January 2002

Several members of All Saints' Choir attended an RSCM choral workshop on Saturday, 19th January. It was directed by Grayston Ives and held at Magdalen College School, Oxford. Mr. Ives introduced the singers to music suitable for the season, interspersed with instruction and helpful hints on points of interpretation, emphasis, enunciation, pronunciation, breathing - indeed all the facets necessary for the better singing of church music.

The singers worked on music by Gibbons, S. S. Wesley, Bairstow, Pelham Humfrey, Gesius, John IV of Portugal, de Séverac and Grayston Ives himself. Canon Timothy Wimbush conducted a short service at the conclusion of the workshop which incorporated Drop, drop slow tears (Gibbons), Wash me throughly (S. S. Wesley), Hosianna dem Sohne Davids (Gesius) and Tantum ergo (de Séverac).

Afterwards, some workshop participants took the opportunity to attend Evensong in Magdalen College Chapel, preceded by a recital given by the Organ Scholar, Jonathan Hardy, of works by Bach, Howells and Vierne. Evensong included the popular Smith Responses, the Harwood A flat setting of the canticles and The Spirit of the Lord (Elgar) and provided a wonderful end to the afternoon.

February 2002

Eight members of the Choir of All Saints' Church attended a choral workshop on Saturday, 2nd February at Leighton Park School. The event was organised by Making Music South but churches affiliated to RSCM were invited to participate along with members of choral societies. The morning session on choral singing techniques was directed by Ralph Allwood and, in the afternoon, singing was led by John Rutter. It was an enormous privilege to be able to work with two such distinguished choral conductors. Indeed, the 300 places could have been filled twice over.

It is impossible to convey the humour and atmosphere of the occasion. Everyone was in fits of laughter at Ralph Allwood's description of his predicament when he was asked to deputise for an absent Chinese conductor in Taiwan, while we learnt that John Rutter "likes his altos fiery" and, while establishing the location of voice parts in the hall, he was careful to thank the tenors for coming!

A wonderful variety of music was sung or sampled during the day, including Locus iste (Bruckner), Geistliches Lied (Brahms), Bogoroditsye Dyevo (Rachmaninov), Cantique de Jean Racine (Fauré), Ave Maria (Stravinsky), Beatus vir (Monteverdi), Feel the spirit, a cycle of spirituals by John Rutter, and two hymns/hymn arrangements by Rutter, Eternal God and Amazing grace.

The organisers are to be congratulated on promoting such a successful event and for broadening participation by seeking to involve members of church choirs.

Her Majesty acceded to the throne on 6th February, 1952. By way of marking the 50th anniversary of the Accession, a Henley Deanery Choirs' Festival will be held on Saturday, 9th February in St. Mary's Church, Henley. More than 130 singers are expected to take part, together with children from Church of England primary schools including our own at Peppard. The choirs will be directed by Ralph Allwood, Precentor and Director of Music at Eton College.

Everyone is most welcome to attend Festival Evensong at 5 p.m.

Music for the service will include:

A large congregation was in attendance at St. Mary’s for the Henley Deanery Festival Evensong on Saturday, February 9th, held in celebration of HM the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Choristers from 15 parishes participated, as well as pupils from Church of England Primary Schools at Goring and Peppard. They were conducted by Ralph Allwood, Precentor and Director of Music at Eton College, with Philip Aspden at the organ.

The Service opened with Look at the World by John Rutter, sung as an Introit and movingly interpreted by children only singing the verses. Thereafter the music was quite traditional, and no doubt chosen on the assumption that it would be in the repertoire of many of the participating choirs. There were the five-part Smith of Durham Preces and Responses, Stanford’s Evening Canticles in B flat and Haydn’s TheHeavens are Telling as the Anthem, all sung with the polish that only comes through regular and skilful training. Mr. Allwood brought out the very best from those 138 voices under his control. Seldom have I heard The Heavens are Telling sung with such spirit.

It was a joy to hear Psalm 84 sung so perfectly to Parry’s beautiful chant and, though both hymns were probably not familiar to most of the congregation (The Lord is King and Lord Keep Elizabeth our Queen), they were appropriate, particularly the last one, the words of which were written for the Accession Service of Queen Elizabeth I.

The Revd. David Pritchard’s address summed up the role played by church music in many people’s lives including his own, and how it can serve as a medium for spiritual renewal and inspiration. He also paid tribute to the choirs and their trainers on whose efforts the "finished article", so wonderfully produced by Mr. Allwood, depended. He also praised the work of his organist at St. Mary’s, Philip Aspden who, besides accompanying the Service impeccably, did much, along with Julia Slingo, Heather Llewellyn, Keith Atkinson, Nigel Wallington and Malcolm Walker, to organise the event.

The Rector's reference to the influence of church music on him from a very early age made me think how good it was to see so many children and young people taking part in the service, gaining similar experience. The children who read the prayers must be commended for their clarity, diction and unhurried delivery, and it was a happy thought that they should be also involved in this way.

Finally this report would not be complete if it did not make special mention of Keith Atkinson, a long-serving member of the choir at All Saints’, Peppard, who has always been a tower of strength in the organisation of these Festivals since their inception in 1977, the Queen’s Silver Jubilee year. The success of this one was in no small measure due to his enthusiasm and organising ability.

We look forward to further similar occasions.

All Saints' Church, Rotherfield Peppard affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music on 14th February, 1977. It is hoped to mark the 25th anniversary of our membership on Sunday, 17th February by an appropriate choice of anthems. The benefits of membership of the RSCM have been enormous, though not all are obvious to members of the congregation. Looking back over 25 years, it now seems strange to think that the ladies of the choir did not wear robes at that time and used to enter the church by way of the south door of the chancel.

The following message comes from Professor John Harper, Director General, Royal School of Church Music:

The Choir of All Saints' Church is to visit Jesus College, Oxford on Saturday, 23rd February to sing Evensong in the College Chapel. This will be the third occasion on which we have been able to visit our Patron in this way. The order of service is as follows:

April 2002

This year's RSCM Easter course for trebles and sopranos aged 9 - 16 years was held in April at Magdalen College School, Oxford. Six junior choristers from All Saints' choir attended, along with 82 other choristers from 23 churches.

The choristers were tutored in four Houses and learned a great deal of music - in the beautiful setting of Magdalen College Chapel we were treated to such delights as the Bairstow in E flat Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, Let All the World by Vaughan Williams, O Mysterium Ineffabile by Lallonette and the Whitchurch Responses.

Choral Evensong was held on each of the three days of the course. After a demanding time learning much about the singing of hymns, psalms, canticles and Easter Anthems, as well as improving their diction, breath control and phrasing, our choristers all agreed that they had enjoyed the course and would like to return next year. Ben Lovell had the honour of being chosen, along with 7 others from his House, to sing at Christ Church Cathedral on the Saturday following the course.

May 2002

Whitsunday falls on 19th May. The music at Choral Evensong will include the Smith of Durham Responses, Stanford's C major setting of the Evening Canticles, and the anthem Listen, sweet dove by Grayston Ives.

Congratulations to Sarah Woodward (soprano), holder of a choral bursary in the choir, on her outstanding success in the RSCM Bishop of Oxford's Senior Chorister Award examinations held in April. The awards will be presented during Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday, 2nd November.

It is also good to report that the ranks of trebles in the choir have received an influx of members recently. Both of these successes owe much to the skill and enthusiasm of Rebecca Bell in her first year as Choirmistress. Six of the trebles attended the RSCM Three-day Course at Magdalen College School, Oxford, during Easter Week and one of them, Ben Lovell, was chosen to sing at Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday, 6th April.

July 2002

On Tuesday 16th July I was privileged to be invited by John Wardle, Director of the RSCM, to spend the day singing with the Southern Cathedral Singers at Trinity College Cambridge. Choral Evensong took place at 5.30 p.m. in the College Chapel.

The music for the service was as follows:

The Southern Cathedral Singers usually sing in various cities in the South of England and as I thoroughly enjoyed my day in Cambridge, meeting and singing with new people, I have decided to join the choir.

Sarah Woodward

September 2002

Stanford was born 150 years ago on 30th September, 1852 in Dublin. His influence on church music was considerable. His B flat service, written at the age of 27, "at once attracted attention, gave its composer a high standing in English musical life, and set a new standard in Anglican church music". Through a career spent largely in the University of Cambridge and at the Royal College of Music, Stanford influenced musical development through composition and teaching, his pupils including Holst, Howells and Vaughan Williams among others.

The Choir of All Saints' has already sung several Stanford anthems and the settings of the Evening Canticles in B flat and C during the sesquicentenary year. On Sunday, 29th September, the eve of the anniversary, the anthem will be his B flat setting of Psalm 100 (Jubilate Deo) and the hymn, For all the saints, will be sung to his tune Engelberg. At Evening Prayer, Psalm 148 will be sung to his chant in E flat and the Magnificat to his chant in A flat.

There will be another opportunity to hear one of Stanford's anthems when the Choir sings And I saw another angel at our Patronal Festival on 3rd November.

October 2002

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Royal School of Church Music by Sir Sydney Nicholson in 1927. The main anniversary event in this area will be the Annual Choirs' Festival which will be held in the Chapel of Radley College (near Abingdon) on Saturday, 12th October. Almost 400 singers from 25 choirs will be directed by Stephen Farr, Organist of Guildford Cathedral and accompanied by Matthew O'Donovan, Organ Scholar of Merton College, Oxford.

Festival Evensong, which everyone is most welcome to attend, will take place at 5 p.m. The sermon will be preached by the Right Reverend Colin Fletcher OBE, Bishop of Dorchester, and the service music will be

Members of All Saints' Choir have been learning the music during the summer and have been very pleased to welcome members of the Choir of St. John the Baptist, Kidmore End to their rehearsals since they will be singing at the Festival for the first time. Do come and join us at Radley for this special occasion!

The RSCM Annual Choirs' Festival was held on Saturday, 12th October in the Chapel of Radley College. The Chapel provided a wonderful setting for the occasion and its acoustic and collegiate seating arrangements did much to enhance the quality of the singing.

Stephen Farr, Organist of Guildford Cathedral, proved to be a fine musician and a sympathetic conductor of the choirs while Matthew O'Donovan, Organ Scholar of Merton College, Oxford was an excellent accompanist. The Bishop of Dorchester, the Right Reverend Colin Fletcher, preached on II Samuel 7.

The Choir of All Saints' Church participated in excellent numbers, with 26 children and adults really enjoying the event. It was a great pleasure to see the Choir of St. John the Baptist, Kidmore End taking part in the Festival for the first time.

November 2002

The Choir of All Saints' Church looks like being especially busy at the beginning of November. Our Patronal Festival always has some special musical content and, this year, the music on All Saints' Sunday, 3rd November, is augmented by the service on All Saints' Day, 1st November, when the Rev. Graham Foulis Brown will be licensed as our Priest-in-Charge by the Bishop of Dorchester.

The music at that service will include Psalm 122, sung to a chant composed by Andrew Howles when he was an undergraduate at Selwyn College, Cambridge. There will be two anthems during the service, the anonymous 16th century setting of Rejoice in the Lord alway (Philippians 4: 4-7) and Philip Wilby's setting of words from the Sarum Primer, God be in my head.

On All Saints' Sunday, the Communion setting will be Nicholson in G, the Evening Canticles will be sung to Wood in E flat (No. 2) and the anthem, both morning and evening, will be Stanford's And I saw another angel (Revelation 7).

December 2002

On Friday, 6th December (the Feast of St. Nicholas), the Royal School of Church Music will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its foundation (by Sir Sydney Nicholson in the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey on 6th December, 1927) with a service at Westminster (RC) Cathedral. Eight members of the Choir of All Saints' Church will sing at the service which begins at 3.30 p.m. and which will be graced by the presence of HRH the Duchess of Gloucester. The music will include Stanford's B flat setting of the Te Deum as a mark of the sesquicentenary of his birth.