The choir are delighted to have been invited to sing Choral Evensong
at Southwell Minster on the eve of St Luke’s Day. The service begins
at 5:30pm. As St Luke is physicians and surgeons, and is commonly
associated with healing, we are looking forward to singing Sir
William Harris’s masterpiece, Strengthen ye the weak hands.
It was written in 1949 for the opening service of the Canterbury
Festival, which that year focused on Science and the Art of Healing.
It employs familiar words from the Book of the prophet Isaiah and
the Book of Common Prayer, alongside verses from the book
Ecclesiasticus, including these lines:
The Lord hath created
medicines out of the earth …
and He hath given men skill,
that He might be honoured in
His marvellous works.
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As with other visits, the remainder of the programme includes
music from our ‘touring’ repertoire; Henry Smart’s neglected setting
of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B flat major, and a setting
of the Preces and Responses by our own Musical Director, written for
a massed voices Festival in the Diocese of Peterborough.
In advance of the visit to Southwell, the choir will be singing the
same programme of music (minus the Introït) at St Matthew’s Church,
Northampton, on Sunday 11 October 2020 at 5:30pm. All are welcome to
both visits, which are free, though a collection is usually received
at each service.
Programme:
Northampton Bach Choir
Organist - Ivan Linford
Conductor - Lee Dunleavy
Dunleavy - Preces and Responses
Psalm 33
Smart - Evening Service in Bb
Harris - Strengthen ye the weak hands |