NEWS & EVENTS
Academy of Great St. Mary’s concert
June 2010
The concert given by the Academy of Great St. Mary’s on June 12th was very well received. The programme was varied and included the third performance of The Martyrdom of Latimer where the University Church proved a great venue for accommodating the two off-stage trumpet parts. The players were sited in the two galleries and the effect was exciting and stereophonic.
The second half of the evening was taken up by a performance of Beethoven’s Eroica symphony. This massive work demands a great deal from the musicians and concentration and artistry were there throughout the performance. The orchestra was formed in 2007 and it has already developed tremendously, taking on some of the ‘trojan horses’ of the repertoire.
There is an exciting season ahead that will include performances of the fifth symphony of Shostakovich and Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
A CD Resurrection that features The Academy of Great St, Mary’s along with the GSM choir will be released soon, and it features my Martyrdom of Latimer and Life Cycle as well as works by Finzi, Elgar and Howells.
This short video clip (left) features The Academy of Great St. Mary’s performing the second movement from the Eroica by Beethoven.
Martyrdom of Latimer and Life Cycle to be
released on CD
April 2010
The Academy of Great St. Mary's
The second performance of The Martyrdom of Latimer took place on 20 March in Cambridge, including a performance of Brahms' German Requiem. During the previous few weeks the Academy of Great St. Mary's was involved in some very intensive recording sessions for their new recording Resurrection which will include the Martyrdom of Latimer, Life Cycle, pieces by Elgar and Lennox Berkeley and Lo, the Full Final Sacrifice by Finzi. The vocal works feature the choir of Great St. Mary's under the direction of Samuel Hayes.
• Read the further notes by John France on Land of Lost Content
• The new CD Resurrection is due for release on Cambridge Recordings in June
Free download of Cradle Song available here
Cradle Song has proved to be a very popular work with choirs, having been performed in Cambridge, Ely, Heidelburg and Aldeburgh. You can download a free MP3 and sheet music (PDF) of the work below. Please feel free to perform the piece – just let me know when you do.
Adam Pounds
 Cradle Song download
 Cradle Song sheet music
Martyrdom of Latimer premiere
hailed great success
Saturday October 3rd 2009
Ely Cathedral
The evening was marked with a first performance of a work especially written for the occasion: The Martyrdom of Latimer by Adam Pounds who was present in the audience. The warmth and enthusiasm the audience showed towards this piece was certainly warranted.
Adam Pounds & Steve Bingham
This profound work explored the excitement and darkness of death and spiritual revival. After the opening appealing melody was taken up in turn by the different sections of the orchestra, the toll of impending doom heralded the contrasting development of dramatic conflict, building up to an exciting climax with trumpets off-stage broadening the experience until the work's final thunderous drum call brought this fine composition to a memorable close.
Dr. R J Westwell PhD, MA TESOL, MA Ed, B Mus, BA Hons
What the audience said...
“I was lucky enough to have a front-row seat to yesterday's concert which included your wonderful new piece, "The Martyrdom of Latimer". I thought it was really tremendous — both powerful and evocative, especially the ending and the trumpets in the gallery. So, as it's something I'd certainly like to hear again, I was wondering if there were plans to release a recording on CD?”
Andrew Cohen
“I had the profound pleasure of hearing this stunning composition on Saturday evening. I would dearly like to listen to it again (and again...). Have any plans been made to record it?”
Yvonne Vallis
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