Choirs in Auckland as shown on NZCF website 30th November, 2017 7.55pm

Cantorum is busy preparing for its next concert, hot on the tails of our recent sold-out collaboration with Cantemus Choir at St Luke’s Church in Remuera. On Saturday 27 May 2017 at 7.30pm, Cantorum will present the ever-favourite Fauré Requiem. French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) composed and revised his Requiem in D minor between 1887 and 1900. It is the best-known of his large works, with its focus on eternal rest and consolation. Fauré's parents died in the mid–1880s, but this does not seem to be his reason for composing the work. Fauré said, “My Requiem wasn’t written for anything - for pleasure, if I may call it that!” The popularity of the Requiem belies its complexity; as a familiar piece of music, it is easy to expect performances to be relatively predictable, but it is not an easy piece to perform well. Conductor Iain Tetley will be investigating innovative ways to get new colours and ideas out of the music, so that Cantorum’s performance will be a little different to expectations. The Requiem will be accompanied on organ by Janet Gibbs, and the soloists, baritone Chalium Poppy and treble Luke Shackleton, will add great gravitas to the work. The first half of the concert will feature unaccompanied Renaissance music by Palestrina, Byrd and Philips. Palestrina’s Missa aeterna Christi munera is one of his later Masses, and shows his compositional style at the height of his creative powers. It is characterized by the clarity of the vocal writing, the interplay among the parts and the fluency and charm of its melodic lines. Interspersed among the Mass movements we will perform two pieces by Peter Philips, Cantantibus organis and O Crux Splendidior, and one by William Byrd, Alleluia, ascendit Deus. Byrd and Philips were, of course, both masters in their field, and these pieces illustrate the effervescence of chordal writing and polyphony, and the gloriously fluid harmonic shifts and wave-like dynamics of legato unaccompanied writing. Cantorum looks forward very much to seeing you at our next concert. Concert details for your diary are as follows: What:      Cantorum concert: “Fauré Requiem" Where:    All Saints Church, 284 Ponsonby Road When:     7.30 pm Saturday 27 May 2017 Tickets:   $25 before the concert from Tom Chignell 09 630 4315 or cantorum.choir@gmail.com Door Sales $30 (Students $10) Cash Only Parking:  In the church carpark, and nearby street parking

Jenny Firth has been our conductor and Musical Director since 2010. She brings a wealth of choral singing experience to the position, notably 30 years in the Auckland Dorian Choir, and has conducted other choirs on the North Shore.

The choir’s repertoire is broad and includes sacred and secular works, spirituals, madrigals, carols, motets and New Zealand compositions. We have also performed some major works, including the Duruflé Requiem with organist John Wells, and Puccini's Messa di Gloria and Vivaldi's Gloria with organist Janet Gibbs.

The North Shore Camerata is interested in hearing from singers (especially tenors) with experience reading music. Please contact Bronwen for more information.