SUMMER CONCERT 2022

BFC Summer Concert 2022

Saturday 9th July, 7.30pm

All Saints Church, Hove, BN3 3QE
 

Bernstein, Chichester Psalms

Barber, Adagio for Strings 

Lauridsen, Lux Aeterna 
 

Conductor James Morgan

Brighton Festival Chorus

Brighton Festival Youth Choir

Chamber Domaine

Join Brighton Festival Chorus and Brighton Festival Youth Choir for a programme of beautiful choral and orchestral music from 20th century American composers, perfect for a summer’s evening.

Commissioned for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival at Chichester, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms holds a unique and treasured place in the choral repertoire. Bernstein selected from the Book of Psalms in their original Hebrew and scored the work for treble or countertenor, choir and orchestra. Described by one commentator as “affirmative and serene”, it is one of the composer’s most overtly Jewish works.

Barber’s achingly beautiful Adagio for Strings was hailed at its premiere in New York City in 1936 as being “full of pathos and cathartic passion”. A deeply reflective piece for string orchestra, the work has become ubiquitous in recent years, featuring in many film and television soundtracks and also in electronic music, particularly trance.

Lux Aeterna îs a requiem in 5 short movements by Morten Lauridsen. Written to commemorate the death of the composer’s mother, the work is based on various references to light from sacred Latin texts, all supporting an earthbound spirit seeking not only mercy, understanding, and consolation but also renewal.