Chamber Choir at Hazlegrove School

The Chamber Choir visited Hazlegrove School on Tuesday to give a short recital in the school's theatre. The Director of Music at Hazlegrove, Yvonne Fawbert, welcomed the choir and, in praising its performance afterwards, made particular mention of the ethereal quality of the polyphony by Palestrina with which many of the school were not especially familiar. It being the season of Epiphany, the choir sang three relevant pieces by Palestrina and one by Lassus, an arrangement of the Epiphany Responsory, and "The Three Kings" by Cornelius. Other repertoire included lighter "close harmony" arrangements of "Lollipop" and "Fly me to the moon" amongst others.

The Chamber Choir sings the Introit every Sunday in the Abbey, then joining with the much larger Choir for the responses and anthems. All involved with the Hazlegrove concert much enjoyed the opportunity which, as a Prep School visit, was the first in recent years for this ensemble. The next concert performance is in Cheap Street Church in April, followed by their appearance as a Close Harmony group in the Abbey Festival in May.

Posted: Thursday, January 19, 2012