In the World Première of
Karl Jenkins' "Gloria"!
Lacey Green Singers formed part of the 2,500 singers from 16 countries including the USA and other parts of Europe (mainly the UK) who made up The Really Big Chorus performing at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 11th July.
The conductor Brian Kay (ex-King singers) had just one day of rehearsal to pull together 2,500 singers who had never sung together before - including some who had not rehearsed the piece for long at all - to be ready for an evening performance by 7.30 pm that night. No mean feat!!
Intense rehearsals for over five hours included the Royal Festival Orchestra and soloists. By 7.30 pm we were all ready and waiting to fulfil our dream of performing in the Albert Hall. Representatives of the audience praised the performance and were surprised by the quality of the singing particularly bearing in mind there was only one day of rehearsal!
From a participant point of view the experience was so exhilarating. At the end of the evening we were absolutely exhausted from the heat, and mental fatigue, but it was a day I know none of us will forget.
Helen Collins
It was a really memorable day for all concerned! My wife Bette and I enjoyed visiting a museum while the Singers were perspiring in the heat of their morning and afternoon rehearsals at the Hall. Then we dined with our Singers at a well-chosen Italian Restaurant a healthy stroll away. It was clear they had had a testing time in the heat of that day.
Starting at 7.30pm, the Chorus, accompanied by The English Festival Orchestra conducted by Brian Kay, first sang Fauré's Requiem.
Everyone's first "first" experience came immediately after the interval, when Don Monro (a Canadian who settled in England and founded The Really Big Chorus) interviewed the world-famous Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. We had never experienced such an event. It was very impressive, unpretentious, interesting and informative.
This was followed by the next "first" experience, the World Première itself. We had never been to one live before. Its five movements were The Proclamation, The Prayer, the Psalm, The Song and The Exaltation. The Chorus, including our Singers, sang in all but the fourth, which was a baritone solo. There were also readings of excerpts from the Hindu Bhagavadgita, the Buddhist Diamond Sutra (the world's oldest dated printed book), Taoist Tao Te Ching and Islam Qur'an.
Karl Jenkins had scored the work for choir and orchestra with the addition of ethnic percussion instruments indigenous to these cultures.
What a marvellous, memorable experience!
It also donated to the funds of St John Ambulance, who had 6.1/2 pages of content in the souvenir programme of 20 pages. This included detailed guidance on what to do in various kinds of emergency, including if someone is unconscious, bleeding severely, choking, suspected of having had a heart attack or has stopped breathing.
There seemed to be no limit to the thought that had gone into this whole event. Congratulations to everyone involved, particularly to Lacey Green Singers.
Regretably the pictures did not come out well enough to single out our villagers but do indicate the magnificence of the occasion.
Norman Tyler
