HYMNS OF PARADISE
Brahms, Haydn, Vaughan Williams, Dyson, Howells
Goldsmiths Choral Union Affinity Chamber Orchestra
Friday 28 March 2025
7.30pm at Smith Square Hall
Smith Square, London SW1P 3HA
The Herbert Howells Trust
Programme £5
Goldsmiths Choral Union is one of London’s leading choirs, giving quality performances of great choral works and contemporary music in London’s major venues, and rehearsing in central London.
Goldsmiths Choral Union has brought the finest classical music to London since 1932. We’re a friendly choir with around 100 members, based in South Kensington. GCU promotes at least four concerts a year with professional soloists and orchestras and joins together with other choirs for special events.
GCU’s performances of works from the traditional choral repertoire, ranging from Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s The Creation and Bach’s B Minor Mass to Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, have been praised for their freshness, clarity and emotional commitment.
Equally, GCU has performed less familiar works, such as Franz Liszt’s oratorio Christus and Sir Michael Tippett’s The Mask of Time. British premieres given over the years include Stravinsky’s Les Noces and Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied, and the first UK broadcast of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.
TENORS
Christopher BARNARD
Christopher BEELS
BASSES
John ALLINSON
Nicholas BUCKLEY
GCU was founded in 1932 in South London by Frederick Haggis at Goldsmiths College, University of London. At the outbreak of World War II the college was evacuated, but while other choirs disbanded, GCU continued to rehearse and perform in central London. Since then we have built up an enviable reputation, first under the baton of Frederick Haggis, later under Brian Wright and since 2022 with Jack Apperley.
Michael BOWMER
Liam CONNERY
Francoise DRAPER
Paul CHAMBERS
John CUMMING
Damien D’ARCY
Patrons: Sir Thomas Allen, Neil Jenkins, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
Robin HAPPÉ
Robert SHAW
Mike DAY
Marc FRESKO
Music Director: Jack Apperley
Oli SHEFFIELD
Hugh MARCHANT
Accompanist: Stephen Jones
Guy VOGEL
David WILLINGHAM
Michael WOODS
James PIERCY
Clive RICHARDS
Brian ROSEN
Please see the back cover for future Goldsmiths Choral Union concert dates.
Ian STEPHENSON
Charles THOMSON
Chris WATTS
Registered Charity number: 1044507
Goldsmiths Choral Union present an inspiring evening of music for choir and orchestra sponsored by the Herbert Howells Trust and the Sir George Dyson Trust.
HYMNS OF PARADISE
Brahms Geistliches Lied
Haydn Little Organ Mass
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Dyson Hierusalem Howells Hymnus Paradisi
Jack Apperley Conductor
Charlotte Bowden Soprano
Jeremy Budd Tenor
Richard Gowers Organ
Goldsmiths Choral Union Affinity Chamber Orchestra
The taking of photographs and use of recording equipment is strictly forbidden without formal consent from Sinfonia Smith Square. Smoking or vaping is not permitted anywhere in Smith Square Hall. Please ensure that all digital devices are switched off.
Bottled water and drinks purchased in our Footstool Café bar are permitted in the auditorium - please ask at the bar for a reusable cup when ordering.
Booking Helpline: 020 7222 1061 sinfoniasmithsqu.org.uk
Sinfonia Smith Square Charitable Trust Registered Charity No. 1092461 Registered in England. Company No. 04335616
Good evening and welcome to Goldsmiths Choral Union’s concert Hymns of Paradise
This programme features music for strings and choir. Growing up as a very average viola player and chorister, these contrasting sound worlds were frequently interacting in my mind whilst at school. Tonight, they will combine in a programme that spans from Haydn to Howells via Brahms, Vaughan Williams and Dyson.
Brahms’ Geistlicheslied, like Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi, is a comforting and consoling piece beginning with the text ‘Let you not be afflicted only with grief.’ Its gentle and flowing accompaniment is like a soothing balm before the singing of the choir puts the soul at ease. We are performing the arrangement by John Eliot Gardiner
Haydn is frequently described as a ‘happy composer.’ His Little Organ Mass is optimistic and perky in character. This work featured regularly in my local parish church on special feast days and I greatly enjoyed singing it as a nine year old treble.
When Herbert Howells was 17 he attended the world premiere of Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis in Gloucester Cathedral, the same place where Hymnus Paradisi would be premiered 40 years later. The relationship between music and place was a poignant one for Howells. The opening chords transport the listener to
another world. Indeed, in tonight’s concert, the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis is the bridge, or rather the Time Machine, between the world of Haydn and Brahms and that of twentieth century Britain.
Sir George Dyson, like Howells, is in some quarters, most famous for his evening canticles Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis, and they are favourites amongst choristers to this day. This is amazing considering that he wrote them effectively during his gap year(s) in Europe. Dyson’s Hierusalem is a much later work that is clearly influenced by the Tallis Fantasia.
Tonight we present one of the twentieth century’s choral masterpieces in Herbert Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi, skilfully arranged in a reduced orchestration by Iain Farrington. Given the tragic circumstances of its composition, it would be easy to think that this is a piece of sadness and anger; however, it is infused with hope, light and life, not death. This is music written on a grand scale. The recurring melody introduced at the beginning of the work is reminiscent of the opening of both Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and Wagner’s Parsifal, two works that focus on death, destiny and deliverance. In Hymnus Paradisi, Howells is able to conjure musical forces that take the listener on an intense and intimate journey.
Jack Apperley Music Director
Jack Apperley Conductor
Originally from Stourbridge, Jack grew up playing the piano, the viola and singing.After studying at the University of Birmingham under Simon Halsey CBE, he then completed his Masters at the Royal Academy of Music with Professor Patrick Russill, graduating with distinction, winning the Sir Thomas Armstrong Leadership prize.
As the Associate Chorus Director of the London Symphony Chorus, Music Director of Goldsmiths Choral Union and Concordia Voices, and Conductor of Epsom Chamber Choir, Jack has established a reputation for thorough rehearsals filled with energy, humour and precision, as well as compelling concerts, championing new works alongside classical mainstays.
He is increasingly in demand as a choral director both in the UK and abroad. Recently, Jack has worked with the London Symphony Chorus, the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, Brighton Festival Chorus, University of Birmingham Voices and Royal College of Music Chorus. He has been engaged by some of the best choirs in Europe including le Choeur de Radio France, Gothenburg Symphony Chorus and Vocal Ensemble, and the Hungarian National Choir.
Jack is a prize-winner in several choral conducting competitions in Hong Kong, Latvia, Slovenia, and London. He has also participated in several masterclasses with the BBC Singers, Berliner Rundfunkchor, Stuttgart Kammerchor, Hungarian National Choir and St Jacob’s Kammerchor.
In addition to his regular musical commitments, Jack is frequently engaged to lead choral workshops with choirs including Goldsmiths Choral Union and Sevenoaks Philharmonic Society and promotors such as the Buxton International Festival.
Charlotte Bowden Soprano
Charlotte is an alumna of the RCM Opera Studio, Verbier Festival Atelier Lyrique, Glyndebourne/Jerwood, Opera Holland Park, Britten-Pears, and Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artist programmes and is a Samling Artist. She was awarded Fourth Prize and the Dublin Song Series Prize at the 2025 Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, Second Prize at the 2024 International Handel Singing Competition, Second Prize at the 2023 International Competition for Baroque Opera Pietro Antonio Cesti and was a finalist in the 2022 Kathleen Ferrier Awards.
As a 2022 Jerwood Young Artist Charlotte made her Glyndebourne debut as Barbarina and covered Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro for which she received the Miss Miriam Trevaux Award. She returned to Glyndebourne in Autumn 2023 making her role debut as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and in 2024 as part of their Autumn Programme as the soloist in “A Choral Celebration”.
In concert she has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Snape Maltings, the Aldeburgh Festival, London Handel Festival, Ravenna Festival and London Song Festival, and with orchestras including the RPO, LPO, BSO and the Hallé. Highlights include her Wigmore Hall debut as Orfeo in Handel Parnasso in festa with the London Handel Festival, Handel’s Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall, and stepping in for Pretty Yende at the dress rehearsal for The Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Jeremy Budd Tenor
Born in Hertfordshire, Jeremy started out as a Chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral in London before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Music. Since finishing his studies he has been a much in demand soloist on the concert platform particularly for his Baroque repertoire.
Jeremy has worked with many of the foremost conductors in this field including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Harry Christophers CBE, Masaaki Suzuki, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Charles Mackerras, Paul McCreesh, John Butt and Bernard Labadie.
His discography includes over ten years of recordings for the Sixteen many of which feature him as a soloist including Acis and Galatea (as Acis), Handel’s Saul (as the Witch of Endor) and James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater. Other notable recordings are the award winning discs of Purcell King Arthur and The Fairy Queen with Paul McCreesh, and Acis and Galatea with the Early Opera Company and Christian Curnyn.
Richard Gowers Organ
Richard Gowers is Director of Music at St George’s Hanover Square and Principal Conductor of the London Handel Orchestra. He opened the 2024-2025 season with soloist debuts at the Berlin Philharmonic, for which he curated an organ and brass concert, and with the London Symphony Orchestra, performing the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony in Japan, Korea and China.
In 2017-19 he held a scholarship to study Piano Accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music and was awarded the Schubert Institute UK Prize at the 2019 Leeds Lieder Festival. He has appeared at Wigmore Hall, Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival and Oxford Song Festival, and with singers including Mary Bevan, Ashley Riches, Kieran Carrel and Helen Charlston.
His critically-acclaimed recording of Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur was named a Gramophone ‘Editor’s Choice’, described in the magazine as “tremendously focused and intensely cerebral playing…[conveying] the fundamental musicality of the work”. He has frequently appeared live on BBC Radio 3, as well as on Radio 4, Classic FM, and BBC Television.
Gowers was a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, where he sang the famous ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ solo at the 2007 broadcast of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. He was organ scholar at King’s in 2014-17 and graduated from Cambridge with a starred first in Music. Based in London, he combines performing with teaching at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music. He was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in 2024.
Affinity Chamber Orchestra
The Affinity Chamber Orchestra is a professional London-based orchestra working in partnership with choirs, composers and event organisers. Founded in early 2022 by its current musical director, Matthew Down, it performed its successful debut concert with Goldsmiths Choral Union at Cadogan Hall, the programme consisting of Cecilia McDowall’s Da Vinci Requiem (2019), Joseph Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Peter Warlock’s Capriol Suite.
The orchestra’s players are highly skilled musicians, many of whom are respected teachers of their instruments, who perform with leading London and international orchestras, seasoned chamber groups and as soloists. The orchestra aims to showcase its musicians, bringing life to creative ideas and projects in all styles of music.
Matthew Down Musical Director
In addition to being the founder and musical director of the Affinity Chamber Orchestra, Matthew has many years’ experience as a conductor, trumpet-player and teacher. He has a broad range of musical tastes, ranging from baroque to pop, performing music with great musicians and friends being at the heart of his musical life.
Johannes Brahms 1833 - 1897
Geistliches Lied (1856)
This lyrical and serene ‘Sacred Song’ was composed in an emotionally turbulent year in Brahms’ life. He wrote it in March aged 23, living in the Düsseldorf house of his mentor and friend Robert Schumann, with Clara (Robert’s wife), 14 years Brahms’ senior, and their seven young children. By this time, Robert had moved into a mental institution after an episode when he threw himself into the River Rhine. Robert died in July, and shortly after, Brahms moved out, unable to resolve his feelings for Clara. He and Clara remained life-long friends and colleagues, united in their desire to keep Robert’s music alive. He never married.
Growing up in a musical Lutheran family in the poorer part of Hamburg, he read many German folk tales and mythology and studied collections of folksongs. A brilliant pianist, in 1848 he toured as an accompanist for a Hungarian violinist, in order to support his parents and siblings. The gypsy bands Brahms heard then, and later on when he travelled to Hungary, inspired his set of piano duets Hungarian Dances.
He met and made friends with Joseph Joachim, a talented violinist, who insisted Brahms call in at the house of his good friends the Schumanns as he passed through Düsseldorf on a hiking holiday in 1853. Brahms was asked to play his compositions on the piano, and his sonatas delighted the couple all afternoon, after which he was invited to stay. The creative energy sparked by their friendship was a powerful bond, and as Robert’s mental illness progressed, Brahms took a greater role in the running of the household, care of the children and supporting Clara with her piano touring.
Brahms and Joachim exchanged weekly letters containing compositions to improve their contrapuntal mastery. In March 1856 Brahms sent Geistliches Lied to Joachim for comment. ‘No doubt the canon does not especially please you? The interludes are quite terrible. The Amen will do. That part pleases me the most.’ It had its first performance in July 1865 at St. James’s Church, Chemnitz in Germany.
Holding piano recitals and conducting choirs in Detmold, Hamburg and Vienna, in 1869 he settled in Vienna at the age of 36. He performed in the winter and composed in the summer months. His composition routine was to start early in the morning with the aid of strong coffee, and stopping at lunchtime. Brahms handled a formidable workload in Vienna, Portschach and at Thun in Switzerland.
His compositions were traditional in their structures and techniques but crossed over to Romanticism in their emotional indulgence and depth of feeling. Choral music formed a significant part of Brahms’s output. In addition to Ein Deutsches Requiem and several shorter choral works with orchestra or piano, he wrote thirteen motets and no less than forty-six a cappella songs. Amongst many other compositons, he wrote four symphonies, a violin concerto (written for his friend Joachim) and two piano concertos. He was his own fiercest critic of his work, burning much of it, particularly latterly. Brahms is often praised for the warmth of his music; its dark mellow texture and the sheer beauty of his tunes. He is famous throughout the world for the composition of Wiegenlied ‘Lullaby or Cradle Song’.
In his early 60’s he contracted jaundice and cancer of the liver. Within a year he died, and is buried in Vienna’s Central Cemetery.
Joseph Haydn 1732 - 1809
Missa Brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo ‘Little Organ Mass’ (1774/1778)
In his 40’s, Haydn composed this delightful mass for the Brothers of Mercy in Eisenstadt whose patron saint was St. John of God. This religious order (financed by the Esterházys, devoted to providing medical services to the poor, had a tiny chapel with a small organ (without a pedalboard). Unusually, the mass features an organ solo in the Benedictus, hence its nickname. Haydn probably conducted the first performance himself from the organ.
Having left home at the age of six to live with a relation to be trained in music, singing and learning the violin and harpsichord he became a chorister in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, until his voice changed at 16. He earned his living teaching, playing in various orchestras and practising CPE Bach’s sonatas on the clavichord.
Trying to survive as a musician taught Haydn that aristocratic patronage was crucial for a steady life. He compromised his wish to mix with other musicians in Vienna when in 1761 he accepted a post with the wealthy and influential Esterházy family, whose patronage he enjoyed until the end of his life. Haydn and the other musicians had to follow the family between their various (often isolated) palaces where he had a large range of responsibilities composing, running the orchestra, playing chamber music, and mounting operatic productions.
He married Maria Anna Theresia Keller in 1760, a marriage that made neither of them happy and they mostly lived apart.
Known as the Father of the Symphony and the Father of the String Quartet, his music is loved for its elegant style and earthy humour. His total output includes over 100 symphonies, and 68 string quartets. Haydn’s ability to write a good tune is evidenced by the slow movement from his Emperor Quartet used as first the Austrian then the German national anthems, and later was also set to the words of the hymn Glorious things of thee are spoken.
In 1790 Anton Esterházy became head of the family and released Haydn from his main duties as Kapellmeister, retaining his services on a reduced stipend. Haydn moved into the centre of Vienna mixing with other musicians, ‘Papa Haydn’ becoming a good friend to Mozart. Towards the end of his life, he enjoyed several extended visits to London, was feted by high society and composed the stirring choruses and lovely arias in The Creation 1797 and later, The Seasons in 1801.
Haydn died at the age of 77 and is buried in the chapel at Einsenstadt.
Ralph Vaughan Williams 1872 - 1958
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910)
This one-movement work for string orchestra, with its shimmering tone, propelled Vaughan Williams to prominence in the English classical music scene. With the first performance of A Sea Symphony in the same year, and later the success of The Lark Ascending, he rose to become perhaps Britain’s most important and influential composer in the first half of the twentieth century.
Born in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, into an educated, upper middle class family, when his father died his mother (Margaret Wedgwood) moved the family to Leith Hill Place near Dorking in Surrey. Vaughan Williams attended Charterhouse School and Trinity College, Cambridge, studying history and music, graduating in 1892. He played the violin, viola, piano and organ.
He won a place at the Royal College of Music to study under Stanford and Parry, visiting Berlin to study with Bruch, and Paris with Ravel. It was at the RCM that he met Gustav Holst, a lifetime friend, who was, he says ‘the greatest influence on my music’.
Vaughan Williams described himself as ‘a determined atheist’ although for two years he edited the 1906 edition of the English Hymnal. He is responsible for several famous hymn tunes including ‘Sine Nomine’ For all the Saints and the ‘Down Ampney’ tune for Come down, O Love Divine. During this period, he discovered a melody by the English Renaissance composer, Thomas Tallis. The original title, Third Mode Melody, refers to it being in the Phrygian church mode - not major and not minor. It is a mysterious mode that can be heard by playing the scale from e to e on the white notes of the piano. In his Fantasia, Vaughan Williams takes various elements of the melody - the main tune is heard several times - and mutates the sound to produce a rich and layered sonic landscape.
When WWI broke out, at 42 Vaughan Williams volunteered as an ambulance driver on the front line. He witnessed unspeakable
carnage which profoundly shaped his view of human nature and ultimately, in old age destroyed his hearing. After WWI, he taught composition at the RCM for 20 years. He wrote operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies.
He was interested in the soaring architecture of cathedrals, Anglican liturgy and music, the English of the King James’ Bible and the mysticism of the metaphysical poets. Vaughan Williams collected over 800 folk songs and was a member of the Folk Song Society’s Committee for 40 years. He was passionate about bringing music to everyone and founded the Leith Hill
Musical Festival, conducting every spring from 1905 to 1953. Broad-minded on social issues, centre-left politically and disliking status symbols, Vaughan Williams refused a knighthood, but later was persuaded to accept an Order of Merit in 1935, which has no prenominal title.
He was married in 1897 to Adeline Fisher, a talented cellist and pianist. In 1938, Vaughan Williams began an affair with the writer and poet Ursula Wood, who became his literary adviser and inspiration for his compositions. After the death of her husband, Ursula moved into the Surrey home, with Adeline’s approval, who was invalided by crippling arthritis. Ursula cared for Adeline until her death in 1951.
Vaughan Williams and Ursula married in 1953 and they moved to Hanover Terrace in London. He died five years later aged 86 and his ashes rest in Westminster Abbey.
Sir George Dyson 1883 - 1964
Hierusalem (1956)
Hierusalem is one of the finest pieces Dyson wrote in his later life, following his retirement from the Royal College of Music. Clearly in the ‘English pastoral’ tradition, it blends harmonic colours like those of Delius and modalities characteristic of Vaughan Williams with a rich, Strauss-inflected orchestral texture, giving it a lyrical romanticism. He took as his text a verse from St. Augustine’s The Heavenly Jerusalem and some verses from De Gloria Paradisi by the XI century monk Peter Damian. ‘The Soprano soloist is the voice of the earth-bound soul yearning for Paradise: the choir is the heavenly chorus’. (Paul Spicer)
Born in Halifax, his father a blacksmith and his mother a weaver, both keen members of their local choir, Dyson showed early
musical talent and as a 13-year-old was appointed organist at his local church. Three years later he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and in 1900 gained a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. He won the Arthur Sullivan Prize for Composition there, and in 1904 was awarded a Mendelssohn Scholarship that enabled him to travel in Europe, where he worked with Richard Strauss. He returned in 1907 to become Director of Music at the Royal Naval College, Osborne on the recommendation of Parry, by then Director of the RCM.
He served in WWI as a Grenadier with the Royal Fusiliers. With typical efficiency, Dyson wrote a booklet called ‘Grenade Fighting: The Training and Tactics of Grenadiers.’ It was published in 1915 as the official Army manual on hand grenade use. The book was small enough to fit in a jacket pocket. As he wrote in his diary, the publication gave him ‘A martial reputation which was quite incongruous and still occasionally dogs me’, but the royalties secured him a steady secondary income.
Lewis Foreman details a letter of 5 December 1915 in which Dyson describes being ‘continually under shellfire . . . Our own guns are blazing away like mad, so that you can’t hear yourself think . . . The trenches are simply vile in this weather. Between knee-deep and thigh-deep in mud, in addition to the havoc wrought by the Bosch.’ Incapacitated by shell-shock in 1916, he was invalided back to England. Parry recorded in his diary how shocked he was to see Dyson, ‘a shadow of his former self.’
In 1917 he married Mildred Lucy Atkey, daughter of a London solicitor, and together they had a daughter Alice, and son Freeman.
He was appointed as Professor of Composition at the RCM in 1921, a post he held simultaneously with that of music master at Wellington college, changing schools to Winchester College three years later. In that year, 1924, he published ‘The New Music’ considered a landmark in the development of English musical criticism in its argument that some of the major works of his best-known contemporaries were all rooted in constraining and outdate traditions: Elgar for his reliance on Brahms, Vaughan Williams in his enthusiasm for folk song, and Arnold Bax for drawing on Celtic romanticism.
Probably his best known work The Canterbury Pilgrims, 1931, is a witty and evocative work based on Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’. Over the next decade, The Three Choirs Festival commissioned St. Paul’s Voyage to Melita (Hereford 1933) and Nebuchadnezzar (Worcester 1935). Dyson produced the oratorio Quo Vadis in 1939 and two sets of canticles for choral evensong which are frequently sung today. He took part in regular broadcasts on the radio for the BBC.
Dyson was appointed Director of the RCM in 1938 until his retirement in 1952. He was very proud to be the first former student to become its Director. At the outbreak of WWII, Dyson insisted that the RCM remain open in South Kensington, even sleeping occasionally in his office. Continuity and standards were maintained. Despite his humble background, Dyson seemed very ‘establishment’. Steely eyed, with a devastating turn of phrase, he was nevertheless also regarded as a kind and inspiring mentor. Yorkshire to his fingertips, he never lost his flat vowels. He was knighted in 1941 and made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1953. He was granted the Freedom of the City of Winchester - his most valued honour.
After a gradual deterioration of his health, especially growing deafness where he experienced a distortion of very high notes, Dyson died peacefully at his home in Winchester aged 81.
Paul Spicer writes ‘There is no doubt at all that he could be a difficult and opinionated man whose views generally had to prevail. Yet he was much sought after for his leadership qualities, brilliance of mind, his breadth of knowledge and experience, his skill as a lecturer whether to a live audience or on air, his sensitivity as a teacher, a composer of music which people really wanted to perform, and for championing the cause of the amateur.’
For further reading, highly recommend Paul Spicer’s biography ‘Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music’ GCU gratefully acknowledges a donation from the Sir George Dyson Trust
Herbert Howells 1892 - 1983
Hymnus Paradisi (1936/1938 - but not performed until 1950 at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester Cathedral)
Howells was born in Lydney into a poor Gloucestershire family: his father was a failed builder and went bankrupt. A scholarship to the local grammar school changed Howells’ fortunes, and at 17 he was apprenticed to Brewer, the organist of Gloucester Cathedral, before going on to study at the Royal College of Music in London. He graduated in 1916 with a dazzling array of prizes for playing the organ and composition.
E. Bradbury writes: ‘A Celt, short stature, handsome features, finely moulded, whilst his eyes are those of a countryman who has looked with quiet appreciation on countless beautiful things.’ Howells’ plans to develop as a musician were complicated by ill-health. Diagnosed in 1916 with Graves’ disease, his condition eventually stabilised after two years of regular radium treatment in London and the nursing by his mother in Gloucestershire. However, his illness prevented him from enlisting in the army, like many of his friends, to fight in the Great War. He managed to continue composing. His ear was legendary - he was capable of writing the most complex counterpoint in the middle of a hotel lobby.
At Twigworth Church in Gloucester, in 1920, he married Dorothy Dawe, a singer, with whom he was to have two children, Ursula and Michael. They went to live in Barnes in London. He relied on teaching for his income, working at the Royal College of Music (until he was 80), London University and St. Paul’s Girls’ School
(succeeding Gustav Holst and Vaughan Williams). According to his daughter Ursula, his parents should never have married and, although they remained close friends, Howells’ magnetic attraction and many extra-marital affairs strained relationships at times. He was a passionate romantic and devoted father.
In 1935, while on a family holiday in Gloucestershire, Michael, aged nine, fell seriously ill with polio. He died three days later in his father’s arms, and Howells sank into an ‘obsessive ritual of mourning’. Michael was buried in Twigworth Church and Ursula recalled ‘we went down there every weekend for the next two or three years to tend the grave’.
In a deep depression, not composing, he was finally prompted by his daughter to write something in Michael’s memory. This was the turning point in his creative life, and from 1935 he composed an extraordinary succession of choral works, all related to Michael: Hymnus Paradisi (extended from his Requiem); A Sequence for St. Michael, and two hymn tunes ‘Twigworth’ God is love, let heaven adore him and ‘Michael’ All my hope on God is founded, one of the most recognisable hymn tunes of the 20th century.
Despite his large body of liturgical music, 20 settings of the canticles for various cathedrals and college chapels, six Te Deums, five Mass settings and numerous carols, anthems and motets - many of which are sung every day today - he had no conventional faith himself.
‘People assume he must have been deeply religious,’ says Ursula, ‘and I have to tell them he wasn’t. He loved the tradition of the church, and the Bible as literature. But he was never more than an agnostic who veered toward belief. In the last year of his life he told me he thought death would be it.’
Howells died in Barnes, aged 90, and his ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey.
Further reading, highly recommended Paul Spicer’s biography ‘Herbert Howells’
GCU gratefully acknowledges a donation from the Herbert Howells Trust
CONCERT
Johannes Brahms
Geistliches Lied arr. Gardiner
Laß dich nur nichts nicht dauren mit Trauren, sei stille, wie Gott es fügt, so sei vergnügt mein Wille.
Was willst du heute sorgen auf morgen? Der Eine steht allem für, der gibt auch dir das Deine.
Sei nur in allem Handel ohn’ Wandel, steh’ feste! Was Gott beschleußt, das ist und heißt das Beste. Amen.
Do not be sorrowful or regretful, Be calm, as God has ordained, and thus my Will shall be content.
What do you want to worry about from day to day? There is One who stands above all, who gives you, too, what is yours.
Only be steadfast in all you do, stand firm! What God has decided, that is and must be the Best. Amen.
Joseph Haydn
Missa Brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo ‘Little Organ Mass’
Kyrie
Kyrie eleison
Christe eleison
Kyrie eleison.
Gloria
Gloria in excelsis Deo, Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te, benedicimus te, Adoramus te, glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, Miserere nobis.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, Suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, Tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe. Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris, Amen.
Credo
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, Factorem coeli et terrae, Visibilium omnium et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex patre natum
Ante omnia saecula, Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri; Per quem omnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem Descendit de coelis.
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto, Ex Maria virgine; et homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, Passus et sepultus est.
Et resurrexit tertia die secundum Scripturas, Et ascendit in coelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris, Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, Judicare vivos et mortuos, cujus regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum, Et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit, Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur, Et conglorificatur, qui locutus est per Prophetas. Et unam sanctam catholicam et apostolicam Eccelsiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum, Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, Et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
Sanctus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Osanna in excelsis.
Benedictus
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis.
Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, Miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, Miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, Dona nobis pacem.
Kyrie
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Gloria
Glory to God in the highest, And peace on earth to men of good will. We praise you, we bless you, We worship you, we glorify you. We give you thanks for Your great glory. Lord God, King of Heaven, God the Father Almighty.
Lord only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. You who take away the sin of the world, Have mercy on us.
You who take away the sin of the world, Hear our prayer. You who sit at the right hand of the Father, Have mercy on us.
For you alone are holy, you alone are Lord, You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ. With the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father, Amen.
Credo
I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, Of all that is, seen and unseen.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, Eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, Begotten, not made, of one being with the Father; Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven. He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary By the power of the Holy Spirit, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried.
He rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand Of the Father;
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, And his kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son; With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church; I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins; I look for the resurrection of the dead, And the life of the world to come. Amen.
Sanctus
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory, Hosannah in the highest.
Benedictus
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosannah in the highest.
Agnus Dei
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, Grant us peace.
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Sir George Dyson
Hierusalem
Words adapted from XVI Century verse, St. Augustine
Hierusalem, my happy home. When shall I come to thee? When shall my sorrows have an end? Thy joys when shall I see?
O happy harbour of the saints! O sweet and pleasant soil! In thee no sorrow may be found, No grief, no care, no toil.
Thy walls are made of precious stones, Thy bulwarks diamonds square; Thy gates are of right orient pearl, Exceeding rich and rare.
Thy houses are of ivory, Thy windows crystal clear; Thy tiles are made of beaten gold O God, that I were there!
The vineyards and thy orchards Are most beautiful and fair, Full furnished with trees and fruits Most wonderful and rare;
Thy gardens and thy gallant walks Continually are green; There grow such sweet and pleasant flowers As nowhere else are seen.
Quite through the streets with silver sound The flood of life doth flow, Upon whose banks on ev’ry side The wood of life doth grow.
There trees for evermore bear fruit, And evermore do spring; There evermore the angels sit, And evermore do sing.
Hierusalem, my happy home, When shall I come to thee? When shall my sorrows have an end? Thy joys when shall I see?
Thy saints are crowned with glory great; They see God face to face; They triumph still, they still rejoice: Most happy is their case.
There David stands with harp in hand As master of the choir; Ten thousand times that man were blest That might this music bear.
Our Lady sings Magnificat With tune surpassing sweet, And all the virgins bear their parts, Sitting about her feet.
Te Deum doth Saint Ambrose sing Saint Austin doth the like Old Simeon and Zachery Have not their songs to seek.
There Magdalene hath left her moan, And cheerfully doth sing With blessed saints whose harmony In ev’ry street doth ring.
Hierusalem, Hierusalem, God grant we yet may share, Thy holy light, thy tuneful song, Thy bliss beyond compare.
INTERVAL 20 MINUTES
Herbert Howells Hymnus Paradisi arr. Farrington
1. Prelude
2. Requiem Aeternam Requiem aeternam dona eis, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
3. The Lord is my shepherd, Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing. He shall feed me in a green pasture: and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort. He shall convert my soul: and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: thy rod and thy staff comfort me. Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me: thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full. But thy loving kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
4. Sanctus - I will lift up mine eyes, Psalm 121 Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Domine Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills:
From whence cometh my help. My help cometh even from the Lord: Who hath made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: And he that keepeth thee will not sleep. Behold, he that keepeth Israel: Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord himself is thy keeper: The Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand; So that the sun shall not burn thee by day: Neither the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: Yes, it is even he that shall keep thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out, And thy coming in: from this time forth For evermore.
5. I heard a voice from heaven, from the Burial Service I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, from henceforth blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: even so saith the Spirit; for they rest from their labours.
6. Holy is the true light, from the Salisbury Diurnal Holy is the true light, and passing wonderful, lending radiance to them that endured in the heat of the conflict: from Christ they inherit a home of unfading splendour, wherein they rejoice with gladness evermore. Alleluia!
Requiem aeternam, Requiem dona eis sempiternam.
SOPRANOS
Susan BATES
Margaret BEELS
Alison BUCKLEY
Catherine COOKE
Jane CORKILL
Tiara DE MEL
Camille DU BUISSON
Elizabeth EDWARDS
Adrienne FRESKO
Inez GALLAGHER
Siobhan HOMBARUME
Tanya HUEHNS
Paula JONES
Brenda LARGE
Jenny LEACH
Hilary LINES
Sarah MARZE
Margaret MOORES
Rachel NICHOLSON
Sarah NYAKAZINGO
Corinne PIGNARD
Carolina PORTELA
Anne RANDALL
Jennifer RUHLE
Sarah SAYSELL
Vix SHERLIKER
Celia SIMPSON
Emily STUART
Charlotte WILLIAMS
Nancy WOOD
Jenny WU
CONTRALTOS
Lindsay ALLEN-MERSH
Mary BOSWORTH-SMITH
Rosemary BURKE
Hester COLEY
Hazel ELLIS
Mariana FARAH
Sherry HUTCHINSON
Irene ILIAS
Elin JONES
Lauren KAVANAGH
Vita KAY
Alison LEGGATT
Sue LUSH
Sue MILLAR
Kelly MORGAN
Betty NEWBURY
Sharon PIERSON
Heather RAYNER
Silvia RESEGHETTI
Mary Pat ROBERTSON
Judith SIMPSON
Arabella STUART
Margaret THOMAS
Anna WALTON
Victoria WARE
Polly WATTS
Naomi WEBER
Lotie WORSLEY
Jenny YOUN TENORS
Alex AKHURST
Quito CLOTHIER*
Cameron DI LEO
John LARNER
Andre SERRA
Moses TORTO*
David WILLINGHAM
Michael WOODS
* indicates Tenor
Choral Scholar
BASSES
John ALLINSON
Simon BRANDES
Nicholas BUCKLEY
Charlie CARTER
Damien D’ARCY
Lewis DAVIES
Mike DAY
Marc FRESKO
Matthew GREENWAY
Oscar HEALY
Stephen LAI
Mark PAKIANATHAN
James PIERCY
Clive RICHARDS
Ian STEPHENSON
Chris WATTS
Affinity Chamber Orchestra
Organ
Harp
Cecilia
Timpani
Ben
The story behind the golden ‘Leo’ worn by
the women of Goldsmiths Choral Union
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths (more usually known as the Goldsmiths’ Company) is one of the twelve Livery Companies of the City of London, with a history going back more than 800 years. In 1300, King Edward I passed a statute requiring gold and silver to be of a defined standard, and requiring ‘les Gardiens du Mester’ (the Guardians of the Craft) to test the gold and silver, and mark it with a leopard’s head. This leopard’s head was taken from the royal arms, and later became known as the King’s Mark. This is the first legal recognition of the Goldsmiths’ Company (and also the beginning of hallmarking in Britain).
In English heraldry, generally speaking, a lion rampant (i.e. standing erect with forepaws raised) was a ‘lion’, whilst a lion walking with head turned full-face towards the viewer (passant guardant) was a ‘leopard’. ‘Leopard’ was just a technical heraldic distinction: there were no actual spotted felines on any coats-of-arms in the Middle Ages.
In 1891 the Goldsmiths’ Company founded The Goldsmiths’ Technical and Recreative Institute, in New Cross, London. It was renamed Goldsmiths’ College after being acquired by the University of London in 1904. Goldsmiths Choral Union came into being in 1932 as an evening class at Goldsmiths’ College, under the direction of Frederick Haggis, Professor of Music at the College. During the Second World War the College was evacuated to Nottingham (a wise decision as it turned out, since the main building was struck by an incendiary bomb and gutted in 1940), and the choir became independent of the College, although retaining the Goldsmiths name.
For the choir’s 40th anniversary in 1972 its chief patron, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commissioned the design of ‘a new badge to be worn by members of the choir’. This ‘badge’ - which became the choir’s logo - was in the shape of the leopard’s head taken from the Company’s arms, and quickly became affectionately known as ‘Leo’. The women of the choir have proudly worn their Leo for all GCU performances ever since.
JOIN US
Goldsmiths Choral Union is a high-quality choir that is still small enough to feel welcoming and inclusive.
We’re looking for singers with good voices and reasonable sight reading, who would relish the opportunity to perform wonderful music with top orchestras in fantastic venues. We’re welcoming new singers (all parts) or those who just want to give us a try and see if we might be the choir for you.
Being part of Goldsmiths is a great way to continue your passion for music after you leave college or university, and an opportunity to meet like-minded people from across London and the South-east.
www.goldsmithschoralunion.org/join-us
FRIENDS OF GCU
Enjoying this concert?
Why not become a Friend of GCU?
GCU promotes and funds its own highly varied and adventurous concert programmes. Friends of GCU support the choir by making an annual donation, currently a minimum of £90. In recognition of their generosity and their valuable support, GCU offers Friends a complimentary ticket for each concert promoted by the choir.
For more information please contact:
Friends Membership Secretary Email: gcufriends@btopenworld.com
We thank the following for their continuing support:
FRIENDS
Anonymous
Anonymous
Andrew Calvert
John Dempster
Hamish Donaldson
Caroline Green
Elizabeth Grimsey
Joanna Kenny
Carole Lewis
The late Godfrey Rock
Jane Sawyer
Mrs Marylin Smith
Duncan Stuart
Tony Stuart
Deb Tanner
Clive Tucker
Charles Thomson
David Willingham
HONORARY LIFE FRIENDS
Sarah Dorin
William Gould
David Hayes
Dinah Nichols
Mike Lock
Jan Lowy
Sue Peacock
TENOR SCHOLARSHIPS
We have an annual programme to support two young choral students. Our main recruitment is in May, but we are always interested to hear from applicants at any time.
Please contact secretary@goldsmithschoral.org.uk
Goldsmiths Choral Union
FUTURE CONCERTS
THE PASSING OF THE YEAR
Rheinberger Mass in E Flat
Dove Passing of the Year
Stanford Songs of the Fleet, Three Motets
Lauridsen Sure on this Shining Night
Holy Trinity, Sloane Square
Friday 20 June 2025 at 7.30 pm
Tickets available from Choir members, on the door or via Eventbrite (booking fees apply)
FANFARES & FLOURISHES
Rutter Gloria
Walton Coronation Te Deum
MacMillan Processional on Tu es Petrus
Poulenc Gloria
Finzi God is Gone Up
Fanfares by Bliss, Copeland & Tower
Smith Square Hall, Westminster
Friday 14 November 2025 at 7.30 pm
Tickets available from Choir members, on the door or via Eventbrite (booking fees apply)
CHRISTMAS MUSIC CONCERT
Modern and traditional Christmas music and carols with audience participation.
Holy Trinity Sloane Square
Friday 19th December 2025 at 7.30 pm
Tickets available from Choir members, on the door or via Eventbrite (booking fees apply)
For more information about Goldsmiths Choral Union
please visit our website at goldsmithschoralunion.org
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