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Saturday
21 and Sunday 22 September were busy ones for the
community at St Matthew’s who were celebrating the 120th
Anniversary of the Consecration of the church building.
On Saturday the festivities began with a 10.15am Parish
Mass marking
St Matthew’s Day and the anniversary of Bishop Mandell
Creighton opening the church and installing Rowden
Hussey as its first Vicar in 1893. The choir performed
for the first time This is the Day, one of this
year’s commissioned works from David Halls, Director of
Music at Salisbury Cathedral.
A busy afternoon of rehearsals followed and we |
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welcomed over 150 people to that evening’s Festival Concert
Rejoice in the Lamb. The church choir and the St
Matthew’s Singers performed well-known works which have
been heard within the four walls of
St Matthew’s many times over the church’s history. As
part of the concert we celebrated
St Matthew’s unique contribution to the world of music
and art that has been offered through the church’s
history of commissioning. The choirs performed two of St
Matthew’s most famous commissions, Benjamin Britten’s
Rejoice in the Lamb (marking its own 70th
Anniversary of the first performance) and Gerald Finzi’s
Lo, the full, final sacrifice, both of which have
made a lasting impression on choral music on a global
scale. Organ Scholar Callum Alger gave a robust
performance of Britten’s other
St Matthew’s commission Prelude & Fugue on a Theme of
Vittoria on the 1895 Walker Organ. As part of the
evening’s proceedings the St Matthew’s Choir’s new CD
My Lord has come was released for sale to the public
for the first time. You can order your copy by
downloading and completing our CD order form.
We were pleased to welcome Friends of St Matthew’s Music
Patron, Malcolm Archer, for the first time and he shared
the direction of the choirs with St Matthew’s Director
of Music, Stephen Moore. Malcolm had this to say
following the concert:
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"I
am thrilled to be so involved with the
music at St Matthew’s as Patron, and it
is wonderful to see the rich musical
heritage which has always been
associated with the church thriving and
in such good hands. The concert on 21
September was a brilliant showcase of
the quality of singing that Stephen
Moore and his team are producing, and
the support of the church community was
obvious to see." |
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The choirs
were ably accompanied by Thomas Moore, Director of Music
at Wakefield Cathedral. It was a delight to welcome many
people back to St Matthew’s for the first time in a
while and these included previous St Matthew’s Director
of Music, Michael Nicholas.
On Sunday morning the Bishop of Brixworth presided at
the 10.15am Mass and dedicated the new glass doors and
reading area at the West end of the building. The choir
and congregation joined forces to perform David Halls’
other commission, a new Mass setting entitled Mass of
the Altar of Life. After Mass everyone sat down to a
fantastic Sunday Roast Dinner provided by the St
Matthew’s Catering Committee.
In the evening Solemn Choral Evensong featured music by
Bruckner, Stanford and Archer and was followed by the
Festival Organ Recital given by Colin Walsh, Organist
Laureate at Lincoln Cathedral. Colin’s fantastic playing
of music by Stanford, Bach, Franck, Messiaen and Duruflé
suited the Walker Organ down to the ground and was
appreciated by a large audience. A fitting end to the
weekend’s festivities was reached with everyone feeling
justifiably pleased and proud of a weekend of worship,
music and fellowship.
Please find below a selection of photos.
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