Wednesday 4 June 2008

Padre Pio Premieres

Last night, the Cathedral hosted a concert of sacred music, performed by the Cathedral Choir and the celebrated musical ensemble 'The Sixteen'. The concert highlighted settings of the words of Padre Pio, set by the prominent Catholic composers James McMillan and Roxanna Panufnik.

These pictures were taken at rehearsals during the afternoon. The concert itself was a sell-out.

Spotted, during rehearsals, was the noted composer James McMillan, listening to the first performance of his new work.

4 comments:

John the organist said...

It's MacMillan and the third new work by Will Todd was much the most attractive and singable for a small choir which is what the brief was. The Tablet preview was absolutely correct!

Anonymous said...

Presumably the gaffer tape on the floor is to do with the refurbishment? But a price worth paying for the long-term stability and enhancement of the building.

Anonymous said...

We have listened before to the cathedral's choir and organist, to compositions by Roxanna Panufnik, Will Todd and James Macmillan, and to performances by the superb Sixteen. We were therefore expecting something lovely. What we were not expecting was to be moved to tears. Padre Pio's prayer was so beautifully read at the start, the Glorious Sacred Music so well chosen and sung, the three poetic and musical interpretations of the prayer so different one from the other and yet bringing out essential aspects of it, its complexity, its pure-heartedness, its sense of suffering and thirst for God. Our warm thanks for this utterly delightful, inspiring, uplifting hour.

Jude said...

Fr. Mark--any chance that a recording was made of this concert, and that it would be available for sale? The reviews make me sad that I was unable to be present!
I watched a presentation on TV last night of a concert that Sara Brightman performed in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. I mention this because I've never really been on board with the use of Sacred Space for pop-culture sorts of concerts. However, using Westminster Cathedral as a backdrop for this sort of sacred music, seems extremely appropriate. Held in some concert hall, this performance clearly would not have evoked the tremendous depth of emotion from its listeners.