Saturday, November 16 2019 | 7:30 – 9:30 pm
Metropolitan United Church
Amabile Choirs will join London Symphonia, Baritone Phillip Addis and clarinettist Graham Lord in the world premiere of The Sleepers by London Symphonia Composer-in-Resident Scott Good.
Inspired by the poetry of Walt Whitman, the work harnesses the beauty of the choir and
power of the orchestra to portray the poem’s emotional essence.
The performance, preceded by Joan Tower’s Made in America and Aaron Copland’s Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp and Piano was a beautiful sentiment and tribute to Walt Whitman’s poem, The Sleepers. In a new setting that opens the mind to experience Whitman’s poem in a journey that inspires the individual to use their imagination through action and peace.
From start to finish, the performance had the audience entranced with final notes resonating throughout the walls of the building, leaving everyone quietly contemplating the beautiful and meaning behind the words to Whitman’s poem. Alongside baritone Phillip Addis, we were transported away to other times and places, feeling the wide and vast variety of emotions that it means to be human and to the unity that comes from being one community, that ultimately culminated in a three minute-long standing ovation.
On behalf of the Amabile Choirs of London, we would like to thank:
- London Symphonia for their invitation to perform once again with some of London’s most stellar professionals,
- All the individuals and volunteers with London Symphonia who ensured the evening went smoothly,
- Our Amabile volunteers who assisted with us as we undertook a project of this scale,
- The Amabile Artistic Staff for their exceptional leadership;
- Our choristers for their hard-work and dedication. You all rose to the challenge of mastering this complex work;
- Composer Scott Good for his ingenious creativity in composing this amazing oratorio;
And of course, thank you to all our supporters who came out on Saturday night to watch and experience The Sleepers with us!
Christmas Eve 1914. The sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded along the Western Front, and the sounds of holiday celebrations rose above it all. Soldiers, friends and foe alike sang Christmas carols to each other across the lines. At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches, approaching the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, and called out ‘Merry Christmas’ to their enemies. They were unarmed, and with only a moment’s hesitation, the Allied soldiers climbed out from the trenches to exchange songs, carols and gifts with the men who only days ago, were their enemies. The arrival of miniature Christmas trees along the German trenches ignited the spark that would lead to the unconventional Christmas Truce of 1914.
