In sweet music is such art... A birthday fit for a Bard

For the Bard’s birthday weekend: Finchley Chamber Choir and conductor David Lardi present settings of Shakespeare’s verse over four centuries. The programme includes: Rutter: Three Shakespeare Songs Vaughan Williams: Three Shakespeare Songs Havergal Brian: Four Shakespeare Songs Moeran: Sigh No More, Ladies Cecilia McDowall: Be Not Afeard and music by Gerald Finzi, Stephen Sondheim, John Joubert, and Nancy Wertsch. There will be choral pieces, some of them accompanied by Douglas Tang, and solos by members of the choir. We celebrate John Rutter's 80th birthday year with a performance of three of his Shakespeare Songs, including the jazzy and joyful O Mistress Mine, which may owe its inspiration to Dave Brubeck's Take Five. We're also excited to present four rarely heard songs by Havergal Brian, and we're extremely grateful for the support of the Havergal Brian Society in putting on this concert.