Candlelit

On Saturday evening I had the pleasure of attending a candlelit concert in the Wrekin College’s Chapel. The performance was by; Wrekin College Combined Choirs and Orchestra, The Old Hall School Chapel Choir with Piano and Choral Soloists.*

As we  approached the chapel it was very atmospheric because the outer porch window sills were illuminated with tealights. Once inside the chapel I found it quite delightful, a place I would love to explore and photograph. Every window sill was covered in tealights and as the lights dimmed at the beginning of the performance the sight, sound and atmosphere was quite stunning.

The opening piece was Overture to the Opera Idomeneo by Mozart, this was followed by Howard Blake’s If (A setting of the Poem by Rudyard Kipling); the Chapel choir pupils filed in and lined the walls their hair glowing in the candlelight as they sung the poem.

After the pupils had filed out Yuki Kagajo took her place at the piano and treated us to a stunning performance Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major accompanied by the orchestra. After this it was time for the interval and refreshments in the Memorial Hall. This meant a short walk across the campus over one of the roads that divides it, thankfully the wind and rain from earlier in the day had subsided. On arrival we were pleasantly surprised to find that refreshments were fruit juice or wine rather than the expected tea and coffee.

Practice

We returned to the chapel for the second half of the concert; Mozart Requiem. This was performed by the combined choirs and orchestra, accompanied by choral soloists: Lucy Gibbs, Ruth Theobald, Themba Mvula and Robert Tilson. The Requiem was performed wonderfully. It is a powerful score and to hear the orchestra and so many voices performing it whilst the candles flickered around us was very moving.

Practice

* All photos and videos are from practice sessions posted on the Wrekin College Twitter account

20 Comments CherryPie on Mar 20th 2017

20 Responses to “Mozart Requiem”

  1. Astrid says:

    This sounds like a wonderful experience and the location is of course very special too. The music is wonderful and it is great to see that young people are really in this kind of music too.

  2. James Higham says:

    A most atmospheric occasion.

  3. lisl says:

    The tealights are not easy to photograph (I have tried) – these look really good

  4. Alan says:

    Sounds like a lovely evening. The amateur choirs and orchestras can be every bit as good as the pros. I went t concert feature the English Youth orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall and they were stunning. My concert on Saturday was by Guildford Choral with the BSO.

    • CherryPie says:

      Listening to music played in the Royal Albert Hall is quite something!

      It sounds like your musical Saturday was as enjoyable as mine was :-)

  5. Ayush says:

    your description is very picturesque, as usual. i like the first shot very much.

  6. Debbie says:

    the first image is really special – it sounds like it was a wonderful evening!!

  7. Hels says:

    Mozart Requiem was all the more powerful because of both the atmosphere of the chapel and because it was performed by the combined choirs and orchestra. My hair stood on end, just listening.

  8. Ginnie says:

    I would have been in heaven with you there, Cherry. Astrid and I have heard the Mozart Requiem in Amsterdam’s Concert Hall, one of the best in the world. And believe it or not, back in the day, when Bill and I lived in Columbia, SC, I actually was a member of the Choral Society when it was sung. You never forget singing such magnificence!

    • CherryPie says:

      I came to this concert by hoping to join the community choir when I heard about it just before Christmas last year. By the time I got to the party the rehearsals were well under way, with only a few weeks left before the concert.

      I know I would have been up to the challenge to catch up, but I didn’t think it was fair to join at such a late stage in the rehearsals. So I elected to wait until September this year to start at the beginning with the next choral project.

      I bought tickets for Mr C and I to enjoy the concert rather than me take part in it :-)

  9. We have similar event in London too!
    £16 – what a rip off.
    Rehearsal is free thou. ;)

    • CherryPie says:

      A rip off?

      Fine music comes at a price… Instruments have to be paid, teaching has to be paid for, the venue has to be paid for…

      For these events to take place the money has to come from somewhere…

      ;-)

  10. Amfortas says:

    All I can say is ‘WOW !’. What a thrill. I have the requiem somewhere on an old tape. I only ever listen to fine music on ‘You Tube” these days, and then I saturate myself with multiple examples of any particular piece. But to sit in an ‘old’ place and listen to even a College orchestra and choir -real, enthusiastic folk – is a rare privilege.

    • CherryPie says:

      It was I thrill, the talent was outstanding. The community choir part of the performance is the one that I mentioned to you that I aspired to join, but as I mentioned above (to Ginnie) I chose to wait until September this year :-)