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| 141st. Season |
x
 Jenkins ~ Palladio
Vaughan Williams ~ Fantasia on Greensleeves
Haydn ~ Te Deum
Jenkins ~ Requiem
Derby Cathedral, 25th. Nov. 2006
Conducted by Richard Dacey |
| Review by Mike Wheeler: |
Choral
Union
is in confident form
DERBY Choral Union is in
confident form these days witness their bright, engaging account of Haydn’s Te
Deum of 1800.
Conductor Richard Dacey presided over a performance full of energy and
exuberance in the outer sections, projecting the more withdrawn central passage
with sensitivity.
The singers also responded
well to the demands of the evening’s main work, Karl Jenkins’ Requiem.
This intersperses passages
from the Latin text with five Japanese haiku, in which the choir was joined by
the female vocal trio Juice [see panel right].
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This group already has an
impressive track record of contemporary music performances, and it was obvious
why. Their command of blend, tone and tuning gripped the attention and their
handling of the rather Delius-like harmonies in the third movement was
particularly striking.
But even they couldn’t
persuade me of the value of the piece itself: trite, cliche-ridden
and absurdly over-long, complete with chocolate-box Pie Jesu and what must be one of the most miserable settings of the Benedictus ever conceived.
The Orchestra of the Choral
Union gave the choir sterling support.
Mike Wheeler
Derby Telegraph
,
4th. Dec, 2006
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| About Juice: www.juicevocalensemble.net |
Juice are an experimental vocal trio specialising in vibrant theatrical performances which draw on world music, jazz, folk and pop.
They have commissioned countless new works and have featured on BBC Radio 3’s Hear and Now and Mixing It, Resonance FM and Classic FM’s Chiller Cabinet.
In 2005, Juice premiered Kerry Andrew’s large-scale music-theatre work, sedna stories, detailing the many stories surrounding Sedna the Inuit Goddess of the Sea, with visuals, electronic music and live 5-piece band. In July 2006, they performed new work with electronics and visuals at Cargo in spmn’s The Sound Source series.
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Juice have appeared at a number of major London venues including St. George’s Hanover Square , St. John’s Smith Square and St. Martin-in-the-Fields and numerous national and international festivals including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Fes- tival, Fuseleeds, Settimana di Musica Sacra, Florence, Spor Festival in Denmark, Corsham Festival, Northop Festival and York Spring Festival.
They were YCAT Semi-Finalists in 2004 and have performed in the BMIC Cutting Edge Series and Cutting Edge Tour. They also feature on a new CD of Roger Marsh’s Pierrot Lunaire with Red Byrd and Hilliard Ensemble to be released early 2007 on NMC. |
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| Artists |
Juice
Kerry Andrew
Sarah Dacey
Anna Snow
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