An Act of Remembrance and New Beginnings
Sunday 10th November 2024
Our concert on November 9th looked to the past, with music chosen not only for Remembrance Day but also to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Gabriel Fauré’s death. But it also looked to the future, as we embark on an exciting new relationship with our new Musical Director, Jim Bate.
Jim worked very hard with us in the ten weeks of rehearsals leading up to the concert. In Fauré’s Requiem, a work many of us have sung many times before, we appreciated his passion for the music and careful attention to detail. The other two choral pieces in the programme, James MacMillan’s haunting Gaelic lament inspired setting of a text for Ash Wednesday, and John Tavener’s Svyati, a meditative setting of a Church Slavonic text frequently used at Orthodox funerals, were unknown to most of us and posed different challenges. Jim patiently coached us in the tricky rhythms and tuning difficulties, and as we grew more confident, we came to love the music.
On the night of the concert, both pieces were lifted to a new level by the solo stringed instruments, Alistair Kennedy’s violin weaving around and through the voices in the MacMillan, and Robert Kurnatowski’s cello in eloquent dialogue with the choir as the voice of the priest in the Tavener. We were also treated to a wonderfully varied and virtuosic piece for harp and organ, a Fantasia by the French Canadian composer Rachel Laurin, played by Erica Sinclair on harp and Colin Druce on the organ. All four instrumentalists came together to form the ‘orchestra’ for the Requiem, in a pared down setting much more in keeping with Fauré’s original intentions than the later full orchestral version. We were joined by Birmingham based Matthew Pandya as the baritone soloist, and our very own soprano Claire Knowles sang the ‘Pie Jesu’.
After such a successful opening concert, we look forward to many more musical adventures with Jim at the helm. And the week also marked another very important new beginning, as Jim’s baby daughter Clara was born just five days before the concert. We offer Jim and his wife our warmest congratulations on the new arrival; with such an auspicious start, Clara is sure to grow up singing!
Please click on the link below to read a review of the concert in the Leamington Courier.
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