Aurora Orchestra and the BBC Singers to appear at The Apex later this month

The Aurora Orchestra and the BBC Singers (pictured above) are returning to The Apex, in Bury St Edmunds, later this month.

Their programme for the concert includes pieces by Mahler, Benjamin Britten, Fauré and former BBC Singer Kim Porter.

Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb” uses the poetry of 19th century asylum inmate Christopher Smart.

Despite his confinement, Smart perceived the divine in the world around him – whether in his cat’s morning ritual, the simple beauty of flowers, or the bravery of a mouse.

Presented in Imogen Holst’s arrangement for chamber orchestra and voices, Smart’s ode is brought to life by some of Britten’s most masterly word-setting.

Mahler’s “O garish World, long since thou hast lost me” takes a contrasting perspective – a rejection of the world’s mundane tumult in favour of a personal “heaven” of love and song.

And In “Your World”, Kim Porter – herself a former BBC Singer – sets Harlem Renaissance poet Georgia Douglas Johnson’s ode to self-expression and the pursuit of a free and fulfilled life.

At the heart of the programme is Fauré’s “Requiem”, written shortly after the death of the composer’s father in 1888.

A serene, consoling vision of peace and “happy deliverance” after death, the work remains one of the most enduringly popular treasures of choral music and is performed in the original chamber orchestra version rediscovered by editor John Rutter in Paris’ Bibliothèque Nationale after a century of neglect.

The Aurora Orchestra and BBC Singers, who are conducted by Nicholas Collin,  are at The Apex on Wednesday, January 29, at 7.30pm.

See www.theapex.co.uk or ring 01284 758000 for more information or to book tickets.