Music for Lent Rachmaninov Vespers Rutter Requiem

Bath Choral Society Conductor: Shean Bowers

Saturday 28 March 2020 7.30pm St Mary’s Bathwick

Programme £3 Librettos included bathboxoffi ce.org.uk bathchoralsociety.com

Lent_2020_a4_programme.indd 1 11/1/20 00:18:53 Rachmaninov Vespers Rutter Requiem

There will be a short interval between the two works

Our Next Concert

Music for Summer, American Tunes will take place on Saturday 4 July 7.30pm at St Swithin’s, Bath. This feast of music will include Simple Gifts arranged by Bob Chilcott, Crossing the Bar by Charles Ives, The Lark by Aaron Copland, Wade in the Water by Elijah Rock and Moses Hogan, Agnus Dei by Samuel Barber, The Seal Lullaby by Eric Whitacre, and Sure on this Shining Light by Morten Lauridsen.

John Rutter (1945-): Requiem

Once it became clear that a change of venue was needed for this concert, we realised that we also needed to change the programme. There was an unarguable logic to the choice of John Rutter’s Requiem in place of James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words, for Rutter is to England and the Anglican Church what MacMillan is to Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church – each is quite simply the greatest living composer in their national ecclesiastical tradition.

For Rutter (as for Brahms, Fauré, and Duruflé before him) the traditional liturgy of the requiem mass was not, theologically, what he wanted to express; so there is no Dies irae sequence, invoking the terrors of the Day of Judgement. Instead, Rutter chose material in English from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer – two psalms and sentences from the Burial Service of 1662 – which he interweaves with the Latin of the mass. Psalms 130 and 23 emphasise the mercy and loving-kindness of God, rather than His implacable wrath. Not that the work is bland or subdued: the Sanctus, with its trumpet-like "Hosannas" from the choir, is rousing and thrilling. Like his two French precursors, Rutter gives the Pie Jesu to a soprano soloist, but with the backing of a chorus part which runs, like plainsong chant, in small steps of never more than a whole tone, in contrast to her demandingly angular swoops and long legato ascents.

The Requiem was completed in 1985. The score carries the dedication “in memoriam L. F. R.”, a reference to Rutter’s father, who had died the previous year. The first performances were given in the United States, and although the composer conducted the ensemble, it had been prepared by Mel Olson (Melville Donald Olson), the American choral conductor who, just over a decade previously, had commissioned Rutter’s Gloria and was responsible for introducing the United States to Rutter’s music.

2 Requiem aeternam Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, et lux perpetua luceat eis. and may light eternal shine upon them.

Te decet hymnus Deus in Sion, It is fitting that a hymn should be raised et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem; unto Thee in Zion exaudi orationem meam, and a vow paid to Thee in Jerusalem; ad te omnis caro veniet. give ear to my prayer, O Lord, unto Thee all flesh shall come at last.

Kyrie, eleison! Lord, have mercy! Christe, eleison! Christ, have mercy! Kyrie, eleison! Lord, have mercy!

Out of the deep Out of the deep have I called unto thee, in his word is my trust. O Lord. My soul fleeth unto the Lord Lord, hear my voice. before the morning watch, O let thine ears consider well: I say, before the morning watch. the voice of my complaint. O Israël trust in the Lord, If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme for with the Lord there is mercy, to mark what is done amiss? and with him is plenteous redemption. O Lord, who may abide it? And he shall redeem Israël from all his For there is mercy with thee, sins. therefore shalt thou be feared. I look for the Lord; my soul doth wait for him;

Pie Jesu Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem, Blessed Lord Jesus, grant them rest, Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem, Blessed Lord Jesus, grant them rest, Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem Blessed Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest. sempiternam.

Sanctus Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Holy, holy, holy, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Lord God of Hosts. Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria tua. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in excelsis. Hosanna in the highest.

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of Hosanna in excelsis. the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

3 Agnus Dei Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the dona eis requiem. world, grant them rest. Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the dona eis requiem. world, grant them rest. In the midst of life, we are in death; of whom may we seek for succour? Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the dona eis requiem. world, grant them rest. I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

The Lord is My Shepherd The Lord is My Shepherd; I will fear no evil, therefore can I lack nothing. for thou art with me; He shall feed me in a green pasture, thy rod and thy staff comfort me. and lead me forth beside Thou shalt prepare a table before me the waters of comfort. against them that trouble me; He shall convert my soul, thou hast anointed my head with oil, and bring me forth and my cup shall be full. in the paths of righteousness, But thy loving-kindness and mercy for his Name's sake. shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Yea, though I walk Lord for ever. through the valley of the shadow of death,

Lux æterna I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours; even so saith the Spirit. Lux æterna luceat eis Domine; Let eternal light shine upon them, O Lord; Cum sanctis tuis in æternum, quia pius es. with Thy saints for ever, for art Thou merciful. Requiem æternam dona eis Domine, Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, et lux perpetua luceat eis. and may light perpetual shine on them.

4 Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943): All-Night Vigil (Vespers) This work was composed in the space of two weeks in 1915 and it was an immediate success. Rachmaninov was not a particularly religious man but he was inspired by the beauty and musical possibilities offered by the chants used in the Russian and Greek Orthodox liturgies (and in this work even composed some of his own, which he called ‘conscious counterfeits’). The work was dedicated to Stepan Smolensky, an expert in chant with whom the composer had recently studied. The first performance was in March 1915, attracting five performances within the month. The proceeds all contributed to the Russian war effort. The 1917 Revolution condemned religious music, however, and it was not until the 1960s that the Vespers, as they became popularly known, were widely heard. The first commercial Russian recording was made in 1965 and was only available to the export market. An indication of the work’s popularity is that there have been more than 40 recordings made since that date. The Vigil is celebrated before major Feast Days and on Saturday evenings. In the traditional Vigil there are 12 parts, to which Rachmaninov added a further three of his own (numbers 12, 13, and 14). As is usual, some of the parts are omitted. Vestchernya – Vespers

1. The work begins with a fourfold call to prayer, in six and then eight parts. Priidite, poklonimsya Tsarevi nashemu Bogu. Come, let us worship God, our King. Priidite, poklonimsya i pripadem Khristu Tsarevi Come let us worship and fall down before Christ, our nashemu Bogu. King and our God. Priidite, poklonimsya i pripadem Samomu Khristu Come, let us worship and fall down before the very Tsarevi i Bogu nashemu. Christ, our King and our God. Priidite, poklonimsya i pripadem Emu. Come, let us worship and fall down before him.

3. The text of this movement comes from Psalm 1, the verses alternating with Alliluya (alleluia). The verses are mainly sung by middle voices (alto and tenor) and the refrain by the full choir.

Blazhen muzh, izhe ne ide na sovet nechestivykh. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of Alliluya. the wicked. Alleluia. Yako vest Gospod put pravednykh, i put For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the nechestivykh pogibnet. Alliluya. way of the wicked will perish. Alleluia. Rabotaite Gospodevi so strakhom i raduitesya Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in him with Emu s trepetom. Alliluya. trembling. Alleluia. Blazheni vsi nadeysushchisya Nan. Alliluya. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Arise, O Voskresni, Gospodi, spasi mya, Bozhe moy. Lord! Save me, O my God! Alleluia. Alliluya. Salvation is of the Lord; and thy blessing is upon thy Gospodene est spaseniye, i na lyudekh Tvoikh people. Alleluia. blagosloveniye Tvoye. Alliluya. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Slava Otsu, i Synu, i Svyatomu Dukhu, i nyne i Holy Spirit, prisno i vo veki vekov. Amin. both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Alliluya. Slava Tebe, Bozhe. Alleluia. Glory to thee, O God.

5 5. Perhaps the most famous and certainly the most extraordinary of the Vigil movements is this setting of the Song of Simeon (Luke 2: 29–32). Against a gently rocking background, the tenor soloist sings a Kiev chant. At the end of the movement the basses descend step by step to a low B flat in what is one of the most impressive passages in the whole work.

Nyne otpushchayeshi raba Tvoego, Vladyko, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, po glagolu Tvoyemu s mirom: according to thy Word. For mine eyes have seen thy yako videsta ochi moi spaseniye Tvoye, salvation which thou hast prepared before the face ezhe esi ugotoval pred litsem vsekh lyudei, svet vo of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles and the otkrovenie yazykov, i slavu lyudei Tvoikh Izrailya. glory of thy people, Israel.

6. The last movement of the Vespers is a Hymn to the Mother of God: it occurs in many places in Orthodox worship, and here the threefold setting is very solemn but full of rejoicing and gladness. After this all the lights are dimmed and the doors to the Holy of Holies are closed.

(Tropar) (Troparion) Bogoroditse devo, raduisya, Blagodatnaya Mariye, Rejoice O Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Gospod s Toboyu. Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, Blagoslovenna Ty v zhenakh, i blagosloven plod and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast chreva Tvoyego, borne the Saviour of our souls. yako Spasa rodila esi dush nashikh.

10. There follows a Gospel reading and this movement is sung immediately afterwards as the book is brought out for the people to kiss. This is Rachmaninov’s own chant, using wide contrasts of register and dynamics.

Voskreseniye Khristovo videvshe, poklonimsya Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, let us Svyatomu worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. Gospodu Iisusu, edinomu bezgeshnomu. We venerate thy cross, O Christ, and we hymn and Krestu Tvoyemu poklanyayemsya, Khriste, i glorify thy holy resurrection, for thou art our svyatoye voskreseniye God and we know none other than Thee. We call Tvoye poyem i slavim: on thy name. Ty bo esi Bog nash, razve Tebe inogo ne znayem, Come, all you faithful, let us venerate Christ’s imya Tvoye imenuem. holy resurrection. Priidite vsi vernii, poklonimsya svyatomu For behold, through the cross joy has come into all Khristovu voskreseniyu: the world. se bo priide krestom radost vsemu miru, vsegda Ever blessing the Lord, let us praise his resurrection, blagosloyashche Gospoda, poyem voskreseniye for by Ego; enduring the cross for us he has destroyed death raspyatiye bo preterpev, smertiyu smert razrushi. by death.

11. This is the Magnificat, the text from Luke 1: 46–55. Mary’s words (strangely enough given to the basses at first) alternate with an antiphon ‘More honourable than the cherubim …’, which begins in various different keys but always cadences in B flat.

6 Velichit dusha moya Gospoda, i vozvradovasya My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices dukh moy o Bozhe Spase moyem. in God my Saviour. Chestneyshuyu Kheruvim i slavneyshuyu bez More honourable than the cherubim and more sravneniya Serafim, bez istleniya Bogo Slova glorious beyond compare than the seraphim, rozhdshuyu, sushchuyu Bogoroditsu Tya without defilement thou gavest birth to God the velichayem. Word, true Theotokos, we magnify thee. Yako prizre na smireniye raby Svoyeya. Se bo For he has regarded the lowliness of his otnyne ublazhat mya vsi rodi. handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all Chestneyshuyu Kheruvim … generations shall call me blessed. Yako sotvori mne velichie silny, i svyato imya More honourable … Ego, i milost Ego v rody rodov boyashchymsya For he that is mighty hath done great things for Ego. me and holy is his name, and his mercy is on Chestneyshuyu Kheruvim … them that fear him from generation to Nizlozhi silniya so prestol, i voznese generation. smirennyya. More honourable … Alchushchiya ispolni blag, i bogatyashchiyasya He has put down the mighty from their thrones otpusti tshchi. and has exalted those of low degree; he has filled Chestneyshuyu Kheruvim … the hungry with good things and the rich he has Vospriyat Izrailya otroka svoyego, pomyanuti sent empty away. milosti, yakozhe More honourable … glagola ko otsem nashym, He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance Avraamu i semeni ego, dazhe do veka. of his mercy, as he promised to our forefathers, Chestneyshuyu Kheruvim … to Abraham and his seed for ever.

13 & 14. These two Resurrection hymns are not both sung in one service: they alternate according to the prevailing tone of the chant for that week. Both are based on Znamenny chants, the second slightly longer and richer harmonically.

(Tropar voskresen 1) (Resurrection Troparion 1) Dnes spaseniye miru byst, poyem voskresshemu Today salvation has come to the world. Let us iz groba i nachalniku zhizni nasheya: sing to him who rose from the dead, the author razrushiv bo smertiyu smert, pobedu dade nam i of our life. Having destroyed death by death he veliyu milost. has given us the victory and great mercy. (Tropar voskresen 2) (Resurrection Troparion 2) Voskres iz groba i uzy rasterzal esi ada, razrushil Thou didst rise from the tomb and burst the esi osuzhdeniye smerti, Gospodi, bonds of Hades. Thou didst destroy the vsya ot setei vraga izbavivyi, yavivyi zhe Sebe condemnation of death, O Lord, releasing all apostolom Tvoim, poslal esi ya na propoved, mankind from the snares of the enemy. Thou i temi mir Tvoi podal esi vselennei, edine didst show thyself to thine apostles, and didst mnogomilostive. send them forth to proclaim thee; and through them thou hast granted thy peace to the world, O thou who art plenteous in mercy.

7 Pervy tchas – First Hour

15. The Vigil ends with another hymn to the Virgin, called the Akathist Hymn because the people stand throughout (akathistos means ‘without sitting’). This is part of Prime (the ‘first hour’). The priest chants the liturgy on one note and the choir joins with the kontakion – in Rachmaninov’s setting a brilliantly scored and lively movement which ends the All-Night Vigil in a suitably splendid fashion.

(Kontakion) (Kontakion) VZBRANNOY VOYEVODE pobeditelnaya, TO THEE, THE VICTORIOUS LEADER of yako izbavlshesya ot zlykh, triumphant hosts, we thy servants, delivered blagodarstvennaya vospisuem Ti rabi Tvoi, from evil, offer hymns of thanksgiving, O Bogoroditse. Theotokos. No yako imushchaya derzhavu Since thou dost possess invincible might, set nepobedimuyu, ot vsyakikh nas bed svobodi, us free from all calamities, so that we may da zovyem Ti: cry to thee: ‘Raduisya, nevesto Nenevestnaya.’ ‘Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!’

8 Conductor: Shean Bowers

Shean Bowers is Assistant Director of Music and Organist at Bath Abbey. He has held this post since September 2010, having previously been Director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Training Choir and Organ Scholar at Liverpool Cathedral.

Shean’s musical career began at an early age, when he was accepted as chorister into the Choir of Liverpool Cathedral. Scholarship grants enabled him to study the organ with Professor Ian Tracey. He was then awarded a full scholarship to study at Chetham’s School of Music, Liverpool University, and the Royal Northern College of Music.

Duties at the Abbey involve assisting with the training and conducting of the Abbey choirs; playing the organ for statutory services; directing the Abbey’s youngest voices – the Melody Makers (a choir which Shean founded in 2011 for children between six and eleven years old); and directing the Bath Abbey Schools’ Singing Programme, which sees him going into many schools and helping over 1,000 children a week ‘Find Their Voice’. Since being in post, Shean has directed and accompanied the Abbey choirs and Melody Makers in BBC television and radio broadcasts, increased the number of boys, girls, and men in the Abbey choirs, organised and directed an Abbey choir tour to Paris, and commissioned a Christmas Oratorio from Jools Scott and Sue Curtis for the boys, girls, and Melody Makers, accompanied by the Bristol Ensemble.

As an accompanist, recitalist, and choir director, Shean has performed up and down the country as well as in France, Germany, and Denmark. He has played as a soloist with several orchestras including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, Chetham’s School of Music Symphony Orchestra, and Bath Philharmonia. He is in great demand as a music educator, examiner, and adjudicator. Shean is one of the organists for the BBC daily service and a regular workshop leader for the Royal School of Church Music.

He is Musical Director of Bath Choral Society, and Bath’s Aquae Sulis Chorale, a chamber choir made up of local professional and semi-professional singers.

With a special interest in training young voices, and as a church organist, Shean is committed to the development of the next generation of musicians.

9 Stephen Hargreaves

Stephen Hargreaves studied organ with Ian Tracey, Noel Rawsthorne, and Nicolas Kynaston and is currently coached in improvisation by Frédéric Blanc in Paris. Stephen was Organ Scholar at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he combined reading Law with running music in the college chapel.

Following a 12-month period in the United States, teaching organ at Texas Tech University and broadcasting live across the state on radio and television every week, Stephen returned to Liverpool to pursue a full-time career as an insurance broker. Now a Director at Griffiths & Armour, he is also accompanist to the Liverpool Welsh Choral, assistant organist at St Mary’s, Walton-on-the-Hill, and is much in demand as a freelance accompanist and continuo organist.

Stephen is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, having twice won the coveted Limpus Prize for the most outstanding overall performances in the College's practical examinations, as well as the Coventry Cathedral Prize and the Dixon Prize for improvisation. He also holds a Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. Inês Pinto

Born in Porto, Inês Pinto is a Portuguese light-soprano singer who concluded her Bachelor in Opera Singing and her Master’s Degree in Music Education at the University of Évora under the guidance of Liliana Bizineche, a well-known Romanian Mezzo-soprano. Currently, she is taking private lessons with Marie Vassiliou who is a Professor in the vocal faculties of both the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music. At only 24 years of age, she has sung many opera roles: as Juliet Brook and Sophie Brook in The Little Sweep by Britten; Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart; Papagena in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart: Dido in Dido and Aeneas by Purcell; Amore in Orfeo Ed Euridice by Glück and Cleopatra In Giulio Cesare by Handel.

As a choral singer, she has had the opportunity to perform throughout Europe (France, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Italy, and, of course, Portugal). As a soloist choral singer, she was chosen for the "Meesters&Gezellen" 2019 project where she had the opportunity to work with four singers of the Helsinki Chamber Choir with their director Nils Schweckendiek. At the age of only 22 years she was invited at the University of Évora to teach the discipline of Voice II in the Theatre Course of the Department of Performing Arts. Tim Gilbert Tim Gilbert began learning the cello at the age of seven. He studied at Trinity College of Music, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Alison Wells, David Kennedy, Lionel Handy, and Oleg Kogan. Since graduating, he has been in high demand as both a cellist and composer. Tim holds the position of cellist in Bath’s famous Pump Room Trio and performs there daily. The Trio is the oldest resident ensemble in Europe and has been performing at The Grand Pump Room since 1706. As a cellist, Tim also continues to perform with many leading orchestras and ensembles including the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, English Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Southern Sinfonia, the Bristol Ensemble, and the Chamber Orchestra of Wales. He regularly records for TV, film, and commercial albums, and recently recorded the solo cellist for a number of Hollywood film trailers including ‘Yellowstone’, ‘Mother’, and ‘Entebbe’. Tim is an active composer and his credits include the BBC, Sky Atlantic, Sky Sports, and Sky News. His music is widely used on TV and radio productions throughout the world.

10 BATH CHORAL SOCIETY President: Neal Davies Patron: The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Bath: Gerry Curran Musical Director: Shean Bowers Chorus Master: Geoff Ditcham Rehearsal Accompanist: Conal Bembridge-Sayers

Sopranos Averil Armstrong Gabriel Frankcom Nina Redmond Katrina Sutcliffe Libby Birts Susie Gladwin Elizabeth Roper Margaret Timms Hannah Buckley Ros Key-Pugh Frances Sadowski Anna Van Omnen Susan Chadwick Madeleine Ludlow Janet Shoebridge Michelle Ward Morag Cribb Rachel Morcom Julia Snow Sarah Wyatt Kinga Czerbak Yasmin Mozafari Kirsty Stephen Georgina Eggleston Imogen O’Mahony Lesley Stephens Alice Fox Inês Pinto Sue Stoward

Altos Helen Acosta Aimi Goodlass Pauline Norton Ruth Taylor Elizabeth Bates Christine Kneeshaw Diana Pidgeon Cerys Thayer Barbara Beavan Ruth Leach Alison Richards Belinda Walton Rob Burnet Camilla Lichfield Helen Roberts Liz Westbrook Colette Culligan Elizabeth Lyon Dorothy Robertson Heather Willson Debbie Dellar Pat Murdoch Elspeth Rolls Julie Gardner Ruth Newbury-Ecob Caroline Stagg

Tenors Ian Bynoe John Harding Mike Ledbury Tom McCahill Andrew Ennis Mike Hillyer Tony Lloyd Steve Riches Jonathon Exon Jeremy Key-Pugh Richard Lyon Tim Westbrook

Basses Simon Baker John Gutteridge Robin Logie Richard Whitehead Geoff Frankcom David Hall Peter Martin Martin Greene Ben Laite Jonny Verrell

The singers in our concert will be drawn from the list of choir members shown above.

11 From Bath Choral Society Tonight, we are singing two great choral works: one, the Rachmaninov Vespers, a part of the known repertoire; and the other, John Rutter’s Requiem, less well known but utterly compelling, in time sure to become more familiar. Each work is from a different tradition. The Vespers is in the style of the Russian Orthodox church and the Requiem is Western and modern.

In historical terms, what is so intriguing is that these works commemorate, yet again, the seminal events of the liturgy, passion, and resurrection. The music beats with the same heart and with shared sentiments.

But the unity of feeling disguises a great mystery which is that, despite common beliefs, Christendom was a long time ago, in 1054, torn apart in venomous schism. The cause of the split is almost incomprehensible to us today. It was about the nature of the Trinity and from which person was the Son descended. According to John Julius Norwich, the Byzantium historian, this issue was debated in the streets and taverns with the same implied intensity as is football today! Indeed, people even rioted about it.

Well, the split between the churches continues but it is a safe bet that a only very small minority, mainly of theologians and historians, can remember what the argument was about. It is a safer bet that even fewer would be prepared to go to the stake over the issue. What is to be celebrated is the fact that, in spite of the schism, both branches have created and continue to create music that expresses the most profound emotion and which interprets so much of what we feel today.

It is of course not possible to articulate the individual feelings of people as they listen to music; their emotions are private. But it is a reasonable surmise that even the agnostic and the godless must surely nod in agreement when they hear such words as ‘set us free from all calamities’. To put it in the vernacular, doesn’t it ring a bell! And doesn’t the fact that the words are sung to such beautiful music give them that added dimension?

The lesson we can draw is that, despite bitter divisions and much bloodshed, music reaches those most basic emotions which define us as human beings. And that is what brings us here tonight.

Peter Martin

Bath Choral Society is a Registered Charity (number 263086) and is affiliated to the National Federation of Music Societies. bathchoralsociety.com

12

Get involved with BCS Choral Membership We are always keen to welcome singers of all voice types. Rehearsals Future Events: take place on Wednesday evenings, and entry to the choir is by a simple, supportive audition. For information about taster rehearsals or joining the July 4th choir, please contact Sarah Wyatt, our Registrar: [email protected] Friends of Bath Choral Society (previously ‘Associate Membership’) Becoming a Friend of BCS gives you the benefits of advance details American Tunes of concerts and early access to tickets, as well as the opportunity to attend choir socials and St Swithin’s Bath: our overseas tours. The annual subscription is £10 per ‘household’. Please contact Dorothy Robertson on 01225 742767 for more Bob Chilcott, Charles Ives, information. Aaron Copland, Samuel Find us online For news and details of our Barber, Eric Whitacre, concerts and workshops, follow our social Morten Lauridsen media pages: Facebook (www.facebook. com/BathChoralSociety) and Twitter (@ BathChoralSoc) Acknowledgments

Cover Image and Design Matt Hawes Content for service Tom McCahill, Peter Martin, and Jeremy Key Pugh Proofreading Cathy Rowe, Janet Shoebridge, and Tom McCahill Front of House Our team of concert stewards managing tickets, seating and programme sales, organised by Georgina Eggleston and Judith Eversley Typesetting and Printing Ralph Allen Press Limited Ralph Allen Press. I would like to express my sincere 1 Locksbrook Court thanks to Mikey Watson at RAP for setting (and often Locksbrook Road sub-editing!) the programmes. Bath BA1 3EN Editor Tel: 01225 461888 Peter Martin Fax: 01225 446239 www.ralphallenpress.co.uk

13 POULENC - STABAT MATER

7 NOVEMBER 2020, 7.30pm

Tickets £30 Students £10 bathforum.co.uk bathboxoffice.org.uk 01225 463362 #bathchoireventoftheyear POULENC - STABAT MATER

7 NOVEMBER 2020, 7.30pm

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