The University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, conductor Susan Wanless, will present a musical ‘grand tour’ of Europe at a concert in Canterbury Cathedral. The event is part of the University’s 20 Years in Europe celebrations taking place throughout the year.
The Colyer-Fergusson Cathedral Concert 2019 will take place on Saturday 30 March and begins at 19.30. The concert will open with music from Italy with Verdi’s dramatic Stabat Mater, composed at the very end of his life after his famous Requiem. This will be followed by Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony, The Italian, inspired by his own tour of Europe which began in his native Germany between 1829 and 1831.
The futility of war that has blighted Europe will also be touched on with a performance of English composer George Butterworth’s highly personal orchestral setting of A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad, made all the more poignant by the composer’s tragic death in the trenches in WWI.
Rachel Nicholls, credit David Shoukry
Finally, the music of France will be represented with a performance of Poulenc’s Gloria, a captivating mixture of mischievous joie de vivre and calm reflection. For this work, the University musicians will be joined by Rachel Nicholls (pictured above), regarded as one of the most exciting dramatic sopranos of her generation.
Tickets cost between £8 – £22 and can be booked through the Gulbenkian Theatre website.
Concert rehearsal
