Music News November 2019

On 29th September the brass group performed a stealth operation to surprise two former members by substituting for the expected organ voluntary at the end of the morning service. The musicians gathered, set up and began playing almost without anyone noticing! It was a fitting tribute to Jenny and Graham Cottam as they leave St Mary’s to relocate to Scotland. Graham has been the librarian and administrator for the Brass group for a number of years, and he and Jenny have played in the group for an even longer period and both will be greatly missed. Click on photo to enlarge.

At the start of October the Rector formally welcomed Charlotte as a full Choral Scholar, following a three month probationary period. Our Choral Scholars are all between 14-18 and form an important and strong section of the choir.

This is a time of preparation as we look forward to a particularly busy period musically. At the very start of November we celebrate both All Saints and All Souls on the same day. The All Souls service, in particular, is always one of reflection and the music naturally is chosen carefully to facilitate this. Currently the choir is preparing a few of the spirituals from Michael Tippet’s Child of our time.

The following Sunday will see the annual services for Remembrance Day: the weekly celebration of communion at St Mary’s, followed by the British Legion Service of Remembrance when our church is packed with people of all ages coming together. This year at 4pm the same afternoon there will be a time of Words and Music for Remembrance Day. We are delighted that the music will be provided by a former head Chorister, Sian Tuson (née Newman), who will be accompanied by Oli King. This will be followed by a short service of Compline.

On Thursday 14th November at 7.30pm we shall be welcoming Tome Olives from Menorca, who will be giving the final organ recital in this year’s series. The penultimate recital given at the start of October by David Poulter, formerly Director of Music at Chester, Coventry and Liverpool Cathedrals, was excellent and delighted all who attended.

Finally, on Sunday 24th November will be the final service before David Tomlinson leaves his post as Rector. We hope that the service music, which will feature the brass group, the full choir and organ, will be a fitting send off to a much loved figure who, throughout his time in Saffron Walden has been a strong supporter of the musical life of our church.

Bron Ferland