Crouch End Festival Chorus, conductor David Temple, is presenting two contrasting 20th century classics on Sunday 12 February at their concert at the Barbican. Accompanied by the London Orchestra da Camera, the choir will perform Holst's The Hymn of Jesus and Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky, alongside Vivaldi's Gloria, with soloists Jessica Cale (soprano) and Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano). For the Hymn of Jesus, they will also be joined by the Finchley Children's Music Group and choir of City of London School for Girls.
The Hymn of Jesus was Holst's first major work after finishing The Planets. Written in 1917 (and premiered in 1920) the piece is undoubtedly a response to the carnage of World War One (Holst was unable to enlist for medical reasons). The piece sets a text from one of the Gnostic Gospels, the Acts of St John, using a translation from the Greek which Holst prepared with assistance from Clifford Bax and Jane Joseph. The piece is a long way from the Victorian and Edwardian oratorio with both text and music being profound and not a little challenging, and Holst's ecstatic writing prefigures later English composers such as Tavener and Tippett.
Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky started out life as a score for Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 film, It was Prokofiev's third film score, previously he had written for Lieutenant Kije (1934) and The Queen of Spades (1936) though the Queen of Spades project never reached fruition. Prokofiev would also write the score for Eisenstein's last film Ivan the Terrible (1942-45). In 1939 Prokofiev arranged the music from Alexander Nevsky into a cantata, perhaps inspired by the great popularity of the film.
Full details from the Barbican website.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
The Pink Singers at Cadogan Hall, January 2023 (Photo Jessica Rowbottom) In July 1983 I allowed myself to have my arm twisted and take over ...
-
Britten: Peter Grimes - Simon Keenlyside, Allan Clayton - Paris Opera (Photo Vincent Pontet/OnP) Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes ; Allan Cla...
-
Portrait miniature of Handel (c1710) by Christoph Platzer (Photo of a lost original, Handel-Haus, Halle) Handel: Sans y penser (Cantate Fra...
-
Sondheim: Company - Artform in rehearsal, Daniel Lawrence (Bobby) & Aimee Collins (Kathy) - Photo Bethany Andrews Artform is a non-profe...
-
Shiva Fesharecki - Milton Court Concert Hall (Photo Emma Werner) Oliver Leith, Stevie Wishart, Mira Calix, Jethro Cooke & The Hermes Exp...
-
1984 - New European Ensemble, Mihkel Kerem George Orwell, Mihkel Kerem 1984 ; Edward Snowden, Joseph Thompson, Willem Stam, New European...
-
Galina Grigorjeva: Music for Male-Voice Choir; Estonian National Male Choir, Mikk Üleoja, Theodor Sink; Toccata Classics Reviewed 27 January...
-
Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra I get all sorts of mail, people sending my information on concerts and recordings. Everything gets gl...
-
Donna Brown and Margaret Maria Cellist and composer Margaret Maria and soprano Donna Brown , both Canadian, have been collaborating on an a...
-
Hollie Harding, Heather Roche, Eva Zöllner, Colin Alexander LSO St Luke's(Photo Emily Hazrati ) Christophe Bertrand, Laurence Crane, Joa...
No comments:
Post a Comment