A Christmas Reflection at Guildford Cathedral
Posted on Friday 13 January 2012
Friday 16 December 2011
Standing imposing and floodlit on top of the hill, Guildford Cathedral welcomed the audience and set the scene for A Christmas Reflection, performed by the College Choral Society and Chamber Choir.
This year’s audience-packed concert set out to express the festive season in a thoughtful way. As Director of Music, Paul Bambrough, explained, “Last year’s concert was the more traditional service of 9 Lessons and Carols. We wanted to do something different this year that also conveyed the full meaning of Christmas which is so often missed during this holiday season.”
The concert started with unaccompanied Plainsong, performed with great dignity by tenors Mike Woods and James Rowland. The view from the upper gallery, from where they performed, did not faze these second year students; as James said after the concert, “it was a unique experience and one I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to participate in.”
The Chamber Choir excelled in their performance of Canite Tuba (Guerrero), E’en so Lord Jesus, Quickly Come (Manz), and Ave Maria (Elgar). Their rendition of John Gardner’s Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day was a fitting tribute to the composer who sadly died only a few days before the concert at the age of 94.
The College Choral Society, with over 100 students, performed O Thou, the Central Orb (Wood), How lovely are the Messengers (Mendelssohn), The Angel Gabriel (arr. Archer), and I was Glad (Parry) with great confidence, filling the audience with Christmas joy.
Readings were delivered by the wider College community, and included students, staff, and a Governor, with heartfelt prayers written and read by students Sophie Springer and Jesse Bishop.
Audience participation came in the form of Lo! He comes with clouds ascending, and O come, all ye Faithful.
To balance the boys’ Plainsong at the start of the concert, sopranos Lily German and Isabelle Collins performed a spine-tingling chant from the side gallery, that left the audience feeling uplifted and reflective at the same time; the perfect end to the autumn term and start to the Christmas festivities!
