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Lest we forget: Concert commemorating World War One22 November 2014
Once again the choir was invited to perform with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Derngate – this time under the baton of Nick Davies. On this occasion it was for a concert entitled Lest We Forget to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War and all of the music for the concert was appropriately themed. The choir was joined by over thirty singers from Northampton’s twin towns of Poitiers and Marburg, a fitting and poignant move for such a concert. The orchestral pieces of the programme included Holst’s Mars and Venus from The Planets, as well as Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Sutton’s War Horse Suite - all beautifully performed as part of a moving evening of music for an appreciative audience. The orchestra also accompanied the soprano soloist, Elin Manahan Thomas, as she sang Pie Jesu - one of two pieces taken from Fauré’s Requiem, the other In Paradisum performed as part of the choir’s contribution. The choir sang a number of moving pieces taken from Requiem masses by some of the world’s great composers: Mozart’s Introit and Kyrie, Rutter’s Lux Aeterna, and Verdi’s Dies Irae. The programme also featured two extracts from Jenkins’ Armed Man: A Mass for Peace – Sanctus and Benedictus. The choir accompanied the orchestra for Williams’ Hymn to the Fallen, the theme music from Saving Private Ryan - and Vaughan Williams’ powerful Dona Nobis Pacem made a most suitable addition to the programme. The evening was ably compered by Radio Northampton’s John Griff who joined the choir as he narrated the spoken section from Jenkins’ For the Fallen - a moving ending to a powerful and poignant concert. |
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