Orkney Camerata

By Nick Morrison

Sunday evening saw the performance of WINTER CHOIR ORKNEY CAMERATA.

The performance started with Gaudete (rejoice) this Medieval carol was brought to a wider attention by the 70’s folk group Steeleye Span. I have heard the Camerata perform this before, last year  I think, but Sunday’s performance was  simply superb and even better than last years. The 10 Sec clip catches one of the soloists wonderfully clear voice.

The choir had a wee rest whilst we heard pieces by Corelli, Sergei Rachmaninov,
James MacMillan , Claude Daquin, a contemporary of Vivaldi, which showed in places.

The NØ Boys then gave us  Es ist ein  Ros’ entsprungen by Micheal Praetortus. Then a short piece Rosa Mundi by Paul Lewis.

After the interval, MAGNIFICAT by John Rutter the main piece of the evening. The composer has attempted to recreate the spirit oh Mediterranean  Latin Festivals in places – well the music was almost fizzy at times. At other times the composer’s modern musical background was quite clear. Not a simple piece by any means it must have taken a lot of work on the part of the performers.

This was a charity performance on behalf of  Malawi orphans.Of some 18/19 Million population 1Million are orphans. Life expectancy is in the low 50’s and there is a high infant mortality. Like quite a few African countries Aids/HIV is rife and is the main cause of the high numbers of orphans. The charity (Malawi Music Fund) aims to provide education for these orphans and is now supporting some through primary, secondary schools  and then through university.

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