Sunday 6 November 2022

Reflection and Remembrance: Figure ensemble bring Requiems by Fauré and Charpentier to Union Chapel

Figure performing in November 2021 under founder and Musical Director, Frederick Waxman
Figure performing in November 2021 under founder and Musical Director, Frederick Waxman

After a sold-out performance of Handel's Serse at Opera Holland Park, innovative historical performance ensemble Figure return bringing a programme of French Requiems to North London's Union Chapel on 12 November 2022. 

This evening of Reflection and Remembrance will see sacred choral music by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) and Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) interspersed by poetry and prose read by BBC Radio 3's Donald Macleod. Figure, under their founder and Musical Director, Frederick Waxman, will be joined by soloists Rowan Pierce (soprano) and Ashley Riches (bass-baritone).

Whilst Fauré’s Requiem is a firm favourite, with the bittersweet ‘Pie Jesu’ at its heart, Charpentier’s sacred music is heard all too rarely. The ‘requiem’ presented in this concert sees Charpentier's Messe pour les trépassés (Mass for the departed) paired with his Prose des morts (a setting of the Dies Irae). Together they form a powerful musical journey, ranging from the fiery wrath of the Dies Irae at its centre, to the plaintive lamentations which open and close the mass. With echoes of Monteverdi’s celebrated Vespers of 1610, this music will leave a lasting impression and provide fascinating context to Fauré’s Requiem, also written in Paris some 200 years later.

Figure's founder and Musical Director, Frederick Waxman on Reflection and Remembrance

"As an historical performance ensemble, we're always thinking of ways to honour the music's original setting. These requiems by Fauré and Charpentier were written for and first-performed as part of Christian funeral services, and so they weren't intended to be performed as concert works, played from start to finish, but broken up by formal words or personal reflections. So, although this performance is being held in a church, it's not an act of worship. However, by performing these works of sacred music alongside poetry and prose, we're hoping not only to create a space for listeners to encounter and ponder themes such as mortality, bereavement, and life after death, but also to offer a church-like experience: one of stillness, solemnity, poignancy. These requiems may have been written in memory of departed souls in by-gone eras, but they're still capable of bringing us great comfort, guidance and even joy, as well as offering us an opportunity to engage with the rather difficult, by pervasive topic of loss."

Formed in the wake of the pandemic, a time when live music had almost evaporated, Figure has been shaped by the overwhelming desire to bring music back to live audiences. Prioritising intimacy in performance and the human connection which lends music so much of its meaning, Figure aims to marry the two by using space and light to bring audiences as close to their work as possible. Figure aims to offer more than just concerts, but experiences, as well as improving access to Classical music by taking it out of traditional venues and offering reduced-price tickets.

historical performance ensemble Figure return bringing a programme of French Requiems to North London's Union Chapel

For more details and tickets (including an Under 30s offer and Concessions for students, under 18s, and anyone unwaged, unemployed or struggling with the cost of living) please visit the Union Chapel website.

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