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Details
St Mary Redcliffe Church
12 Colston Parade
Bristol
BS1 6RA
England
Programme
Leonard Bernstein – Chichester Psalms
Neil Cox – Requiem Canticles
Arvo Pärt – De Profundis
Benjamin Britten – A Ceremony of Carols, Op.28
Performers
Paul Walton – Conductor
Tom Lilburn – countertenor
Carleton Etherington – organ
Faith Stonehewer – Percussion
Mark Kane – Horn
Bristol Phoenix Choir
Bristol Cathedral Consort
Programme Note
On our return to the magnificent acoustic of St Mary Redcliffe we present four modern sacred works, each thrilling in its own way. Bernstein's Chichester Psalms is the best-known, commissioned in 1965 for Chichester Cathedral's Music Festival..The setting of texts from the Book of Psalms is in the original Hebrew for what the composer hoped would be an ecumenical message. The three exciting and tuneful movements are accompanied by organ, harp and percussion.
Arvo Pärt's De Profundis is an atmospheric setting of Psalm130 for male voices, while Britten's Ceremony of Carols is for female voices, settings of various poets, mainly in Middle English.
The Requiem Canticles by Neil Cox was first performed in March of this year at Gloucester Cathedral. We are thrilled to give its second performance (and Bristol première) again with Tom Lilburn singing the countertenor solo.and accompanied by horn, harp, percussion and organ - and a recording of the bells of Speyer Cathedral. The eight sections are settings of different texts, which combine in some very moving music, culminating in the Resurrection Prayer "We shalll rest and we shall see....". The work is described as "moving, expressive and very beautiful" in the review of the original performance - we hope to do it justice!
