Into the Light - Lea Singers: Works by Britten, Pärt and Duruflé at St Nicholas Church, Harpenden on Saturday 21st March 2026

Into the Light - Lea Singers

Works by Britten, Pärt and Duruflé

Add to my Calendar 21-03-2026 19:30 21-03-2026 21:30 36 Into the Light - Lea Singers This programme draws together three of the 20th century’s most profoundly spiritual choral works, each offering a distinct meditation on faith, reverence and mortality. Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb sets Christopher Smart’s visionary poetry to music of startling imagination, shifting between playful wit and radiant devotion. Arvo Pärt’s Salve Regina follows as a luminous prayer to the Virgin Mary, its spare, bell-like harmonies creating an atmosphere of timeless stillness. The evening reaches its culmination with Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem, a work of extraordinary beauty that weaves Gregorian chant into richly coloured orchestral and choral textures. Composed in 1947 in the shadow of war, Duruflé’s setting of the Mass for the Dead is less a cry of anguish than a gentle release, offering consolation and the promise of eternal rest. Together, these three works trace a journey from joyful praise through quiet contemplation to a final, transcendent peace. St Nicholas Church, Harpenden DD/MM/YYYY

Details

St Nicholas Church
Church Green
Harpenden
Herts
AL5 2TP
England

Saturday 21st March 2026
7:30 PM

Tickets

Prices: £15 (concs £7.50) Pay what you can
Book Tickets

Programme

Benjamin Britten – Rejoice in the Lamb, Op.30
Arvo Pärt – Salve Regina
Maurice Duruflé – Requiem, Op.9

Performers

Benjamin Kirk – Conductor

Lea Singers

Programme Note

This programme draws together three of the 20th century’s most profoundly spiritual choral works, each offering a distinct meditation on faith, reverence and mortality. Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb sets Christopher Smart’s visionary poetry to music of startling imagination, shifting between playful wit and radiant devotion. Arvo Pärt’s Salve Regina follows as a luminous prayer to the Virgin Mary, its spare, bell-like harmonies creating an atmosphere of timeless stillness.

The evening reaches its culmination with Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem, a work of extraordinary beauty that weaves Gregorian chant into richly coloured orchestral and choral textures. Composed in 1947 in the shadow of war, Duruflé’s setting of the Mass for the Dead is less a cry of anguish than a gentle release, offering consolation and the promise of eternal rest. Together, these three works trace a journey from joyful praise through quiet contemplation to a final, transcendent peace.

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