Spiritus was more than a night of listening to song it was a solemn experience
An hour after the standing-room-only launch of the Year of Grace, St Mary’s Cathedral was stilled to nothing, lit only by candlelight, save for a few overhead lights on the sanctuary and the tabernacle.
It was the perfect atmosphere for Spiritus, an organ and choral recital to celebrate Pentecost, the latest in the 2012 concert series for St Mary’s Cathedral.
The Cathedral choir sang Veni Creator Spirtus as they processed towards the sanctuary. It was a hymn concert-goers would hear throughout the night as Cathedral music director and organist Jacinta Jakovcevic and the choir processed to different sites throughout St Mary’s, where they would perform the concert repertoire.
Ms Jakovcevic encouraged the audience to move with them; an invitation several people took up as they shuffled to new seating positions in the dark to get a better view.
The repertoire included organ and choral pieces by Vaughn-Williams, Palestrina, J S Bach, Lotti, Alain, and Messiaen. The choir processed to Our Lady’s Chapel to sing Tomas Luis de Victoria’s Ave Maria.
At one point during the evening, the choir split in two, with one half stationed in the Sacred Heart Chapel and the other in St Teresa’s.
The two halves sang ‘in choir’, answering one another in one of the night’s highlights.
Spiritus ended in a similar vein to how it began. After receiving the well-deserved praise of the audience, the choir processed from the sanctuary to the foyer in great solemnity.
The Cathedral’s next musical event, Community Singing, will take place on June 24, 2-4pm.