St Mary's Calne
On Thursday 20 March, LIV Choir, Junior Consort, Chamber Choir and Chamber Orchestra travelled to University Church, Oxford in bright sunshine for an exhilarating day of rehearsals, a much-needed delicious lunch and evening concert.
This year’s Spring Concert sported exciting programming involving traditional choral concert pieces and a Guzheng, followed by the moving and uplifting work by Pergolesi, Stabat Mater.
LIV Choir, Junior Consort and Chamber Choir opened the concert with Ola Gjeilo’s haunting setting of Christina Rossetti’s famous poem, The Rose. The Chamber Orchestra’s delicate accompaniment ensured a bedrock of harmony and the concert was clearly off to a rousing start. The three choirs sang with utter conviction and the further repertoire chosen included Cor Jesu Sacratissimum with Guinevere’s (LVI) soprano soaring up into to the beautiful church.
A bespoke arrangement of Come lovely sleep by Bach allowed Octavia (MIV) to shine as soloist and Simon Lole’s The Father’s Love and Will Todd’s Ave Verum captivated the audience.
LIV Choir weaved a beautiful legato in the Shoshone Love Song and Selina (UIV) closed the concert half of the evening with the astonishing Spring Arrives in Lhasa on the Chinese plucked zither, the Guzheng. Very appropriate for the first day of Spring!
The major work chosen to commemorate the music of Easter followed. The Pergolesi Stabat Mater, composed in 1736 is a poignant setting of a 13th century hymn that meditates on the sorrow of the Virgin Mary as she witnesses the death of her son, Jesus Christ. Chamber Choir and Junior Consort came together to perform an exceptionally moving performance of the work making the most of the stunning acoustics. Soloists from both choirs enjoyed the dramatic arias and duets, with Katie H (UIV), Jemima (UIV), Evie (UVI), Willa (UV), Grace M (UV) and Alice (LV) rising to the challenge with complete assurance and musicianship.
It was a glorious evening, celebrating the fine talent amongst the extraordinarily gifted musicians of St Mary’s.
To see the all pictures from the Spring Concert, please click here.
Mrs Bethan Dudley Fryar, Director of Vocal Studies, on behalf of the Music Department