I know several people who hate February and consider it to be the low point of the year. For me, however, that point comes in November as we enter the suffocating tunnel of winter and by this time, it’s as if one can sense the earth shifting on its axis, the quality of light changes and I feel myself emerging once more into the outside world.

THE FOOD OF LOVE

Our concert on February 10th in the Holywell Music Room is a wonderful opportunity to venture out and bask in an exploration of human love in its various manifestations, from savage jealousy, through serene enjoyment, to the tragic. The programme includes Bach’s cantata ‘Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten’, thought to have been composed for his own wedding and sung here by young soprano, Katherine Crompton. So why not eschew that overpriced meal on Valentine’s Day and celebrate, more originally, with us on the 10th, by considering the tremendous creative effect this overwhelming human emotion has had on two of the greatest composers ever: Bach and Handel? Tickets are still available online at www.timeandtruth.co.uk and at the Holywell from 6.45pm on the night of the 10th.

UPCOMING CONCERTS

Shortly afterwards, IT&T will assume a central role in the Keble Early Music Festival, with Edward Higginbottom’s 9pm ‘Abendmusik in Lübeck’ on February 23rd and the B minor Mass on Saturday 25th at 7.30pm. These concerts demonstrate two extremes of music-making, from the intimacy of a handful of musicians in the first, to the massed choirs of Keble, St Peter’s and Merton colleges, alongside Voices of Time and Truth, in the second. Details of both these concerts are on our website and the B minor Mass can also be booked there. Details of the rest of the Festival can be seen on the Tickets Oxford website.

We still have about 6 tickets left for Friends to attend the St John Passion in New College Chapel on Sunday 12th March at 3.30pm. This is a truly awe-inspiring setting in which to appreciate this profound work and for IT&T to play with one of the world’s best and longest-established choirs a great privilege of living in Oxford. If you are not yet a Friend, this could be your opportunity to support us. Just getting the chance to be part of this St John Passion makes the starting subscription of only£60 per year a very good deal!

FUTURE PLANS

In the time since my last newsletter, there have been some very exciting developments for 2018 which could see Instruments of Time and Truth progressing to a new level in terms of its profile. I hope these plans will firm up shortly. In the meantime, thank you for coming to our concerts and for enjoying them. It has been inspiring to receive your appreciative comments and emails and to remind us that even this newsletter ultimately has a human purpose.

Judith Evans, Concerts Manager.