We’re delighted to announce our first concert dates of the year where we will be performing the magnificent German Requiem by Johannes Brahms. Often performed as a large-scale choral work with orchestral accompaniment, we intend to harness the power and beauty of this work but with the intimacy of a smaller ensemble. Our two concert dates for this work are confirmed as:
7pm, Saturday 11th May at Hampton in Arden Parish Church
Ex Urbe are proud to be supporting the wonderful Packington Estate at their annual festive fundraiser. Join us for an evening of carols, mince pies and mulled wine in the most glorious setting of St James’ Church on Thursday 14th December at 7pm.
Ex Urbe Chamber Choir are delighted to announce the date for our Christmas concert. We can guarantee some cracking carols, good cheer and the perfect start to the festive season. Book early as we expect, like most years, that this will be well attended!
So please save the date. The concert will be a 6pm on Saturday 2nd December in Hampton in Arden Parish Church. You can book tickets right now by clicking ***here***
We are well and truly in the middle of rehearsals for our concert weekend. Our first performance of this exciting programme will be at 7.00pm on Saturday 29th April in Hampton Parish Church. We are also very excited to announce that we will be performing in the wonderful St Nicholas’ Church in Warwick at 4.00pm on Sunday 30th April. We first performed at St. Nicholas’ last Christmas and loved the building and acoustic.
Now that we are firmly in Autumn, our sights are set on getting ready for the festive season. We have a packed concert schedule ahead and rehearsals have already started for our Christmas programmes. We’ll publish more details over the coming weeks. For now, here are the details of what is coming up.
Forthcoming concerts
Saturday 3rd December 2022 – Christmas Music, Hampton Parish Church at 6.30pm
Sunday 4th December 2022 – Christmas Music, St Nicholas Church, Warwick at 6.30pm
Thursday 15th December 2022 – Christmas Music, St James’ Church, Packington at 7.00pm
It is thanks to Shakespeare that we have one of the most famous ever quotes about music. As Twelfth Night opens, Duke Orsino speaks the words that are familiar to millions of us: “If music be the food of love, play on“.
Shakespeare’s plays are awash with music. His characters make reference to music, singers and dancers regularly accompany the action on stage, and the Bard’s words themselves flow melodiously.
Unsurprisingly, then, composers for centuries have in turn been inspired by Shakespeare’s plays. Tragedies, comedies and histories have alike found themselves entering the repertoire represented in all manner of ways, from Purcell (writing in the same century that Shakespeare died) to Thomas Adès in the present day.
Ex Urbe are pleased to present as our next concert “settings of Shakespeare” which will include settings by a number of composers including Vaughan Williams, Mäntyjärvi, Macfarren, Wood and Rutter.
In addition, and to celebrate the 150th Birthday of British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) the concert will include “Three Shakespeare Songs” plus “Three Elizabethan Part Songs”. The first set were composed in 1951 and comprise three short pieces, settings of text from two of Shakespeare’s plays, The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream whilst the Part Songs include settings of two further Shakespeare songs from Othello and Twelfth Night. Text by George Herbert is used for the other setting of the trilogy.
