"One Equal Music"

An exploration of music for the journey of the soul.

The brilliant C17 poet and Dean of St. Paul’s, John Donne, tried to put into words the imagined, overwhelming experience of human souls first entering heaven, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling but one equal light; no noise nor silence, but one equal music…. These words were set to music for unaccompanied choir by two twentieth century British composers – and the difference between their interpretations is striking: the serene beauty of William Harris; the shifting, tentative harmonies of James Macmillan. The concert also includes Holst’s numinous setting of the Nunc Dimittis, welcoming the onset of peaceful death, and the strident cries to God for mercy in Villette’s dramatic Attende Domine (Listen to me, my God!). From C16 England comes the calm faith of composers such as Byrd, Sheppard and Tallis as they Commend their spirit into the hands of the Lord in flowing, intricately woven music, while Victorian composers Bainton and Wood offer a glorious celebration of the life to come: Hail Gladdening Light! This should indeed prove a memorable and moving concert by a fine chamber choir, under their director, William Petter, whose wife, the wonderful soprano Rebecca Lea, will sing some inspiring solo items.

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