On Sunday 8 November, S. Anselm's Chapel Choir joined forces with the orchestra from Lady Manners School, parents and staff from both schools and other local musicians for a Remembrance Sunday Community Concert.
The music this year celebrated the breadth and quality of English composers over the years from Henry Purcell through to the Malvern-influenced Elgar and Vaughan Williams.
The first half comprised of a rousing performance of Handel's Zadok the Priest. Handel was born in Germany, but just before writing this marvellous piece, he was granted British nationality. The piece, written for the coronation of George II in 1727, has been performed at every coronation since.
Andrew Marples played two pieces by Karl Jenkins. The first was an arrangement of the Benedictus from 'The Armed Man'. Some former members of the Chapel Choir may remember singing this at the Worksop Choral Day back in 2007. This was followed by a piece inspired by Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood", called Trumpeting Organ Morgan.
My personal highlight (although maybe I'm a little biased?) was the performance from S. Anselm's Chapel Choir. They sang the arrangement of 'The Lord is My Shepherd' by Howard Goodall, better known perhaps as the Theme to The Vicar of Dibley. Tobias Stables' solo was as assured as ever and the choir gave a very controlled and expressive performance. Peter Warlock's 'Bethlehem Down' is without doubt one of the most beautiful pieces of choral music ever written. Originally written for 4-part choir without accompaniment, the version performed at the concert was for unison voices and piano accompaniment (written by Warlock himself). The phrasing and control was breath-taking for children of this age and the performance certainly made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end!
After three contrasting pieces by Britten, Holst and Elgar from the Senior Strings of Lady Manners School, the 'Come and Sing' choir were back in action with a performance of Purcell's Bell Anthem, 'Rejoice in the Lord Alway', with Mr and Mrs Weller and Mr Franklin singing the trio section.
After a well-earned glass of wine (or orange) at the interval, the second half began with a performance of Vaughan William's Five Mystical Songs. The orchestral writing, whilst fiendishly difficult, was admirably coped with by the impressive Lady Manners School orchestra, whilst the choir watched like eagles for their next lead. The Chapel Choir from S. Anselm's sang "The Call", again with precision and delicacy, before the final "Antiphon" rang through the church.
A dramatic performance by the orchestra of Robert Steadman's "On St. Crispin's Day" was followed by a very moving rendition of Elgar's famous "Nimrod" from the Enigma Variations, so commonly linked with Remembrance Day, and this was followed by a beautiful piece by Andrew Marples on the piano - a Nocturne by John Field - which was very Chopin-esque in style.
The finale of the concert was an orchestrated performance of Jerusalem, followed by the National Anthem, arranged by Peter Dyke, assistant organist at Hereford Cathedral for the 2000 Three Choirs Festival. The audience even stood up and joined in.
The smiles on the faces of the children told the story at the end. They had given their all and had played a major part in a memorable evening.
Thanks go to all performers, to Julie and the kitchen staff for the catering, to Simon and Michelle Northcott for their support and interval drinks, to the maintainence team for moving of chairs etc, and to all others who gave their time for this very important community event.
More photos to follow soon.
Posted on
Mon, November 9, 2009
by JPW