Festival Lunchtime Recital - St Mary's Cathedral Lay Clerks

Free lunchtime recitals every day from 1st to 31st August, except Sundays and 16th. An opportunity to hear emerging and established artists performing in a wide variety of styles, genres, and instruments.  This long-running series is undoubtedly one of the hidden gems of the Fringe.

The Lay Clerks of St Mary's Cathedral Choir

All Creatures Now: Songs of Nature

• John Bennet - All creatures now are merry-minded
• Franz Schubert - Die Krähe and Im Dorfe (from Winterreise)
• Henry Purcell - Arise, ye subterranean winds (from The Tempest)
• George F. Handel - Ombra mai fu – Xerxes, HWV 40
• Benjamin Britten - For I will consider my Cat Jeoffrey, For the Mouse is a creature of great personal valour, and For the flowers are great blessing (from Rejoice in the Lamb)
• Lennox Berkeley - Hurrahing in Harvest (from Autumn’s Legacy)
• Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Woodcutter’s Song (from the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’
• George Butterworth - Loveliest of Trees (from A Shropshire Lad)
• John Ireland - Sea Fever
• Herbert Howells - King David
• Gerald Finzi - Childhood among the Ferns and Overlooking the River (from Before and After Summer)
• Francis Poulenc - Tout puissant and Seigneur, je vous en prie (from Quatre Petites Prières de Saint François d’Assise)
• Charles V. Stanford - The Blue Bird

The Lay Clerks are professional singers who sing alongside the choristers as the Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, founded in 1879 to provide choral music for the daily services. Alongside the usual pattern of six sung services a week, the Choir is well known for its recording work, concerts, broadcasts, and international tours. This past year, they were filmed for BBC Scotland’s Christmas Services, recorded a new CD with Delphian Records, and will broadcast their annual BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong next week.

Today’s programme is a mix of choral works and solos, all based on the broad theme of nature. From Lieder to English Song, there should be something for everyone!

Performers: Jacob Olah, Alex White, David Coney, Alice Latham, Max Carsley, Jarek Jankowski, Tim Coleman, Felix Schneideman, James Kennedy, Taylor Torkington