Ruins and Reflections: music of exile, loss and hope renewed

In an eclectic and moving programme of choral music, Londinium takes its cue from the traditional Holy Week service of Tenebrae in exploring musical responses to the Book of Lamentations. These powerful words, written in response to the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Israelites in Babylon, have found resonance with composers of many different periods, amongst them Byrd, a Catholic in a Protestant land, Ginastera, blacklisted by Perón’s Argentina, and Rudolf Mauersberger, mourning the devastation of his beloved Dresden. They continue to inspire new music today: our programme includes the UK première of Nico Muhly's Recordare, Domine, and two works written in 2012, Gabriel Jackson's Lamentations of Jeremiah and Cecilia McDowall's The Lord is Good, which looks forward to Israel restored. Completing the journey from despair to new hope is Milhaud's superb, rarely-performed cantata Les Deux Cités, painting in exuberant colours the Revelation vision of the new Jerusalem.