Christmas in London: note from BH
 

While London is dull from 23 to 30 December, it is full of life to the 22nd.<BR><BR>CONCERTS. The seventeenth century churches of the City (which means Roman and medieval London) hold lunch-time concerts of Christmas music of Corelli, Britten, and others, often with carols, mince pies, mulled wine, or any combination. Some West End churches, and of course the cathedrals, have similar but larger concerts. Unless otherwise marked, all threes concerts are open to all comers, with no reservation.<BR><BR><BR>Sunday 1st December<BR><BR>1500 Concert - 'Journey to Bethlehem' (Details 0118 986 0905) <BR>St Martin Ludgate. St Paul's tube<BR><BR>Monday 2nd December<BR><BR>1310 Beethoven trio no 3 in C minor. Ravel trio in A. Arioso Trio. St Anne &amp; St Agnes. St Paul's tube<BR><BR>Tuesday 3rd December<BR><BR>1930 EMFEB Orchestra (Free Admission) St Giles. Barbican tube<BR><BR>Wednesday 4th December<BR><BR>1310 Beethoven Quintet for Piano and Winds E flat. Ventus Aura. Salter Wind Quintet. St James Piccadilly<BR><BR>1315 'Seasons of the Spirit' Music and Readings on Advent. St Bride's. Blackfriars tube<BR><BR>1830 Messiah. St Pauls Cathedral Choir &amp; Chorus. City of London Sinfonia. Free tickets available. Please send s.a.e. to St Paul's Cathedral Chapter House, London EC4M 8AD. St Paul s Cathedral<BR><BR>Thursday 5th December<BR><BR>1900 Handel s Messiah performed in Handel s Parish Church. Choir of St George's. London Handel Orchestra. &pound;8 to &pound;20. Telephone booking : Catherine Hodgson, 265 Croxted Road, London SE21 8NN Telephone: 020 8244 3561. St George s Hanover Square, Piccadilly Circus tube<BR><BR>Sunday 8 December<BR><BR>2000 O Magnum Mysterium. Medieval Christmas songs and carols, Renaissance hymns, Venetian motets. New Renaissance Voices with original instruments. &pound;7. Southwark Cathedral. London Bridge tube<BR><BR>Monday 9th December<BR><BR>1310 Purcell Sweeter than roses and Mad Bess. Michael Head Three songs of Venice. Brahms Zwei Gesaenge. Mezzo soprano, piano, viola. St Anne &amp; St Agnes. St Paul's tube<BR><BR>Tuesday 10th December<BR><BR>1300 Recital - The Ram Tudor Consort. St Lawrence Jewry. Bank tube<BR><BR>Wednesday 11th December<BR><BR>1300 Chapel Choir of Exeter College, Oxford. <BR>All Hallows by the Tower. Tower Hill tube<BR>1800 Carol Concert by the Covent Garden Singers (&pound;10 in aid of hospital) <BR>The Great Hall, St Bartholomew's Hospital. St Paul's tube<BR>1830 The Esterhazy Singers. All Hallows by the Tower. Tower Hill tube<BR>1930 A Victorian Christmas. Music &amp; Readings from the operas of Gilbert &amp; Sullivan presented by the Grosvenor Light Opera Company (Details 020 7253 8275) St Magnus. Monument tube<BR><BR>Continued<BR>

<BR>Continued<BR><BR>Thursday 12th December<BR><BR>1310 Christmas Music from Handel s Messiah. St Margaret Lothbury. Bank tube<BR>1310 Recital - Zoe Milton-Brown, Jonathan Stoughton &amp; Christopher Glynn (Soprano, Baritone &amp; Piano) St Olave. Tower Hill tube<BR><BR>Friday 13th December<BR><BR>1310 Strauss Piano Quartet and other pieces. Alexander Piano Quartet. <BR>St James Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus tube<BR><BR>Saturday 14th December<BR><BR>1930 Vaughan Willams Hodie. Carols for audience. Thames Philharmonic Choir, and soloists. &pound;7 to &pound;15. Southwark Cathedral. London Bridge tube<BR><BR>Monday 16th December<BR><BR>1310 Haydn Symphony number 6 Le Matin, no 8 Le Soir. Lecosaldi Ensemble. St Anne &amp; St Agnes. St Paul's tube<BR><BR>Tuesday 17th December<BR><BR>1300 Catherine Ennis (Organ) and Choir of St Lawrence Jewry. Bank tube<BR><BR>1315 Ceremony of Carols. Britten. St Paul?s Cathedral<BR><BR>Wednesday 18th December<BR><BR>1830 Lloyds Choir. St Katharine Cree. Monument tube<BR><BR>Thursday 19th December<BR><BR>1830. Carols for congregation and choir. City of London Sinfonia. St Paul?s Cathedral.<BR><BR>1930 The Lecosaldi Ensemble and the St Anne's Singers will perform music by Boyce, the 'Christmas Cantata' by Geoffrey Bush, and other music for the season. Mince pies, mulled wine and Christmas Cordial afterwards! Tickets &pound;6 (&pound;4 for members of St Anne's Music Society and concession holders). St Anne &amp; St Agnes. St Paul's tube<BR><BR>1930 Christmas Concert, with Bach, Handel, and others. Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque soloists. &pound;25 to &pound;15. Southwark Cathedral. London Bridge tube<BR><BR>Friday 20 December<BR><BR>1310 Rediscovered Advent and Christmas music. Includes works for voice, strings and harpsichord by JS Bach, Nicola Antonio Porpora, and Leonardo Leo. Continuum baroque group. St James Piccadilly. Piccadilly Circus tube<BR><BR>1930 Mozart Spatzenmesse and Christmas carols by candlelight. Southwark Cathedral Choir ad Chameleon Arts Orchestra. &pound;12 to &pound;10. Southwark Cathedral. London Bridge tube<BR><BR>Saturday 21 December<BR><BR>1300. Family carols. Children most welcome. Cambridge Chorale and Cantate Youth Choir. St Paul?s Cathedral<BR><BR>Sunday 29 December<BR><BR>1930 Chistmas with Bach, including part III of the Christmas Oratorio<BR>St Anne &amp; St Agnes. St Paul's tube<BR><BR>Monday 30 December<BR><BR>1310. Mozart. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Gabrieli. Canzona Per Sonare No.4. Elgar. Nimrod. St James Piccadilly, Nebraska Strings Honor Chamber Orchestra (Junior ensemble). Piccadilly Circus tube<BR><BR>Continued<BR>

<BR>Continued<BR><BR>PANTOMIME. Theatres are at their fullest, and out in the suburbs we keep up the tradition of pantomime, knock-about comedy shows of fairy stories for children. They clap the hero and boo the villain as good triumphs in Cinderella, Puss in Boots, and other tales. Adults are admitted, and if you drop your inhibitions you can celebrate an old and different tradition. Four such have been announced so far.<BR><BR>Ali Baba and the Forty thieves. Bubble Theatre production. Greenwich Theatre. 9 December to 11 January. 020 8858 7755. London Bridge to Greenwich<BR><BR>Dick Whittington. Churchill Theatre Bromley. 12 December to 19 January. Most days two shows, at 1.30, 2.30, 5.30 or 7.30. 020 8460 6677. Victoria to Bromley South.<BR><BR>Jack and the Beanstalk. Theatre Royal Stratford East. 3 December to 25 January. 020 8279 1000. Central Line to Stratford <BR><BR>Peter Pan. Richmond Theatre. 12 December to 19 January. 020 8940 0088. District Line to Richmond<BR><BR>You can check these in Time Out listings magazine, which you can buy from such bookshops as Borders Books in Seattle. In November they had it on the shelf and are sent it by post for a $4.00 fee, total cost $9.74. But in fact no pantomime sells out, so you can just buy Time Out or What?s On at a newsagents in your arrival airport or elsewhere, and book by phone with a credit card.<BR><BR>SHOPS along Oxford Street, Regent Street and Knightsbridge are crowded and busy. Simply to see this, without the crush, you can ride in the top of a bus along any of these: the number 12 would suit the first two. <BR><BR>Please write if I can help further.<BR><BR>Ben Haines<BR>

Mr Haines,Thank you for the list. What a treat!

Thank you so much for taking the time to put all that down Ben. I am really looking forward to our 4 nights in London come February... Time to catch up on all the things we've missed through the years. You are a gem!!! Thanks a million. I only WISH I was going to be in London for the holiday's it's been in the 80's, hot and dry here in Los Angeles!!!

Now I can really feel bad that I will be staying at home and not be in London.<BR><BR>You lucky people , what a line up of events!!<BR><BR>Thank you, Ben

Thanks Ben! I'll only be in London from Dec 4 to 11 and miss many of the later events, but several things on your list fall in that period.

Ben, thank you for the wonderful list. My family will be in London Dec. 4-14. I have been watching this board for anything I might have missed and your list was wonderful. I know we will make use of it.

For Karen: Glad you like it. I have added a handful of items in south London. Please e-mail me if you would like the current edition.<BR><BR>Ben Haines

bh-<BR>Sir, I beg to differ on one fine point.And I DO MEAN fine.I simply cannot imagine London being &quot;dull&quot; anytime.Not 23-30 Dec or anytime else.The first time I was in London,I just stood on a side street quietly contemplating.My friends could not understand.I told them I had never stood on a street more than 200 years old.It was awesome.So here in the Us everything is relatively &quot;new&quot;.Just a thought I wanted to share with you.<BR>R

Hello Ben Haines!<BR>Thank you for all the wonderful information; I'm going to cut and paste it for my trip :-) My friend and I will be in London from 27 Dec. through 2 Jan. and we're looking for some non-touristy things to do during our visit. You've given us a good start.<BR><BR>We're two single girls in our 30's and welcome any additional suggestions, especially for New Year's Eve and the 1st. What's the city like on New Year's Day? What's open?<BR><BR>Debbie<BR><BR>We're booked at the Royal Lancaster (Lancaster Gate tube stop) Are you familiar w/that neighborhood or hotel? It's too late now, but how's the neighborhood?

<BR><BR>I am glad you liked the information, though as you see music has pretty well ceased by the time you are here. The big concert halls will give light classical or Strauss concerts on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. If you set Google to the South Bank Centre, the Barbican concert hall, and the Royal Albert Hall you can see what is on and decide whether to book now, as the halls will be full.<BR><BR>On New Year's Eve Trafalgar Square and the area around it are closed to traffic, the pubs stay open late, and the tube runs late and takes people home free. There is a huge and rather drunken street party. On New year's Day most things are closed (though transport is running) and London is as inactive as from 26 to 29 December. I say inactive in honour of Ricky: for my part, lacking imagination I expect, I would say dull.<BR><BR>The Royal Lancaster is a large international hotel. The area is dull and the roads are rather full of traffic. But the Central Line takes you straight to Oxford Street, the British Museum, and St Pauls, and 15 minutes walk takes you to shops, pubs and restaurants of Bayswater. You will feel quite well placed.<BR><BR>If you will please tell me your ideas of non-touristy things I shall think what I have to say. I mean, I doubt you can take a post in a bank for the few days, and commute daily to the City.<BR><BR>Welcome<BR><BR>Ben Haines<BR>

Ben, what a nice thing to do. Thank you so much for the information. I am sure it took some time to get this together for us.<BR>You are the NICEST poster on this board.<BR><BR>Happy Holidays!

Perhaps a useful addition to Mr Haines' listing is the Hazard Chase Christmas Festival, with concerts at St John's Smith Square and Temple Church. See<BR>http://www.hazardchase.co.uk/events/christmas.shtml

Ron,Thank you for another grest site. <BR><BR> So many choices!

Debbie<BR><BR>I believe that the only &quot;closing days&quot; for most attractions, museums etc are the 25th &amp; 26th December and the 1st January. These are all public holidays in England. However, from the 27th through to the 31st most places should be open as normal, including shops which usually start their sales on the 27th. I think a lot of the big stores are also open on the 1st January these days.<BR><BR>Some areas of London with a big commuting base and little in the way of tourists (such as the financial district) *will* pretty much close down between Christmas and New Year but the West End is always busy. <BR><BR>Check individual web sites for information on opening hours and special events. The Museum of London, for instance, has a listing, including Christmas festivities 17th century style from the 28th-30th December.<BR>http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/ <BR><BR>

<BR>Oh, to be in London at Christmastime !<BR><BR>Thank you for the very extensive, fun and interesting list of things to do Mr. Haines. If we only had a fifth of that variety here in Toronto... I was schooled under the British system while growing up in Africa in the 70's, and pantomimes were so much a part of our Christmases then. We'll be seeing 'Robin Hood' here this Christmas, but can't imagine that it will compare to what I remember. Thank you again, and have a wonderful Christmas yourself.

For nbh: Thank you, but in fact I needed much of this information for myself and for neighbours. <BR>For Ron and Karen: Many thanks. I have put these points into my note, so that I shall use them in the version for 2003. <BR>For Matthew: Pantomime in Africa, pantomime in Canada. Queen Victoria lives !<BR><BR>Ben Haines<BR>

<BR>....Queen Victoria ???? <BR><BR>Ben, I mean't the 1970's not the 1870's....!<BR><BR>Still, I know what you mean. No matter where you go, there you are ! Rule Brittania.<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR><BR>M

Hi Karen,<BR>Thanks for the info and the website:-)<BR><BR>Have a lovely holiday season!<BR>Debbie

For anyone enjoying organ music,there is a full list on Londonorgan.co.uk/0212.htm.

For anyone enjoying organ music,there is a full list on Londonorgan.co.uk/0212.htm.

topping for Pam

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