The Durham Singers present a concert exploring composers’ responses to the idea of sleep in our summer evening concert on Saturday 5 July at 7.30pm in the atmospheric setting of St Brandon’s Church, Brancepeth.
Our a cappella performance begins with an intriguing and meditative setting of the office of Compline, the last service of the day, by the brilliant young composer Lucy Walker. She skilfully combines enchanting, soporific harmony with ancient Gregorian chant. Interspersed will be music reflecting the Compline texts: ‘O Ecclesia’ by Hildegard von Bingen, ‘Te Lucis Ante Terminum’ by Tallis, ‘Night Prayer’ by Roth, ‘Nunc Dimittis’ from The Short Service by Gibbons, ‘Quemadmodum’ by Taverner and ‘In Pace’ by Sheppard.
The second half of our concert features Parry’s poignant Songs of Farewell, which mixes texts by eminent poets from various periods with biblical extracts, in one of the composer’s greatest achievements. Parry wrote the movements of this well-known work, for example, ‘There is an old belief’ and ‘Lord, let me know mine end’, at the end of his life; thereby, we consider sleep in a broader sense.
We hope you will come along to enjoy this poignant and peaceful musical landscape at twilight.
Tickets avilable via choirmembers or ticket source
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