Geelong Chorale will bring Requiem by Karl Jenkins to life next weekend, performing the original version of the work with a full orchestra.
Featuring soprano soloist Phillipa McQuinn, the Chorale will present the Requiem at Wesley Church in central Geelong on Sunday, August 18 at 2.30pm.
Allister Cox OAM, who has served as the choir’s conductor for the past 12 years, said Jenkin’s Requiem was “fascinating”.
“Jenkins himself started off as an oboe player, but he ended up in a jazz band,” he said.
“The Requiem Mass is obviously a Western composition, but Jenkins has interspersed Japanese haiku… throughout the traditional movements,” Cox said.
“There’s an ancient Japanese tradition of composing a poem just before you die… they have this idea that death is a natural process and that the soul just goes back into nature.
“So there are references to the snow melting and the cherry blossoms falling. They’re very moving.”
Cox said the work was interesting yet very accessible to the listener.
“At a basic level the audience should expect some really nice tunes,” he said.
“Jenkins commented in a documentary, ‘I feel quite strongly that composers should communicate with people. I don’t think there’s any point in writing music if one doesn’t have an audience.’
“It flows together really nicely… the Japanese movements don’t upset the flow of the traditional movements, it just seems to be seamless.
“I think the audience will be moved by the drama, attracted to the different sounds of the orchestra and the lovely choral sounds and the different moods of the piece.”
Go to trybooking.com/CTSFK to book tickets.
