Choral landmarks

The much-admired City Chamber Choir give you the opportunity to hear their “desert island” music at a concert in the heart of the City of London on Tuesday 10 July. “We decided to put together a concert of the pieces that the members of the choir have most enjoyed singing, or most wanted to sing” says conductor Stephen Jones, “and a very interesting selection it has turned out to be: spanning four centuries and many different styles, and ranging from the very well known to the undeservedly obscure. I am sure that the Choir’s enjoyment of singing these pieces will come across clearly in what should be a spectacular evening of musicmaking in the marvellous acoustic of the Dutch Church.”

The programme includes: J.S. Bach’s great baroque motet Komm, Jesu, komm; Benjamin Britten’s Five flower songs, fine examples of his genius for word-setting; two classics from the English cathedral tradition, Faire is the heaven and Bring us O Lord God by W. H. Harris; two works by current sensation Eric Whitacre, Sleep and Lux aurumque and Duruflé’s Quatre motets sur des thèmes grégoriens – 20th century music built on the foundation of medieval plainsong.

City Chamber Choir specialises in rediscovering forgotten gems from the choral repertoire, in particular 20th century English music, so it is appropriate that the concert also provides a rare opportunity to hear Edmund Rubbra’s Lauda Sion, a piquant and moving masterpiece from this unjustly neglected composer.