The Bach Choir – Into Spring: Au Printemps – Duruflé Requiem
Programme
Repertoire:
Duruflé – Requiem
Fauré – Cantique de Jean Racine
Poulenc – Easter motets
Poulenc – Litanies à la Vierge Noire
Conductor:
David Hill
Performers:
Katherine Gregory – Mezzo soprano
Philip Scriven – Organ
Au Printemps brings audiences closer than ever to The Bach Choir. In the fourth concert of our Into Spring series we present a tranquil and lush programme of French works for choir and organ, showcasing the range and intimacy of a choir usually known for performing with the world’s best orchestras.
The ancient world of Gregorian melodies is combined with a harmonic setting typical of 20th Century France in Duruflé’s Requiem. The Requiem blends different styles to achieve an overall sense of peace not usually found in other Requiem settings.
Cantique de Jean Racine was composed by Fauré at the age of twenty when he was attending Paris’ École Niedermeyer. It sets text from French playwright Jean Racine alongside rich, lush choral writing, and will be recognised by some audiences from its appearance in the motion picture Babe. Poulenc’s Quatre Motets pour un temps de pénitence continues the French theme and rounds out the evening.
As the fog of winter clears, Au Printemps brings The Bach Choir’s subtle and delicate side into focus
Upcoming Events
Barts’s Choir – Monteverdi’s Vespers (1610) – 7:30pm
Join us for two performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers (1610), one of the great masterpieces of sacred music, with Trafalgar Sinfonia conducted by Ivor Setterfield.
Published over four centuries ago, the Vespers stands at the threshold between the Renaissance and the Baroque, combining ancient plainchant with bold new operatic expression. Its radiant choruses, intimate solo motets and dazzling instrumental writing make it a thrilling experience live, and the beautiful Arts and Crafts setting of Holy Trinity Sloane Square makes it an evening of colour, drama and devotion.
Barts’s Choir – Monteverdi’s Vespers (1610) – 7:30pm
Join us for two performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers (1610), one of the great masterpieces of sacred music, with Trafalgar Sinfonia conducted by Ivor Setterfield.
Published over four centuries ago, the Vespers stands at the threshold between the Renaissance and the Baroque, combining ancient plainchant with bold new operatic expression. Its radiant choruses, intimate solo motets and dazzling instrumental writing make it a thrilling experience live, and the beautiful Arts and Crafts setting of Holy Trinity Sloane Square makes it an evening of colour, drama and devotion.
Medici Choir – Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem – 7pm
Brahms' magnificent German Requiem, sometimes dark yet ultimately consoling, is a choir and audience favourite. Lauridsen's tranquil and lyrical Lux Aeterna will appeal to lovers of Faure's Requiem.