28 April 2019 7:45 p.m. St Machar's Cathedral
I Was Glad
A Paean of Praise for Choir and Organ
With music from Handel to Vaughan Williams, from Elgar to Arvo Pärt, this concert promised to be an exciting and rewarding exploration of music written for organ and choir which spans several centuries. The programme, devised by Peter Parfitt, Aberdeen Bach Choir's Musical Director, celebrated the recent reinstallation of some original pipework into the cathedral's organ.
Opening with the rousing, uplifting music of Handel's Zadok the Priest, the concert leapt forward in time to feature music from two composers still living, Arvo Pärt and John McLeod, before closing the first part with the familiar strains of Vaughan Williams. The second part opened with another rousing anthem, this time from the mid-twentieth century, by Gerald Finzi. More serene music followed from Parry and Hastings with the closing piece giving its name to the concert 'I Was Glad'.
The Choir was accompanied by David Gerrard, and the concert also featured two organ solos performed by Dr Roger B Williams, M.B.E., Director of Music and Organist to the Cathedral Church of St Machar, Old Aberdeen.
Handel Zadok the Priest
Ireland Greater Love
Hadley My Beloved Spake
Pärt The Beatitudes*
Organ Solo: King’s Toccata by John MacLeod
Howells Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (St Paul)
Howells Like as the Hart
Vaughan Williams Let All The World (from Five Mystical Songs)
Finzi God is Gone Up
Bainton And I Saw a New Heaven
Parry Blest Pair of Sirens
Organ Solo: Wild Mossy Mountains by Judith Weir
Elgar Give Unto the Lord
Gowers Viri Galilei
Parry I Was Glad
*rehearsed and conducted by Saskia Mucke, 2018-19 James Lobban Conducting Scholar
