Sounds of our City, March 2025.

Our March 2025 concert, Sounds of our City raised £1000 for our chosen charity, Dorothy House Hospice Care.

• Awake the Harp from Haydn’s Creation, composed 1797-98. ‘The Creation’ possibly inspired by his visit to the Herschels’ house and telescope in Slough?
• Turk Was a Faithful Dog, Joseph Haydn, composed 1791. Canon composed during his stay at the house of Venanzio Rauzzini in the Perrymead area of Bath. Words taken from Turk’s tombstone, this is Haydn’s requiem for Rauzzini’s dog.
• Danny Boy, traditional Irish tune, lyrics by Frederick Weatherly, set to music 1913. A lawyer, he lived and died in Bath and is buried in Smallcome Cemetery, Bath. Also wrote the lyrics to ‘Roses of Picardy’ and many other songs.
• Moondance, Van Morrison, composed 1970. Lived in St James’s Square, Bath. Recorded at the Wool Hall and Real World studios near Bath. Performed by CSV and Saxation.
• The Book of Love, from Peter Gabriel’s album Scratch my Back. Performed by Saxation.
• Sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel. Recorded at Ashcombe House near Swainswick. Performed by Saxation.
• Vienna, Midge Ure. Written while he was a member of the band Ultravox. Lives in South Stoke. Performed by Saxation.
• Solsbury Hill, Peter Gabriel, composed 1977. Lived in the hamlet of Wooley, Bath. Founded Real World Studio in Box.
• Long, Long Ago, Thomas Haynes Bayly, composed 1833. Born in Bath, a poet and composer of parlour songs. Famous line: “absence makes the heart grow fonder” from his poem Isle of Beauty.
• Ombra Mai Fu from Xerxes, George Frideric Handel composed 1738, arr. Arch. This marks the end of his Italian style opera period. His music was popular and the most performed in Bath. He stayed in Bath 1730, 1749, 1751.
• Steal Away from 5 Spirituals, Sir Michael Tippett, composed 1939-41. Lived in Corsham with academic connections to Bath School of Art and Design (now Bath Spa University) and became Artistic Director for the Bath International Music Festival.
• Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Tears For Fears, composed 1985. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith grew up in Bath and formed the band Tears For Fears in 1981.
• Arise ye Spirits of the Storm, Thomas Linley the Younger, composed 1777. Born in Bath, he composed this for a production of The Tempest a year before his death by drowning in the lake at Grimsthorpe Castle.
• How Great is the Pleasure, Henry Harington, composed 1780/90. Born in Kelston near Bath. This is a ‘catch’ (canon) as sung in the Catch Club and later, the Bath Harmonic Society (gentlemen only) of which he was a founder.
• Shout, Tears for Fears from the Songs from the Big Chair album. Performed by MGB.
• Summertime Blues, Eddie Cochran. Died in St. Martin’s Hospital, Bath. Performed by MGB.
• Save Your Soul, Ben & Jamie Cullum, composed 2013. Brought up in Hullavington, educated in Grittleton and Chippenham and moved to Bath with his family before attending university.
• Mapping the Heavens, David Garcia. New work commissioned by CSV. Inspired by the astronomical work of William and Caroline Herschel. Performed by Bath Strings Academy.
• We Sing of Love, William Herschel, a glee composed around 1780 during his time in Bath. Performed by CSV with Bath Strings Academy.
• Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?, Matt Finch, composed 2024 with words from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18. Lives in Bath and is CSV Musical Director.
• Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah, Handel, composed 1741. William Herschel conducted one of the first full performances of The Messiah at the opening of the Octagon Chapel in Milsom Street in 1771. He was assisted by his sister Caroline, a soprano soloist at many performances. Performed by CSV with Bath Strings Academy.