Planning Ideas
Shared Ground
Corvus Consort (vocal ensemble) and Fenella Humphreys (violin)
Read the introduction to this programme...
| Alec Roth: Men & Angels |
| Alec Roth: I will move thee |
| Judith Weir: Love bade me welcome |
| Nathan James Dearden: Full of sweet days |
| Judith Weir: Vertue |
| James MacMillan: To My Successor |
| Alec Roth: New Work written for Corvus Consort and Fenella Humphreys |
| Interval |
| Alec Roth: Ponticelli |
| Alec Roth: Shared Ground |
Welcome Joy: A Celebration of Women’s Voices
Corvus Consort (vocal ensemble) and Louise Thomson (harp)
Read the introduction to this programme...
| Imogen Holst: Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow |
| Gemma McGregor: Love was his meaning |
| Hilary Campbell: Our endless day |
| Elizabeth Poston: An English Day-Book |
| Interval |
| Judith Weir: We sekyn here rest |
| Olivia Sparkhall: Lux aeterna |
| Gustav Holst: Two Eastern Pictures |
| Shruthi Rajasekar: Ushās (Goddess of Dawn) |
| Shruthi Rajasekar: Priestess |
| Gustav Holst: Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda (Third Group) |
Christmas Concert – Welcome Joy plus Britten Ceremony of Carols
Corvus Consort (vocal ensemble) and Louise Thomson (harp)
Read the introduction to this programme...
| Imogen Holst: Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow |
| Judith Weir: We sekyn here rest |
| Olivia Sparkhall: Lux aeterna |
| Hilary Campbell: Our endless day |
| Elizabeth Poston: An English Day-Book |
| Interval |
| Elizabeth Poston: Jesus Christ the apple tree |
| Howard Skempton: Into this world, this day did come |
| Peter Maxwell Davies: The Fader of Heven |
| Trad.: Ther is no rose of swych vertu |
| Benjamin Britten: Ceremony of Carols |
A Million Nightingales
Corvus Consort (vocal ensemble)
Read the introduction to this programme...
| Ralph Vaughan Williams: Silence and Music |
| Linda Hirschhorn: I have a million nightingales |
| Poem: Nightingales by Robert Bridges |
| Gerald Finzi: Nightingales, op. 17/5 |
| Orlando Gibbons: The Silver Swan |
| Paul Hindemith: Un Cygne |
| Jacques Arcadelt: Il bianco e dolce cigno |
| Trad., arr. Freddie Crowley: The Blackest Crow |
| Trad., arr. John Hearne: The Seagull |
| Poem: The Celestial Bird by Jessica Powers |
| Roxanna Panufnik: Celestial Bird |
| Interval |
| Charles Villiers Stanford: The Blue Bird |
| Caroline Shaw: and the swallow |
| William Cornysh: Ah, Robin |
| Poem: To a Skylark by Percy Shelley |
| Becky McGlade: To a Skylark |
| Maurice Ravel: Trois Beaux Oiseaux |
| Trad., arr. Vaughan Williams: The Turtle Dove |
| Trad., arr. Edward T. Chapman: The Three Ravens |
| Clément Janequin: Le Chant des Oiseaux |
| Karine Polwart, Follow the heron home |
Revoiced: Voices and Saxophones
Corvus Consort (vocal ensemble) and Ferio Saxophone Quartet
| Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Freddie Crowley - Jesus bleibet meine Freude, from Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 |
| Sarah Rimkus, arr. Sarah Rimkus - Mater Dei |
| Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Freddie Crowley - Weil du mein Gott und Vater bist, from Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz, BWV 138 |
| George Frideric Handel, arr. Iain Farrington - Water Music Suite no. 3 in G major, HWV 350, Minuet II |
| Andrea Gabrieli, arr. Freddie Crowley - O salutaris hostia |
| Johann Michael Bach - Nun treten wir ins neue Jahr |
| Johann Michael Bach, arr. Freddie Crowley - Ich weiss das main Erlöser lebt |
| Owain Park - Miserere after Allegri |
| Interval |
| Henry Purcell, arr. Iain Farrington - Rondeau from Abdelazer Suite, Z. 570 |
| Heinrich Schütz, arr. Freddie Crowley - Selig sind die Toten, from Geistliche Chor-Music, op. 11 |
| Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Freddie Crowley - Zion hört die Wächter singen, from Wachet Auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 |
| Johann Michael Bach, arr. Freddie Crowley - Herr, ich warte auf dein Heil |
| Heinrich Schütz, arr. Freddie Crowley - Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh allzeit, from Geistliche Chor-Music, op. 11 |
| Johann Christoph Bach - Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben |
| James MacMillan, arr. Freddie Crowley - Christus vincit |
| Heinrich Schütz, arr. Freddie Crowley - Das Wort ward Fleisch und wohnet unter uns , from Geistliche Chor-Music, op. 11 |
An alternative proposal is a one hour programme which features an arrangement of Vaughan Williams’s five-movement cantata In Windsor Forest, which he based on music from his opera Sir John in Love. The arrangement, written by the Consort’s Director Freddie Crowley, was specially commissioned by Chiltern Arts with the support of the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust, and first performed by Corvus and Ferio at the Chiltern Arts Festival in February 2022, in celebration of Vaughan Williams’s 150th year. The arrangement capitalises on the saxophone’s immense timbral adaptability to recreate the sonorities and moods of the full orchestral version in a chamber music context: from the nimble woodwind of the first and third movements (“The Conspiracy” and “Falstaff & the Fairies”) and the lyrical string melodies of the fourth (“Wedding Chorus”), to the second movement’s stabbing percussive chords (“Drinking Song”) and the brassy march of the fifth (“Epilogue”).
| Johann Sebastian Bach - Jesus bleibet meine Freude, from Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 |
| Andrea Gabrieli, arr. Freddie Crowley - O salutaris hostia |
| Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Freddie Crowley - Zion hört die Wächter singen, from Wachet Auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 |
| Owain Park - Miserere after Allegri |
| Johann Michael Bach, arr. Freddie Crowley - Ich weiss dass mein Erlöser lebt |
| Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Freddie Crowley - Weil du mein Gott und Vater bist, from Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz, BWV 138 |
| James MacMillan, arr. Freddie Crowley - Christus vincit |
| Heinrich Schütz, arr. Freddie Crowley - Das Wort ward Fleisch und wohnet unter uns , from Geistliche Chor-Music, op. 11 |
| Ralph Vaughan Williams, arr. Freddie Crowley - In Windsor Forest |
Byrd Takes Flight
Corvus Consort (vocal ensemble) and Music on the Edge (saxophone and flute)
Read the introduction to this programme...| William Byrd, arr. Ferio: Ave Verum Corpus |
| Shruthi Rajasekar: Byrd Transubstantiated |
| Thomas Tallis: O nata lux |
| William Byrd: Christe qui lux es et dies |
| William Byrd: Rorate caeli desuper |
| Derri Joseph Lewis: Rorate cæli desuper |
| Thomas Tallis: Thou wast O God and thou wast blest |
| William Byrd: Kyrie, from Mass for Three Voices |
| William Byrd: Vigilate |
| Harry Baker: Vigilate |
| Thomas Tallis: Sancte Deus |
| William Byrd: Justorum animae |
| William Byrd: Ne irascaris, Domine |
| Anna Semple: Ecce respice populus tuus |
A feast of Bach!
Rachel Podger (violin) and Corvus Consort (vocal ensemble)
The Corvus Consort joins forces with Rachel Podger in a double-bill of concerts featuring Bach’s six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, BWV 1001-1006, alongside his six choral Motets, BWV 225-230.
With three motets interspersed amongst three solo violin works in each concert, the fragile beauty of Bach’s writing for solo violin sits in striking relief against the rich and masterful polyphony of the choral motets.
Read the full proposal...
Music from the Bach family
Rachel Podger (violin) and Corvus Consort (vocal ensemble)
Read the introduction to this programme...
| Johann Michael Bach - Herr, ich warte auf dein Heil |
| Johann Sebastian Bach - Ich lasse dich nicht, BWV Anh. 159 |
| Johann Michael Bach - Ich weiss das main Erlöser lebt |
| Johann Sebastian Bach - Sonata No. 1 for solo violin in G minor, BWV 1001 |
| Johann Christoph Bach - Merk auf, mein Herz |
| Interval |
| Johann Michael Bach - Halt, was du hast |
| Johann Sebastian Bach - Partita No. 3 for solo violin in E major, BWV 1006 |
| Johann Sebastian Bach - Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227 |