Ralph Vaughan Williams - A Choral Celebration at St Martin's Church, Dorking on Saturday 9th July 2022

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

Ralph Vaughan Williams - A Choral Celebration

Add to my Calendar 09-07-2022 19:00 09-07-2022 21:00 36 Ralph Vaughan Williams - A Choral Celebration Join the JCS as we celebrate both the 150th Anniversary of one of England’s greatest composers and also pay respect to Queen Elizabeth’s extraordinary 70 years on the throne. Our programme features choral masterpieces by RVW plus linked works by Finzi, Holst, and Havergal Brian, and compositions by young composers Sarah Cattley and - in a premiere performance - Zoe Dixon. The RVW works include the anthem O Taste and See that he wrote for the Coronation in 1953, as well as Silence and Music, with words by Ursula Vaughan Williams, which was his contribution to that year’s A Garland for the Queen offered by British composers. We link this with a new piece by Sarah Cattley, an imaginative setting of Ursula’s poem O Western Wind, interspersed by phrases from the ancient song. Another poetic link is with RVW’s Rest, a setting of a Christina Rossetti poem. This is paired with a premiere performance of a setting of her poem Earth grown old by JCS Composer in Association, Zoe Dixon. The rarest item in the programme is from the final part of his life. Written in 1956, A vision of Aeroplanes is a setting of a passage from the Book of Ezekiel, and in many ways recalls RVW’s 4th Symphony, although it has echoes of Sancta Civitas as well. The vocal and organ parts paint a complex, swirling and intense sound world – certainly not a pastoral picture!  Our organist will be the prize-winning Jeremiah Stephenson, who will also join us for Lord, Thou hast been our refuge -  RVW’s setting of Psalm 90 combined with Isaac Watts’ metrical translation, the hymn O God our help in ages past. Our programme includes some of RVW’s folk song arrangements - collecting such pieces was so much part of his life and was shared by his great friend Holst; we feature a couple of Holst’s arrangements in our programme. RVW’s friendship with Finzi was also very close, and in some ways Finzi filled the gap left by the latter’s death. Finzi’s anthem God is gone up and two of his part songs are included in the programme. The Three Shakespeare Songs written in 1951 are echoed by three of Havergal Brian’s songs (though not written as a group). The two composers knew each other and corresponded – RVW thanked him for his help with Sancta Civitas. St Martin's Church, Dorking DD/MM/YYYY

Details

St Martin's Church
Church Street
Dorking
Surrey
RH4 1DW
England

Saturday 9th July 2022
7:00 PM

Programme

Ralph Vaughan Williams – Folk song arrangements
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Lord thou hast been our refuge
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Bushes and Briars
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Silence and Music
Ralph Vaughan Williams – O Taste and See
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Three Shakespeare songs

Performers

Peter Broadbent – Conductor
Olivia Tait – Conductor
Jeremiah Stephenson – organ

Joyful Company of Singers

Programme Note

Join the JCS as we celebrate both the 150th Anniversary of one of England’s greatest composers and also pay respect to Queen Elizabeth’s extraordinary 70 years on the throne.

Our programme features choral masterpieces by RVW plus linked works by Finzi, Holst, and Havergal Brian, and compositions by young composers Sarah Cattley and - in a premiere performance - Zoe Dixon.

The RVW works include the anthem O Taste and See that he wrote for the Coronation in 1953, as well as Silence and Music, with words by Ursula Vaughan Williams, which was his contribution to that year’s A Garland for the Queen offered by British composers.

We link this with a new piece by Sarah Cattley, an imaginative setting of Ursula’s poem O Western Wind, interspersed by phrases from the ancient song. Another poetic link is with RVW’s Rest, a setting of a Christina Rossetti poem. This is paired with a premiere performance of a setting of her poem Earth grown old by JCS Composer in Association, Zoe Dixon.

The rarest item in the programme is from the final part of his life. Written in 1956, A vision of Aeroplanes is a setting of a passage from the Book of Ezekiel, and in many ways recalls RVW’s 4th Symphony, although it has echoes of Sancta Civitas as well. The vocal and organ parts paint a complex, swirling and intense sound world – certainly not a pastoral picture! Our organist will be the prize-winning Jeremiah Stephenson, who will also join us for Lord, Thou hast been our refuge - RVW’s setting of Psalm 90 combined with Isaac Watts’ metrical translation, the hymn O God our help in ages past.

Our programme includes some of RVW’s folk song arrangements - collecting such pieces was so much part of his life and was shared by his great friend Holst; we feature a couple of Holst’s arrangements in our programme. RVW’s friendship with Finzi was also very close, and in some ways Finzi filled the gap left by the latter’s death. Finzi’s anthem God is gone up and two of his part songs are included in the programme.

The Three Shakespeare Songs written in 1951 are echoed by three of Havergal Brian’s songs (though not written as a group). The two composers knew each other and corresponded – RVW thanked him for his help with Sancta Civitas.

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