Saturday, October 7, 2017
7:30pm

Saturday 7th October 2017 saw the Octavian Singers celebrating their 30th anniversary with a concert in St John’s church, St John’s village, Woking.

The Octavian Singers was founded in 1987 by local teacher and composer, Andrew Crookall. Our first concert was of light repertoire and performed at the University of Surrey- the following concert celebrated the 150th anniversary of Woking and was performed in the Rhoda McGaw Theatre.

This concert saw current Octavian Singers join forces with former members to sing the popular Coronation Anthem “Zadok the Priest” composed by Handel for the coronation of George II and also the Coronation Anthem “I Was Glad” composed by Sir Charles H H Parry for the coronation of Edward VII.

The highlight of the programme was the ever-popular Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi, composed in about 1715 for the choir of the famous orphanage the Ospedale della Pieta in Venice. The music sets the words of the Gloria of the Latin Mass into 12 fairly brief sections which range from festive brilliance to profound sadness. The solo sections are for female performers who would have been hidden behind screens in Vivaldi’s time, to protect them from the corruption of the real world!

The rest of the programme consisted of other celebratory music, some of which has been sung by the choir at weddings of various members over the years!

The whole evening was to be full of enjoyment, and was a fitting way to celebrate the wonderful way in which music brings us all together as we look back over past achievements and looked forward to the next 30 years and beyond!

Full Programme:

Zadok the Priest (George Frideric Handel, 1685-1759)
If Ye Love Me (Thomas Tallis, c1505-1585)
Beati Quorum Via (Charles Villiers Stanford, 1852-1924)
Greater Love Hath No Man (John N Ireland, 1879-1962)
- Soprano Solo: Siân Prime
- Baritone Solo: Nick Savill
O Thou THe Central Orb (Charles Wood, 1866-1926)
I Was Glad (C Hubert H Parry, 1848-1928)

Interval

Gloria (Antonio L Vivaldi (1678-1741)
- Gloria
- Et in terra pax hominibus
- Laudamus te
- Gratias agimus tibi
- Propter magnam gloriam
- Domine deus
- Domine fili unigenite
- Domine deus, agnus dei
- Qui tollis peccata mundi
- Qui sedes ad dexteram
- Quonium tu solus sanctus
- Cum sancto spiritu