Mass in Time of War -PaukenmesseRobin has done his homework, tickedthe boxes and decided that our March19 concert will be the fantastic Missain tempore belli (Mass in Time of War),a setting of the mass by Joseph Haydn,also known also as the Paukenmessedue to the dramatic use of timpani.

Haydn was a deeply religious man,who appended the words “Praise be toGod” at the end of every completedscore. Composed at Eisenstadt in Au-gust 1796, at the time of Austria’sgeneral mobilisation into war. Fouryears into the European war that fol-lowed the French Revolution, Austriantroops were doing badly against theFrench in Italy and Germany, and Aus-tria feared invasion. Reflecting thetroubled mood of his time, Haydn in-tegrated references to battle in theBenedictus and Agnus Dei move-ments. The Mass was first performedon 26 December 1796, in the Churchof Maria Treu in Vienna and is one ofthe most popular of his fourteen masssettings.

This is a rare opportunity for us tosing this vibrant piece of choral musicand yet again, an opportunity to showour audience the depth of our musicalskills. We need to enhance our numbersfor this, so If you know interested,potential choir members, invite themto a rehearsal - you never know, wecould tempt them to join us!

Thanks to all our loyal supportersOur thanks to Austin’s who aresponsoring SCS for 2018. We wouldalso like to thank Stevenage ArtsGuild, Making Music and all theadvertisers, friends and families thatsupport us so that we can continueto make marvellous music.

Future Events 2018/19Wassail! - Christmas ConcertDate 15 December 18 St. Martin’sChurch, Knebworth

Spring 2019 Haydn - Paukenmesse,St A & St G 30 March

Summer 2019 Renaissance to Rock,venue to be confirmed 13 July

Autumn 2019 repertoire TBC 16 Nov.St A and St G with Youth Orchestra

Choir fund raising ideas...Inspired? Talk to Gill...

Welcome to our Autumn newsletter.

Well, here we are at the end of our 2017/18 concert season,and what a year it’s been for the Society. Our final offeringwas a late afternoon concert of music from George Shear-ing, to Bob Chilcott and John Rutter. And it was bakinghot! Thanks to all choir members for braving the searingsunshine to put in such an amazing event and also to theaudience for attending. This was the first time we offeredPimms and non alcoholic Pimms in the interval and it madewhat was a lovely event even more special. It was difficult to drag peopleaway from the Pimms and buffet for the second half.

It was lovely to welcome singers from Robins ‘other choir’, Alyth ChoralSociety, for this event and SCS were invited to take part in their concertthe Sunday before ours. I’m sure those of you who took part would agreeit was great fun.

Onwards to our next concert. Unlike most years we’re not putting on anAutumn concert as we’ve decided to perform Wassail by local composer,Alexander L’Estrange. We will be sharing the stage with the Youth Choirbased at Stevenage Music centre. Please note the date in your diaries asthis is something not to be missed. I know it’s difficult to think aboutChristmas as we bask in this beautiful sunshine but I’m reliably informedthat it’s only 20 weeks til the big day!

We have an open invitation to past Society members to return and singwith us and we would love to see you again, or if you're tempted tojoin us, come along to a rehearsal at the Stevenage Music Centre, theNobel School on Monday evenings at 19.45 You'll be very welcome!

Chorus Lines...Welcome to Chorus Lines our Members Newsletter - Full of information about concerts, rehearsals, events and the choir...

We’re making2018 a year to

remember“ “

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Chair’s Chat...

Gill Brown

HaydnPaukenmesse

...singing for the joy of it!

Shall I Compare Thee...Despite wondering a week before theconcert, if we were going to have anaudience, the wall to wall sunshineand the lure of air conditioning (orcould it have been the Pimms?)bought them to our door.

Jazz, Pimms and a summer afternoonare a great combination and the feed-back was positive. They loved it. Thenibbles table was a big success andjudging by the volume of conversationin the interval - the audience loved themusic and the style of the event.

Our talented accompanists did usproud as did the members of AlythChoral Society who came along toenjoy the opportunity of singingRutter,Shearing and Chilcott for a secondtime!

The hard work behind the scenes byRobin, Gill and the committee paid offyet again, so our thanks for a splendidconcert are in order.

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