OU Choir summer concert: Time and Seasons

The OU Choir’s summer concert, conducted by Dennis Pim, is based around the theme of ‘Time and Seasons’ and includes works by Cecilia McDowall, Bob Chilcott, Dennis Pim and Thomas Morley.

Following the success of Bob Chilcott’s Ophelia, Caliban and Miranda at last summer’s concert, the first item in this year’s concert will be Dances of Time, another of Chilcott’s short choral works for piano and choir. This five-movement piece was composed in 2015; Chilcott sets texts from a variety of sources, from Ecclesiastes, through King Henry VIII to poems by Thomas Carlyle, Robert Herrick and American poet Sara Teasdale.

The second piece,Time and Seasons, is a cycle of four poems by war poet Rupert Brooke (1887–1915) set to music for choir, soloist and piano by Dennis Pim, the choir’s associate conductor. The piece was originally composed in the summer of 1982, with an optional choral accompaniment for the fourth poem was added at a later date.

Thomas Morley (1557–1602 )was one of the great Tudor madrigalists. The choir will sing the three unaccompanied seasonal madrigals: ‘April is in my mistress’ face’ , ‘Now is the gentle season’ and ‘Now is the month of maying’.

The main work in the concert is Cecilia McDowall’s A Time for all Seasons (Before Words Fail), Composed in 2016 to celebrate the 40th anniversary season of the Harlow Chorus it is set for soprano solo, mixed choir, a small upper voice group, piano and optional percussion. The work is built around the Ecclesiastes text ‘To every thing there is a season’ and is interspersed by a reworking of this text by contemporary award-winning author and poet Kevin Crossley-Holland. McDowall has a distinctive but accessible style that mixes melodic tunes with occasional dissonant harmonies and rhythmic exuberance. Her music is now frequently performed by choirs and artists from around the world.

Soprano soloist Eleanor Stevens enthralled the audience at the Open University Orchestra’s autumn concert in 2024 and the Choir welcomes her return to sing again at the Open University.

The Choir is delighted that Ros Whatmore, the Choir’s accomplished rehearsal accompanist, has also agreed to play for the concert.

Booking tickets in advance
Admission is free and open to all, and tickets include a printed programme. Tickets for the concert can be reserved in advance via Eventbrite; tickets on the door subject to availability. The venue is accessible and there is free parking on the campus.

Accessibility
If you are a wheelchair user or have limited mobility please book tickets and email us at [email protected]
to let us know you will be attending so we can ensure that an appropriate space is reserved for you. You will also need a ticket for anyone who accompanies you.

We look forward to seeing you.

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