Sonare

An event in St John’s: 'Now I Make a Leaf of Voices’ festival.

Following extensive repairs after the bomb damage of the Second World War, St John’s was reopened for the 1951 Festival of Britain, marking the occasion with several chamber choir concerts. We mark the 75th anniversary of this important event in a concert of music given by the vocal group Sonare – Victoria Stilwell, Stella Bracegirdle, Andrew Morton, George Salmon. Their programme also reflects the original opening of the church in 1824 and its early musical history. Samuel Sebastian Wesley was organist at the church from 1829, and his friend Felix Mendelssohn visited in one of his trips to London. Alongside works by them both, we include a range of other beautiful vocal music from the period.

Programme:

Felix Mendelssohn – Der Erste Frühlingstag Op.48, Lieder ins Freien zu Singen Op.59
Franz Schubert – Chor der Engel and Salve Regina
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel – Seid Gegrusst, Abendlich Schon Rauscht der Wald, Im Wald
Johann Sebastian Bach – Lobet Den Herrn
Samuel Sebastian Wesley – The Mermaid
Sterndale Bennett – Of All the Arts Beneath the Heaven
Ethel Smyth – Komm, Susser Tod
Alice Mary Smith – Lover's Melancholy
Elizabeth Stirling – The Forrester
Thomas Attwood – O God, Who By the Leading of a Star

This performance will last approximately 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval.