In services we sing introits, anthems, psalms, sacred songs, traditional chants, Taizé chants and of course a good range of hymns. Hymns are chosen either from Hymns Ancient & Modern revised or from Mission Praise. When we have the opportunity to sing music for Choral Evensong services, we also enjoy the challenge of longer anthems and more complex service settings. Simple choruses are quite often used at second Sunday services and the choir is not used for these services.
During special times during the year the choir offers special events and performances of sacred music. For Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Eve, Easter Day, Ascension Day and also to celebrate particular festivals and to mark special days in the church’s calendar, we offer something special to match.
Sometimes, opportunities arise to offer solos to individuals in the choir, or other singers from the local area are used as 'guest' soloists. Also, from time to time, the choir seeks to work on larger scale works and then joins with other choirs. Our recent ventures have enabled us to sing with William Kendall in a moving performance of Britten's St Nicholas, as well as performances of the Durruflé and Fauré Requiem Masses with guest soloists from Schola Cantorum of Oxford.
In the last three years with have sung:
Recent Anthem’s sung at services include:
We have a wide range of single-sheet anthems in our library and we also have full sets of the following anthologies:
At Christmas, the choir always presents a traditional Festival of Carols and Lessons, and at Christmas Eve sings a wide range of carols for the midnight mass. At Easter, this year, we selected to sing a wide variety of anthems in preparation for Holy week and then, for our Good Friday service, we used the RSCM setting “The Way of the Cross”.
Weddings are an important part of the choir's work and we are particularly keen to ensure that those couples who are seeking a musical wedding are able to approach their preparation for their service in partnership with the choir, if they so wish. Couples are encouraged to choose the music that they want to hear and that their families and friends will want to sing. It is also helpful if the choir find the music challenging and satisfying to them. When necessary, the choir can be augmented with additional singers so that quite demanding music can be requested. Couples are strongly recommended to seek the advice of the Music Director in order that their requirements can be discussed.
The aim of the choir is to “be with God through music”, and to make music to the glory of God. We aim to inspire others through the medium of music, to lead the congregation in the singing of hymns and sacred songs, and also to support the said parts of the services - always working to the highest standards.