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College News
3 December 2004
Unique performance in College Chapel
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On the 8th and 9th of December, students from Royal Holloway's Drama Department will be performing songs by the metaphysical poet John Donne (1573-1631), in the College Chapel. It will be the first time in four centuries that the poet's musical work has been performed publicly. The songs were originally set by John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons, William Corkine and Alfonso Ferrabosco, and have remained untouched since the early seventeenth century. Prepared as part of a performance research project examining Donne's oeuvre, the songs will be integrated into an evening of selected readings of Donne's poetry, prose, sermons and letters. This performance is the first stage in an ongoing project |
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co-ordinated by Dr Jonathan Holmes, lecturer in Drama and English at the College, which will culminate in another public performance of these and other Donne songs, together with readings and new musical settings of the poet's work at St. Paul's Cathedral in June 2005. This later performance will include readings by Juliet Stevenson, Simon Russell Beale and Mark Rylance, and performances of the songs by Emma Kirkby and Carolyn Sampson. Fifteen students from the Drama department will be taking part in the event and the wider research project will form part of their academic work. They have spent the past two months investigating the intellectual, musical and historical background to Donne's work, experimenting with styles of performing poetry, and carefully preparing the songs for performance. The ecumenical Chapel at Royal Holloway was the last part of the College to be completed in 1886 and is typical of those associated with seats of learning. Inside, fine ceiling reliefs by Italian sculptor Ceccardo Fucigna, stained glass windows and gilt stenciled walls provide rich decoration. Directed by the College organist Lionel Pike, Royal Holloway's mixed voice choir sings in the Chapel daily, and is the most frequently performing non-auditioned choir in the UK. Tickets can be obtained from Royal Holloway's Drama Department, or directly from the Chapel on the evening. The performance begins at 8pm. Visit www.rhul.ac.uk/drama/ for further details.
Vicky Cousins
Top rated for the quality of its teaching and research, Royal Holloway has one of the largest and most prestigious drama departments in the country. A staff of over twenty gives unparalleled range and depth in the choices we offered to students, who can take courses from right across the world history of drama, theatre and performance. Visit www.rhul.ac.uk/drama for further details.
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