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"Carlisle Cathedral echoed to the sound of Choir, Brass, and Organ in a concert of music written in the last one hundred years by British and American Composers. Vaughan Williams’ exhilarating setting of 'Let all the world in every corner sing', in which the Cathedral Choir was accompanied by Fine Arts Brass and Edward Taylor on the organ, struck just the right note of anticipation as the sound built from the deep organ pedal note to the crescendo of the brass and then the glory of the first choir entry. This contrasted well with Herbert Howells’ gem of an anthem, 'Like as the hart', when we heard the choir at their best with beautifully phrased melodic lines.
There was much to enjoy in this concert : James Macmillan’s atmospheric 'A New Song' , Harold East’s glorious 'To the Trinity be Praise', the exuberance and beauty of Bob Chilcott’s jazz setting of the Mass and Duke Ellington’s spiritual Suite from the 'Second Sacred Concert' in which we enjoyed Mary Miller’s soaring soprano voice.
The centrepiece of the concert was the first performance of a setting of a John Donne Sonnet by the Scottish composer John McLeod who was in the audience. The forces of brass, choir and organ were used most effectively to portray angelic trumpets as well as more reflective moments,
The Fine Arts Brass quintet has an international reputation and it was a great privilege to hear them in such resonant acoustics, displaying an incredibly high standard of virtuosity in a wide range of pieces. No one present will forget the incredible performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s 'Flight of the Bumble Bee', a humorous rendition of Gershwin’s 'They can’t take that away from me', Big Band numbers by Count Basie, Dorsey and Harry James , and, for me, the highlights were two contemporary works by Colin Matthews and Peter Maxwell Davies.
This was a tour de force of a concert with brilliant playing from the Brass, masterly accompaniment from Edward Taylor on the organ and piano, beautiful singing from the choir not forgetting the skills of Ian Coburn on Bass and Michael Jay on Drum Kit. Jeremy Suter is to be congratulated on presenting and directing such a wonderfully varied programme." - Cumberland News
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