This spring is a time for rediscovering Requiems that I haven’t sung in ages. First it was Mozart, now Howells, which I have only sung once before, in my Cambridge days. (There are other Requiems that have long awaited another performance from me – Cherubini, Bruneau and indeed Brahms, which I have rehearsed twice with Bristol Choral Society but never performed with them). Later in the year, I hope to return to another piece by Howells that I haven’t sung for an equally long time – Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing<\/i>. These two pieces were written thirty years apart, and yet I can’t really distinguish them stylistically at all. Did Howells’ style not change in that time, or have I just failed to pick up the ways in which it developed?<\/p>\n
I joined the CanZona choir for a Holy Week concert – no risk of overload as Bristol Choral was taking a pre-Easter rehearsal break. We paired the Howells with Fauré’s Requiem, and framed it with two settings of the opening verses of the Stabat Mater<\/i> by Schubert (D175) and Will Todd (from his Passion Music<\/i>).<\/p>\n
It was gratifying to perform to a full church (although it doesn’t need huge numbers to fill St Nicholas’) and we were fortunate in securing the services of David Bednall on the organ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This spring is a time for rediscovering Requiems that I haven’t sung in ages. First it was Mozart, now Howells, which I have only sung once before, in my Cambridge days. (There are other Requiems that have long awaited another … Continue reading