The Manchester Chorale presents: Stories, Shakespeare and Strawberries

When

02/07/2016    
19:30 - 21:30

Where

St Ann's Church
St Ann Street, Manchester, M2 7LF

Event Type

The Manchester Chorale presents: Stories, Shakespeare and Strawberriesmanchester chorale picture

Stories Many of the Chorale’s favourites tell a story. Nicolette
meets a wolf, then a page, then an ancient, ugly lord and falls
for his money – a perfectly formed little song by Ravel. Eric
Whitacre’s Seal Lullaby uses Kipling’s tale of a mother seal singing
to her pup and overlays it with rich harmonies. Alice is inspired by
Lewis Carroll and the Chorale have to sing the story in a suitably
mad way: ‘Twinkle, twinkle little bat’! Byrd and Henry VIII may
also feature on the night. However, pride of place in our stories
goes to the world première of Rouen composed by the Chorale’s
own Chris O’Hara. Chris has taken a poem by May Wedderburn
Cannan, who was a volunteer at the railhead at Rouen during the
First World War. She evocatively recalls her mixed emotions as
trains were dispatched to the battlefront: ‘the sudden awful silence
when the last train swung to darkness’. Chris has matched his
music to the changing emotions.

Strawberries The Manchester Chorale probably won’t be
singing about strawberries, but they will play a major role in
the refreshments.

Shakespeare The Chorale has an extensive repertoire of songs
by a variety of composers who have set Shakespeare’s words to
music. This includes O Mistress Mine, Caliban’s Song (Hamilton),
Double Double Toil and Trouble (Mantyjaarvi), Shall I Compare
Thee to a Summer’s Day (Lindberg) and It was a Lover and his Lass
(Rutter). We will also be performing a selection of songs from the
Matthew Harris Shakespeare Songbooks. Some of these even tell
a story – two for the price of one.

The Manchester Chorale is a mixed voice choir of around
50 singers, based in Manchester, under the direction of Jill
Henderson-Wild, a talented and experienced vocal conductor.
The choir is well known for the high quality of its singing, its
well-blended sound, its sensitive interpretation of a wide range
of musical styles and its versatility in working in both large-scale
venues and in more intimate settings

Tickets are available in advance from their website or on the door:
£10 (Full price)
£6 (Concession)
£3 (Student)