The Fourth Choir present music for consolation and celebration, with the Requiem of 1603 by Tomás Luis de Victoria, written for the funeral of his patron, the Empress Maria, sister of King Phillip II of Spain. Its contemplative beauty is extraordinarily consoling, as Requiems should be, and, after 18 months without an audience, it allows the Fourth Choir to lift up their voices once again and reflect on the pain and losses of the pandemic.
Interspersed with the movements of the Requiem are pieces by contemporary composers: Songs of Sorrow by Sheena Phillips, a lament for the war in Syria; Jessica Curry’s Home, a setting of a poem by Warsan Shire that became famous during the refugee crisis (“No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark”); and, bringing the first half of the concert to a close, a setting for double choir by William H. Harris, organist at St George’s Windsor, of John Donne’s sublime prayer-poem:
"Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening into the house and gate of heaven...
where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
no noise nor silence, but one equal music...
no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity”.
The rest of the concert consists of songs of hope by James MacMillan, Joanna Marsh, Eric Whitacre, Ēriks Ešenvalds and, opening the second half, Cecila McDowall’s Regina Caeli with its thrilling opening exultation of “Alleluia”.
The concert takes place in St Augustine’s Kilburn, known as ‘the Cathedral of North London’, with its lavishly beautiful interior, and a famous acoustic that draws many professional vocal groups to record there.