On Saturday, December 9th, The Cecilia Consort is giving a very special Christmas concert at St Nicolas’ Church, Newbury. The programme is a contrast of two halves. The ancient half is the 16th century Missa Puer Natus est Nobis for seven voices by Thomas Tallis. This Mass is one of the masterworks of Tudor sacred music and is believed to have been composed for Christmas Day 1554. The modern half of the concert is firmly in the 21st century, with a selection of recent, rarely-performed contemporary Christmas carols including a lesser known Rutter carol, and new arrangements of classics such as What Child is This and the joyful Gloucestershire Wassail. These, along with a couple of best-loved carols for the audience to join in with, will be interspersed with seasonal readings by guests including Lord Carnarvon and Newbury's Deputy Mayor.
The Cecilia Consort is an auditioned chamber choir of some 40 local singing enthusiasts with about 10 voices to each part. Their first album will be on sale at the concert and is also available as a CD from their website. Recorded in January last year, the album features many of the Cecilians’ favourites, including works by Howells, Lauridsen and Harris, to name but a few.
Doors will open in readiness for a 7.30pm start and tickets (which include a cup of mulled wine and a mince pie in the interval) are priced at £15 for adults and just £5 for under 18s.