Waltham Abbey

Herbert Howells: A hymn for St Cecilia  

Benjamin Britten: Hymn to St Cecilia  

Francis Poulenc: Litanies à la Vierge noire 

Francis Poulenc: Quatre petites prières de saint François d’Assise 

Arvo Pärt: Which was the son of…  

Arvo Pärt: Seven Magnificat Antiphons  

William Walton: The Twelve

Francis Poluenc Litanies à la Vierge noire for upper voices and organ is an ethereally beautiful yet powerfully expressive plea to the Virgin for mercy. His exquisite Quatre petites prières de saint François d’Assise for lower voices sets monastic melodies with his distinctive luscious harmony. 

William Walton’s The Twelve is an exhilarating work, packed with drama and contrasts. After it opens with a striking bass solo, at the heart of the piece is a beautiful soprano duet, leading to an exuberant finale. The virtuosic organ part will be played by Jeremy Cole. 

At the centre of the programme is Arvo Pärt’s Seven Magnificat Antiphons, setting the traditional ‘O’ advent antiphons (O Wisdom, O Adonaii, O root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Morning Star, O King of the Nations and O Emmaneul) in Pärt’s distinctive ‘tintinnabuli’ (or ‘ringing of bells’) style, where rhythmic, harmonic and melodic elements are used in simple repeating structures to give the music a powerfully mesmerising and intensely spiritual impact. Another work by Pärt, ‘which was the son of…’ takes an unusual text from Luke’s gospel that lists the full ancestry of Jesus (all 50 generations of it) and creates a lively engaging work full of colour and contrast that will certainly raise a smile.