FINALLY! After months of lockdown, postponed concert dates and zoom rehearsals, the Society managed to meet in person to rehearse and then perform a superb programme of works to celebrate the last concert of our retiring Director of Music, Robin Nelson. Bach's Magnificat, Parry's I Was Glad and Haydn's Nelson Mass, aided by superb soloists and Rosie Tompsett's orchestra, filled the Chapel with glorious sound. A number of Robin's friends and past pupils returned to augment the choir and delight their fellow chorus members with some powerful singing for an enthusiastic audience. This was a really splendid musical occasion.
Parry: I Was Glad
Venice, October 2019
The Choral Society recently returned from a tour to Venice. We sang in two lovely churches, the Pietà and Santa Maria dei Miracoli. The first of these churches was where Antonio Vivaldi had been the musical director in the early 18th century. So, it was very appropriate that we should sing his well-known ‘Gloria’ in that building. The second concert in a marble-clad gem of a church, the Miracoli, had a lovely warm atmosphere and a fine acoustic. Being the city closely associated with Claudio Monteverdi, we included his ‘Beatus Vir’ and an extract from his ‘Vespers’, the ‘Ave Maris Stella’. We also treated out audience to a range of English music from the English Golden Age; motets by Tallis, Byrd, Gibbons and Redford, all written towards the end of the 16th century. In addition to the singing there was plenty of time for sight-seeing, for consuming the excellent wines of the Veneto and the Adriatic seafood. As always, it was a friendly and fulfilling tour and we hope there will be many more.
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The first of these churches was where Antonio Vivaldi had been the musical director in the early 18th century. So, it was very appropriate that we should sing his well-known ‘Gloria’ in that building. The second concert in a marble-clad gem of a church, the Miracoli, had a lovely warm atmosphere and a fine acoustic. Being the city closely associated with Claudio Monteverdi, we included his ‘Beatus Vir’ and an extract from his ‘Vespers’, the ‘Ave Maris Stella’. We also treated out audience to a range of English music from the English Golden Age; motets by Tallis, Byrd, Gibbons and Redford, all written towards the end of the 16th century. In addition to the singing there was plenty of time for sight-seeing, for consuming the excellent wines of the Veneto and the Adriatic seafood. As always, it was a friendly and fulfilling tour and we hope there will be many more.