Aldeburgh Festival Chorus
Michael DrakeOrford ChurchMichael Drake
Orford Church
An amalgam of professional, adult and children's choirs tackled a programme of (mainly) a capella music yesterday afternoon as they joined forces in this accoustically bright building.
The eight members of the brilliant Exaudi, with James Weeks directing, first showed extreme clarity in Stravinsky's The Dove Descending.
They followed this with a gentility in Britten's We are the Darkness' before making an explosion of vocal sounds in the first performance of an Aldeburgh commission in contemporary composer Morgan Hayes' E Vesuvio Monte. Words from a 1st C poet describing a volcanic explosion seemed extraordinary for a choral setting - or did he have Iceland in mind? Whatever the inspiration Exaudi demonstrated extraordinary vocal skill in a musical eruption.
You may also want to watch:
The Britten-Pears Chamber Choir and Abbey Chapel Choir conducted by Ben Parry had opened with Luciano Berio's Sicilian love song before the young voices of the North Suffolk Youth Choir presented some typical Britten arrangements. With the larger ensemble Britten's Advance Democracy and Pacifist March of the 1930s were percussive, passionate and committed, with much unison singing.
Most Read
- 1 Norfolk woman fined after travelling 200 miles to visit daughter
- 2 Atlantis Tower up for sale after owner signs ‘outrageous’ loan deal
- 3 Covid rates continue to fall across Norfolk, especially in Norwich
- 4 Fired twice in two months: Events boss feels the pain of Covid
- 5 Norfolk bowls star tests positive at world indoor championships
- 6 9 of Norfolk's most famous blue plaques
- 7 Man's neck broken after being hit by 800kg load which fell off forklift
- 8 Revealed: The areas where Covid cases are still increasing
- 9 Centre takes action after IT failure causes long queues for Covid jab
- 10 Man admits defrauding more than £1.3m from Norfolk firm
