A summer concert
Our summer concert at Buckfast Abbey is a mix of old and newer choral works. The 16 th century is represented by the busy but beautiful 7 part Loquebantur Variis Linguis by Thomas Tallis, a response for Whitsun concerning the Apostles speaking in tongues and Pater Noster (The Lord's Prayer) by Jacob Handl from Slovenia.
The more recent choral pieces include Rachmaninov's Ave Maria and the centrepiece of the concert, the Requiem by Herbert Howells, written in 1936 and set for divided mixed chorus with soprano, tenor and baritone soloists. This unaccompanied work was the first of two which arose from the tragic death in 1935 of the composer's only son Michael Kendrick Howells, aged nine, from either meningitis or polio. (He had also found Elgar's death in 1934 difficult to bear.) The writing of this work and Hymnus Paradisi (1938) achieved for Howells some 'release and consolation' from a 'loss essentially profound'. Both works have strong comparisons and contrasts, but, although Hymnus Paradisi was released for publication in 1950 (with some persuasion from Vaughan Williams), it was not until 1980 that the Requiem was re-assembled from manuscript and released for publication and performance.
The final, modern pieces the choir will sing are Totus Tuus by the Polish composer Henryk Górecki, written on the occasion of the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1989, and a setting of the Magnificat, also from 1989, by the Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt.
Click here to order tickets for the Buckfast Abbey concert
