6th December 2008
A Winter Programme of Music by Parry, Schubert and Tippett

7:30pm, St Peter's Church, Acton Green, Southfield Road, Chiswick, London, W4

• Blest Pair of Sirens – Sir Charles Hubert Parry
• Offertorium, D. 963 – Franz Schubert
• A Child of Our Time – Sir Michael Tippett

Soloists:

• Lesley-Jane Rogers – Soprano
• Janet Shell – Mezzo Soprano
• Deryck Webb – Tenor
• David Stout – Baritone

Parry's short masterpiece, Blest Pair of Sirens, was written for Stanford and the Bach Choir in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Written for 8 part chorus and large orchestra, it is a joy for the choir. Whichever line you sing, Parry gives you something melodic and satisfying. It was a work much admired by both Elgar and Vaughan Williams.

Schubert's Offertorium, written for Tenor soloist, chorus and orchestra, with a prominent solo oboe part, was composed in October, 1828 shortly before the composer's death. It was his last sacred work and one of haunting beauty.

Tippett's Oratorio, A Child of Our Time, has become a classic of the 20th Century choral repertoire. Written during the Second World War, it was inspired by the story of Herschel Grynspan, a 17 year old Polish Jewish boy. His shooting of the German diplomat Ernst von Rath sparked off one of the most terrifying pogroms in Germany. Ultimately Grynspan was handed over to the Nazis and disappeared. Tippett's oratorio does not simply narrate this story, but comments upon as an example of "man's inhumanity to man". The universal nature of the oratorio is intensified by the inclusion of arrangements of a group of Negro Spirituals, whose purpose is similar to the Lutheran chorales used in the Bach Passions.