Happy Birthday, Bernstein!
The centenary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein, composer and conductor, will be celebrated on Saturday 24th March with an exciting concert at Wells Cathedral. The Cathedral's Oratorio Society will mark the occasion by performing the full orchestral version of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, with orchestra, solo quartet, boy treble, trumpets, trombone, timpani, percussion and strings. The conductor is Matthew Owens.
Two works by Aaron Copland, who Bernstein called his "only real composition teacher", are also in the evening's programme: Fanfare for the Common Man and Appalachian Spring, performed by Southern Sinfonia orchestra. Completing the American theme is Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.
The choir will also sing the Gloria by Sir John Rutter, Patron of the Oratorio Society. This work is often heard alongside the Chichester Psalms, and Bernstein lovers will find the final syncopated rhythm of this piece brings his music to mind.