Brentwood School - Brentwoodian 2020

32 We are fortunate to have such a vibrant network of choirs and societies in our school for singing. Not only does this ensure excellent grounding in the knowledge and understanding in music, but we are also exposed to some of the most complex and difficult pieces of music ever written, which quite simply, no schools ever attempt. Last year we had the privilege of undertaking the challenge of putting on an opera, recreating one of the most monstrous pieces of music ever written, Dido and Aeneas , written by the famous baroque composer, Purcell. Unfortunately, we never got round to putting this concert on, but working on it was such a fantastic experience, as we had the opportunity unlike ever before to learn and immerse ourselves in the environment of operatic singing. Of course one enormous credit to the Department is Mr Revels, who shared barrels of expertise and wisdom amongst the choirs during this project. Lockdown was new territory for all of us, but a complete new level in terms of learning how to produce music chorally from a distance. Of course, this presents itself with many challenges, but without fail, all students from ages as low as seven to 19 managed to put together three religious services, and produce at least 20 pieces of choral music during this period, including Stainer’s God So Loved the World and Bruckner’s Locus Iste . Choral Music at Brentwood School also played a huge part prior to lockdown in providing services for the Chapel. Evensong, a traditional Christian service largely containing music, was also a great experience for us and we added many new pieces to our repertoire over this period. These services were very popular and took place very many times throughout the academic year. By Cameron Davies Choral Music at Brentwood School