Waverley Singers

Choir’s treat

This article was published after the choir’s return to the UK in, we believe, the Farnham Herald.

The Waverley Singers were privileged to present an evening concert in Chartres Cathedral which was well received by the audience and attracted more than a little interest from the stream of visitors to this unspoilt gem of 13th century architecture.

Making this concert possible had been a long-term project for David Wilson in his many years as choir chairman.

The cathedral authorities are naturally inundated with requests from choirs all over the world to sing in this church.

Thanks to a liaison visit to Chartres earlier this year by Malcolm Hicks, the conductor, and Paul Griffiths the organist, the Waverley Singers won the rare concession of singing from the steps of the main altar accompanied by the “Grande Orgue” in the knave.

English choral music by Byrd, Gibbons, Elgar, and Britten were interspersed with motets by the French composers Fauré, Duruflé, and Villette, and some major works from the organ repertoire.

Paul Griffiths included the Bach Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor and a fine Psalm Prelude by Herbert Howells. Malcolm Hicks contributed the finale of Vierne's first Organ Symphony.

The concert closed with choruses from Handel’s Ninth Chandos Anthem “O praise the Lord with one consent.”

Lovers of choral music can hear some of this programme at the choir's summer concert on Sunday June 15 at St Lawrence's Church, Alton.