Harrow Choral Society’s Autumn Concert
Saturday, October 17 @ 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Voix Célestes: The Heavenly Voices of Duruflé’s Requiem
Harrow Choral Society will be performing under the baton of its new Music Director, Joe Tobin, a prize-winning conductor, composer and singer, and commences its 2026-27 season with a decidedly French feel to the concert. The theme of ‘Voix Célestes’ is both a stop found on many organs, and representative here of the ‘heavenly voices’ of compositional styles in these works by organists for voices.
The major work in the concert is Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem which was completed in 1947 and has since become one of the best-loved choral works of the 20th century. The composer sets a selection of the traditional requiem texts to themes from Gregorian Chant and enriches them with impressionistic harmonies to create a serene and meditative mood.
Psalm 24 provides an explosive and incredibly exciting start to the concert. Lili Boulanger is perhaps the greatest 20th century composer France never had due to her early death. Her powerful and poignant setting of Psalm 24 ‘La terre appartient à l’Éternel’ (The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof) dates from 1916 when she learned that she had only a short time to live.
Tantum Ergo and O Salutaris Hostia by Fernand Laloux are both settings of medieval hymns by Thomas Aquinas, and his pieces interweave plainchant melodies. Laloux was in his teens when he came to London from Belgium in 1914 as a refugee, but he had been educated in the French Organ style and his music is essentially French in flavour, owing much to the influence of Ravel.
Composed in 1963 by Alfred Desenclos, Salve Regina is a setting of a Latin hymn of praise to the Virgin Mary and, like the Duruflé Requiem, it takes its inspiration from the austere beauty of Gregorian Chant.
The choir will be accompanied by Paul Ayres on the organ.
The concert at St Alban’s Church, North Harrow, HA2 7PF is at 5.30-6:30pm. Tickets are £13 if booked in advance and £15 (on the door) and £2 for under-18s, and available online at www.harrowchoral.org.uk, by email at boxoffice@harrowchoral.org.uk or by telephoning 07794 253463.