In memoriam: love is strong as death

Godalming Choral Society’s next exciting concert marks 80 years since VE day

Eighty years since VE day and surviving veterans are now centenarians. This may be our last chance to thank them for the freedom we enjoy due to them, their courage and their hardships and to remember their comrades who died in the war and in the years since. Our selection of music is in turn reflective, grateful and yet rejoicing.

George de Voil, our inspiring conductor, has chosen choruses from the Duruflé Requiem, Brahms’ German Requiem, music by John Williams from Saving Private Ryan and another wonderful piece which the choir has not performed before, by the contemporary Canadian composer Eleanor Daley, Upon your Heart. The text is taken from the Song of Solomon:

Set me as a seal upon your heart
As a seal upon your arm.
For love is strong as death.

Music for cello and piano is interspersed, including Elgar’s Nimrod and the theme from Schindler’s List.

Composed 80 years apart, movements from the exquisite Requiems of Duruflé and Brahms sit side by side in this concert. Johannes Brahms's imaginative work (sung by GCS in the original German) chooses unconventional texts from the Lutheran Bible which seek to soothe the living, beginning with the words 'Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted'. The French composer Maurice Duruflé's setting from 1947 follows the traditional text of the Latin mass for the dead, weaving ancient plainsong melodies together with rich and moving harmonies to transport the listener into a peaceful place. This is every professional singer's favourite Requiem, and it is a privilege to share it with GCS and our audience on 29th November.

The cellist will be rising young star Leo de Flammineis (http://www.mozartorchestra.org.uk/leo-de-flammineis.html) and organist James Speakman (who played for all our concerts last year) Soprano soloist tbc.