The historic grounds of Binham Priory served as an atmospheric and pensive backdrop to November’s School concert, which was a showcase of our most talented and dedicated choral singers.

Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine, written when he was nineteen years old and often paired with his Requiem in D minor, began proceedings in a meditative fashion. Next was the moving choral piece For the fallen by Douglas Guest, originally written for the Remembrance Sunday service in Westminster Abbey.

We then heard Charles Villiers Stanford’s motet Justorum animae, another song honouring the dead. Mendelssohn’s For the wings of a dove! from his anthem Hear my prayer, followed which featured a spellbinding soprano solo from Reva S. Continuing our theme of English composers, Purcell’s Thou Knowest, Lord was next, and to conclude the first half of the concert, our Crickets group performed Vivaldi’s Domine ad adjuvandum, which included a spirited duo performance from Naomi H-S and Zinny B.

The second half of the concert comprised entirely of Fauré’s aforementioned Requiem in D minor. The origins of this work are somewhat mysterious; although it was written relatively soon after the death of Fauré’s parents, he would later declare that “My Requiem wasn’t written for anything”. Whatever the case, this is probably the most popular of Fauré’s large scale works, and a full orchestral version was performed at his own funeral.

In the Offertoire movement, Milan H delivered an incredible tenor solo. In the calming Pie Jesu, we were again treated to a solo from Reva S. The next solo we heard was from baritone Rory R in the haunting and pleading Libera me. The final movement, the heavenly In Paradisum, rounded off the concert.

Special thanks to Mr Holford and Mr Brown on the keyboards, as well as the visiting professionals who made up the orchestra, joined by Kai S and Ilana B on violin. Finally, thank you to Mr Jones, Head of Chapel Music, for leading this wonderful concert.