Music
Introduction
The music at St Andrews is varied, comprising an inclusive blend of traditional and contemporary styles. Every Sunday morning will feature the congregational singing of both hymns and worship songs, either supplemented by a contemporary band, a traditional choir or a solo instrumental performance.
Outside Sunday mornings, St Andrew’s continues to establish itself as a local musical destination; we host regular concerts for Farnham Sinfonia – our orchestra in residence – and monthly organ recitals, alongside a wide assortment of other musical ensembles. Particularly memorable recent concerts have included The King’s Men, from Cambridge, and Luminosa, from Surrey. Please do get in touch if you would like to host a concert at St Andrew’s; we’d love to hear from you.
The Bells of St Andrew’s
Inside St Andrew’s 16th century tower there are ten bells; the largest is about 19 cwt or 1900 pounds. Among bell ringers, St Andrew’s are recognised as being a fine ring.
Bell ringing has been called an art and a science, traditionally called “the exercise”; which is what it is: a most satisfying exercise of brain and body. Ringing bells only requires a desire to learn, and a sense of rhythm will help!
Bells are rung by a rope attached to a wheel, which swings the bell in a full circle, starting with the bells pointing vertically up. About two thirds of the way round, the clapper inside the bell strikes the bell, to make it sound. The bells are arranged in a circle, from the smallest (the treble) to the largest (the tenor). They are tuned according to the notes of a major scale.
When the bells are made to sound in a descending scale it is called ringing “rounds”. But much more interesting is when the order of the bells changes each time the bells sound – hence “ringing the changes”. There are more possible changes than you might think: with seven bells, there are 5040; this takes about three hours to ring. A “peal” means ringing 5000 or more changes; but what is usually rung is a “touch” of fewer changes. Bell ringers say ‘ring’ though not ‘pealing’, and the set of bells is also called a “ring”.
Bell ringing funfacts:
www.ringingworld.co.uk/learntoring/.
To learn more about bell ringing visit:
https://www.cccbr.org.uk or
http://guildfordguild.org.uk
Farnham Sinfonia
Farnham has for many years boasted a thriving musical tradition envied by many neighbouring towns. Consequently it seemed necessary to form a local chamber orchestra comprised mainly of leading local professional players in and around the town who have already established a strong reputation in the locality and are well known to concert going audiences.
Farnham Sinfonia was launched in October 2017, generously supported by Tilford Bach Society.
It was formed by local Composer and Conductor Matthew Taylor and is now based at St Andrews Church where it performs annually.