The Wykehamist The Wykehamist Cloister Time 2017 | страница 5

Club, and the Winchester Music Club came
together to perform two pieces by Purcell.
These were ‘Hail! Bright Cecilia’ and ‘Come
Ye Sons of Art’. Under the careful guidance of
Mr Thomas the performers quickly worked
through these sprightly pieces. They required a
plethora of soloists, many of whom were
external, but we also had our very own Joe
Zubier (Coll), Angus Benton (Q), and ex-
King’s Singer David Hurley, who all
performed excellently, performing the very
taxing repertoire with ease. The singers were
accompanied by a baroque orchestra, to add to
the authenticity of the performance, as well as
Mr Archer on the harpsichord, and Mr Sutton
on organ.
Chamber Music I on 7 May involved many
boys and was a spectacular evening indeed.
First was Max Cheung (Coll) playing Bach’s
Chaconne in D Minor arranged for piano by
Brahms. Tobias Schröder (Coll) on cello
performed Martinu’s Variation on a Slovak
Theme. This was followed by Adrian Tsui (B)
playing Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 for piano, and
finally there was a Mozart Quintet for wind,
involving Austin Stevens (F), Rory Redfern
(E), Peter Costello (B) and Jeremy Cheng (H).
This performance featured excellent individual
playing, together with wonderful give-and-
take exchanges.
Chamber Music II on 18 May was no less
spectacular. Byron Adlam (H) played
Beethoven’s Sonata in G Major for piano, his
rendition doing justice to the complexity of the
piece. Harry Robinson (H) sang Schubert’s
Three Lieder, Alfred Fardell (G) gave a
tempestuous portrayal of Liszt’s Sonetto 104
del Petrarca, Benedict Parker (Coll) sang
several moving songs from Finzi’s collection
‘Oh fair to see’, Adrian Tsui (B) played on
cello Beethoven’s Variations on Bei Mannern,
and Chris Myers (Coll) finished with Scherzo
No. 3 in C# minor by Chopin.
This year’s Brass Concert on 11 May,
featured a broad range of ensembles and
styles. The College’s Brass Ensemble kicked
things off with three very different pieces.
Vaughn-Williams’ Flourish for Brass Band set
the bar majestically high for the rest of the
evening with wonderful interplay between the
fanfares of the lower and higher registers. Next
came an adapted version of Freddie Mercury’s
Bohemian Rhapsody which came off much
more impressively than one might have
expected, especially the beautiful melodies in
the horn and trombone parts. Finally,
Slaidburn, William Rimmer’s famous quick
march, marked a triumphant end to
proceedings. The concert featured a wide
range of solo performances. Special credit
should be given to Dominic Percival (B),
trumpet, and Jamie Cheng (H), French horn,
who both gave standout performances. To
round off the evening, the Junior Brass
Ensemble gave a lively performance of two
dance pieces under the careful instruction of
Mr Price. We thank Dr Lomas for all his
tireless work organising the differen t
ensembles and look forward to the first
performances of the coming year’s new Wind
Band.
On 14 May, Winchester’s finest singers
performed in Songfest. The varied programme
presented works from the 16 th to the 20 th
century, ranging from the hills of Shropshire to
the forests of Germany. Mr Tarney, head of
singing, had this to say: “It was great, it’s
always a real treat to hear lots of young talent,
we have 140 boys taking singing lessons in the
school, and this sort of concert sums up this
phenomenal achievement.”
The School Concert on 2 June was a
magnificent way to end a great year of
orchestral music. Mr Thomas this year has
done a wonderful job leading the main
orchestras. We were fortunate enough this
time to hear some Grieg, Haydn and Dvorak
played by academy strings, symphony and
chamber orchestra. This was difficult
repertoire, technically challenging as well as
testing of the players’ stamina, but the
performers maintained their unique and
beautiful sound throughout.
There were more entries than in any previous
year for the Kirby Prize for composition on
11 June, meaning the competition was fiercer
than ever. Adrian Tsui (B) won the junior
competition with a string quintet, Rory
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