We are delighted to announce our second Holy Week Festival, in partnership with Tenebrae.
Our 2018 festival will begin on Mon 26 March 2018 with a week of choral workshops, lunchtime concerts, evening concerts, and late-night liturgical events on Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. The programme’s vast range of sacred music for Holy Week will conclude on Sun 1 April 2018 with a performance of Bach’s Mass in B minor with Gabrieli and Paul McCreesh.
Artists include Tenebrae, Ex Cathedra, Gabrieli, Polyphony, The Tallis Scholars, The Gesualdo Six (SJSS 2015/16 Young Artist), and the Temple Church Choir amongst others.
“To mark the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Baltic states, we have spread the net far and wide to bring you music from the likes of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.
Of course there are the ‘regulars’ such as Bach (St John Passion under the direction of Stephen Layton on Good Friday), Arvo Pärt (Tenebrae performs Passio with Aurora Orchestra), and Kenneth Leighton. Alongside these are rare opportunities to hear lesser-known works, including a complete performance of Rodion Shchedrin’s The Sealed Angel by The Choir of King’s College London.
What is it about the music of Passiontide that has so inspired composers and tugs at the heart as much as it has been at the service of the Liturgy? Does music deal with angst, suffering and death better than the happier side of our human experience? If there is still a deep-seated need for this expressive side of our nature, then I hope that there is something for everyone this year – sacred and secular, a cappella and with instruments. I hope that this festival fulfils all your musical needs for the season.
We look forward to welcoming you this Eastertide.”
Nigel Short
Artistic Director, Tenebrae