On Saturday 11 March, we were delighted to welcome the Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London, to Wells Cathedral, with their conductor, Rupert Gough. The choir gave a spellbinding performance in aid of WCCT and the Choristers were delighted to join them for the first half of the programme. It was particularly wonderful to welcome back Rupert, a former Assistant Organist of Wells Cathedral, and organist Andrew Dewar, a former Junior Organ Scholar at Wells. It was also a huge delight to see James Gooding, a former Wells Head Chorister, who is now singing baritone at Royal Holloway.
The concert opened with J S Bach’s motet, O Jesu Christ, mein Lebens Licht. This was followed by Rupert sublime choral arrangement of Ravel’s Pavane pour one infant defunté, a work that the Choristers thoroughly enjoyed singing. Mendelssohn’s I waited for the Lord is a firm favourite of the Choristers and it was a wonderful to hear them singing this with the visiting choir. The first part of the programme ended with a captivating performance of Lithuanian composer, Vytautas Miškinis’s hypnotic piece Oi šala, šala. This was performed ‘in the round’ with the Choristers and Choir of Royal Holloway gathered in small groups surrounding the audience. It’s certainly the first time the Choristers had sung a piece in Lithuanian!
The next two items were by contemporary Norwegian composer, Ola Gjeilo. Firstly, an arrangement of a traditional Norwegian song, Ingen Vinner Frem. The composer’s peaceful and introspective Agnus Dei followed, filling the Cathedral with the Choir’s glowing sound, as did Matthew Coleridge’s setting of the German evening hymn, Abenleid. The final two items of the concert were by the 20th-century French composer, Pierre Villette. The first, his Hymne à la Vierge, is a firm choral favourite with its colourful flowing harmonies. The second, larger work was Villette’s Missa ‘Da Pacem’, performed in a Rupert Gough’s own arrangement for choir and organ, which brought the concert to a stunning close.
We are extremely grateful to them all for coming to Wells and giving us such a treat of a concert!
