Decoding Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia
John William Waterhouse: St Cecilia Why have we programmed Britten’s Hymn to St Cecilia in a concert of Irish and American music? The superficial answer is that Britten wrote it…
John William Waterhouse: St Cecilia Why have we programmed Britten’s Hymn to St Cecilia in a concert of Irish and American music? The superficial answer is that Britten wrote it…
Like Pachelbel with his Canon, or Allegri with his Miserere, Samuel Barber has become one of those composers who is mostly remembered for just one piece, the grief-stricken arrangement for…
In the last few years, our summer concert has become a time for us to explore new music – sometimes that means pieces that are just new to us, such…
In his programme note for our concert on 8 April 2017, Michael Gilmore takes us back to 16th century Rome, using Rosselli's Last Supper fresco in the Sistine Chapel as…
This week, our Monteverdi 1610 Vespers plans started to take shape, as we had a first peek at the music and a workshop with Robert Hollingworth, the director of I…
The candles illuminating the chapel are being snuffed out one by one; the serenely beautiful faces painted on the walls and ceiling fade slowly into the gloom; and somewhere above…
We had a wonderful time on 19 November singing Messiah to a full cathedral nave, and getting a standing ovation too! It was an honour to welcome our five young…
Messiah is deeply embedded into the musical DNA of English-speaking singers, and for our performance next week we're working hard at overcoming some of our own preconceptions about how particular…
We know that, for families with young children, coming to a full evening's concert is not easy, and so as part of our afternoon rehearsals in the cathedral, we've taken…
Ever since its first performance at Easter time 1742, in Dublin, Messiah has been loved, and it is undoubtedly the best-known and most-performed choral work in the English language repertoire.…