HOWELLS | Requiem | Psalm 23

It has now been three months since we last sang together in person, and although we are unable to perform at our usual services and concerts this term, we are thrilled to bring you some more of our content recorded just before the pandemic - here we present the second movement of Howells' intensely personal, poignant and heartfelt Requiem.

Only released for performance in 1980, shortly before his own death, this work was kept private for decades following the death of the composer's son, and it offers an ultimately hopeful response to our own mortality. We hope this may bring a moment of peace and comfort in these times of anguish and uncertainty.

𝗣𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝟮𝟯
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘥: 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦: 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭: 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘠𝘦𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭; 𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦: 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘪𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦: 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.

Recorded live in St John's College Chapel on Saturday 14 March 2020, this video was made in place of our concert which had been sadly cancelled owing to the coronavirus pandemic.