Come and Sing Requiem

Come and Sing Requiem

At the end of June, as part of our continuing commitment to strengthening musical engagement within both the school community and our network of Old Cornelians, we launched what we hope will become a much-loved annual event: a Come and Sing Day. Designed to bring people together through music, the event welcomed those who enjoyed singing during their time at Mayfield, those who have developed musical interests later in life, and members of the wider local community. Following an afternoon of rehearsal, participants joined together for an informal evening performance of a major choral work.

For this inaugural event, we chose Gabriel Fauré’s sublime Requiem. Its beautiful and expressive setting of the Requiem Mass is both approachable and deeply rewarding for singers, whilst still offering plenty of musical and interpretative challenges. This made it an ideal choice for a day that united participants ranging from those who knew the work intimately to others encountering it for the first time. Bringing together such a diverse group of musicians and preparing a performance in a single afternoon required focused rehearsal, but the enthusiasm and commitment shown by everyone involved ensured a highly successful outcome.

We were delighted by the response, with more than 100 singers from the school, Old Cornelian and local communities forming the choir, alongside current pupils from Schola Cantorum. The performance was further enriched by the support of members of the Music Department, who provided the instrumental accompaniment, including harp, violin, viola, cello, organ and trumpet.

A particularly special aspect of this performance was the opportunity to hear a pipe organ accompanying a choir in the Concert Hall for the first time in decades. The instrument was brought into the Hall especially for this summer’s major musical events, including both the Summer Concert and the Come and Sing Requiem, and was carefully voiced for the space by the former Manchester Town Hall Organist. We are incredibly fortunate to have had access to such an instrument, which added a remarkable richness, warmth and depth to the performance. Its presence transformed the sound of the Hall and demonstrated the important role an organ can play in supporting choral music. We hope this marks the beginning of a new chapter for music-making at Mayfield as we continue to explore the possibility of securing a suitable instrument that can support our musicians and choirs for many decades to come.

We were also fortunate to welcome Gabriel Jackson of the Royal Academy of Music as our baritone soloist. His performance, particularly in the celebrated Libera Me, was both haunting and deeply moving, with his rich tone resonating beautifully throughout the Hall.

The warm acoustic of our newly refurbished Concert Hall proved to be the perfect setting for Fauré’s masterpiece. The combination of choir and ensemble created a broad palette of sound, allowing the expressive contrasts of the work to shine through. Audience members commented enthusiastically on the quality of the performance, many noting the richness of the sound, the sensitivity of the musical interpretation and the effectiveness with which the performers communicated both the text and its meaning. The inclusion of the harp, used in passages originally conceived by Fauré, added yet another layer of colour and beauty to an already exquisite score.

The success of the day exceeded all expectations and confirmed our belief in the value of bringing people together through music. We are therefore delighted to be establishing the Come and Sing Day as an annual event. Following feedback from participants, future events will move from the summer term to the latter part of the spring term, with the next gathering planned for March. Our chosen work will be Stainer’s The Crucifixion, another much-loved choral classic that we very much look forward to sharing with singers from across the Mayfield community.

Whether as performers or audience members, Old Cornelians are always assured of a warm welcome at Mayfield music events. We hope many more will join us in the years ahead as we continue to celebrate the joy of music-making together.

Theo Frazer

Director of Music