The Durban Chamber Choir, under the baton of Dr Christopher
Cockburn, will perform two concerts – one in Durban and one in Pietermaritzburg.
The programme offers a rare opportunity to hear the music of
two important British composers who are both best known today for their choral
works. The music of William Byrd (1540-1623) belongs to the style period that
music historians have labelled Renaissance, while Charles Villiers Stanford
(1852-1924) is, stylistically at least, a Romantic.
During the Renaissance, English music could hold its own
with the best produced anywhere in Europe. After the death of Purcell, however,
and particularly as a result of the influence of Handel on English composers,
the most significant musical developments moved elsewhere. It was only at the
end of the 19th century, and notably in the music of Stanford, that signs
began to appear of another “musical Renaissance” which would reconnect British
music to the European mainstream and produce composers of the stature of Elgar,
Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst (the last two being pupils of Stanford).
Byrd and Stanford will each be represented in the Chamber
Choir programme by a varied selection of works, sacred and secular, unaccompanied
and with organ, including settings by both composers of the Latin text Justorum animae (The souls of the just)
and of the Anglican Evening Canticles.
In addition to the stylistic differences between the
composers, the programme includes strong contrasts of mood: from Byrd’s joyful Deo gratias and sorrowful Wounded I am to Stanford’s light-hearted
Shall we go dance? and serene Blue Bird, this last being as exquisite
a miniature as any in the choral repertoire.
The two halves of the programme will be linked by an attractive
rarity from the period between these two composers, the Duet for organ by Samuel
Wesley, which will be played by Christopher Cockburn and Jacques Heyns.
Concerts take place in Durban on May 17 at 15h00 at St
Thomas Church, Musgrave, and in Pietermaritzburg on May 24 at 15h00 at the
Hayfields Lutheran Church, Pietermaritzburg.
Tickets R50 (R30 concession) available at the door. Refreshments
will be served after the performance.
This presentation of
the Durban Chamber Choir is made possible by the kind support of the KZN
Performing Arts Trust.
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