Music
Music at St Mary's
The music at our Sunday Eucharist (9:30am) and Evensong (6:30pm) is led by St Mary’s Church Choir, an accomplished group of mixed voices which rehearses every Friday evening at 7.45 in the choir vestry.
There are usually 12 – 18 singers in the choir at Sunday Eucharist and other major services. Between 6 and 12 sing at Evensong, with a few more on the occasions when we sing Choral Evensong, with sung responses and canticles, as you would hear in a cathedral service. The choir always sings an anthem or motet, and gives a strong lead to the hymns, occasionally adding a descant to give the final verse a lift.
While the church choir is made up predominantly of adults, there is also an informal choir of younger singers leading the music at 11:15am Informal Worship, led by Alex Broad and the Director of Music. On the first Sunday of each month there is a often wind band of young instrumentalists, led by Andrew Lenon.
From time to time we present a concert in St Mary’s Church. We have performed Handel’s Messiah, J.S.Bach’s St John Passion, Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Stainer’s Crucifixion, as well as concerts consisting of anthems and motets for the church’s seasons, such as Advent, Lent and Passiontide. These events usually involve a larger choir, with St Mary’s regular singers plus guests. The annual candle-lit Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols takes place on the Sunday evening before Christmas and is one of the events which regularly sees the church packed to the doors and rafters. On this occasion some of the music is provided by St Mary’s team of bell-ringers, playing hand-bells from the gallery.
St Mary’s Choir has also revived the custom of singing at cathedrals. Our visit to our own diocesan cathedral at Southwark in September 2005 prompted an immediate invitation to return, and we sang evensong again at Southwark Cathedral on 2nd September 2006. We have also sung at St Paul’s Cathedral on 5th August 2006 and 21st April 2007.
If you would like to find out more about St Mary’s Choir, perhaps with a view to singing with us, do have a look at the music list below, or get in touch with Chris Thomas, Director of Music on 07943 316620. Similarly, do come along if you would like to be involved in the music of the Sunday morning Informal Worship at 11:15am. Alternatively, come to one of our Sunday services and speak with Chris or members of the choir. We shall be very pleased to welcome you.
Service Music Programme
Choristers
St Mary's has a newly formed group of Choristers comprising of musical boys and girls aged 7 to 13 who love singing, team games and challenges.