Welcome to the Saint Mary choir blog. We are a SATB (ie: four part harmony) choir. We sing at the 10:00am service most Sundays through out the year.We welcome new members to our choir. If you are interested in joining us please contact our Director of Music (Joanna) via the  Contact Us page.

There follows a description of some the music that we have sung.

Sunday 3 February 2019

Sunday 3rd February 2019 Candlemass

Nunc Dimittis in C     C V Stanford

The Nunc Dimittis, also called The Song Of Simeon, tells of the words of Simeon, who was promised by God that he would see the Messiah.  When Jesus was presented at the Temple and dedicated to God in the Jewish Tradition, being the first born son, Simeon recognised that Jesus was the Messiah.  The words are

Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:  your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation  which you have prepared in the sight of every people;
A light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.


Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) thought to be one of our great British composers was actually Irish, born in Dublin, although educated at The University of Cambridge and then studied music in Leipzig and Berlin.

Whilst an undergraduate, he was appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambridge and was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life.  He was also Professor of Music at Cambridge.  His pupils included Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams whose fame went on to surpass his own.

He is best remembered for his sacred choral compositions for church performance in the Anglican tradition. Along with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, he was thought responsible for the renaissance of music in the British Isles.

Charles Villiers Stanford
CV Stanford from Wikipedia

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