The Stowmarket Flyer Magazine March '24| Flyer Magazines

The Stowmarket Flyer Magazine March ’24

In this month’s Stowmarket Flyer magazine March’24 edition we hear about upcoming events in Stowmarket in March.

Stowmarket Flyer Magazine March ’24 Updates 

Stowmarket Mayor’s March ’24 Update

Stowmarket Chorale perform- Saturday 9th March at 7 pm
The Chorale is delighted to present a programme of song arrangements for mixed chorus and piano: Elgar’s Sea Pictures (1899), with Alexander L’Estrange’s Three Songs of Love (2008), Lauridsen’s Nocturne, Sure on this shining night (2007) and Quartel’s All the way home (2018). Reflective and stirring music, portraying the multifaceted strengths and weaknesses of love, and conjuring up the emotional resonances of the sea, from serene still waters, to a mighty ocean storm.
We are also joined by cellist Caio Boyero, for Gjeilo’s New York inspired Sidewalks and The Hudson.
Sir Edward Elgar’s (1857-1934) Sea Pictures was initially written in 1844 for piano and soprano. However, in 1898 it was transposed to a lower key so that the alto Dame Clare Butt (dressed as a mermaid) could take the lead role in an 1899 performance for the Norwich Festival. The current arrangement for Chorus and Piano was first performed by the Kelvedon Singers in 2012 at Coggeshall, Essex.
Sea Pictures was based on five poems by different authors, each offering a different response to the ocean.
The first poem is titled Sea Slumber Song, by Roden Noel – a rocking style lullaby with soft timpani strokes which describes Kynance Cove in Cornwall.
The second poem, In Haven (Capri), was written by Elgar’s wife, Alice. It was originally called “Love Alone Will Stand”.
In the third poem, by Elizabeth Barett Browning, Sabbath Morning at Sea, Elgar changes to a stronger theme relating to religious fervour and belief in God.
The fourth poem, by Richard Garnett, is titled Where Corals Lie describing a shimmering, underwater world:
In the fifth poem, The Swimmer by Adam Lindsay Gordon the swimmer recalls happy times with a lost love as he is subjected to the power of the sea.
Alexander L’Estrange (b.1974) is one of Britain’s most popular living choral composers and arrangers. A chorister at New College, Oxford, he went on to gain a First in Music from Merton College, Oxford.
L’Estrange’s flagship work, Zimbe! Come sing the songs of Africa!, a 40-minute fusion of African song and jazz, had 150 performances worldwide within its first five years.
Love’s Philosophy is a trio of exquisite original songs exploring love and longing, arranged for choir and piano. L’Estrange describes it as exploring the “beauty and simplicity of the English song tradition”.
It comprises: She walks in beauty (set to the well-known poem by Lord Byron): “She walks in beauty like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies….”
Now sleeps the crimson petal (set to the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson) and Love’s Philosphy (set to the poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley).
American composer and professor of composition, Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) based his “Sure on this Shining Night” on a poem by James Agee describing the wholeness of the earth and the turning of the seasons. Morten Lauridsen’s flowing music captures all of the beauty and wonder of the poem.
Together with “O Magnum Mysterium” this has become one of his most recognized choral works, performed by ensembles the world over.
Sarah Quartel (b. 1984) is a Canadian composer and educator. One of her earliest musical experiences was sitting by her father as he played organ for a church choir and she is enthusiastic about the way that choral singing creates community. Her works are performed by choirs across the world.
“All the Way Home” was inspired by the Radcliffe Ladies’ Choir and their motto, “Friendship through singing.” The overall tone is one of peace and contentment with a lilting melody and delicate piano playing.
Booking details: Telephone: 07912 432220 Email: tickets@stowmarketchorale.org.uk