Spring Concert
Fantasia in F minor K. 603
Poulenc Gloria
Mozart’s Missa brevis in D, written in Salzburg when the composer was 18 years old, is full of many features which justify Mozart’s lasting reputation. This melodious setting of the mass is both succinct and memorable which deservedly make it a popular work worldwide.
Francis Poulenc’s Gloria, the second of his three late choral works with orchestra, was an instant success, and has been a firm favourite with performers and audience ever since its premiere in 1961. The work’s deep solemnity alongside playful humour make this work a life-affirming reflection on praise.
Autumn Concert
For our Autumn Concert we joined forces with the Royal Free Music Society Choir, conductor Benjamin Wolf, and Barnet Symphony Orchestra, conductor Oliver Till, in a programme of English Music with Maja Horvat, violin and Xavier Hetherington, tenor.
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Hiawatha's Wedding Feast
- John Ireland Greater Love Hath No Man
- Benjamin Britten Violin Concerto
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's prodigious musical talent was evident while he was still a student at the Royal College of Music and his first major commission sprung from the recommendation of Edward Elgar, who regarded him as "the most talented composer in Britain". Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, based on the poem by Henry Longfellow, was something of a smash hit and was performed 200 times in England within 6 years of being premiered in 1898. Coleridge-Taylor completed two sequel cantatas and an overture over the next two years, and he even named his first child Hiawatha. Novello published the score in advance of the premiere and, although seriously ill, Sir Arthur Sullivan wrote "My boy, I'm coming to hear your music tonight even if I have to be carried".
John lreland was also a student of Charles Villiers Stanford at the RCM, and his anthem *Greater Love *is one of the classics in choral literature. Written in 1912 for choir and organ, the text is assembled from various parts of the Bible including the Song of Solomon, St John's Gospel and various Epistles of St Peter and St Paul. The heart of the anthem is "Love is strong as death; greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13), which gave this work great poignancy after the start of WW1.
Opera Gala
Sunday 25th June at 6.30pm at St Anne's Church, Salusbury Road, London NW6 6RG
with Queen’s Park Junior Singers, Conductor Mary Phillips
Caroline Taylor, soprano
Xavier Hetherington, tenor
Hiandel Awake the trumpet’s lofty sound from Samson
Puccini Gira la cote from Turandot
Borodin Gliding Dance of the Maidens from Prince Igor
Phillips Four choruses from The Queen’s Park
Puccini Sequence from La Bohème
Che gelida manina
Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì
O soave fanciulla
Britten Opening of Act 1 from Peter Grimes
Tchaikovsky Waltz scene from Eugene Onegin
J. Strauss II Adèle’s laughing song from Die Fledermaus
Verdi Chorus of the Hebrew slaves from Nabucco
Bernstein Make our garden grow from Candide
Brandenburg Choral Festival Concert
London SW1V 4QF
"A Serenade to Music" as part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London
Queen's Park Singers, conductor Oliver Till
with the Ardent saxophone quartet and
Soprano Mary Phillips
- Byrd Sing Joyfully
- Tallis If Ye Love Me
- Gibbons arr. Till Fantasia a4 VdGS 1GB
- Hamish Brown A Musical Instrument (QPS commission)
- Byrd arr. Till Ave Verum for Four Saxophones
- Tallis O Nata Lux
- Byrd Laudibus in Sanctis
- Gibbons arr. Till Fantasia a4 VdGS 2GB
- Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music
- Elgar The Shower
J.S. Bach's St. John Passion
Queen's Park Singers with St Mark's Singers and St Mark's Baroque Soloists
St Saviours Church, Eton Rd, South Hampstead, London NW3 4SQ
Programme:
- J. S. Bach: St. John Passion
Christus - TBC
Pilate - Benjamin Poore
Soprano - Sophia Jin
Alto - Lauren Macleod
Tenor - Harun Tekin
Bass - Robert Medina
Conductor - Daniel Collins
Leader - Theresa Caudle
Music Director, Queen's Park Singers - Oliver Till
Dramaturgy - Benjamin Poore
J.S. Bach's St. John Passion
Queen's Park Singers with St Mark's Singers
St Saviours Church, Eton Rd, South Hampstead, London NW3 4SQ
Programme:
- J. S. Bach: St. John Passion
- Evangelist - Daniel Collins
Pilate - Benjamin Poore
Soprano - Sophia Jin
Alto - Lauren Macleod
Tenor - Harun Tekin
Bass - Robert Medina
Conductor - Oliver Till
Organ - Hamish Brown
Dramaturgy - Benjamin Poore
A Serenade to Music
Programme:
- WIlliam Byrd: Sing Joyfully, Laudibus in Sanctis
- Thomas Tallis: If ye love me, O nata lux
- Hamish Brown: A Musical Instrument
- QPS commission and world premiere;
- Read an interview with the composer here.
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
- Edward Elgar: The Shower
For details on performances prior to December 2022 see our Archive
