How do we create lasting memorials to those who have gone before us? While monuments of stone mark places and people, music can become a different kind of memorial — a sonic shrine that transcends time and place.
Josquin des Prez’s Nymphes des Bois is an elegy for his teacher, the great Renaissance composer Johannes Ockeghem. Monteverdi’s moving Sestina mourns the favoured court soprano of the Duke of Mantua, Caterina Martinelli. Her untimely death devastated both the duke and Monteverdi, and inspired a sixth cycle of madrigals that has long outlived her marble tomb in the Carmelite church in Mantua.
From these intimate expressions of personal grief, the programme broadens to Benjamin Britten’s Choruses from Gloriana, a royal tribute to Elizabeth I, and his Hymn to St Cecilia. We conclude with Parry’s serene setting of Crossing the Bar — a timeless farewell that looks beyond loss towards peace. Marking the 50th anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s death, this concert becomes a monument in sound—living, breathing and reborn.
We currently have openings for second basses and tenors for 2026-27. Please do come and meet Steve and do a taster rehearsal.
If you love singing confidently in a chamber sized group, enjoy exploring new repertoire and are an adept sight-reader, you will find the City Chamber Choir a haven of harmony and inclusivity.
We have some amazing upcoming repertoire to sing in our 40th Anniversary Celebratory Season 2026-27!
email Helen at citychamberchoir@gmail.com
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