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Jan
21
Sun
Travellers’ Tales from Central Asia @ Highgate Society
Jan 21 @ 3:15 pm – 5:30 pm

Free entry – complimentary tea and cake – non members welcome

This is the third in what is now becoming an annual Highgate Society event – a January afternoon
travel talk and tea. Our first, in 2016, featured visits to North America by Catherine Budgett Meakin
and to the Andes by Richard Webber. Last year it was the turn of Michael Hammerson who dusted
off his slides and diary account from 1966 to treat us to a wonderful account of his experiences as a
young man visiting the battlefields of the American Civil War.
This year our focus shifts to Asia where we will hear travellers’ accounts of visits to three countries in
the Caucasus and Central Asia that receive very few foreign visitors.
The presenters will whet your appetite for a visit with images of magnificent mountain scenery as
well as heritage site of world-wide significance. This will be presented within a broader discussion of
sustainable tourism, the impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union, geo-political uncertainty and
social acceptance and resistance to the spread of Western values.
Do you need a guide to visit these countries? Or should you join a group? How safe will you be? And
how easy is it to engage in meaningful discussion with the views of local people? Come and hear.

Programme
3.15 1: Kyrgistan: Guyonne James
3.40 2: Armenia: Richard Webber
4.05 Questions, answers and discussion in response to talks 1 and 2
4.20 Tea
4.35 3: Iran: Betty Pires + team (the precise members of which are to be confirmed)
5.00 Questions, answers and discussion on practicalities of a central Asia visit

Mar
9
Sat
Highgate Choral Society Spring Concert @ All Hallows' Church
Mar 9 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

hcs_JGM_A5_2pp March final

Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass, so-named as it uses a ninth century text written in Old Church Slavonic, is also known as the Slavonic Mass. Rather than a traditional sacred piece, Janacek is thought to have conceived his mass as a celebration of Slavic culture and the pan-Slavic movement that he supported.

The Glagolitic Mass was first performed in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in April 1926. It is a highly original work for choir, organ and orchestra that expresses dramatic energy and tenderness in equal measure, and is recognised today as one of most significant contributions to choral music in the twentieth century.

Poulenc’s Gloria is a joyful rendering of the Gloria text from the Catholic Mass, and one of Poulenc’s most celebrated works. Scored for soprano, choir and large orchestra, it was composed in 1959 and first performed in 1961 in Boston to critical acclaim. Poulenc was known for composing music of sharp contrasts and his Gloria, which is jocund as well as solemn, is no exception.


Always Moving On is a brand new work for choir and orchestra, written by newcomer Christopher Ashley. An eight-minute orchestral march of aspiration and healing, it provides a modern twist to the familiar and popular format pioneered by Elgar and Walton in the early 20th century. The piece gives expression to the timeless virtues of hope, joy, patience and tolerance, offering respite from uncertainty and gloom.