Postscript on Billings

by Christopher Clark | Aug 14, 2026 | Blog post, News, Rehearsal aids, Reviews

A short postscript to Portsmouth Baroque Choir’s performance of three works by William Billings last July in the Festival of Chichester. Performances of his music are rare in the UK – in sixty-five years of singing I’ve only had the pleasure twice...

Measures of Ives

by Christopher Clark | Jun 9, 2026 | Background notes, Blog post, News, Rehearsal aids

I measure myself Against a tall tree. I find that I am much taller, For I reach right up to the sun, With my eye; And I reach to the shore of the sea With my ear. Nevertheless, I dislike The way the ants crawl In and out of my shadow. Wallace Stevens, Six Significant...

Only a stranger on Earth: capturing Bach’s mood and sonority in BWV 118

by Christopher Clark | Feb 19, 2026 | Background notes, Blog post, News, Rehearsal aids

Portsmouth Baroque Choir’s concert Bach Family Motets at Portchester Methodist Church on March 14th 2026 opens with O Jesu Christ, mein Lebens Licht BWV 118: Oh Jesus Christ, my life’s light, My refuge, my comfort, my hope, On Earth I am only a stranger 1 And the...

As in music so in life, Bach flows on

by Christopher Clark | Feb 11, 2026 | Background notes, Blog post, News, Rehearsal aids

Imagine you were the neighbour or the nearest and dearest of Johanna Maria Kees, the widow of Leipzig’s Chief Postmaster, who had requested in her will to have something everyone can sing at her funeral, the popular chorale Jesu, meine Freude (Jesu, my joy), and...

Shepherds, roses and winter’s chill

by Christopher Clark | Nov 25, 2025 | Background notes, News, Rehearsal aids

Portsmouth Baroque Choir’s Christmas Concert ends this year with John Gardner’s rambunctious setting of Tomorrow shall be my dancing day. The anonymous text, possibly derived from a medieval mystery play, recounts episodes from Christ’s life told in the first person,...

Music as a weapon for peace – Jean Mouton called into action

by Christopher Clark | Nov 16, 2025 | Blog post, News, Rehearsal aids

At a time when conflict dominates our news feeds, we do well to reflect on the role music has played since 1945 in keeping a lid on hostility between nation states and how it might again be useful for restoring peace. “Through music… [people] find an immediate bond in...