Llandovery College Choir commemorates the Great War
Posted on 5th May 2017 in School News, Music
As centenary commemorations of the Great War continue across the country and further afield, Llandovery College played its part with their recent Chapel Choir tour to Belgium.
The Choir performed in two of the most magnificent of venues, St. Salvator Cathedral in Bruges and St. Bavo’s Cathedral in the centre of Ghent. The sensational acoustics provided by these ancient buildings complemented the beautiful a capella repertoire that had been chosen from music taken from the 16th to the 21st centuries. Head Chorister, Gabrielle Raw-Rees led superbly and the whole ensemble preformed to an exceptionally high standard.
The Choir also received the honour of providing the musical accompaniment to one of the most moving of traditions, namely the Last Post Ceremony held each evening at the Menin Gate. In front of some 1,000 people, the Chapel Choir gave a rendition of Calon Lân that stirred the blood and was, as the wreaths were laid, a fitting tribute to the fallen soldiers.
On a key day of the tour, the Choir visited the immense Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing where they sought out the names of four Llandovery soldiers – William Key Griffith, Llewelyn Price Jones, Cyril Gordon Phillips and Rhys Trevor Evans. Their names were recorded on the walls commemorating those who had fallen but whose bodies were never recovered. The names of two other former Llandovery College pupils William Rees Reynolds and Clement Cyril Carter were also found inscribed on the marble walls, and as a mark of respect and remembrance, a minute’s silence was observed at the final resting place of another Old Llandoverian Charles William Wykeham King. It was a poignant and moving tribute to a past generation that had made the ultimate sacrifice and an experience that both pupils and adults would never forget.
Guy Ayling, Llandovery College Warden said: “The College has a wonderful tradition of performance and it was a great opportunity for our choristers to visit Belgium and to honour the fallen of our town and school.”