14 February 2019
St Valentine’s Day was the perfect occasion for the School’s Chapel Choir to be singing music about love, in a most beautiful setting.
A journey lasting one hour and twenty minutes was rapidly forgotten when the boys first set eyes on the imposing Gloucester Cathedral. The sun setting behind the stunning building, added a sense of awe and wonder, whilst heightening the excitement and expectation of the boys. The choir were waiting eagerly to enter this magnificent building.
It was a real joy to hear Mr Fletcher-Campbell utilising the full range of the impressive organ at his disposal. The choir rose to the occasion, quickly becoming settled with the five-second echo the Cathedral had to offer. The choir sang a truly wonderful rendition of Thomas Tallis’ If Ye Love Me, a choral standard by an incredible composer, to whom they paid homage.
David Bicarregui did an outstanding job as Cantor for the service and the choir responded with a setting by Thomas Tallis. The full force of the Organ was felt as the choir sang the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D minor by Thomas Attwood Walmisley. The choir sang with great gusto – to the parents and public’s admiration of their music-making.
The Chapel Choir have sung two evensongs thus far under the direction of Adam Treadaway, one in the magnificent New College Oxford Chapel and now in the grandiose Gloucester Cathedral. Both occasions have seen the choir members perform to a standard with which they, and the School, should be extremely proud.
I am sure that the experience of singing in such wonderful settings will stay with them for a long time.
Written by Mr Treadaway, Teacher of Music
