O Clap Your Hands! A joyful a cappella concert for a spring evening.
- Sarah Clayton
- Mar 14
- 2 min read
One of the joys of singing with a group such as Kingfisher Chorale, for me, is the wide repertoire we cover. Our Spring concert is no exception where we'll be offering five centuries of gorgeous a cappella music.
A cappella music is a powerful tradition that relies solely on the human voice to create harmony and depth. From Gregorian chant to Renaissance polyphony, and into the modern era, it has been a cornerstone of worship. Without instruments, the focus is on pure vocal expression, bringing sacred texts to life with clarity and emotion. This timeless style continues to inspire, offering a unique and moving choral experience.
In our concert we have music ranging from Byrd (Laudibus in Sanctis) and Palestrina (Sicut Cervus) to Hughes (Psalm 56) and rehearsing for it has been both wonderfully challenging and rewarding.
The moods represented throughout the diverse compositions vary considerably, and it has been a luxury to take time to explore these pieces in more detail. For example, looking carefully at the text in Howells’ Take Him, Earth, For Cherishing has enabled me to really look at how the composer moves us through the emotions associated with death, notably when one has faith and relies on that to bring peace and comfort.
Then, the joyous Gibbons’ O Clap your Hands is one of his largest and most festive anthems, making vivid use of its eight-voice double choir layout. The text of is a jubilant setting of Psalm 47, which is a song of praise and triumph, calling upon all nations to rejoice in God's sovereignty. The piece was likely composed for a ceremonial occasion within the Anglican Church, possibly for a royal or state event in the early 17th century.
For those of you with more modern tastes, our concert has some much more recent gems too. Mendelssohn's Warum Toden, three wonderful motets by Stanford, Herbert Howells' Take Him Earth for Cherishing, and two very different versions of the Bogoroditse Devo (Ave Maria) by Rachmaninoff and Pärt.
In a world where we seem to have little time to sit and genuinely appreciate music – really listening and enjoying it – our rehearsals have become a haven for me to take time out, reflect, and let my heart sing along.
I hope that our concert will emanate this privilege we have, and you too can radiate in the joy we feel.
Tickets are available now! We are performing our O Clap Your Hands programme in Melton Mowbray's beautiful St Mary's church on April 5th, and in Clarendon Park Congregational Church, Leicester on April 12th. You'll find the full programme on our ticket page. BOOK HERE
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