Visit to Rye on a Sunny Saturday
The choir visited Rye to give a concert in St Mary’s Church on Saturday 4 May 2024. It was a brilliant day in many ways. Rye is a very comfortable hour-long train ride away and because this was a Bank Holiday weekend, the town was absolutely buzzing with tourists. The weather was lovely and sunny (unlike today: Bank Holiday Monday - when it’s raining persistently and due to continue ALL day). Several of us visited Lamb House, the house of Henry James and E.F.Benson (who wrote the Mapp and Lucia stories set in Rye). Then I and Robin had lunch in a Turkish restaurant before heading to the church for rehearsal and concert.
The concert seemed well advertised and we had an audience of over 60 people. It’s a lovely church with a good organ and decent piano. Andrew Wilson accompanied us and also played an organ solo by Widor. The choir sang really well and confidently with good diction and projection. Angela Wilkes also sang a ‘My mother bids me bind my hair’ by Haydn - a very attractive song which she sang beautifully. Well done everyone!
It was a lovely day in many ways, not least because it’s nice to socialise with the choir. I think we all felt we had made a few new friends, or at least talked to people we’d previously only seen at rehearsals.
Nick
6 May 2024
Photo - Jose MartinezPardo
RYE CONCERT PROGRAMME
East Sussex Community Choir: Rye Concert - Saturday 4 May
Rehearsal in the church at 3pm
Concert at 5pm (ends 5.50pm)
Concert dress: Smart Summer clothes (see the photo of our performance in Rye in the ‘Gallery’ on our new website).
Programme order
Pitoni: Cantate Domino (sung twice) – from memory if you can please.
Farrant: Lord, for thy tender mercy’s sake
Haydn: The heavens are telling (with choir soloists: Angela Wilkes; Peter Hanson; Michael Bloom)
Soprano solo: Angela Wilkes: Haydn: My mother bids me bind my hair
Bruckner: Locus iste – again from memory if you can please.
Faure: Cantique de Jean Racine
Organ solo: (Andrew Wilson)
Bullard: Calm and deep peace
Bullard: 3 Shakespeare songs
Haydn: Achieved is the glorious work (longer version on p.99)
