On Sunday 17th May at 6pm, members of Vox Cantab sang Evensong in the splendidly-refurbished Chapel at Downing College, Cambridge, accompanied by the fabulous new Tickell organ. The music included anthems by Williams Byrd and Mundy, and an organ voluntary by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.
DirectorLouisa Denby; Piano Elis Reed; Readers Richard Blakemore & Debbie Pullinger
The programme included works by 16th-century composers Thomas Morley and Clemens non Papa, through to Quilter’s arrangement of Drink to me only with thine eyes (beautifully sung by soprano soloist Catherine White), Rutter’s Banquet Fugue from The Reluctant Dragon, and Frederick Bridge’s humorous tale of The Goslings.
The musical numbers were interspersed with readings serious and light-hearted, including extracts from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling), Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray), Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll), and a Shakespeare sonnet.
Music for Lent, Pembroke College Chapel, Cambridge
Conductors Oliver Hancock & Louisa Denby
A concert very much of two halves: the first half consisted of music from English Renaissance composers, including Robert White’s emotionally-charged setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah; the second half was a little bit different, with works by later French composers, ending with Messiaen’s haunting O sacrum convivium!