We were delighted to return to St Michael's Church in Hernhill last Friday, for what proved to be an evocative combination of choral music and silence coming together in 'Breathing Space.' During the winter months, the fifteenth-century church hosts a series of Breathing Space events, each of which is an hour-long sequence of music and silence by candlelight. Usually recorded music is played, but last Friday we took the opportunity to sing several pieces from our repertoire this year at the service. After our rehearsal, candles were lit all around the church and the lights were turned off, creating a hushed atmosphere. We were seated in the choir-stalls behind to rood screen, and in the darkness it wasn't possible to see the congregation arriving, all that you heard was the click as the timbered door was opened and shut as people arrived. The service began at 7.30pm without preamble - at the appointed hour, we stood and launched James Webb's moving Blest are the Pure in Heart into the hushed darkness. Over the ensuing sixty minutes, we sang music by David Truslove, Anna Phoebe, Haydn, Pelham Humpfrey, and plainsong, concluding with Sarah Quartel's charming The Birds' Lullaby which emerged out of the sound of bird-calls being imitated by ocarinas and tiny recorders. There was a remarkable atmosphere ushered into existence by the combination of sound, silence and candles, as the music wove a meditative space rich in contrasting colours: the church bell striking eight during a moment of silence partway through was especially atmospheric, matched by the sighing of the wind in the roof, the creaking of the ancient timbers and the guttering candle-flames dancing in the draughty dark. Magical. The vicar stood at the end to thank the Choir and say a closing prayer, and then the congregation left the church to step out into the night. Afterwards, we talked about how effective the event had been, and how much we wanted to do it again. Watch this (breathing) space...
0 Comments
Many thanks to everyone who came to our concert last Friday, in the wonderful acoustics of St Gregory and St Martin church in Wye. The programme was the first opportunity for us to present three movements from Between Worlds, a new piece for choir, solo violin and ensemble inspired by the intersection between music and science by composer and violinist, Anna Phoebe. Anna joined us towards the end of the first half to perform three inner movements from the piece, written for unaccompanied choir and violin, which take the listener on a cinematic sonic odyssey into the heart of sub-molecular scientific research. The concert also included James Webb's luminous Blest are the Pure in Heart, which we are thoroughly enjoying performing this year, as well as works by Haydn, Mozart and Vivaldi for which we were joined by a five-piece string consort. The first time you present a programme for public consumption is always a little scary; have we paced it suitably; is the repertoire interesting or varied enough; is the audience engaged by what we are performing; have we included too many modern pieces ?! However, the audience was hugely receptive to Friday's programme, and it was lovely to have the first opportunity to pace and measure it in a lovely sonorous and supportive acoustic. The three movements from Between Worlds created a wonderful atmosphere, pitching colourful choral writing against the solo violin line that lifted and skirled around the vaulted roof of the church.
Our next event is this Friday (15th March), when we travel to St Michael's Church, Hernhill, to perform an evocative sequence of music and silence by candlelight in the meditative Breathing Space; admission is free, more details online here. This year's Chamber Choir sang Choral Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral last week, a brace of contemporary settings from Chichester Music Press and Canticles by Pelham Humfrey. The Choir was especially delighted to meet composer James Webb (pictured below), who had travelled down to Canterbury especially to hear the Choir perform his evocative setting of Blest are the Pure in Heart. The Choir also sang a setting of the Preces and Responses by David Truslove, a colourful setting written in the Ionian mode requiring a highly flexible rhythmic sense. It was lovely to sing in the glorious acoustic of the Cathedral Quire, and to be a part of the centuries-old tradition operating at the heart of the Cathedral's daily life. The Choir's next event is a concert at Wye Parish Church on Friday 8 March; details online here. One of the highlights of the Choir's performing calendar is the opportunity to sing at Canterbury Cathedral as part of the University Carol Service.
The service began with the Cathedral plunged into darkness lit only by candles, as second-year Assistant Conductor Hannah Ost conducted a lively rendering of Gaudete. Second-year postgraduate soprano, Helen Sotillo, then launched the solo opening verse of Once in royal David's city clear into the cathedral's roof, high above the heads of the expectant congregation, before the Choir sang the second verse, and the service was truly underway. Later in the service, the Choir sang a setting of Lullay My Liking by Will Inscoe, a Music Scholar and pupil at St Edmund's School, Canterbury, as well as the vigorous Ding, Dong, Merrily on High from the Pulpitum steps. Congratulations to all the Choir; Christmas is here! Many thanks to an enthusiastic audience on Friday, who came to our performance 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' at St Michael's church in Hernhill. Situated in a picturesque Kentish village, amongst rolling orchards and fields, the ancient church on the village green rang to the sound of choral music celebrating sacred and secular love, including Pergolesi's Stabat Mater for which we were joined by members of the String Sinfonia. A gorgeous summer evening filled with gorgeous choral music! The evening raised almost £500 towards the church's restoration fund - thank you to everyone who made a donation. But it doesn't stop there; on Tuesday 29 May, we'll be singing Choral Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral, before launching the University's Summer Music Week on Friday 1 June with a concert in the sumptuous acoustic of the Cathedral Crypt.
Tempus fugit... New territory for the Chamber Choir, as we start rehearsing to sing Choral Evensong at the Cathedral in May. Several of the Choir is well used to the discipline and practice of singing psalms and Responses, but for most of the Choir it's new ground. There's an organic flexibility needed to deliver the psalm chant effectively, being sensitive to the inflections of the text; the Preces and Responses need to be delivered with a flourish, and there's an anthem to learn. It's exciting to be breaking new ground for the Chamber Choir, and it feels as though we are plugging into a centuries-old choral tradition, one that it's becoming increasingly important to keep alive, and that links churches and cathedrals invisibly up and down the country; musical ley-lines connecting places of worship across time as well as across the countryside each time the ritual unfolds in words and music. (Last night we took the opportunity to set ourselves in Cantoris/Decani fashion, as it's a different ensemble feel to standing in our customary mixed-voice formation. (And yes, the traditional rivalry between Cantoris and Decani is already starting to emerge, so we're keeping that tradition alive as well!)
We've started looking at the repertoire for the service early, as there's the small matter of the thumping great Easter vacation that will intrude later this month, and we'll have only a couple of rehearsals when we return before heading down the hill to the Cathedral. Come and hear the finished results in May... Well, Friday's lunchtime concert in Studio 3 Gallery saw the first time when extra chairs were being called for at one of our #EarBox events: the audience just kept coming! It's always a real treat when we start rehearsing in the campus' art gallery in the Jarman Building; the first chord we sing fills the marvellously resonant space - and off we go... This time, we were singing amidst 'The Ash Archive,' the gallery's latest newest exhibition, filling the space with music including Sarah Rimkus' otherworldly O Vos Omnes, and Rachmaninov's sedate Bogoroditsye Dyevo (in rehearsal with assistant conductor, Matt Cooke, pictured right). It was a pleasure singing for such a large and appreciative audience; later this afternoon, we're heading out to the village of Hernhill, near Faversham, for a sequence of music and silence in an unusual event; pictures from that to follow. Many thanks to everyone who came along, and to the gallery co-ordinator, Rose Thompson, for helping to bring it all together. With last night's rehearsal over, the next time we sing will be in the rich acoustic of Studio 3 Gallery in the Jarman Building, for the #EarBox series of events linking visual art and music. We unveil our new programme against the backdrop of the gallery's latest exhibition, The Ash Archive, and are looking forward to doing so. But it doesn't stop there; later on Friday, we head out to the fifteenth-century church of St Michael's in Hernhill, for a meditative sequence of music and silence by candlelight, in the church's Breathing Space series of events. Hopefully, we won't set fire to anything... More details about both events here: music, art and silence - it's all to come this Friday... One of the pieces we've been working on as part of this year's choral repertoire is a wonderfully otherworldly setting of O Vos Omnes, a motet for Lent by the American composer, Sarah Rimkus. It's a real pleasure for us to be able to champion contemporary works and new music by up-and-coming young composers, and this year's piece is a beautiful motet that hovers on the brink between medieval and modern. We're very pleased to have made this recording, filmed in Colyer-Fergusson Hall this week; our thanks to Sarah for permission to make it, we're loving singing it - very much looking forward to performing it in the Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral next month! Recording engineer: Matt Wilson.
Filmed in Colyer-Fergusson Hall, University of Kent. |
Daniel hardingPianist, conductor, Deputy Director of Music, University of Kent Archives
March 2019
Categories |