Duruflé Requiem & Poulenc Figure Humaine

In this concert, Anton Bruckner Choir will be tackling one of the summits of a cappella choral music: Poulenc's Figure Humaine. It is considered Poulenc's masterpiece, an intensely vivid and virtuoso setting of words by the surrealist poet Paul Éluard, written with the backdrop of the hardships of occupied France looming large.

The programme also includes Poulenc's luminous Lenten Motets and Duruflé's sublime and soothing Requiem. The atmospheric acoustics and architecture of the Temple Church should provide the perfect setting for the very best of French choral music.

Anton Bruckner Choir was founded in 1995 by Christopher Dawe, and is now one of London’s leading amateur choirs.

With repertoire ranging from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries, the choir performs regularly in major London venues including the Temple Church, St. Clement Danes and St John’s Smith Square.

“Conductor Christopher Dawe drew fine performances from his singers, who tackled Bach’s athletic chorus writing with precision and tremendous energy, shading their chorales with great delicacy. Bach’s Passions are great music, but they are also communions, collective acts of faith. Last night I left believing, which is exactly as it should be.”

- Alexandra Coghlan, reviewing the choir’s performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at St. John’s Smith Square in March 2015 for online journal TheArtsDesk. com