Oriel Singers: Byrd, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Holst & Britten at St Philip and St James Church, Cheltenham on Saturday 11th March 2023

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

Oriel Singers: Byrd, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Holst & Britten

Add to my Calendar 11-03-2023 16:00 11-03-2023 18:00 36 Oriel Singers: Byrd, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Holst & Britten In this programme hosted and sponsored by The Holst Society, choral works by Gustav Holst are performed alongside those of fellow British composers, including Holst’s teacher, Charles Villiers Stanford; his great friend and contemporary, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and composers who followed him; Benjamin Britten, and his daughter, Imogen Holst. It is evident that Holst had a particular affinity with the human voice as he composed a great many anthems, hymns, part songs and carols in addition to choral ballets and operas. Some, such as the Nunc Dimittis and Ave Maria, are regularly performed during both secular and religious occasions. The Five Partsongs comprise several of Holst’s lesser-known choral settings, including Her Eyes The Glow Worm Lend Thee, Come To Me, Dream Tryst, Ye Little Birds, and Now Is The Month Of Maying.  At the centre of the programme are the Choral Hymns from The Rig Veda of 1907, of which the third and fourth groups will be performed. The Rig Veda is a collection of over 1000 sacred hymns of praise written in Vedic Sanskrit; one of the four great texts of Hinduism and some of the oldest in the Indo-European language. Through his interest in ancient Indian culture, Holst learnt Sanskrit so that he could better understand and set the texts. As he worked to find his own musical voice, the Hymns became an important influence on his development as a composer, as he experimented with Indian raga (scales), dissonant chords, and irregular meters.  The Holst SocietyHolst’s compositions range from solo song and short piano pieces to dramatic choral symphonies and opera, but aside from his most famous orchestral work, ‘The Planets’, which remains universally popular today, live performances of Holst's many impressionistic and original works, are rare. Chairman of The Holst Society, Chris Cope, said “The aim of The Holst Society is to bring the works of Gustav Holst to a wider audience by promoting and sponsoring recordings and performances.”    The Oriel Singers The Oriel Singers is a Cheltenham-based chamber choir with around twenty-eight members. They perform largely a capella choral music, to exacting standards, covering many different styles: early and modern, sacred and secular, serious and light-hearted. Ben Sawyer, a countertenor himself, is a dynamic choral conductor and choral animateur. He has been musical director of The Oriel Singers since 2015, and also leads Hanley Voices and Tyndale Choral Society. Ben is a founder conductor of the Gloucestershire Youth Choir and Gloucestershire Boys’ Choir. Further informationFurther information about Gustav Holst, 1874-1934, and how to support activities by joining can be found at The Holst Society website: www.holstsociety.org   St Philip and St James Church, Cheltenham DD/MM/YYYY

Details

St Philip and St James Church
Grafton Road
Leckhampton
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL50 2DD
England

Saturday 11th March 2023
4:00 PM

Programme

Gustav Holst – Ave Maria, Op.9b
Gustav Holst – Nunc Dimittis, H.127
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Three Shakespeare songs
Gustav Holst – Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, Op.26
Imogen Holst – A Hymne to Christ
Charles Villiers Stanford – On Time, Op.142
Benjamin Britten – The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Gustav Holst – 5 Partsongs, Op.12

Performers

Ben Sawyer – Conductor
James Willshire – piano

Oriel Singers

Programme Note

In this programme hosted and sponsored by The Holst Society, choral works by Gustav Holst are performed alongside those of fellow British composers, including Holst’s teacher, Charles Villiers Stanford; his great friend and contemporary, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and composers who followed him; Benjamin Britten, and his daughter, Imogen Holst.

It is evident that Holst had a particular affinity with the human voice as he composed a great many anthems, hymns, part songs and carols in addition to choral ballets and operas. Some, such as the Nunc Dimittis and Ave Maria, are regularly performed during both secular and religious occasions.

The Five Partsongs comprise several of Holst’s lesser-known choral settings, including Her Eyes The Glow Worm Lend Thee, Come To Me, Dream Tryst, Ye Little Birds, and Now Is The Month Of Maying.

At the centre of the programme are the Choral Hymns from The Rig Veda of 1907, of which the third and fourth groups will be performed. The Rig Veda is a collection of over 1000 sacred hymns of praise written in Vedic Sanskrit; one of the four great texts of Hinduism and some of the oldest in the Indo-European language.

Through his interest in ancient Indian culture, Holst learnt Sanskrit so that he could better understand and set the texts. As he worked to find his own musical voice, the Hymns became an important influence on his development as a composer, as he experimented with Indian raga (scales), dissonant chords, and irregular meters.

The Holst Society
Holst’s compositions range from solo song and short piano pieces to dramatic choral symphonies and opera, but aside from his most famous orchestral work, ‘The Planets’, which remains universally popular today, live performances of Holst's many impressionistic and original works, are rare.

Chairman of The Holst Society, Chris Cope, said “The aim of The Holst Society is to bring the works of Gustav Holst to a wider audience by promoting and sponsoring recordings and performances.”

The Oriel Singers
The Oriel Singers is a Cheltenham-based chamber choir with around twenty-eight members. They perform largely a capella choral music, to exacting standards, covering many different styles: early and modern, sacred and secular, serious and light-hearted. Ben Sawyer, a countertenor himself, is a dynamic choral conductor and choral animateur. He has been musical director of The Oriel Singers since 2015, and also leads Hanley Voices and Tyndale Choral Society. Ben is a founder conductor of the Gloucestershire Youth Choir and Gloucestershire Boys’ Choir.

Further information
Further information about Gustav Holst, 1874-1934, and how to support activities by joining can be found at The Holst Society website: www.holstsociety.org

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