The Long Day Closes

Sunday 21 June 2026

The Long Day Closes

Mansfield College Chapel, Mansfield Road, Oxford

Tickets

Music for evening and the night

to include works by Tallis, Purcell, Rheinberger and Barber

Sunday June 21st is the longest day of the year, and to herald the beginning of longer nights the Cherwell singers present “The long day closes”, a programme of music chosen to mark evening and night-time.

The evening church offices of Compline and Evensong have inspired some classics of choral music, and these will be represented by works by Tallis and Blitheman on the one hand and Bairstow and the contemporary composer Matthew Martin on the other. Not all music featured will be written for the church however, and there are plenty of secular numbers represented in the concert, including the extended madrigal “Draw on sweet night” by John Wilbye, and song arrangements by Kodály and Samuel Barber. Joining us once again on piano as well as organ will be Dónal McCann, who will also perform two solo works in line with the theme of the concert.

Do join us in Mansfield College Chapel to celebrate the change of seasons and mark the longest day in music.

Conductor James Brown

Organist Dónal McCann

Tickets £14 (students £8)