Musicians perform Carmina Burana

A unique concert involving Haileybury’s Choral Society, as well as pupils, parents, friends and staff from Orwell Park School in Suffolk, New Hall School in Chelmsford, and Colchester Chamber Orchestra, joined forces to give a spectacular, one-off performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana on Saturday, 19 March. The event was hosted by Orwell Park.

Carmina Burana, composed by Carl Orff in the 1930s, remains a timeless and highly popular piece, both in the music and commercial world, with its opening movement being sounded in films, adverts, rock concerts and the popular reality TV show the X-Factor.

Over 350 talented singers sang through a collection of medieval poems and songs, taken from a manuscript written by monks in the 13th Century.

The group was led by conductor and current Headmaster of Orwell Park School, Andrew Auster.

Haileybury’s musicians have their own performance of the piece on Thursday, 29 March in the Chapel.

Director of Music, Quentin Thomas, explains that there are two versions of this fantastic work – one for orchestra and one for two pianos and six percussionists.

"It is this latter version that we are doing on 29 March, whilst the performance at Orwell Park was the former version. The two offer a wonderful means of experiencing the two different sonorities."

Haileybury’s concert carries the title ‘Profound and Profane’. The first half will be sung by the Chapel Choir, ahead of their CD recording, and will look at some incredibly poignant music on the theme of Holy Week. The second part will see Heath Mount and Haileybury’s Lower School Choirs merging for the ‘Ragazzi’ (Children’s) Chorus. The Chamber Choir will perform the Semi-Chorus moments, the Choral Society will provide the chorus, along with three soloists (one of them a pupil), two pianists (Derek Longman and Huw Jones) and six percussionists (one of them a pupil).