Morten Lauridsen
Lent term concerts
On Sunday 3 March we were thrilled to welcome Morten Lauridsen to Queens’ College Chapel. The esteemed American composer held an open rehearsal in the afternoon with the choirs of Queens’, Girton and Robinson (conducted by Silas Wollston, Suzi Digby and Tim Brown respectively), with insightful comments from Lauridsen aiding all three choirs to appreciate and understand his music better. The recital later that evening that was extremely well attended and received by all parties, the highlight of which was the combined choirs rendition of Laurdisen’s most performed work, ‘O Magnum Mysterium’.
For our post-term concerts we were joined by our friends from Germany, the Osnabrück University Chamber Choir, who generously hosted us during our summer tour last year. We gave a joint concert in St Edmundsbury Cathedral on 21 March. Under the title ‘Gethsemane’, the programme included settings of Christ’s words ‘Tristis est anima mea’ by Kuhnau, Gesualdo and Witte. The choirs performed separately before combining at the end of both halves in Gabrieli’s ‘O Domine Jesu Christe’ and Brahms’s ‘Wo ist ein so herrlick Volk’. The Osnabrücker’s rendition of Buchenberg’s ‘Ich bin das Brot des Lebens’ was particularly captivating, as was Queens’ performance of Harvey’s ‘Thou Mastering Me, O God’. This was a great chance to catch up with some familiar faces! The following day, Queens’ choir was very well received by the packed audience at the London church of St Anne and Agnes, near St Paul’s Cathedral. Back in Cambridge that evening, a party with the Osnabrück Choir rounded off a thoroughly enjoyable experience for both choirs.
Out Now: The choir’s latest CD: And comes the Day
Mixing the familiar with the unfamiliar, this eclectic programme explores Advent themes through the words of medieval English poets. Includes music by Britten, Howells, Ord and Wollston (premiere recording) and settings of the Great Advent Antiphons by Chilcott, Pärt and Charpentier.
For full details of the CD, go to:
http://www.orchidclassics.com/cqc.htm
The CD can be purchased online from the college shop: