James Larter’s upcoming concert with Figure Ensemble

October 11, 2022

Live concerts, percussion, James Larter

As we enter the season of remembrance in early November (including All Souls’ Day, Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday), Figure invites you to an evening of reflective words and choral music featuring requiems by two great French composers, Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) and Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704). City Music Foundation Artist, percussionist James Larter will be performing with Figure.

As both a music venue and a church, Union Chapel is an incredibly welcoming space, one that feels very aligned with Figure’s goal of offering more than just concerts, but experiences. It’s the perfect setting for this concert of sacred music, written for and first-performed in Christian funeral services. Figure hopes to capture some of the stillness, solemnity and poignancy of a church service by allowing the music space to breathe through moments of spoken and silent reflection and remembrance, led by a special guest speaker (to be announced).

About the Concert:

Reflection and Remembrance: Requiems by Fauré and Charpentier

Presented by Figure

Saturday 12^th November, 8pm

Union Chapel, Islington, London

Rowan Pierce (soprano)

Ashley Riches (bass-baritone)

Figure

Frederick Waxman (conductor)

Special guest speaker (tba)

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Messe pour les trépassés (Mass for the departed)

Charpentier Prose des morts (a setting of the Dies Irae)

Gabriel Fauré Requiem

You can watch James Larter’s recent lunchtime concert at St Barts below.

Play Video about James Larter lunchtime concert

About Figure:

Founded by conductor and harpsichordist Frederick Waxman and praised by The Guardian for its “good ideas, good musicians and good support”, Figure is a forward-thinking historical performance ensemble. In this concert, Figure will demonstrate two very different historical performance styles as it presents music from both the 17th and 19th centuries. In the Charpentier (thought to be composed in the 1670s) you can expect to see a ‘serpent’ (an ancestor of the tuba in the shape of a snake!); whilst in the Fauré (the 1893 chamber version) the string players will adopt the expressive playing style of late 19th-century France.

Figure’s previous events include Mozart’s Gran Partita, a sell-out performance of Bach’s St John Passion (praised for its “thrilling immediacy” by Michael Church, critic for The Independent), and Handel’s late operatic masterpiece Serse at Opera Holland Park (★★★★★ The Reviews Hub). 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.