Our ‘Come and Sing’ workshop on 25^th January features two contemporary composers whose works reward as well as challenge singers!

Jonathan Dove has a distinctive voice in contemporary music, and his writing for choral forces is charged with intensity and beauty. Composed in 2000 in memory of the composer’s mother, The Passing of the Year sets seven texts, including poetry by Blake, Dickinson and Tennyson, the latter’s ‘Ring out, wild bells’ being given a suitably wintry treatment. The combination of double chorus and piano offers a wealth of textual and dramatic possibilities – eagerly grasped by the composer and just waiting to be performed.

Regarding the second work we shall be exploring, James MacMillan’s Miserere Paul Spicer has written:

“This is a big piece and intended for a high achieving group (the première was given by The Sixteen). The psalm MacMillan sets in Latin is the same as that set by Allegri which has become so popular: ‘Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy great mercy’.

“MacMillan’s beautiful setting mirrors the words in all their variety and colour with great drama at one end and melting beauty at the other. He also has a section of free chant (in harmony) which divides the work in two and provides an extraordinary aural shift before bringing back the opening material in a different key and different voices but with the same ‘desolate and cold’ expression marking…”

Do join us for the workshop – earlybird rates are available – or come and listen to the free public performance at the workshop’s conclusion.

To buy earlybird tickets for just £15, email earlybird@jcos.co.uk giving the number of tickets required and the names and voice parts of singers. This offer ends on 11th January at midnight.

More details: Our Next Performance