Northern Lights
Hastings Philharmonic Choir sing music from Northern Europe
GARETH SIMPSON
In July, Hastings Philharmonic Choir will perform the works of two living composers, Arvo Pärt’s Berliner Messe and Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass. They will be accompanied by the strings of Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Marcio da Silva), who will also perform Schoenberg’s gorgeous, other-worldly, Verklärte Nacht. Rachel Allen (soprano), Alex Pullinger (countertenor ), John Twitchen (tenor), and Jack Lawrence-Jones (bass) will sing solo roles.
Arvo Pärt is a contemporary composer from Estonia. His music is typically minimalist, employing his own invented technique of tintinnabuli, a musical texture that creates an aural effect emulating the resonance of bells. His music is also inspired by Gregorian Chant. His Berliner Messe, composed in 1990, is a meditative and structured setting of the Latin Mass. Originally commissioned for the 90th German Catholic Day in Berlin, the Masswas first performed there, shortly after the fall of the Wall, at St. Hedwig’s Cathedral.
Sunrise Mass was composed in 2008 by the Norwegian composer and pianist, Ola Gjeilo. It is structured in four movements, each movement setting part of the traditional text of the Latin mass. Gjeilo explained “I wanted the musical development of the Mass to evolve from transparent and spacey, through increasing emotion and movement, to something solid and grounded- as a metaphor for human development from child to adult, for a spiritual journey, or for the creative process itself.”
The notion of a spiritual journey – in this case the affirmation of love and forgiveness over blame and rejection – also underpins Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht. Based on a poem by Richard Dehmel, this late-Romantic work depicts the conversation and emotions experienced by a man and woman walking through a forest at night.
Place: Christ Church, Silchester Road, St Leonards Date: Saturday 5 July Time: 7 pm. Tickets: hastingsphilchoir.org.uk, or at The Bookkeeper, 1A Kings Road, St Leonards. £22.50/£18/£13.50. Students, under 18s, jobseekers and universal credit £5, or pay what you can.
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