24th March 2012
Spring Concert

7:30pm, St. Michael and All Angels, Bedford Park

Choral Fantasy - Beethoven
Kodo Osada – Solo piano

A Prodigal Son – world premiere - Alistair Jones

The Choral Fantasy was written specifically for conclusion of a concert that contained the premieres of both Beethoven’s 5th and 6th Symphonies.  He wanted something especially exciting to round the concert off!  Beethoven played the solo part himself at the premiere.  What a concert that must have been.  It also contained portions of the Mass in C. 

A Prodigal Son is the 4th choral work written for The Chiswick Choir by Alistair Jones, now in his 28th season as the choir’s conductor.  The libretto was written by Sally Floyer, a longstanding member of the choir’s sopranos.   The plot is based on the New Testament parable translated into contemporary times.   This is an Oratorio for the present day and in that regard, Tippett’s A child of Our Time is its ancestor, without the Spirituals.   We have given The Son a Girlfriend, so there are 4 solosits;

The Son – tenor, Austin Gunn
The Girl – Lesley Jane Rogers
The Father – Louis Hurst
The Elder Brother – Christopher Wright.

The “crowd” – students and others, is sung by the Chorus, taking part in and commenting on the action as it unfolds. 

Downloads:

• Flyer (PDF282KB)