Advertisement
For thousands of years the Psalms have been sung and remembered – words of sorrow, joy and hope that have travelled across generations and cultures. Aurora Orchestra’s latest collaboration with the BBC Singers brings together three composers, centuries apart, who each return to those ancient texts in their own way.At its heart is Bach’s Magnificat – Mary’s song of praise, which itself remembers and reimagines the psalm tradition in the light of Christ. Bach’s setting summons the splendour of Lutheran Leipzig, layering centuries of sacred tradition into music bursting with colour, invention and joy. Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms recalls the sounds of his Jewish heritage with music that is tender, playful and dramatic. And in newly-composed settings of psalm texts, Nico Muhly gives these timeless words a fresh, modern voice, alive with echoes and fragments like half-remembered prayers.
The programme is co-curated and introduced by writer and artist Edmund de Waal, who reflects on the Psalms as vessels of memory, carrying human experience across centuries. Together, words and music reveal the Psalms as a living thread that binds past, present and future.
Nico Muhly New psalm settings
Leonard Bernstein Chichester Psalms
Johann Sebastian Bach Magnificat
Edmund de Waal presenter
Nicholas Collon conductor
BBC Singers
Aurora Orchestra
Tickets: £29.50–£69.50*
* Plus booking fees.
Advertisement
Event venue
Hall One, Kings Place, 90 York Way, N1 9AG, K, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG, United Kingdom
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.
Discover more events by tag
Concerts in LondonOrchestra in LondonMusic in LondonPerforming-arts in LondonLive-music in LondonEntertainment in LondonArt in LondonLiterary-art in LondonPerformances in LondonTheatre in London