Musical Sunday

Thu 21 Mar, 20:35

This Sunday’s Choral Evensong at St Mary’s is just a few days before the 100th anniversary of the death of one of the two greatest Evensong composers of all time – Charles Villiers Stanford. The choir will be singing his canticles in B flat, which are melodious (catchy even!) and harmonically lush.

The anthem will be by the other of the two greatest Evensong composers, Herbert Howells: his plaintive, yearning ‘O pray for the peace of Jerusalem’. The organ voluntary at the end is David Bednall’s energetic toccata on the hymn tune Aberystwyth (‘Jesu, lover of my soul’).

The service is at 6pm and lasts around an hour, and will be led by Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie. All are very welcome.

Fri 1 Dec 2023, 16:55

Our last Choral Evensong of 2023 – and the first of the new church year – is this Sunday, Advent Sunday, at 6pm.

We will be singing Philip Moore’s beautiful plainchant-influenced setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, which fits Advent particularly well. 

Both the first hymn and the organ voluntary will be Bach’s (very different) versions of the chorale Wachet Auf (‘Sleepers, wake!’) – the organ piece is one of those ones you recognise as soon as you hear the opening bar.

It’s a contemplative way to begin Advent in advance of the hurly-burly of the Christmas season. The service lasts just under an hour and everyone is very welcome.

Fri 13 Oct 2023, 10:55 (last edited on Fri 13 Oct 2023, 10:56)

This Sunday’s Choral Evensong has a wonderful mix of music.

We’re starting with an introit by Amy Beach, one of the first (1867-1944) successful female composers of choral music.

The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are the energetic mid-20th century setting by Herbert Murrill, full of contrasts as the vocal writing switches from unison to harmony and the organ comes in and out.

The anthem is a contemporary piece by Matthew Martin, based on the early (fourth century?) hymn Te lucis ante terminum but with intricate modern harmonies and a particularly glorious concluding Amen.

Responses are by Ayleward (17thC) and the psalm is Stanford’s classic setting of Ps150. 

Six o’clock at St Mary’s for about an hour and everyone is welcome – it’s less participatory than you might usually expect a church service to be, so you can find your own space however it takes you. 

Fri 16 Jun 2023, 17:29

On Sunday you can escape from the heat by spending an hour in a pleasantly cool church!

Our Choral Evensong on Sunday, the last until the autumn, has two absolute classics. The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are Stanford’s joyful setting in C, while the anthem is Charles Wood’s O Thou the Central Orb, full of rich harmonies, twists and turns. The unaccompanied responses are William Smith’s five-part setting.

The form of the service is much as it’s been for 350 years; perhaps more than most church services, it gives you the space to pause and think away from the pressures of the week.

6pm at St Mary’s for about an hour – everyone is very welcome.

Sat 25 Mar 2023, 11:07

Tomorrow’s Choral Evensong is for Passion Sunday and we’ll be singing one of the most famous Passiontide anthems of all – John Stainer’s gorgeous ‘God so loved the world’. 

The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis will be Lizzie Wheeler’s exuberant setting which we rediscovered in 2021 – the first ever published set by a woman composer. The introit is by 16th century composer Richard Farrant, the responses by 17th century Richard Ayleward, and the psalm setting is based on music by Henry Purcell.

6pm at St Mary’s as always – it lasts about an hour and everyone is very welcome.

Sun 27 Nov 2022, 12:02

This evening’s Choral Evensong includes three contemporary pieces of music all influenced by plainsong.

The Oxford composer Grayston Ives’ setting of ‘This is the Record of John’ is a startling and evocative piece – coupling a call/response section with a rich harmonic coda where the four voice parts weave in and out of each other.

The canticles are Philip Moore’s setting which always seem particularly well suited to Advent – unusually they lead the Magnificat (the song of Mary) with a tenor/bass solo and the Nunc Dimittis (the song of Simeon) with a soprano solo.

The organ voluntary is David Bednall’s ‘Evocation of Wells Cathedral’ which is inspired by the Advent antiphon ‘O radix Jesse’.

At 6pm for an hour in St Mary’s – all welcome!

Fri 30 Sep 2022, 18:50

Choral Evensong this Sunday includes three all-time classics of their genres: Richard Ayleward’s Preces and Responses (1626-1669), Charles Villiers Stanford’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B flat (1852-1924), and Anton Bruckner’s anthem Locus Iste (1824-1896).

6pm at St Mary’s and it lasts just under an hour – do come along.

The Revd John Partington will be taking the service… on which note I was amused to note his posting three below this one from 2019!

Sat 5 Mar 2022, 14:35

Our first Evensong of 2022 is this Sunday at 6pm, the first Sunday of Lent. It’s Philip Moore’s ‘Third Service’ Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis; William Smith’s rich five-part harmony Preces & Responses; and for the anthem, Charles Villiers Stanford’s beautiful, melodic ‘O for a closer walk with God’.

At the service at the end of November, we sang a long-lost setting by Lizzie Wheeler dating from c.1872, believed to be the first setting of the evening canticles by a woman composer. We think this was the first performance in over 100 years. Since then, the work has been picked up by choirs in two cathedrals (Ely and Christ Church Oxford), a Cambridge college, and – this coming week – two London churches. Feels like we’ve started something!

Fri 4 Dec 2020, 10:14

A full year after our last one, I’m delighted to say there’ll be Choral Evensong at St Mary’s this Sunday.

The ‘setting’ (the music to which the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are sung) will be Phillip Moore’s reflective Third Service, which blends plainsong with rich, complex harmonies. The ‘responses’ (the prayers from the Book of Common Prayer) are the classic set by the 17th century composer William Smith. For an anthem we’ll be singing David Ogden’s uplifting ‘Maranatha’.

Unfortunately congregational singing isn’t currently allowed, but you can hum along to ‘Hills of the North’ at the end! And there’ll be an organ voluntary at either end (if I finish practising them in time...).

It’s at 6pm on Sunday, lasts about an hour, and you don’t need to book.

Sat 8 Jun 2019, 20:18

Richard, thanks for letting us know so faithfully (very few postings except yours on this thread!).

One of the things I'm looking forward to when I retire and move to Charlbury this autumn is the occasional Choral Evensongs.  I'll come across tomorrow for a foretaste.

Fri 7 Jun 2019, 22:58

Our Evensong on Sunday will be part of the Charlbury Festival and celebrates Pentecost (aka Whitsun).

We will be singing Herbert Howells’ setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for Gloucester Cathedral – in my view one of the greatest pieces of church music ever written (I will concede that Bach’s St Matthew Passion probably has a claim to that title too!). Howells always wrote for the building, and there are moments in this setting where there is a dazzling burst of sunlight that evokes the Great East Window of Gloucester Cathedral. (Listen out for “And to be the glo…ry” in the Nunc Dimittis!) It’s a big challenge for a parish church, but the choir have been working astonishingly hard on it and we are delighted to be able to sing it in St Mary’s.

It’s at six o’clock and lasts just under an hour.

Thu 14 Mar 2019, 15:08 (last edited on Thu 14 Mar 2019, 15:08)

This Sunday is St Patrick’s Day, and so our Choral Evensong will feature music by the great Irish composer Charles Villiers Stanford.

The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are his service in B flat – a joyous, uplifting Magnificat followed by the lovely melodic Nunc sung by the tenors and basses. The anthem is his airy setting of the Lenten hymn ‘O for a closer walk with God’, and we’ll finish with his rousing setting of the traditional ‘I bind unto myself today’ aka St Patrick’s Breastplate – all “whirling wind” and flashing of lightning!

Revd John Witheridge is preaching and St Mary’s Choir are singing (and I’m playing the organ… which does indeed go up to 11 for the last verse of St Patrick’s Breastplate).

6pm at St Mary’s on Sunday for just under an hour – all very welcome.

Fri 30 Nov 2018, 11:55

Another musical weekend coming up with the Speakeasy tonight, Vox Chamber Choir tomorrow and Choral Evensong on Sunday.

At Evensong, the St Mary's Choir will be singing Philip Moore's haunting Third Service. It's influenced by plainsong yet also has really rich harmonies with the four parts playing off each other - very memorable. The anthem is Charles Wood's exuberant 'O Thou the Central Orb' and the responses are Richard Ayleward's 17th century setting.

All are welcome - it starts at 6 and lasts just under an hour.

Fri 21 Sep 2018, 17:12

Our Evensong this Sunday (23rd) is our annual "Come and Sing" Evensong - you can come along to the service at 6pm, or if you'd like to take part in the singing, join in the rehearsal from 4 o'clock. We've chosen the music to be on the accessible side - a little less part-singing than usual and strong melodies. But it's Vaughan Williams and Howells so it's still all good stuff! More details at www.charlbury.info/events/5652 .

Sat 23 Jun 2018, 18:45

We have another Choral Evensong this Sunday (24th) - some really lovely music. (All by past organists of Gloucester Cathedral, as it happens! Full list on the events page.) Do come.

Sun 25 Mar 2018, 21:34

I wish I'd spotted this, or other publicity sooner. Sad to have missed it.

Sun 25 Mar 2018, 09:31

I do enjoy the CRAG concerts in the Memorial Hall, not least because my study is directly over the wall from the hall, so I get to enjoy live music while working...!

Once you've listened to some bass viol-ence this afternoon, we have another musical excursion - Choral Evensong at St Mary's. We've recently started doing this service three or four times a year. It's unique to the Church of England - a musically led service with settings of the Magnificat (the Song of Mary) and the Nunc Dimittis (the Song of Simeon), a psalm in the distinctive 'Anglican chant' style, the Tudor-style unaccompanied 'preces and responses', and a choir anthem chosen to fit the day (in this case, a modern setting of 'Ride On' by the Oxford composer Grayston Ives). Plus some good hymns. It's less participatory than a standard church service - no-one will ask you to shake hands at the peace and you don't have to sing the hymns if you don't want to. (Though the ones today are cracking tunes!)

Six o'clock and everyone is welcome: more details at www.charlbury.info/events/5421 .