The Wait: Music for Advent at Southwark Cathedral, London on Saturday 2nd December 2017

Please note: This concert is in the past and has already taken place.

The Wait: Music for Advent

Add to my Calendar 02-12-2017 19:30 02-12-2017 21:30 36 The Wait: Music for Advent Join us for an evening of some of the greatest Advent music ever written. Advent is a time of waiting and expectation as the church looks forward to the birth of Christ on the 25th December. In response to this, composers from John Taverner in the 16th Century to Cecilia McDowall in the 21st have responded to this theme of anticipation in beautiful, joyful and often haunting music. The choir will be singing a selection of Advent music from across the centuries, including settings of some of the great ‘O’ antiphons usually sing at Matins during the last week before Christmas. ---------------------------------------- The Merbecke Choir is a group of around 25-30 singers aged in their 20s and 30s who sing a wide range of music to a high standard. The choir is a staunch supporter of new music, having commissioned several new works, as well as specialising in the performance of Renaissance polyphony. It is a regular contributor to the liturgy at Southwark Cathedral, notably at the monthly service of Compline and Eucharistic Devotions, and is the only amateur choir attached to a cathedral in London. It also performs regular concerts, usually one a term, has toured abroad and in the UK and has released a CD, Under the Shadow of Thy Wings. The choir has performed for the HRH Princess Alexandra, the Lord Mayor of London, the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, and contributed to Her Majesty the Queen’s Christmas Broadcast recorded at Southwark Cathedral in 2006. The Choir is named after the Tudor composer, John Merbecke (1510-1585), who composed one of the most popular settings of the Book of Common Prayer Communion Service. Merbecke with three other companions was tried for heresy in 1543 in the Retroquire at Southwark, which was used for this purpose at the time. He was found guilty and condemned to be burned at the stake. His sentence was commuted however by Bishop Stephen Gardiner, the then Bishop of Winchester, who decided that as a mere musician Merbecke ‘knew no better’ and so was released to continue his music making.   Southwark Cathedral, London DD/MM/YYYY

Details

Southwark Cathedral
London Bridge
Southwark
London
SE1 9DA
England

Saturday 2nd December 2017
7:30 PM

Programme

Jacob Handl Gallus – Rorate Caeli
John Taverner – Audivi vocem de coelo
Francisco Guerrero – Canite Tuba
Rory Boyle – Lux Mundi
Edward Cuthbert Bairstow – Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Anton Bruckner – Virga Jesse, WAB 52
Herbert Howells – A spotless rose
Benjamin Britten – Hymn to the Virgin
Cecilia McDowall – Annunciation
Eriks Esenvalds – O Emmanuel
Pawel Lukaszewski – O Adonai
Rihards Dubra – O Radix Jesse
Charles Villiers Stanford – Magnificat, Op.164

Performers

Emily Elias – Director

Merbecke Choir

Programme Note

Join us for an evening of some of the greatest Advent music ever written.

Advent is a time of waiting and expectation as the church looks forward to the birth of Christ on the 25th December. In response to this, composers from John Taverner in the 16th Century to Cecilia McDowall in the 21st have responded to this theme of anticipation in beautiful, joyful and often haunting music.

The choir will be singing a selection of Advent music from across the centuries, including settings of some of the great ‘O’ antiphons usually sing at Matins during the last week before Christmas.

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The Merbecke Choir is a group of around 25-30 singers aged in their 20s and 30s who sing a wide range of music to a high standard. The choir is a staunch supporter of new music, having commissioned several new works, as well as specialising in the performance of Renaissance polyphony. It is a regular contributor to the liturgy at Southwark Cathedral, notably at the monthly service of Compline and Eucharistic Devotions, and is the only amateur choir attached to a cathedral in London. It also performs regular concerts, usually one a term, has toured abroad and in the UK and has released a CD, Under the Shadow of Thy Wings.

The choir has performed for the HRH Princess Alexandra, the Lord Mayor of London, the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, and contributed to Her Majesty the Queen’s Christmas Broadcast recorded at Southwark Cathedral in 2006.

The Choir is named after the Tudor composer, John Merbecke (1510-1585), who composed one of the most popular settings of the Book of Common Prayer Communion Service. Merbecke with three other companions was tried for heresy in 1543 in the Retroquire at Southwark, which was used for this purpose at the time. He was found guilty and condemned to be burned at the stake. His sentence was commuted however by Bishop Stephen Gardiner, the then Bishop of Winchester, who decided that as a mere musician Merbecke ‘knew no better’ and so was released to continue his music making.

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