The Cantate Choir is celebrating the last night of Christmas in their usual way – by holding a Christmas Concert in St Swithun’s Church, Cannon Square. The concert will be on Wednesday 5thJanuary at 7.30pm and will include a programme of well-known carols mixed with the best of West Gallery carols.
West Gallery carols were sung lustily from the gallery at the west end of many churches. This style of music gradually fell into disuse when organs became popular and the Oxford Movement took hold, introducing robed choirs at the east end of the church and the new idea of a standard hymnbook, Hymns Ancient and Modern. Thankfully, there has been a resurgence of interest in West Gallery music because it is less formal and more relaxed in style, easy to sing, yet with surprisingly complex structures – such as putting the tune in the tenor, fuguing entries and many repeats.
All will be interspersed with appropriate readings, ending with light refreshments complemented with wine. This year, for the first time, it will take place in St Swithun’s Church, the home base of the Cantate Choir.