Marcio da Silva
Artistic Director & Principal Conductor
Honorary President: David Parry
Saturday 21st December 7pm
Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea
Silchester Road, TN37 6GL
Saturday 21st December 7pm
Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea
Silchester Road, TN37 6GL
Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea
Silchester Road, TN37 6GL
HPO
CHRISTMAS
GALA
GALA
Our Christmas Gala is a highlight of our calendar - each year tickets sell out well in advance of the evening. This year we once again unite the forces of the HPO Singers and our own Children's Choir - HPO Songbirds - with the talented professional players of HPO, to perform an evening of Christmas carols and favourite classics.
Our concert will feature a number of well-known Christmas orchestral classics and items sung by our choirs, as well as carols for everyone to sing. Do come and join us again this year for a memorable and joyful celebration.
Our concert will feature a number of well-known Christmas orchestral classics and items sung by our choirs, as well as carols for everyone to sing. Do come and join us again this year for a memorable and joyful celebration.
Tickets: £5-£25
Due to high demand, this year £5 tickets are only available for 2-18 year olds.
Tickets (no booking fee) also available from The Bookkeeper, 1a Kings Rd, St Leonards, TN37 6EA.
Tickets: £5-£25
Due to high demand, this year £5 tickets are only available for 2-18 year olds.
Tickets (no booking fee) also available from The Bookkeeper, 1a Kings Rd, St Leonards, TN37 6EA.
Due to high demand, this year £5 tickets are only available for 2-18 year olds.
Tickets (no booking fee) also available from The Bookkeeper, 1a Kings Rd, St Leonards, TN37 6EA.
Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra
HPO Singers
HPO Songbirds
Marcio da Silva Conductor
Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra
HPO Singers
HPO Songbirds
HPO Singers
HPO Songbirds
Marcio da Silva Conductor
Running Time1 hour 45 minutes,including 20 minute interval
Running Time
1 hour 45 minutes,
including 20 minute interval
HPO's annual Christmas Gala concerts are a huge success - do join us for this year's celebration.
HPO's annual Christmas Gala concerts are a huge success - do join us for this year's celebration.
Over 500 people attended this hugely popular concert last December.
If you would like to get a flavour of the evening, please feel free to look through the album of last year's photos by clicking on the image below:
Over 500 people attended this hugely popular concert last December.
If you would like to get a flavour of the evening, please feel free to look through the album of last year's photos by clicking on the image below:
If you would like to get a flavour of the evening, please feel free to look through the album of last year's photos by clicking on the image below:
A sample programme from 2022:
A sample programme from 2022:
A child is born in Bethlehem Samuel Scheidt (1587–1654)
Scheidt was a German composer and organist of the early Baroque era and was widely recognised as one of Germany's most distinguished composers of his period. This carol is sometimes sung as a dialogue between a soloist and chorus, and sometimes - as arranged by David Willcocks – by a double chorus.
Scheidt was a German composer and organist of the early Baroque era and was widely recognised as one of Germany's most distinguished composers of his period. This carol is sometimes sung as a dialogue between a soloist and chorus, and sometimes - as arranged by David Willcocks – by a double chorus.
Il est né, le divin Enfant Traditional (French).
Il est né, le divin Enfant is a traditional French carol. The melody was published for the first time in 1863 by an organist in south-east France. The opening lines are: He is born, the Heav'nly Child, Oboes play; set bagpipes sounding.
Nutcracker Suite Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
In 1891 the Russian composer Tchaikovsky began writing the music for a two-act ballet based on the Nutcracker story to appear on a double-bill alongside his opera Iolantha. The story itself is about a girl who befriends a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve and wages a battle against the evil Mouse King. Some months before the premiere of the ballet, Tchaikovsky selected eight elements to form an orchestral suite for concert performance. The suite was first presented in St Petersburg in March 1892 and became an instant success. It is bursting with Tchaikovsky’s trademark tuneful melodies, impressive harmonies, and colourful orchestration.
1. Miniature Overture; 2a. Marche; 2b. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy; 2c. Russian Dance; 2d. Arabian Dance; 2e. Chinese Dance; 2f. Reed Flutes; 3. Waltz of the Flowers.
Nativity carol John Rutter (1945--)
John Rutter originally studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, and went on to become Director of Music there. Rutter's compositions are chiefly choral, and include Christmas carols, anthems, a Gloria, a Requiem, and a Magnificat. His compositions show the influences of the French and English choral traditions of the early 20th century as well as of light music and American classic song writing.
This carol – the Nativity Carol - written in 1963, was one of Rutter’s earliest pieces. The opening lines are: ‘Born in a stable so bare Born so long ago Born 'neath light of star He who loved us so’.
Troika (Kijé suite – Mov. IV) Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
The music for this was originally written to accompany the film Lieutenant Kijé produced in Leningrad in 1933-4. Prokofiev had been based in Paris for almost a decade, and he was not an obvious choice for such a commission in those early days of sound cinema because he had a reputation for experimentation and dissonance which was at odds with the cultural norms of the Soviet Union. By early 1933, however, Prokofiev was anxious to return to his homeland and saw the film commission as an opportunity to write music in a more popular and accessible style. The plot of the film – about the escapades of a fictional officer – contained comedy, tragedy, and romance, which Prokofiev set in an 18th century context, creating a witty and melodious score. The five-movement Kijé suite was first performed as a stand-alone item in December 1934. Troika - the name of a traditional Russian sled pulled by three horses abreast - is the fourth movement of the suite. The principal melody is taken from an old Hussar song, and sleigh bells, rapid pizzicato strings, and an energetic piano part combine to give the impression of a fast winter's journey.
In Dulci Jubilo Traditional arr. John Rutter (1945--)
In dulci jubilo is a traditional Christmas carol. In its original setting, the carol had a mixed text, placing German alongside Latin, which is thought to have been written in the 14th century. The most popular translation used today, which includes a mix of English and Latin, was produced in the mid-19th century. The opening lines translate as: ‘In sweet rejoicing, now sing and be glad! Our hearts' joy lies in the manger; And it shines like the sun in the mother's lap.’ An alternate 19th-century translation reads ‘Good Christian men rejoice With heart and soul and voice!’ This popular arrangement of the carol is by John Rutter.
Twelve Days of Christmas Traditional arr. Frederic Austin
The Twelve Days of Christmas is an English Christmas Carol. It is a classic example of a cumulative song, with lyrics that detail a series of increasingly numerous gifts given to the speaker by their ‘true love’ on each of the 12 days of Christmas. The words were first published in England in the late eighteenth century, and the best-known melody is derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin.
The gifts include: a partridge in a pear tree; two turtle doves; three French hens; four calling birds; five gold rings; six geese a-laying; seven swans a-swimming; eight maids a-milking; nine ladies dancing; ten lords a-leaping; eleven pipers piping; and twelve drummers drumming.
HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING
Waltz No. 2 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Shostakovich originally composed what has become known as the Waltz No. 2 in 1955-56 for his score for the film The First Echelon, directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, which had its premiere in April 1956. The waltz is unusual and has become popular for several reasons. Firstly because of the variety in its orchestration which comes from the inclusion of instruments associated with a dance band - saxophones, guitar, and accordion, creating a casual, circus-like atmosphere. Also, there is appeal in the contrasts within the waltz: between the minor key of the outer sections and the major keys of the dancing middle sections, and between the irresistibly suave and melancholic main theme and the underlying darkness of its surrounding accompaniment - an ironic ‘oom-pah-pah’ pulse in the double basses and snare drum.
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID'S CITY
Christmas Fantasia Luciano Williamson (1996—)
Luciano Williamson studied composition at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and now bases himself between Cardiff and London. He was the winner of our 2018 Ataturk Composition Competition. He has composed a range of orchestral, concerto, chamber, stage, and vocal works. In his Christmas Fantasia he enjoyed weaving as many Christmas excerpts as he could into the texture of his music. He comments that there are 21 carols referenced in just six minutes, including a fughetta on Gloucestershire Wassail and as many as five simultaneous carols during the finale!
Sussex Carol Traditional arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1871-1958)
The ‘Sussex Carol’ is sometimes referred to by its first line – ‘On Christmas night all Christians sing’. The words were first published in the late 17th-century in Ireland. The tune was discovered by Vaughan Williams who heard it being sung in Horsham, Sussex, and published the tune and text in 1919.
‘On Christmas night all Christians sing To hear the news the angels bring. News of great joy, news of great mirth, News of our merciful King's birth.’
Somewhere in My Memory (Home Alone Theme) John Williams (1932--)
Home Alone is a 1990 American comedy film staring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a young boy who defends his suburban Chicago home from a home invasion by a pair of robbers after his family accidentally leaves him behind on their Christmas vacation to Paris. The score for the film was composed by John Williams and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score; the film's signature tune ‘Somewhere in My Memory’ was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The beautiful music and poignant lyrics hold meaning for many missing loved ones at Christmas and include the words: ‘Precious moments, special people Happy faces, I can see Somewhere in my memory Christmas joys all around me Living in my memory All of the music, all of the magic All of the family, home here with me.’
Sleigh Ride Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)
The composer Leroy Anderson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Swedish immigrant parents. He earned a bachelor and a master degree in music, and a PhD in German and Scandinavian languages at Harvard University. He went on to be fluent in nine languages. Anderson formed the original idea for this instrumental piece during a heat wave in July 1946 and finished the work in February 1948. In 1950 lyrics were written to accompany the piece, and it is these which connect the music to Christmas. Listen out for the distinctive sounds created by the percussionist of a horse clip-clopping (temple blocks), and a whip used to get the horse moving (a slapstick). Towards the end of the piece, a trumpet imitates the sound of a horse whinnying.
Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) orch. da Silva
Silent Night was composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Josephus Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. On Christmas Eve 1818 the young Catholic priest Mohr came to Oberndorf with the poem ‘Stille Nacht’ that he had written in 1816 in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. He asked Gruber, the schoolmaster and organist, to compose a carol with a simple melody and guitar accompaniment that could be sung during the mass that evening - apparently the church organ was out of use, needing repair. The carol was subsequently disseminated across Europe by travelling folk singers and has since been translated into 140 languages.
OH, COME ALL YE FAITHFUL
Il est né, le divin Enfant is a traditional French carol. The melody was published for the first time in 1863 by an organist in south-east France. The opening lines are: He is born, the Heav'nly Child, Oboes play; set bagpipes sounding.
Nutcracker Suite Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
In 1891 the Russian composer Tchaikovsky began writing the music for a two-act ballet based on the Nutcracker story to appear on a double-bill alongside his opera Iolantha. The story itself is about a girl who befriends a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve and wages a battle against the evil Mouse King. Some months before the premiere of the ballet, Tchaikovsky selected eight elements to form an orchestral suite for concert performance. The suite was first presented in St Petersburg in March 1892 and became an instant success. It is bursting with Tchaikovsky’s trademark tuneful melodies, impressive harmonies, and colourful orchestration.
1. Miniature Overture; 2a. Marche; 2b. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy; 2c. Russian Dance; 2d. Arabian Dance; 2e. Chinese Dance; 2f. Reed Flutes; 3. Waltz of the Flowers.
Nativity carol John Rutter (1945--)
John Rutter originally studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, and went on to become Director of Music there. Rutter's compositions are chiefly choral, and include Christmas carols, anthems, a Gloria, a Requiem, and a Magnificat. His compositions show the influences of the French and English choral traditions of the early 20th century as well as of light music and American classic song writing.
This carol – the Nativity Carol - written in 1963, was one of Rutter’s earliest pieces. The opening lines are: ‘Born in a stable so bare Born so long ago Born 'neath light of star He who loved us so’.
Troika (Kijé suite – Mov. IV) Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
The music for this was originally written to accompany the film Lieutenant Kijé produced in Leningrad in 1933-4. Prokofiev had been based in Paris for almost a decade, and he was not an obvious choice for such a commission in those early days of sound cinema because he had a reputation for experimentation and dissonance which was at odds with the cultural norms of the Soviet Union. By early 1933, however, Prokofiev was anxious to return to his homeland and saw the film commission as an opportunity to write music in a more popular and accessible style. The plot of the film – about the escapades of a fictional officer – contained comedy, tragedy, and romance, which Prokofiev set in an 18th century context, creating a witty and melodious score. The five-movement Kijé suite was first performed as a stand-alone item in December 1934. Troika - the name of a traditional Russian sled pulled by three horses abreast - is the fourth movement of the suite. The principal melody is taken from an old Hussar song, and sleigh bells, rapid pizzicato strings, and an energetic piano part combine to give the impression of a fast winter's journey.
In Dulci Jubilo Traditional arr. John Rutter (1945--)
In dulci jubilo is a traditional Christmas carol. In its original setting, the carol had a mixed text, placing German alongside Latin, which is thought to have been written in the 14th century. The most popular translation used today, which includes a mix of English and Latin, was produced in the mid-19th century. The opening lines translate as: ‘In sweet rejoicing, now sing and be glad! Our hearts' joy lies in the manger; And it shines like the sun in the mother's lap.’ An alternate 19th-century translation reads ‘Good Christian men rejoice With heart and soul and voice!’ This popular arrangement of the carol is by John Rutter.
Twelve Days of Christmas Traditional arr. Frederic Austin
The Twelve Days of Christmas is an English Christmas Carol. It is a classic example of a cumulative song, with lyrics that detail a series of increasingly numerous gifts given to the speaker by their ‘true love’ on each of the 12 days of Christmas. The words were first published in England in the late eighteenth century, and the best-known melody is derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin.
The gifts include: a partridge in a pear tree; two turtle doves; three French hens; four calling birds; five gold rings; six geese a-laying; seven swans a-swimming; eight maids a-milking; nine ladies dancing; ten lords a-leaping; eleven pipers piping; and twelve drummers drumming.
HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING
Waltz No. 2 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Shostakovich originally composed what has become known as the Waltz No. 2 in 1955-56 for his score for the film The First Echelon, directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, which had its premiere in April 1956. The waltz is unusual and has become popular for several reasons. Firstly because of the variety in its orchestration which comes from the inclusion of instruments associated with a dance band - saxophones, guitar, and accordion, creating a casual, circus-like atmosphere. Also, there is appeal in the contrasts within the waltz: between the minor key of the outer sections and the major keys of the dancing middle sections, and between the irresistibly suave and melancholic main theme and the underlying darkness of its surrounding accompaniment - an ironic ‘oom-pah-pah’ pulse in the double basses and snare drum.
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID'S CITY
Christmas Fantasia Luciano Williamson (1996—)
Luciano Williamson studied composition at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and now bases himself between Cardiff and London. He was the winner of our 2018 Ataturk Composition Competition. He has composed a range of orchestral, concerto, chamber, stage, and vocal works. In his Christmas Fantasia he enjoyed weaving as many Christmas excerpts as he could into the texture of his music. He comments that there are 21 carols referenced in just six minutes, including a fughetta on Gloucestershire Wassail and as many as five simultaneous carols during the finale!
Sussex Carol Traditional arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1871-1958)
The ‘Sussex Carol’ is sometimes referred to by its first line – ‘On Christmas night all Christians sing’. The words were first published in the late 17th-century in Ireland. The tune was discovered by Vaughan Williams who heard it being sung in Horsham, Sussex, and published the tune and text in 1919.
‘On Christmas night all Christians sing To hear the news the angels bring. News of great joy, news of great mirth, News of our merciful King's birth.’
Somewhere in My Memory (Home Alone Theme) John Williams (1932--)
Home Alone is a 1990 American comedy film staring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a young boy who defends his suburban Chicago home from a home invasion by a pair of robbers after his family accidentally leaves him behind on their Christmas vacation to Paris. The score for the film was composed by John Williams and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score; the film's signature tune ‘Somewhere in My Memory’ was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The beautiful music and poignant lyrics hold meaning for many missing loved ones at Christmas and include the words: ‘Precious moments, special people Happy faces, I can see Somewhere in my memory Christmas joys all around me Living in my memory All of the music, all of the magic All of the family, home here with me.’
Sleigh Ride Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)
The composer Leroy Anderson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Swedish immigrant parents. He earned a bachelor and a master degree in music, and a PhD in German and Scandinavian languages at Harvard University. He went on to be fluent in nine languages. Anderson formed the original idea for this instrumental piece during a heat wave in July 1946 and finished the work in February 1948. In 1950 lyrics were written to accompany the piece, and it is these which connect the music to Christmas. Listen out for the distinctive sounds created by the percussionist of a horse clip-clopping (temple blocks), and a whip used to get the horse moving (a slapstick). Towards the end of the piece, a trumpet imitates the sound of a horse whinnying.
Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) orch. da Silva
Silent Night was composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Josephus Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. On Christmas Eve 1818 the young Catholic priest Mohr came to Oberndorf with the poem ‘Stille Nacht’ that he had written in 1816 in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. He asked Gruber, the schoolmaster and organist, to compose a carol with a simple melody and guitar accompaniment that could be sung during the mass that evening - apparently the church organ was out of use, needing repair. The carol was subsequently disseminated across Europe by travelling folk singers and has since been translated into 140 languages.
OH, COME ALL YE FAITHFUL