Epiphany Singing Retreat Repertoire
*** DRAFT SCHEDULE COMING SOON! ***
The choral repertoire for Epiphany is almost as rich as for Christmas, and for this special course we include sumptuous anthems by John Shephard (Reges Tharsis) and an extract from Mendelssohn’s (incomplete) Oratorio Christus – There Shall a Star from David Come Forth. In his lecture going ‘Behind the Music’, Artistic Director Dr Edward Wickham will explore the medieval music traditions of the post-Christmas period, which produced some of the most ground-breaking music of all time.
Over the course of the weekend we will have the opportunity to work on a core repertoire of sacred works suitable for our daily evensong and compline services. In addition, we will be selecting works for smaller consorts from the madrigal, part-song and close harmony repertories for more informal music-making sessions.
The course will also include a talk “Music for the Twelve Days of Christmas” by Artistic Director Dr Edward Wickham.
Repertoire
Compline at Sidney Sussex
Psalm 2 (plainchant)
Byrd Short service (Nunc dimittis only)
Tallis In manus tuas (scoring SATT/BarB
Evensong 1 at Peterhouse:
Tallis Responses (scoring SA1A2TB)
Byrd Short service (Mag and Nunc – above)
Sheppard: Reges Tharsis (scoring SAT1T2BarB)
Evensong 2 at St Catharine’s College:
Tallis ResponsesPsalm 113 (Parish psalter)
Herbert Murrill: Canticles in E
Mendelssohn: There shall a star from Jacob come forth (NB this starts on p3)
Sung Grace for our Formal Dinner: Oculi omnium (Wood)
Wassailling
Trad arr Vaughan Williams The Gloucestershire Wassail Â
We may also sing “Here we come a-wassailing”, found in Carols for Choirs
All music will be provided; but you might like to buy your own copy of The Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems (compiled by Christopher Morris; Oxford University Press) and Madrigals and Partsongs (ed. Clifford Bartlett; Oxford University Press) which are widely used in our courses.
UK/US note values
If you’re wondering what a ‘crotchet’ is, there’s a useful chart here!
Online warm-up
Don’t worry if you’re feeling a little rusty – try Edward’s “dusting off the cobwebs” video. You could also practice singing along with a Youtube video by one of the Cambridge choirs.
Enjoy!