Dear Supporters,
February is over and birds are singing in anticipation of the Spring, as are the singers of Harlow Chorus whose next concert is not so far away, on Saturday 18th April at 7.30pm in St Michael's Church, Bishop's Stortford CM23 2ND. Songs of Travel, set to poems and biblical texts, will fill your ears with the sounds of the sea and the yearnings of dreamers and explorers to experience God's wonders.
Ralph Vaughan Williams' A Vision of Aeroplanes opens the concert with a furious blast from the organ followed by a tumultuous setting of the book of Ezekiel where the prophet sees a chariot materialise in the sky, propelled by four Angelic creatures each with four wings joined together and wheels in wheels.The ending is nore peaceful as Ezekiel describes what he thought was a vision of the Almighty – Vaughan Williams decided to use the word 'aeroplane'. Next comes more Vaughan Williams, Songs of Travel, a cycle of nine songs set to poems by Robert Louis Stevenson depicting a solitary traveller's journey through love, life and memory. Originally written for baritone soloist and piano, our Musical Director has arranged it for choir and piano allowing all singers to enjoy voicing the lovely folk-inspired melodies, rhythms and rich harmonies.
The second half of the concert is devoted entirely to the sea. After Herbert Sumsion's setting of Psalm 107, They that go down to the sea in ships, John Ireland's setting of Masefield's Sea Fever and Charles Stanford's setting of Henry Newbolt's Songs of the Fleet, you will almost be able to taste the salt, possibly have felt a little queasy during the rough weather but will have melted during the utterly magical Middle Watch. Johannes Moore is the baritone soloist for Sea Fever and also leads the line (naval term) in Songs of the Fleet. James Potter conducts while our accompanist, Aeron Preston, stars on organ or piano in every single piece.
Tickets are £16 including the concert programme, available via email at tickets@harlowchorus.org.uk or tel. 01277 362440, and online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/harlow chorus
Looking ahead to our 50th Anniversary Concert, Mendelssohn's Elijah, on Saturday July 11th in Saffron Hall CB11 4UH, tickets @ £16 and £21 have been on sale for some time and are available only from Saffron Hall at https://www.saffronhall.com or tel. 0845 548 7650. There are 400 parking spaces. We hope to run either an audience coach/minibus picking up in Old Harlow, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop's Stortford or the Hall's own shuttle between the Audley End station and the venue if there is enough take-up to cover costs. If you are interested in either of these please reply to me at valbrockbank@gmail.com
Updates to follow!
Val Brockbank on behalf of Halow Chorus
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