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Stanmore Choral Society are proud to present diverse programmes, from classical to Jazz masses, folk songs to Requiems. A recent highlight was a sell-out concert at St. Lawrence Whitchurch, where the choir performed a Chandos Anthem by Handel in the building in which it was premiered.

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Tickets can also be purchased on the door, but we cannot guarantee availability.

Our next concert will be A Land without Music? at St Mary the Virgin, 3 St Leonards Avenue, HA3 8EJ:

Down to the Sea

            The Choir held its Summer 2024 concert on Saturday 29^th June not in its usual home of St Mary the Virgin in Kenton but at St John the Evangelist church in Stanmore. The concert was entitled Down to the Sea, with a strong nautical theme, and the Choir performed seven items to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Charles Villiers Stanford.  In addition to the Choir’s contribution, baritone soloist Samuel Morton-Morris performed a setting of John Masefield’s epic poem Sea Fever and a setting of Wordsworth’s poem Composed on Westminster Bridge by contemporary composer Oliver Tarney, as the second and sixth items of the evening.  The programme was of particular note as it featured two works by contemporary female composers, Cecelia McDowall and our very own Rilla Patterson.

            The concert began with a performance of McDowall’s stunningly beautiful Ave Maris Stella (Hail, Star of the Sea) with the text in Latin from a medieval hymn of the same name and with a central section from Psalm 107.  This was first performed by Portsmouth Grammar School Chamber Choir in November 2001 on Armistice Day. The Choir then performed a setting of the poem by Charles Dibdin, Tom Bowling, well-known from the Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea songs and performed at every Last Night of the Proms. Rilla Patterson’s arrangement was different as a four-part harmony version which was equally effective and, of course, fun to sing. Next in the concert programme for the Choir was They that go down to the sea in ships, written by Herbert Sumsion in 1979 for the choir of Repton Preparatory School. It used an English version of the same text from Psalm 107 as the McDowall.

             A.Hubert Parry’s setting of Wordsworth’s poem Crossing the bar followed. It is a short work, a metaphor for crossing from life to death but this inspiring version  belies the rather sombre tone of the original item.

            The centre piece of the whole concert was C .V. Stanford’s Songs of the Fleet, underlining the nautical theme of this concert. There were five parts to this work with the Choir performing the choruses in answer to the soloist leading the narrative. There was also reflective content  to this work but this writer particularly enjoyed the jolly The Little Admiral with its inferences of  Lord Nelson and Sir Francis Drake.

            The Choir then performed two tuneful choruses from Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta HMS Pinafore, Over the bright blue sea and Sir Joseph’s barge is seen. The concert ended with a rendition by Samuel Morton-Morris of I am the very model of a modern major general from The Pirates of Penzance again with appropriate chorus repetition from the Choir. Samuel obviously appreciated and emphasised the humour of this latter satirical piece which brought a relatively short but very enjoyable concert to a triumphant close. The connection with W.S. Gilbert was highly appropriate to this concert as the man himself is buried in the churchyard close to the south door.

            This concert ran, on this occasion, without an interval, leading to refreshments after the music making had finished. The feedback that this reviewer heard over juice and cake was that it was all very enjoyable and it was a good evening’s entertainment of live music.

            Huge thanks must go to Samuel Morton-Morris as our soloist who was, to this reviewer’s ears, absolutely spot-on in everything he did. Grateful thanks are also due to Alex Trigg as the piano accompanist throughout the concert. Even greater thanks go to our conductor, Alexander Turner, whose ability, encouragement and never-ending patience with us brought out the best that Stanmore Choral Society could offer. The Choir also thanks our rehearsal pianist, James Mooney Dutton, for his unfailing support.

            The Choir has another year of music making planned for the next 2024-25 Season, including a return to St Lawrence Whitchurch church in Edgware, and details of our future concerts are available elsewhere on this website. See you there!

Bob Stonehouse 9Sep24