Fauré: Requiem in Retrospect
In the buildup to our Come and Sing of Fauré’s Requiem at St Botolph without Aldgate on Sunday 14 November, we’ve mentioned that this piece is a favourite of ours and that we’ve performed it many times in our 75 year history.
We thought it would be fun to take a look at some of those performances as part of a deeper dive into our history to mark this milestone year – and please watch this space for more 75th anniversary content!
Looking back…
The first recorded performance of Fauré’s Requiem by the Hanover Choir took place at Grosvenor Chapel on 5 March 1966. This performance was conducted by the choir’s longest-standing musical director, Natalie Seymour, who helmed the choir from 1961 through to her retirement in 2002.
The choir quickly reprised the Requiem for Remembrance Day later that same year, for a concert at St Matthew’s in Bayswater. This performance was written up in the West London Chronicle on 17 November, 1966. Seymour also provided some of her thoughts on the Requiem in the programme for the occasion.
The next performance of the Requiem took place at East Finchley Methodist Church in 1980, which also received some attention from local media.
She would go on to conduct the choir in performing this piece at least ten more times throughout her 40 year tenure. Notable occasions include an appearance at St Augustine’s Autumn Fesitval in Queen’s Gate in 1989, and a rendition of the Pie Jesu at a Concert for St Cecilia’s Day at Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Square in 1994.
Additionally, the choir has performed all or part of the Requiem at several memorial services: for Edna Funnell in July 1997, for George Booker in October 1997, and for Barry Jones in January 1998.
More recently, the choir performed the Agnus Dei at the memorial of former choir member John Grigg in November 2013. Grigg had performed the baritone solo from the Libera Me on multiple occasions in the 1980s, so it was very fitting for the choir to bid him a fond musical farewell.
The choir also performed the Requiem under two subsequent directors, with Paul Rhys at St Stephen’s Gloucester Road in 2007, and twice under Huw Morgan, including at St Mary the Virgin in Battle, East Sussex during the choir’s away weekend in September 2015.
If you require proof that the choir has branched out from its roots in West London, look no further – here is a map indicating all the locations the choir has performed Fauré’s Requiem since 1966.
It’s not too late to get involved in another memorable performance, this Sunday 14 November!
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[…] an impressive 40 years until her retirement in 2002. Keen to revisit our roots, we recently took a deep dive into the archive to revisit past performances of the Fauré […]