Ola Gjeilo: Sunrise Mass and Northern Lights
Peteris Vasks: Pater Noster
Grieg: Holberg Suite
Conductor: Mark Jordan
MK Chorale invite you to 'Northern Lights' featuring the music of Ola Gjeilo. The main work is Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass, a Symphonic Mass for Chorus and string orchestra. The music is cinematic and has been described as “lyrical, lush, evocative, and stirring”. Using the Latin mass text, he gives English titles for the component movements: The Spheres, Sunrise, The City, and Identity and The Ground. The composer notes: “I wanted the musical development of the Mass to evolve from transparent and spacey, through increasing emotion and movement, to something solid and grounded - as a metaphor for human development from child to adult, for a spiritual journey, or for the creative process itself”. It is certainly a piece not to be missed, and is loved by audiences.
As companion pieces, we will also be performing his shorter work Northern Lights and a setting of the Pater Noster by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks. The concert is completed with Grieg's Holberg Suite; a piece of strength, gentility, playfulness, and meditation.
