15-19
Sept
2027
Join us for WAF's first ever Christmas Concert, as we welcome back the upper voices of Corvus Consort with harpist Louise Thomson to present music from their acclaimed album 'Welcome Joy' alongside Benjamin Britten's iconic Ceremony of Carols.
Taking place in Chagford Church on Saturday 28 November, this concert will usher in the season of Advent with a programme designed to help you transition gently into the festive spirit.
The first half comprises a selection of beautiful music from ‘Welcome Joy’, Corvus and Louise's 2024 album on Chandos Records celebrating women's voices – both as singers and composers. BBC Music Magazine described 'Welcome Joy' as "a jewel-box of glinting, shimmering choral gems", giving it five stars and also naming it one of their ’13 best classical albums of 2024’.
Imogen Holst’s characterful Keats setting Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow opens the programme, before a set of beautiful works by living composers Judith Weir, Olivia Sparkhall and Hilary Campbell, all commissioned by Multitude of Voyces to mark International Women’s Day in 2019. Then comes Elizabeth Poston’s remarkable An English Day-Book, a cycle of eleven short movements charting the course of a day in the English countryside, packed with strikingly vivid depictions of bells, clocks, songbirds, owls, and a mischievous bumblebee.
The second half is where things get festive, opening with a selection of a cappella Christmas pieces by Elizabeth Poston, Howard Skempton and Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as the medieval carol Ther is no rose of swych vertu. Harp and voices will also sound together in the magical Peace on Earth by current Master of the King’s Music Errollyn Wallen.
Finally Corvus and Louise will perform Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, undoubtedly the most famous composition that exists for women’s voices and harp. Mirroring Poston’s cycle at the end of the first half, the Ceremony of Carols also consists of eleven movements, in this case setting a series of medieval carol texts, with perfectly judged musical moods shifting between the lyrical, poignant, and joyful. It is one of the best-loved works in the English Christmas repertory, and will bring the concert to a fabulous festive close.
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This concert is generously sponsored by Fowlers Properties.
This performance will last approximately 2 hours, including an interval.
Pre-concert drinks from 6:30pm.
Performers
Imogen Holst (1907-1984)
Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow
Judith Weir (b. 1954)
We sekyn here rest
Olivia Sparkhall (b. 1976)
Lux aeterna
Hilary Campbell (b. 1983)
Our endless day
Caroline Lizotte (b. 1969)
La Madone
Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987)
An English Day-Book
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Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987)
Jesus Christ the apple tree
Howard Skempton (b. 1947)
Into this world, this day did come
Errollyn Wallen (b. 1958)
Peace on Earth
Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016)
The Fader of Heven
Trad.
Ther is no rose of swych vertu
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
A Ceremony of Carols
Address
St Michael's Church
Chagford
Devon
TQ13 8BN
Accessibility
Step-free wheelchair access.
Enter churchyard via gate on south side of church, then enter church through north door.
We recommend any wheelchair users are accompanied on arrival and departure (including powered wheelchairs), since access is via a fairly steep incline.
Parking
There is short-term parking available throughout the village, as well as a pay-and-display car park to the south-east of the church.
Toilets
There is a toilet at the back of the church, which is fully wheelchair accessible.
Tickets for all our events are available via our website.
You will receive confirmation of your booking via email, but we do not issue any physical or e-tickets.
Our front-of-house team will have a record of your booking, ready to welcome you on your arrival.
Online booking closes at 9am on the day of each event.
There may be further tickets available on the door, but we cannot guarantee this.
We do not offer reserved seating, so seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
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