Vocal and Choral Concert

Vocal and choral music are particularly strong at Sherborne, and this was on full display in a jam-packed concert covering much of the vocal repertory.

Starting the concert was a trio of dramatic pieces sung by 3^rd and 4^th form vocalists. First was Rory Nell as the priest Sarastro in the magisterial ‘O Isis und Osiris’ from The Magic Flute, with Rory’s resonant tone deftly conjuring up the high priest’s dignified prayer for the gods to protect the opera’s two protagonists from harm. Next was Hendrik Ashbrooke’s (Exh. Mus.) rather more gruesome ‘Their land brought forth frogs’ from Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egpyt, impressively conjuring up the leaping amphibians in the sudden changes of register underpinned by a skipping accompaniment in the piano part. Finally, Frederick Folkes (Sch. Mus.) showcased a sumptuous aria by early Baroque composer Caccini: ‘Amarilli, mia bella’, and with it marked his debut as a singer in the Friday Lunchtime Recital Series. This was followed by two piece of Bach (a writer of famously difficult vocal parts) by two 6^th form singers. First was Hector Fiennes in the gently moving ‘Benedictus’ from the B minor Mass, exhibiting great control in the sometimes extreme demands of tessitura which Bach makes of his soloists. The second was Will Banks’ (Sch. Mus.) presentation of ‘Deposuit Potentes’ from the Magnificat in D major, a complete contrast in the intense rendering of the text ‘He hath put down the mighty’. Will’s powerful tone communicated this wonderfully in an arrestingly forceful performance of some of Bach’s most dramatic music.

Finally, there we two songs from the English canon of twentieth century song. The first by John Ireland, drawing on sea shanty-esque modality to produce a wistful longing for the swashbuckling life at sea, sung with great aplomb by Freddie Graham (Sch. Mus.), ATCL).  George Lewis (Exh. Mus) sang Roger Quilter’s setting of Tennyson’s sonnet ‘Now sleeps the crimson petal’, with a disarmingly sensitive rendering of this most delicate of settings.