This Sunday, Senior Chamber Choir will be the visiting choir for Evensong at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street. To get into the spirit of what will be a lovely evening of music and contemplation, this week’s recommendation comes from Allegra (Year 11) and Marianna (Year 9). These students, along with Chloe (Year 7), have been choristers of the prestigious Westminster Abbey’s Girls Choir, at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster. They have been telling me about their love of singing a range of music and are very happy to recommend many lovely motets, old and new, that they have found joy in learning.

One of the pieces they spoke about to me is Alleluia, I Heard a Voice by Janet Wheeler. Wheeler’s music has been described as ‘dynamic’, ‘uplifting’ and ‘highly singable’.

This setting of the biblical text starts with slow-moving contemplative music expanding from a single note. The central part of the piece is more lively, sometimes syncopated, and is built around a series of ostinati (repeated patterns), some of them in canon, in the lower and then middle voices. The ending returns to the opening music, converging on the unison C to finish. Written in 2004, the piece has received many performances in the UK and around the world. They have loved learning it at Westminster and hope you like it!

Enjoy listening to this joyful and varied choral piece and if you want to hear what FHS has been preparing for its own services, come and listen to Senior Chamber Choir at 6pm on Sunday. It is going to be a lovely 45 minutes in a beautiful setting with brilliant music!

Mr Mercer, Head of Co-Curricular Music