Carmina Burana, Chichester Psalms and Neil Cox’s Requiem

On 23rd November I travelled to Northampton, to St. Matthew’s Church, to sing Orff’s Carmina Burana with Northampton Philharmonic Choir. Singing the ‘roasted swan’ aria is always good fun, and takes me back to being eighteen and singing it at school. The energy of Carmina Burana is infectious, and I drove home with a number of earworms buzzing around my head!

The following Saturday I was in Bristol, singing the solos in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Neil Cox’s Requiem with Bristol Phoenix Choir. It was the second performance of the Cox, the first being in Gloucester Cathedral earlier this year. I also sang at that performance, and love singing Neil’s Music. The third movement, ‘Imagined Voices’, was initially written for me as a standalone song, and is a personal highlight of the piece.

The second movement of the Bernstein is one of my very favourite movements to sing. Powerful in its simplicity, it never fails to move me. Chichester Psalms was a wonderful way to round off the evening, which also included works by Part and Britten.