The Sixteen's Blog

With concerts coming up in Australia (Sydney on 28 February 2012 and Melbourne on 28 February), it is good to see how often tracks from our CORO recordings are played on ABC Classic FM.  One programme which features The Sixteen frequently is For the God Who Sings, genially hosted by Stephen Wickham.  He presents eclectic selections of sacred choral music most Sunday evenings, last Sunday’s being themed Angels Band.  So, good to hear Will Todd’s Among Angels getting played: the whole programme is worth a listen, but this Genesis Foundation-funded commission is about 45 minutes from the top.  It comes from CORO 16071, available here.

Domkerk Utrecht

A busy Bank Holiday weekend coming up.  The choir flies to the Netherlands this evening for tomorrow night’s concert at 20.00 in the Domkerk in Utrecht in the Festival Oude Muziek.  The programme includes Palestrina’s Missa Assumpta est Maria, a Magnificat by Aenerio, and Allegri’s Miserere.  Full details are on the festival’s website, but I fear it is returns only as the concert is sold out.  The concert is going out live in the Netherlands on Radio 4, in France on France Musique, and also in some other European Broadcasting Union countries, although I haven’t yet tracked them all down – you can at least listen through one of the above two sites’ streams!

‘The musical developments that accompanied all this movement is still largely hidden under the surface. As the world’s biggest early music festival, Utrecht wants to be an advocate for this unknown repertoire, or for music that we only think we know.  Roma – città eterna promises some unforgettable moments.’  And then, on Monday, the 22 members of Genesis Sixteen assemble in London for the first week’s course, culminating in a free performance at the South Bank Centre on Sunday 4 September at 13.15. Members of Genesis Sixteen will talk about their experiences on the blog during the course of next week.

Grote of St. Bavokerk, Haarlem

The Choir returns to the Netherlands today to take part in the 6th Koorbiennale in Haarlem.  There are two concerts tomorrow, both including Allegri’s Miserere (see CD of the Month in the side-panel) and Tallis’ Spem in Alium.  The latter will be performed jointly with 100+ singers from all over the Netherlands who are taking part in a whole series of choral workshops, rehearsals and concerts.  You can hear the results in Simon de Vrieshof at 15.00 and 20.15 in the Grote of St. Bavokerk, a magnificent church which dominates Haarlem’s skyline.

If you can’t make it to Haarlem, you can see our Sacred Music programme on Allegri’s Miserere on BBC Four tonight.  There are two transmissions, at 19.30 and 03.35, which, with beautiful scheduling, frame live sets at Glastonbury from BB King, Morrissey, Jimmy Cliff and U2.

Last week we gave performances of Genesis Foundation-commissioned works by Ruth Byrchmore, Roderick Williams and Tarik O’Regan at St. James Church, Spanish Place in London.  You can see the composers enjoying the post-concert celebrations at the Spanish Ambassador’s residence.

Roderick Williams, Ruth Byrchmore, Harry Christophers and Tarik O'Regan

Our new CD

The productive partnership between The Sixteen and the Genesis Foundation continues with the release today of a CD of six new choral works from three of Britain’s most exciting contemporary composers: Tarik O’Regan, Roderick Williams and Ruth Byrchmore.

The new works are inspired by two poems – St. Teresa of Ávila’s Nada te turbe (Let nothing trouble you) and St. John of the Cross’s poem En una noche oscura (One Dark Night). Both St. Teresa and St. John were major figures in the Spanish mystics movement during the Catholic Reformation in Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. Their attempts to express in words their experience of a mystical communion with Christ produced some exquisite poetry and writings which went on to influence and shape the Spanish language.

The composers’ brief for this project was to present atmospheric and mystical works based on the poems of St. Teresa and St. John that will enhance the church music repertoire both for the divine service as well as the concert repertoire.