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.