musical compositions in gold, did you know that he also dabbled in alchemy?
This is just one of the fascinating facts the intrepid researchers of the Chandos Chamber Choir have uncovered as part of our preparation for our performance of his Vespers of the Blessed Virgin at St Gabriel’s, Pimlico on Thursday 7 April.
It is difficult to fully appreciate the significance of Monteverdi’s work without understanding the backdrop against which it was composed. Monteverdi (1567-1643) was a composer, a musician and a priest, composing and performing both sacred and secular works. He held appointments as both a court and a chapel musician, and his letters give a fascinating insight into the life of a professional musician during that period.
Monteverdi was a key figure in the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music, and indeed came under criticism for his adoption of a new harmonic style which he saw as an evolution of earlier polyphony, but others considered a radical change. The furore had largely died down by the time his Vespers were published in 1610, though we can clearly hear the fusion of old and new throughout. It is unlikely that Monteverdi viewed the collection of psalms, motets, a hymn and a Magnificat as a single continuous work. However, the separate elements are clearly linked through the use of the traditional Gregorian plainchant sung by one of the voices and adorned by more intricate harmonisation in the other parts.
The Vespers showcase Monteverdi’s talent as a composer, and, in 1613, he was unanimously elected to the post of first organist and Maestro di Capella at St. Mark's, Venice. This was the most highly regarded musical appointment in Italy, which he held for the rest of his life.
As for the alchemy, Monteverdi describes his experiments to transform lead into gold in his correspondence of 1625 and 1626 with the Mantuan courtier Ercole Marigliani. Unfortunately, there is no record of him being successful in these experiments – but don’t miss your opportunity to hear the Chandos Chamber Choir turn his Vespers into gold on 7 April at St Gabriel’s, Pimlico.
Tickets are available here.
- We're back!
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Date Posted: Tue, 21 Sep 2021
Tonight we sang as a full choir in St Stephen's Walbrook for the first time since March 2020!
It was so very good to sing together again as a full choir.
As you can probably see from the photo, we're staying socially-distanced (although not to such a great extent as we were when rehearsing a smaller group for Ely Cathedral), which makes it somewhat harder to hear other parts clearly (and James when he's facing the other way!), but the tremendous acoustic of St Stephen's means we get an ethereal mix of the whole sound washing around us. It takes some getting used to!
Nevertheless, we made excellent progress on our first sing-through of Vivaldi's Gloria, and it was sounding very together by the end of the evening. It should be fabulous by the time we perform it on December 9th!
