Welcome to our Festival blog

We are a small congregation commemorating the 400th anniversary of the death of the village's Elizabethan composer, William Byrd (c.1540 - 1623).

We are planning to erect a permanent memorial to Byrd to mark the quatercentenary since his death, and have begun a fundraising appeal. Our events this year have included a talk on The Life and Times of William Byrd (30 June), including book release; a Commemorative Service of BCP Evensong (2 July); and, welcomed The Stondon Singers who gave a sell-out William Byrd Anniversary Concert on the actual day (4 July). Stondon Massey has also featured on BBC Radio 3's 'Composer of the Week' programme (3-7 July).

This website contains everything you need to know about William Byrd's life and music as well as his links with Stondon Massey. /

Wednesday 14 March 2012

BBC Music Magazine feature Cardinall's Musick


Renaissance sacred choral music is the theme of the BBC Music Magazine cover disc for April 2012 (published today).  Cardinall’s Musick, under the direction of Andrew Carwood, sing works by Byrd and Tallis recorded at the Kilkenny Arts Festival (August 2010) and St John’s College, Cambridge (June 2011).  Highlight works by Byrd are ‘Infelix ego’ and ‘Iustorum animae’ (perhaps misspelt on other discs with a letter ‘J’ for ‘Justorum’ – I learned recently that the letter ‘J’ does not exist in the23-letter Latin alphabet).

The disc also mentions the group’s celebration of Byrd’s Latin music throughout 2012 in a series of concerts “that takes in a series of venues and historical locations linked to the great English composer”.  This includes Stondon Massey Church in Essex on Sunday 2 September.  There is an advertisement on page 113 listing the entire ‘Byrd Tour 2012’ giving website connections for each place.

If you are interested in tickets for St Peter and St Paul Church – there are only 70 available per performance – or would like further information, please e mail. 

Saturday 3 March 2012

Cardinall's Musick to perform Byrd at Stondon Massey

The multi-Gramophone Award winning Choir the Cardinall’s Musick will be coming to St Peter and St Paul Church Stondon Massey on Sunday 2 September to perform two short concerts as part of their Byrd Tour 2012. 

Cardinall’s Musick is an internationally recognised Choir specialising in early music.  In 2010, under the direction of Andrew Carwood, the singers released their 13th disc concluding the complete Latin choral works of William Byrd.  ‘Infelix Ego’ won them the Recording of the Year. 

The Byrd Tour 2012 celebrates the recording achievement by taking the music of the great Elizabethan composer to venues both great and small.  St Peter and St Paul Church, the only stop planned in Essex, is one of the smallest on the tour but has such a strong association with Byrd that Andrew Carwood felt that the opportunity to perform here should not be missed.  The tour will be extensively advertised by Cardinall’s Musick in national newspapers and the music press.  The Choir can be heard on the cover CD of the BBC Music Magazine soon.

Members of Stondon’s congregation will be there on the day to supervise car parking, provide front of house support and post-concert refreshments.  The professional Choir will be offering tickets for sale online for about £10 for each of the two concerts.  (However please indicate to us now whether you are interested so that we can seek to secure tickets for sale locally).

Provisional times for the concerts are 3.00pm and 5.30pm on Sunday 2 September 2012.  Each hour-long offering will include motets by Byrd.

Contact us for further information.


Notes:
The Financial Times carried an interesting article giving information on Byrd and heralding the Byrd Tour 2012, which begins at the Wigmore Hall in London on Monday 5 March: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/73e967be-597c-11e1-abf1-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1nN4pStYi . For the latest tour information go to http://www.cardinallsmusick.com/news/byrd-tour-2012 and specifically, for Stondon Massey Essex, follow the link to the William Byrd Festival blog, http://www.williambyrdfestival.blogspot.com/ .