7pm, Saturday 23 November 2024
St Nicholas’ Chapel, King’s Lynn

King’s Lynn Festival Chorus
The British Sinfonietta
Ben Horden Conductor/Piano
Angharad Rowlands Mezzo Soprano
Richard Symons Tenor

Gabriel Fauré Requiem
John Rutter Feel the spirit

King’s Lynn Festival Chorus opens its 2024/25 season on Saturday 23 November with Rutter’s Feel the spirit and Fauré’s Requiem in the year that marks the centenary of the composer’s death.

Both works in the programme trace a journey from earthly vulnerability to the joy and promise of what may lie beyond. Fauré’s celebrated Requiem dispels the terrors of the day of judgement to make way for celestial ecstasy. Far from the fire and brimstone of Verdi’s or even Mozart’s Requiem, Fauré himself described the work as being “dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest.” The composer died on 4 November 1924 and KLFC is pleased to be marking this important anniversary.

By musical contrast and drawing on the colourful tradition of the African American spiritual, celebrated British composer John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit is packed with vibrant rhythmic energy; whether by the melancholic siren call of ‘Steal away’ or the march to glory of ‘Oh when the saints’ the work is sure to move you physically if not spiritually!

With their Music Director, Ben Horden, on the podium, the chorus is pleased to be joined by the British Sinfonietta, who make a welcome return.