The main work in Weymouth Choral Society’s spring concert was Sir John Stainer’s “The Crucifixion: A Meditation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer“. Stainer intended that his piece would be within the scope of most parish church/amateur choirs and it includes five hymns for congregational participation.
Before this, however, the first half of the programme included an arrangement of “Ave Verum Corpus” by Edward Elgar, the majestic ‘O thou, the central orb‘ by Charles Wood, two of Vaughan Williams’ ‘Five Mystical Songs – ‘Easter‘ and ‘Antiphon‘ – and two pieces by Howard Goodall – ‘The Lord is My Shepherd‘ (AKA the Vicar of Dibley theme) and ‘Lacrymosa: Do not stand at my grave and weep‘. We also had a concerto for organ and alto saxophone.
The choral society was conducted once again by its musical director, Helen Brind, and soloists were Gareth Long (bass), Jon Valender (tenor), who stepped in at the last moment to replace our advertised tenor, Alison Young (alto saxophone) and Alex Davies (organ).
