Musicians in the choirs and orchestra, together with soloists and chamber ensembles, gave a superb concert at Bristol Cathedral as part of the regular lunchtime concert series. The standard of both performance and presentation was extremely high and we were warmly received by a large audience.
Numbers of visitors that day to the Cathedral were swelled by the interest in the art installation called ‘Shrouds of the Somme’ on College Green just outside the cathedral; our girls paused on their way out of the cathedral after the concert to reflect on the immense loss of life on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, each tiny shrouded figure lying on the ground representing a soldier who fell on that fateful day in 1916.
Our concert began with the string orchestra’s spirited performance of the Rondeau from Abdelazer Suite followed by Schola Cantorum singing three movements from An Easter Sequence by Kenneth Leighton, sounding magnificent in the resonant acoustic of the cathedral and Laura Gray’s soprano solo soaring high into the building. Rose and Megan were soloists, playing Romance by Richard Wagner and Pièce en forme de Habanera by Maurice Ravel respectively, both girls demonstrating the utmost control and poise in their performances.
The piano trio (Rose, Jennifer and Catherine ) made their debut performance playing the 2nd movement from Piano Trio No.1 by Felix Mendelssohn; their sense of balance and phrasing made for a really beautiful interpretation and we look forward to further performances by this ensemble. The Choir concluded the concert by singing 3 movements from Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi, the girls’ voices being amplified and carried aloft by the acoustic of the cathedral.
