To open its 2017-18 season, London chamber choir Londinium presents a beguiling programme celebrating the essence of music itself. From the sixteenth century to the present day, composers have risen superbly to the challenge of setting words describing their own art, and our selection offers a veritable feast of the finest choral music, both sacred and secular. Ethereal works by Lassus, Tomkins, and Vaughan Williams rub shoulders with vivacious music by Gibbons, Tippett, and Elliott Carter, whilst the familiar worlds of Byrd, Brahms and Elgar are offset by little-known gems by Frank Bridge, Zoltán Kodály, Howard Skempton and Arvo Pärt. The centrepiece is a dazzling evocation of music-making in the service of the divine, in the shape of Bach's most virtuosic motet, Singet dem Herrn.
'Londinium, conducted with great style by Andrew Griffiths, has the twin merits of balance and clarity in its projection of each work.' (Edward Clark, Musical Opinion).
