A dream ticket! Prepare to be swept into a sound-world where glory, terror and transcendence collide. Ashtead Choral Society unleashes the full power of choir, organ and brass in a unique Advent programme. John Rutter’s Gloria erupts with blazing fanfares and rhythmic fire in a jubilant proclamation that shatters darkness with light. Chris Williams’ elemental Tsunami Requiem confronts the overwhelming force of nature and the resilience of the human spirit. This is not Advent as a gentle anticipation, but as a dramatic reckoning with loss and the promise of renewal.
Tag: music
Epsom Choral Society Concert – Bach Magnificat
J S Bach’s Magnificat is one of his most exuberant works in which Mary offers praise and thanksgiving to God. Written during Bach’s early years in Leipzig and first performed in 1723, the work combines choruses, arias and ensembles in a sequence of movements that reflect the changing moods and imagery of the text. It remains one of Bach’s most frequently performed sacred works.
The programme also includes Clive Osgood’s Magnificat, a contemporary setting of the same text, offering a modern perspective on Mary’s song while continuing a musical tradition that spans many centuries.
Completing the programme is Bach’s Lutheran Mass in G minor (BWV 235), one of four short masses composed in the 1730s. Consisting of settings of the Kyrie and Gloria, it draws on music from earlier cantatas and demonstrates Bach’s skill in adapting existing material to new liturgical contexts.
Music Inspired by Love Poetry
Epsom Chamber Choir’s next concert on November 7th is of music inspired by love poetry. All the works are sacred pieces, but lyrics and ancient poems of love and longing have been their starting points. The concert will feature compositions written in the sixteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The longest work in the programme is the sixteenth century composer John Taverner’s “Western Wynde Mass” in which he took the tune of a well-known love lyric, distributed it through the voice parts of the movements of the Mass as a cantus firmus, and surrounded it with glorious polyphony. This was the first Mass by an English composer to be based on a secular melody.
Love will also be celebrated in beautiful settings of texts taken from the Biblical “Song of Songs”. The choir will be singing Clemens non Papa’s motet “Ego flos campi” from 1550, and from the twentieth century Bairstow’s “I sat down under his shadow”, and William Walton’s “Set me as a seal”. Four contemporary composers also feature in the programme: Howard Skempton, Eleanor Daley and Epsom Chamber Choir’s own Helen Williams who all inspire us with their music responding to texts from the Song of Songs, and Kerensa Briggs’ composition “Ubi caritas” gathers us together to where love is.
This will be the highly regarded Epsom Chamber Choir’s first concert under the direction of their new conductor, Patrick Allies, who has a particular interest and expertise in Renaissance and contemporary choral music. He said: “I’m really thrilled to have been appointed as Epsom Chamber Choir’s new conductor and it seemed fitting to launch into an emotional programme for my first concert with them. The programme is sacred but also filled with beautiful romantic messages.”
The audience can look forward to hearing these gems of pieces celebrating love in the glorious acoustic of St. Martin’s Church, Epsom.
Surrey Philharmonic Orchestra Concert 21 November 2026
Save the date.
The Surrey Philharmonic Orchestra is delighted to present a feast of Mozart & Beethoven at our concert on 21st November.
We begin with Mozart’s famous 4 minute Overture to the Marriage of Figaro. This exciting piece is full of romantic & comic themes which are passed around the various orchestral instruments.
Staying with Mozart, the piano concerto no. 23 is one of his most lyrical. Finished in 1786, this concerto was composed during one of the saddest moments of his life, when he was alone & jobless.
Beethoven’s 2nd symphony is upbeat and energetic, written in 1802, as he struggled with growing deafness.
Tubular Bells Live
TUBULAR BELLS LIVE! – the original Mike Oldfield tribute ensemble is coming to the Epsom Playhouse on Thursday 9th July 2026.
Based on note for note transcriptions of Tubular Bells, additional highlights include Moonlight Shadow, To France, Guilty, Family Man, In High Places, and selections from Oldfield’s instrumental albums including Ommadawn, Voyager, Boxed, and Tubular Bells 2 and 3. Not to be missed!