christmas through the ages

Join us for  for our end of year concert

 Carols by Candlelight with works from Messiah, Gloria and other Christmas songs.

Carmina Burana is above all a story of love at first sight, namely German composer Carl Orff’s instant infatuation with a collection of medieval poems that he chanced upon in an antiquary in 1934. They were most certainly written by goliards: young and impoverished clergy who travelled around Europe writing drinking songs, romantic ballads satirical songs about the Church and exhortations. Their output was extensive and mostly anonymous, and flourished throughout the 18th century; the ‘Songs from Beuern’ themselves were written in Latin, High German and Old French, between 1220 and 1250.

Of the 315 profane songs contained in the Codex Buranus, Orff chose just 24, organising them into five sections in what he called a “scenic cantata”. They covered themes such as the joys and pains of love, the beauty of nature in springtime, and drinking’s guilty pleasures.

Handel's Messiah has been described by the early-music scholar Richard Luckett as "a commentary on [Jesus Christ's] Nativity, Passion, Resurrection and Ascension", beginning with God's promises as spoken by the prophets and ending with Christ's glorification in heaven.

If 2020 was disrupted by Covid problems, 2021 was even worse. We planned to sing Handel's Acis and Galatea in the middle of the year, but various shut-downs forced us to cancel this.  Undaunted (and reluctant to waste all that hard work) we included our Acis material in the first half of our Christmas concert, with soloists Georgia Jamieson Emms and Robert Tucker, and in the second half sang Christmas music. Our accompanist on organ and piano was Jonathan Berkahn.

November 2020.  After a long and difficult year, we finally had the opportunity to put on a concert – a tribute to all those who persevered through so many disruptions.  Our 'Choral Classics'  included Zadok the Priest, Hear My Prayer, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, five mystical songs by Ralph Vaughn Williams and Fauré's Requiem. The Nativity church's new organ was played expertly by Heather Easting, and we were fortunate to have soloists Amelia Berry and Will King.

Performed to near-capacity houses on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, with great performances by the brass band and orchestra. The evening concert began half an hour earlier than first intended, to pacify rugby fans anxious to get home to watch a world cup rugby match. Robert's rousing version of Rule Britannia and the waving of many silver fern flags helped set the scene.

July 2019. A great success. We sang medleys from Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein and Les Miserables, with two songs from Guys & Dolls and the stand-alone classic Me and My Shadow.  The only complaint received from the audience was that they wanted to join in and sing along with such old favourites. 

Played to a full house on the afternoon of 8 December 2019 and was very warmly received by the capacity crowd. Our charming soloists, Emma Pearson, Elin Tomos, Declan Cudd and Wade Kernot, sang beautifully  and David Barnard, the accompanist,  was given a standing ovation for his virtuoso performance. Altogether a very happy occasion, thanks to Robert and everyone for all the hard work.

 Our major production for 2018 was Karl Jenkins’ powerful and moving work, which was written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day 1918. It was performed with the Marlborough District Brass Band and professional soloists at the ASB Theatre – to a standing ovation.

A concert featuring folk songs from around the world was performed to a full house at the Wesley Centre on 1 July 2018. Earlier we sang to an appreciative audience at the Springlands Lifestyle Village. 

Performed at Christmas 2017 with the Marlborough Civic Orchestra and an ensemble from the Marlborough District Brass Band, and with guest soloists Elin Tomos and Barbara Graham. The concert featured Vivaldi's Gloria, The Road to Bethlehem, a Christmas-themed choral piece by the New Zealand composer David Hamilton and other short works.