Fulham Camerata choral group
Joyful melodies inspired by flowers will fill the air at Fulham Camerata choral group’s annual summer concert.
The singers will perform a medley of contemporary and older music from composers including Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten and Arthur Somervell at the concert on Sunday 25 June.
Taking a choral adventure into nature’s spring and summer beauty, the 35-strong group is planning to make the most of the long evenings with its concert. Titled the ‘Language of Flowers’ it runs from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at St Mary’s Church in Putney.
Opening the performance is a rare work by 19th century composer Amy Woodforde-Finden, while the singers will continue with Arthur Somervell's Wind Flowers. The choir will also accompany Fulham Camerata’s bass choral scholar, Matt Asquith, in Vaughan Williams’ 1911 composition ‘I Got Me Flower’s, from his collection titled ‘Five Mystical Songs’.
Continuing the floral tributes, the singers will raise the roof with a performance of Benjamin Britten’s ‘To Daffodils’ from his song cycle, ‘Five Flower Songs’.
Riverside setting
During an interval, the audience can take in the venue’s riverside setting before the second half of the programme gets underway with an array of music written by contemporary composers from around the world.
It begins with American composer Morten Lauridsen’s ‘Chanson des Roses’, based on five joyous and playful French poems, before the choir performs an arrangement of Irish folksong ‘The Salley Gardens’ by Fulham Camerata’s musical director Harry Castle.
Also on the bill is a performance of ‘The Rose’ by contemporary Norwegian composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo. The evening concludes with ‘Daffodils’, a piece written by Fulham Camerata’s composer in residence, Alexander Hopkins.
Daffodils is based on observations in the journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, the poet William Wordsworth’s sister, of the joyous dancing daffodils by the waterside in the woods, as the siblings set off on a blowy morning walk.
“The concert will be light and melodic and a great place to go to on a summer’s evening,” explains Geraldine Pace, from Fulham Camerata.
“The venue is by the river and perfect for a summer’s evening, with the repertoire having an emphasis on spring and summer.”
Tickets are £15 (£10 concessions/free for under 16s), available on the door and from the Fulham Camerata Ticket Tailor portal.
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