St Peter’s Choir
About this week’s music
This week’s Mass setting complements that of last week: another setting by T. Tertius Noble (1867 – 1953), this one the Communion Service in B Minor. The anthem is the Geistliches Lied, by Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897).
Johannes Brahms was a German composer, pianist and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. He grew up surrounded by music and received his earliest musical education from his father. A close friend of Clara Schumann, he was a precise and self-critical composer. Born and raised a Lutheran, Brahms was an agnostic and saw himself as a humanist first and foremost. He venerated and was influenced by the music of Mozart and Haydn and was considered less innovative than the composers of the New German School, including Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Geistliches Lied, or Spiritual Song, was written as part of a weekly trade of contrapuntal exercises (exercises in the complementary intertwining of two or more musical lines, using specific compositional techniques) with violinist Joseph Joachim. The lyrics are taken from the work of seventeenth-century German poet, Paul Flemming, and urge peace and calm, and trust in the will of God.
About the St Peter’s Choir
Founded in 1847, the choir of St Peter's Eastern Hill is one of the oldest continuing Anglican church choirs in Australia.
Music plays an important part in the liturgical life of St Peter’s, with the choir singing at High Mass on Sundays as well as regular Evensongs. Our repertoire ranges from Plainsong to more recent liturgical settings, with a range of familiar and lesser-known composers. We are particularly enjoying re-discovering English Communion settings of the late 19th and early 20th century, alongside the great Mass settings of the Renaissance.
Membership is made up of volunteers, professional musicians, and a quartet of Foundation Scholars who are studying singing at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. The Church recently launched the music foundation to support this endeavour and to provide opportunities for young up-and-coming singers to develop their performance experience while contributing to our liturgy; if you would like more information about this, or to support this vital ministry, please contact the Director of Music, Christopher Watson.
Join the choir
The choir rehearses at 9 am for a 10.30 am service, with no mid-week rehearsal or other commitment. We encourage amateur singers who wish to sing regularly or occasionally to get in touch with our Director of Music, Christopher Watson, to arrange an audition.