Passing of the year
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This concert was certainly a game of two halves – the first being a selection of modern classical choral works and the second being the more familiar Fauré’s Requiem.
The first half featured a song cycle by contemporary composer Jonathan Dove called “The Passing of the Year”. This is an exhilarating and creative work for double choir and piano, setting seven poems that move through the changing seasons, from the first buds of spring to the frosts of winter. Dove’s effective setting of words may be likened to Benjamin Britten, and the piano accompaniment is a real tour de force for the player.
The programme also featured shorter items, most notably “Cloudburst” by Eric Whitacre, in which the choir has to recreate the sounds of a thunderstorm, assisted by the piano and some percussion. The piece, as its name suggests, is about rain and its spiritual place. The text was adapted from a Spanish poem “The Broken Water-Jug” The work features percussion, along with the choir clicking their fingers at one point which gives the impression of large rain drops falling.
The well known harmonies of the Fauré needed to be expertly performed after the excitement of the first half but in the words of one member of the audience "the choir gave a rendition which was easily the best I’ve heard live. The organist too was fantastic. It all felt wonderfully smooth, and all the soloists were easily capable, particularly the soprano soloist who had a lovely pure tone".
