Noel, Brockenhurst Choir, St Saviour’s Church

NOEL, the Brockenhurst Choir’s Christmas concert, will take place at St Saviour’s Church on Sunday.

The title of the concert is inspired by the French composer, Marc-Antoine Charpentier who used the tunes of traditional Noëls (French Christmas Carols) in his Midnight Mass for Christmas which was first performed in 1694.

Although the majority of the concert focuses on Christmas fare, the evening will start with a new prize-winning short piece entitled Christ Inviting by the choir’s musical director, Matthew Kelley.

Written in early 2024, Matthew’s composition is based on the opening verses of a similarly-titled poem by the English congregational minister, hymn writer and theologian Isaac Watts (1674-1748). His words throughout the poem are an emotional and thankful response to God’s invitation to join our hearts, hopes and passions with him.

This piece won first prize in the Isaac Watts Composition Competition, devised in 2024 to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Watts’ birth. Watts was a non-conformist minister, prolific hymn writer and theologian who wrote When I Survey the Wondrous Cross and O God, Our Help in Ages Past.

Returning to the Christmas theme, the second half of the concert will begin with the much-loved Fantasia on Christmas Carols by Ralph Vaughan Williams. This popular piece was composed in 1912 and includes the folk carols This is the Truth Sent From Above, Come all you worthy Gentlemen and On Christmas Night all Christians Sing. Fragments of other carols and folk tunes are woven into the interludes between the carols.

The concert will also feature a new carol called A Present for the Future by Joanna Forbes-L’Estrange, a singer and composer who was commissioned to write an anthem for the coronation of King Charles III. There will be many other well-known carols – some with audience participation.

The concert begins at 7.30pm at St Saviour’s Church, Brockenhurst, on Sunday 8th December. Tickets are £15 via brockenhurstchoir.org or from Pot Pourri and Streets in Brockenhurst.