A New Year Garland

This festive musical garland is woven from a range of carols and seasonal music, much of it reflecting the greenery which brightens the darkest nights of the year. Alongside well-loved music by Britten, Rutter and Warlock, the choir will sing new arrangements of Christmas words from medieval times to the present day.

Many plants associated with winter find their way into the programme, in music ranging from Henry VIII’s Green Groweth the Holly, through John Rutter’s There is a Flower and Andrew Bruce’s There is No Rose. The most recent carol, Ivy Chief of Trees It Is, has been written specially for this concert by Sarah Cattley. Music by the choir’s director, Janet Wheeler, includes her setting of Wendy Cope’s The Christmas Life, which burst with the joy of welcoming greenery inside as part of the Christmas celebrations. 

The programme also features music focusing on the sharing of good fortune and hospitality with friends, neighbours and strangers. In this spirit, there will be a retiring collection in aid of Jimmy’s Night Shelter.