Discover works by two very different composers writing in the turbulent years of the early twentieth century as Epsom Chamber Choir launches its new season. Under guest conductor James Henshaw, the choir showcases the music of Englishman Hubert Parry and the relatively unknown Italian Ildebrando Pizzetti.
Hubert Parry is most famously and often solely known for his setting of Blake’s poem Jerusalem. However, Parry has become better appreciated since seventy of his unpublished works were discovered a few years ago and figures such as Prince Charles have begun to champion his music. Not only a prolific composer, Parry was also a key figure in the British musical establishment in the years leading up to and encompassing the First World War. His Songs of Farewell, written during the war, were inspired by the metaphysical poets such as Thomas Campion and John Donne and by Psalm 39. Each song is exquisitely crafted and the whole work reflects the emotional intensity of a man in the final years of his life.
Unlike Puccini, who was breaking new musical ground with his operas in the early twentieth century, his lesser known compatriot Pizzetti was determinedly looking back. In his setting of the Requiem Mass, Pizzetti’s inspiration comes from the masters of Italian Renaissance music. This beautiful and evocative work features polyphony, plainchant and modal tonalities.
