The Choir’s Christmas concert will be on Saturday 2 December at 7:30 pm in Southwark Cathedral.

In the church, Advent is a time of expectation and watchful waiting for the birth of Jesus at Christmas. Some of the most beautiful music ever written has been composed for this time of year. For our concert this term, which falls the day before the first Sunday of Advent, the choir will be singing a selection of some of the best music for Advent. This will include pieces that deal with the theme waiting, pieces venerating the Virgin Mary (who obviously plays a pivotal role in the Christmas story!) and a number of settings of the great ‘O’ antiphons for Advent. We will finish with singing Stanford’s exuberant setting of the Magnificat in B Flat.

The full music list includes:

• Rorate Caeli – Jacob Handl (1550-1591)
• Audivi Vocem – John Taverner (1490-1545)
• Canite Tuba – Francisco Guerrero (1528-1559)
• Lux Mundi – Rory Boyle (b. 1951)
• Let all mortal flesh keep silence – Edward Bairstow (1874-1946)

• Virga Jesse – Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
• A Spotless Rose – Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
• A Hymn to the Virgin – Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
• Annunciation – Cecilia McDowall (b. 1951)

• O Emmanuel – Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977)
• O Adonai – Pawel Lukaszewski (b. 1968)
• O Radix Jesse – Rihards Dubra (b. 1954)

• Magnificat in B flat for double choir – Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

We look forward to seeing you on 2 December!