Canticum Anglicum, conducted by Marga Schoutens, is a mixed choir in Amsterdam. There are around 25 singers with an average age of about 35 years. For more than fifteen years we have been singing English choir music; the beautiful works from the Cathedral tradition of the Anglican Church. This explains the ‘Anglicum’ in the name of our choir. A large part of our repertoire consists of anthems of composers like Byrd, Tye, Tallis, Purcell, Croft, Wesley, Stanford, Wood, Britten and Howells. Hymns and psalms on chant are also familiar to us and mainly used for services. Lately we also apply ourselves to secular Renaissance music for our special concerts, for instance madrigals by John Dowland and Thomas Morley.
Within this English setting, we do not prefer a specific time or period: we sing renaissance, modern and anything in between. All this music was written for use in church so we are happy we have one in which we can have rehearsals. That is the Vredeskerk, in the Pijnackerstraat in the south of Amsterdam, near the Okura hotel. We rehearse there every Wednesday evening from 8 till 10.30 pm. In return for the hospitality of the Vredeskerk we sing Sunday mass there once in every six weeks.
But what really keeps us going are the concerts; about two every season and every year we organise a day of study and fun for all the choir members. The choir ‘season’ starts at the end of August. Throughout the season we sing the regular, once-in-every-six-weeks masses in the Vredeskerk.
Usually, but not always, there is a Christmas concert in December. Singing mass in the Vredeskerk on Christmas eve is, however, an every year event, visited by 600 people. The choir prefers music written for Lent. So one or more concerts during this period give us a welcome opportunity to sing some of the most stunning pieces of our repertoire. Between the concerts, we perform at occasions upon request, like weddings, funerals, a special mass or for Christmas carolling.
Before the start of the summer holidays, in the beginning of July, we cool down and rehearse some almost forgotten anthems and new music for the next season.
Check out concert registrations on our YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/canticumanglicum/videos
Or listen to audio recordings on SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/canticum-anglicum
You can ‘like’ us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/amsterdamskoor
If you are interested in singing with us, in a booking or if you would just like to know more about the choir, send a message to: bestuur@canticumanglicum.nl
Or call René Oussoren: 06 – 1791 2255
Canticum Anglicum 