Wimbledon Choral Society – Music of the Stars – 7:30pm
This concert draws from the rich talent of English composers, two of whom are Wimbledon Choral favourites - Cecilia McDowall and Michael Higgins. McDowall's Ave Maris Stella (Hail, Star of the Sea) was the first work of hers published by OUP. Its seven short sections merge into a single powerful wave with elements of peace and tranquility mixed in with a turbulent yet joyful mid-section. Music of the Stars was published in 2023 and the text used demonstrates the power of music as a means of consoling and uplifting in challenging times. In the two YouYube clips below, the composer explains her approach to these two works. At the time writing, it is believed ours will be the UK concert performance premiere of this work in its original orchestration.
Ralph Vaughan Williams (President WCS 1946-1958) often used English folk songs as the source and inspiration for some of his works. He adapted the old song Dives and Lazarus to become the hymn tune known as Kingsfold, named after the village located a few miles south of where he lived in Leith Hill, West Sussex. The text associated with the tune is usually I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say and the choir will sing this prior to the players performing the composer’s Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus.
The concert opens with Elgar’s delightful Serenade for Strings and, towards the end, includes Michael Higgins’ beautiful O Salutaris Hostia, his arrangement of Elgar’s Nimrod (from the Enigma Variations).
Concert Programme
Elgar : Serenade for Strings
McDowall : Ave Maris Stella
Vaughan Williams : I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say [hymn Kingsfold]
Vaughan Williams : Five Variants of Dives & Lazarus [same theme as Kingsfold]
Higgins : O Salutaris Hostia
McDowall : Music of the Stars (UK premiere)
We are delighted to be working with members of the City of London Sinfonia again in this concert.
Upcoming Events
Bach and Pancakes
Enjoy Johann Sebastian Bach’s choral and organ music sung by members of Holy Trinity’s Choirs, including: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor while indulging in pancakes and more, as is tradition on Shrove Tuesday.
45 minutes of music followed by pancakes and refreshments,
Tickets £20 (£10 under 18s)
Holst Singers- Illuminations – Sacred Music of Europe – 7pm
Illuminations – Sacred Music of Europe opens our 2026 concert series with a pilgrimage of sacred choral music across northern Europe. Beginning in Finland with the stillness of Einojuhani Rautavaara, the programme visits the choral traditions of the Baltic states and Western Europe, exploring music shaped by prayer, ritual, and light.
Read MoreThe London Chorus – Vaughan Williams Five Tudor Portraits – 7.30pm
Join The London Chorus for a rare performance of Vaughan Williams Five Tudor Portraits, 7.30pm 12 March 2026 at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square.
The London Chorus presents a thrilling programme of the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, one of the greatest of all British composers and a Chelsea resident for 24 years. His Five Tudor Portraits, masterful settings of the poems of John Skelton, priest and tutor to Henry VIII, are at times bawdy, poignant and witty, and deserve to be heard far more often.
We also hear his popular Five Mystical Songs, settings of the 17th-century poet and priest George Herbert, and his Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1, which conjures up an eloquent aural portrait of the Norfolk landscape and its people through five locally-sourced folk songs.