Reading Haydn Choir is delighted to be returning to St John’s Church, West End Road in Mortimer Common RG7 3SY to perform a programme of works by English composers.

Bob Chilcott composed his ‘Nidaros Jazz Mass’ for the girls’ choir at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway. He then set it for mixed choir (SATB), and it is this version that the choir will be singing, with drum and piano accompaniment. The piece is jazzy and easy on the ear and has been described as ‘groovy and full of soul’.

Edward Elgar composed his early part-songs when he was in his thirties. We’ll be singing the earliest of these – ‘O Happy Eyes’ and ‘My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land’ (1899) as well as ‘Spanish Serenade’ (1891). These songs are fine examples of sentimental English songs at their best!

John Rutter, one of the country’s most popular living choral composers, completed the cycle of folk song settings ‘The Sprig of Thyme’ in 1994. As well as the title song, he included other well-known traditional songs such as ‘The Keel Row’, ‘The Cuckoo’ and ‘Down by the Sally Gardens’