Bolton Priory 8th – 11th May 2023

Course Fee £220

At the heart of Bolton Abbey Estate, within the stunning surroundings of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, lies the Priory Church and Ruins of an Augustinian Priory in its beautiful riverside setting. The land was gifted to the Augustinian canons by Alice de Rumilly in 1154. The canons lived and worshipped here until 1539, when the dissolution of the monasteries stripped the Priory of its assets. Despite the loss of most of the Priory buildings during the dissolution, the western half of the original nave was preserved so that the local parish could continue its worship there.

Our musical director Jeff Stewart, assisted by Ben Saul, will be leading you through this week of beautiful music.

It is to this wonderful setting that we will return for the 4th time to sing four Choral Evensongs. Each day we will prepare music for the evening service. As ever with Choral Holidays, our focus will be on enjoying expressing ourselves through music, understanding the text and why the composer has set the text in a certain way.

You can see a short video message, which gives you an idea of this wonderful location Here.

The proposed repertoire will include the following settings of the evening canticles: Herbert Brewer in Eb Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis C.V. Stanford (in C) Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis , Giovanni Paolo Cima Magnificat Quinti Toni, Ivo De Vento Nunc Dimittis 1, and T. Tertius Noble (in B Minor) Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis. The anthems will be: Remeber Now Thy Creator (Charles Steggall), Ave Verum Corpus (Mozart), Hosanna to the son of David (Arthur Hutchings) & Cantique de Jean Racine (Gabriel Fauré).

Each day will consist of rehearsals from 10.30 am until 1.00 pm, then from 2.30 pm until 4.30 pm, with choral evensong at 5.00 pm.

One of the most memorable parts of our previous visits to Bolton Priory has been the chance to sing a service of plainsong Compline in the old Quire of the ruins, where the same office would have been sung centuries ago. Weather permitting, we will be doing this again on one evening this year.

The fee for this course does not include accommodation or food: we like people to be able to choose their own budget, and there are plenty of options for accommodation and food nearby. We do, however, organise meals each night, which the participants are free to attend or not, as suits them.

The course will be run by our musical director, Jeff Stewart, with assistance from our organist, Ben Saul.

Course Fee £220 (Deposit £100)

You could get a 10% discount on this event