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An emotionally charged Eastertide sequence, culminating in searingly direct and affecting work of our times – an instant 21st-century classic.Sir James MacMillan eloquently captures the intensity of Mary’s sorrow at the death of her son, a grief both personal and universal, recognisable to hundreds of thousands of parents around the world in troubled times of migration and war. It is music that conveys a dense despair but also – exquisitely – seems to let the light in, persuading us that no suffering is without consolation, whether we are of faith or not.
It is complemented by the austere purity of Palestrina’s 16th-century setting of the same tableaux for double choir, and by Shostakovich, who pours his own sorrows into a plangent, enigmatic piece for strings (a masterful adaptation of his String Quartet No. 8 for string orchestra), written after witnessing for himself the savage wartime destruction and painstaking rebirth of Dresden.
Programme
Palestrina Stabat Mater
Shostakovich Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a
Sir James MacMillan Stabat Mater
Performers
The Sixteen
Britten Sinfonia
Harry Christophers conductor
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Event venue
Cadogan Hall, Shell Recharge, 5 Sloane Terrace, London, SW1X 9DQ, United Kingdom
Tickets
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