This concert explores the turning seasons as a reflection of different stages of human experience. At its core is Jonathan Dove’s The Passing of the Year, a vibrant and lyrical work that moves through spring’s arrival to the fading of the year, capturing both joy and reflection. Alongside it, we present Clemens non Papa’s radiant 'Ego Flos Campi' , Elgar’s stirring 'O Wild West Wind!', Joanna Marsh’s intimate 'now i lay (with everywhere around)', and Pizzetti’s rarely heard Requiem, with its rich textures and expressive depth. Together, these pieces offer a shifting musical landscape of growth, change, and renewal.

20 minute interval, with a bar open at the back of the church.

Programme

O Wild West Wind! - Edward Elgar

Requiem - Ildebrando Pizzetti

now i lay (with everywhere around) - Joanna Marsh

Ego Flos Campi - Jacobus Clemens non Papa

The Passing of the Year - Jonathan Dove

Brigg Fair - Percy Grainger

From the sorrow of conflict to the quiet strength of resilience, and the joy of renewal, this is a concert of choral music on themes of struggle and flourishing. All profits to Médecins Sans Frontières.

Imogen Holst’s Mass in G Minor and Benjamin Britten’s Flower Songs celebrate nature’s cycles of growth and renewal, while Alberto Ginastera’s haunting Lamentations and the Ukrainian poet Natalia Tsupryk’s Tyhoyi Nochi confront the rawness of grief and endurance. The latter sets a poem by Serge Chadian and an extract from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech on the Day of Victory of Nazism in World War II (9 May 2022).

Ginastera’s cycle sets the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and is therefore a meditation on exile and loss. Rautavaara’s Lorca Suite blazes with passion and defiance. Rautavaara, though Finnish, always felt Lorca to be geographically distant, yet close in atmosphere — that of mysticism, of nature, of strong metaphors with a taste of earthiness. That atmosphere — its variations in the four poems — was the starting point of the composition, but it is impossible to think of these settings of Lorca’s without remembering his death at the hands of a fascist firing squad at the very onset of the Spanish civil war, whether on account of his political leanings or sexuality, or both, is not certain.

These are interjected with moments of stillness. Eleanor Daley’s Grandmother moon is a setting of a mystical text by a Mi’kmaq poet, Mary Louise Martin, who lives on a small island in British Columbia. The text describes the beauty and tranquillity of a full moon, as well drawing on indigenous traditions of the natural world. Tavener’s well-known Mother of God, Here I Stand asks for hope and stillness.

Programme

Lamentaciones de Jeremías Propheta - Alberto Ginastera

1. 'O vos omnes'

2. 'Ego vir videns'

3. 'Recordare'

Tyhoyi Nochi - Natalia Tsupryk

Lorca Suite - Einojuhani Rautavaara

1. Canción de jinete (Lorca Suite)

2. El grito (Lorca Suite)

3. La luna asoma (Lorca Suite)

4. Malagueña (Lorca Suite)

Media vita in morte sumus - Nicolas Gombert

Interval

Mass in A Minor - Imogen Holst

Grandmother Moon - Eleanor Daley

Flower Songs - Benjamin Britten

1. To Daffodils

2. The Succession of the Four Sweet Months

3. Marsh Flowers

4. The Evening Primrose

5. Ballad of Green Broom

Mother of God, here I stand - John Tavener

We are back at Cecil Court, near Trafalgar Square for the streets christmas party, singing carols and taking a collection for The Connection at St. Martin’s. Find us outside 7 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ.

The Connection at St Martin’s is a vital homelessness charity based in central London, offering practical support, advice, and care to people sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness. Rooted in compassion and dignity, their work includes emergency accommodation, mental health support, training and employment services, and help with long-term housing. They work closely with each individual to build trusting relationships and support people in moving away from the streets for good. Grounded in the values of St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Connection provides not only shelter and services, but a path toward stability, community, and hope.

HeSPEROS returns to the church of St. Nicholas, salthouse, after a weekend of walking and singing by the sea.

Programme

Lay a Garland - Robert Pearsall

Rest - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Vigilate - William Byrd

All Things Are Quite Silent - Kerry Andrew

Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing - Herbert Howells

Herrens Venner - Ørjan Matre

Songs of Farewell - Parry

1. My soul, there is a country – words by Henry Vaughn

2. I know my soul hath power – words by John Davies

3. Never weather-beaten sail – words by Thomas Campion

4. There is an old belief – words by J. G. Lockhart

5. At the round earth's imagined corners – words by John Donne

6. Lord, let me know mine end – Psalm 39

The Long Day Closes - Arthur Sullivan

Programme

Rest - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Herr Ole / Blegnet Segnet - Trad. / Edvard Grieg

All Things Are Quite Silent - Kerry Andrew

Kung Liljekonvalje - David Wikander

Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing - Herbert Howells

Herrens Venner - Ørjan Matre

Bring Us, O Lord God - William Henry Harris

Songs of Farewell - Parry

1. My soul, there is a country – words by Henry Vaughn

2. I know my soul hath power – words by John Davies

3. Never weather-beaten sail – words by Thomas Campion

4. There is an old belief – words by J. G. Lockhart

5. At the round earth's imagined corners – words by John Donne

6. Lord, let me know mine end – Psalm 39

Lay a Garland - Robert Pearsall

Hesperos’ return to Westminster Abbey, for Choral Evensong. All welcome.

A programme of German music of lamentation and revelation, from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. We begin with Brahms’ ‘Warum ist das Licht gegeben’, and Mauersberger’s moving response bombing of Dresden - both which repeat the poignant cries of 'warum', 'why?'. This is interspersed with light breaking through the storm clouds, and moments of peace and revelation, with Rheinberger’s much-loved Abendleid, one of JS Bach’s less-performed motets, and Heinrich Schütz' glorious Selig sind die Toten.

Programme

Warum ist das Licht gegeben Johannes Brahms

Komm, süsser Tod Ethel Smyth

Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst Rudolf Mauersberger

Selig sind die Toten Heinrich Schütz

Ich lasse dich Nicht J.S. Bach

Schweigend sinkt die nach Fanny Mendelssohn

Abendlied Josef Rheinberger

Richte mich Gott (Psalm 43) Felix Mendelssohn

Lied an den Mai Josephine Lang

Christus factus est Anton Bruckner

Abendfeier in Venedig Clara Schumann

Fest- und Gedenksprüche Johannes Brahms

Wer dank opfert, der preiset mich J.S. Bach

Programme

Ave generosa - Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1098-1179)

Noel: Verbum caro factum est  - Tamsin Jones (b. 1972)

Ivy, Chief of Trees - Sarah Cattley (b. 1995)

Nesciens mater - Jean Mouton (c. 1459-1522)

Attesa (Expectation) - Maddalena Casulana (c. 1544-1590)

Puer natus in Bethlehem - Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654)

Sainte-Chappelle - Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)

- Interval -

Ave maria a 8 - Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548-1611)

While Mary Slept - Helena Paish (b. 2002)
A Little Child, A Shining Star - David Loxley-Blount (b. 1989)

Coventry Carol - arr. Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)

The First Nowell - arr. Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)
Bethlehem Down - Peter Warlock (1894-1930)

Northern Lights - Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977)

God rest you merry, gentlemen - arr. David Willcocks (1919-2015)

We are back at Cecil Court, near Trafalgar Square for the streets christmas party, singing carols and taking a collection for The Connection at St. Martin’s. Find us outside 7 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ.

The Connection at St Martin’s is a vital homelessness charity based in central London, offering practical support, advice, and care to people sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness. Rooted in compassion and dignity, their work includes emergency accommodation, mental health support, training and employment services, and help with long-term housing. They work closely with each individual to build trusting relationships and support people in moving away from the streets for good. Grounded in the values of St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Connection provides not only shelter and services, but a path toward stability, community, and hope.

Hesperos returns for our second concert of the year - a not insignificant year for choral singers, as we celebrate the anniversaries of William Byrd and Thomas Weelkes. Byrd wasn't above punning on his own name, so (without groaning) join us for a melodious and wood-haunting concert of music by Byrd, from his penitential music of exile and imprisonment, to his joyful psalm settings, paired with music inspired by, and sometimes imitating, the singing of birds.

Programme

William Byrd - Mass for Five Voices

Thomas Weelkes - When David heard

Byrd - Emendemus in melius

Byrd - Ne irascaris / Civitas Sanctis

Byrd - Vigilate

Byrd - The Eagle's Force

Maurice Ravel - Trois beaux oiseaux

Caroline Shaw - And the swallow

Roxanna Panufnik - Kyrie after Byrd

Thomas Vautor - Sweet Suffolk Owl

Clement Janequin - Chant des oiseaux

‘unique in loveliness…’

in collaboration with London City Orchestra, with Thomas Payne

Programme

A Hymn for St. Cecilia - Herbert Howells

Laudibus in sanctis - William Byrd

Cantate Domino - Claudio Monteverdi

A New Song - James Macmillan

Hymn to St. Cecilia - Benjamin Britten

Serenade to Music - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Les sirènes - Lili Boulanger

Sing to the Moon - Laura Mvula

Blest Pair of Sirens - Hubert Parry

Programme

Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, SWV 386 - Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)

In monte Oliveti - Orlande de Lassus (c.1532-1594)

Hortus conclusus - Rodrigo de Ceballos (c.1525-c.1591)

Esti Dai - Zoltán Kodály

The Evening Primrose - Benjamin Britten

My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land - Edward Elgar

Linden Lea - arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams

Bushes and Briars - arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ca’ the Yowes - arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams

The Drowned Lovers - Judith Bingham

The Blue Bird - Charles Villers Stanford

McKay - Carol Burnett

Requiem - Herbert Howells

• Salvator Mundi (O Saviour of the world)

• Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd)

• Requiem aeternam (1)

• Psalm 121 (I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills)

• Requiem aeternam (2)

• I heard a voice from heaven

The Cloud-Capped Towers - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ego Flos Campi - Jacob Clemens non Papa (c. 1510 – c.1555)

Programme

Veni, Veni Emmanuel

The Lamb - John Tavener

Gabriel’s Message

There is a Flower - John Rutter

Inviolata, integrata, et casta es Maria - Josquin des Prez

Away in Manger (Normandy version) - trad. arr. Reginald Jacques

Lullaby My Sweet Little Baby - William Byrd

Magnificat Quinti Toni - Hieronymous Praetorius

The Wise Men and the Star - Oliver Tarney

Seek Him That Maketh the Seven Stars - Jonathan Dove

I Wonder as I Wander - trad.

There Shall a Star from Jacob Come Forth - Felix Mendelssohn

Wexford carol

The Holy and the Ivy

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Now May We Singen - Cecilia McDowall

A choral service for All Souls (The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed), including a performance from Tomas Luis de Victoria’s Requiem of 1605.

Victoria’s six-voice Missa pro defunctis (or Requiem) is one of the greatest choral compositions from any period, creating a mood – contemplative but never despairing. Here it is performed in its original setting, suitably sombre and in darkness lit only by candles.

Programme

David Lang ~ Again (After Ecclesiastes)

William Walker ~ Sweet Prospect

Samuel Barber ~ To be sung on the water

Tarik O'Regan ~ Had I Not Seen the Sun

Aaron Copland ~ Four Motets: I. Help Us, O Lord

Nathaniel R Dett ~ Listen to the Lambs

John M Dye ~ Wayfaring Stranger

Alexander L Blake ~ Poor Wayfaring Stranger

Rosephanye Powell ~ To Sit and Dream

Philip Glass ~ Satyagraha: Conclusion (Organ Arrangement)

Libby Larsen ~ I Will Sing and Raise a Psalm

Melissa Dunphy ~ Suite Remembrance: IV. Mourning into Dancing

Adolphus Hailstork ~ I Will Sing of Life

Caroline Shaw ~ And the Swallow

This is the Truth Sent from Above - traditional, arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams

Alma Redemptoris Mater - Palestrina

O Radiant Dawn - James MacMillan

In The Stillness - Sally Beamish

The Waiting Sky - Oliver Tarney

Advent Prose - Judith Weir

Jesus Christ The Apple Tree - Elizabeth Poston

An hour of meditative French choral music exploring the theme, 'evening prayer'. Featuring the rarely-performed Vieille Prière Bouddhique, by Lili Boulanger.

Programme

O sacrum convivium Oliver Messiaen
Dieu! Qu'il la fait bon regarder Debussy
Ave verum corpus Francis Poulenc
Nymphes de bois Josquin des Prez
Pierre de soleil Philip Glass
Méditation Maurice Durufle
La nuit froid et sombre Orlando di Lassus
Calme des nuits Saint-Saens
Ubi caritas; Tota pulchra es; Tantum ergo Maurice Durufle
Salve regina
Ave verum corpus Francis Poulenc
Nymphes de bois Josquin des Prez
Pierre de soleil Philip Glass
Méditation Maurice Durufle
La nuit froid et sombre Orlando di Lassus
Calme des nuits Saint-Saens
Ubi caritas; Tota pulchra es; Tantum ergo Maurice Durufle
Salve regina Francis Poulenc
Vieille prière bouddhique Lili Boulanger ( with Tom Dyer as Tenor soloist)