Music lovers have the chance to hear one of Australia’s foremost choral groups when Music at the Basilica presents the Australian Chamber Choir’s Renaissance Requiem this weekend.
Described by reviewers as projecting “beguiling serenity” and a “celestial sound”, the Australian Chamber Choir will perform a program of works including two premieres at the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels at 3.30pm on Sunday, August 10.
The core of the program is esteemed composer Gordon Kerry’s newly commissioned Requiem, created specifically with the Australian Chamber Choir in mind..
The Requiem will be punctuated by music setting English texts from the 16th and 17th centuries, known as England’s ‘golden age’, including works from Thomas Tomkins, Thomas Morley, William Byrd and John Dowland, as well as the Australian premiere of Morten Lauridsen’s ethereal O Magnum Mysterium.
Conductor and choir co-founder Elizabeth Anderson said interspersing the Requiem with other works emulated its presentation in a church service.
“We started talking about how you would present a requiem, because it’s a hefty amount of music,” Anderson said.
“If you were performing a requiem in its natural environment – a church service – you would do one movement and then there would be a prayer or a hymn, then you would do another movement… it’s all broken up.
“I said, could we do that? Break it up and make it, not the centrepiece, but the backbone of the program? Gordon really liked that idea… he got his thinking cap on and started suggesting pieces and where they would fit in the context of the text of the Requiem.
“The sequence of music really tells a story of how humans deal with loss and sadness. It makes for a very serious program, but it’s a beautiful journey.”
The concert is the third date in a series of five, with four of the performances held in regional areas.
Anderson said bringing music to regional areas had been a focus of the choir “right from the very outset”.
“We have so many friends who live in regional areas and we know how much they enjoy music,” she said.
“(St Mary’s Basilica) is lovely, it’s like a cathedral. Much of the music we sing was written for the church, so in that space the music just feels right.”
Visit auschoir.org for tickets and more information.
