Concert Postponed
We have taken the difficult decision to postpone the concert on Saturday. The safety of our audience and choir members is paramount, we can no longer guarantee this in light of the increasing number of positive Covid cases.
The concert will be rescheduled to a date in early to mid January, we will be in touch in the next few days once arrangements for the new date have been confirmed.
All tickets remain valid and will be transferred to the new date. If you are unable to attend the new date a refund will be available. There will also be an option to donate your ticket fee to the choir should you wish.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and safe Christmas and a prosperous New Year
The Fourth Choir
Join The Fourth on the Saturday before Christmas to celebrate light, life and community, in the beautiful church of St Clement Danes in the Strand.
At the darkest time of the year, poets - especially in northern Europe - turn to the celebration of light. Hilary Campbell will be leading the Choir in a first half with Christmas masterpieces by William Byrd, Gerald Finzi, Nicola LeFanu, Sally Beamish and the C17th century Flemish composer Jan Sweelinck - as well as the deliciously French Hymn à la Vierge by Vilette and Hilary’s own setting of one of John Donne’s Divine Sonnets, “Hath the Inn no Room?”
The second half, features music from Russia, Denmark and Lativa where they really know about winter light. Rachmaninov’s Nunc Dimittis, perhaps the most beautiful movement from his All Night Vigil Vespers, leads into Winter Hymn by the Danish composer Per Nørgård, a choral work of almost symphonic breadth and intensity, as well as Stars by Erik Ešenvalds, accompanied by the other-worldly sound of singing glasses. The concert closes with Eric Whitacre’s Sainte-Chapelle, inspired by the medieval stained glass of Sainte Chapelle in Paris - “the angels in the glass softly sang ‘Hosanna in Excelsis’”. Together, these four pieces form a winter symphony of choral music of the highest quality.
In line with current Covid guidance, we will require that audience members wear masks during the concert and interval, apart from medical exemptions. We will not be serving refreshments during the interval, and will also not include audience carol singing this year.
St Clement Danes is a historical venue with one accessible unisex toilet on the ground floor. To accommodate this, we will provide several natural breaks during the concert so people can leave to use the toilet rather than queue during the interval. We will also have a longer interval, and ask people to use the toilets at nearby pubs if they are able to do so.