Songs and Sonnets - Shearing, Mathias, Diemer & Rutter

Whitehall Choir

Whitehall Choir will perform settings by George Shearing, William Mathias, John Rutter and Emma Lou Diemer of texts by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. All have a light, jazzy feel, ensuring a fun and lively concert, followed by a relaxed drinks reception on the portico of St Peter’s – a popular summer tradition for the choir!

Shearing wrote his well-loved Songs and Sonnets – his second set of Shakespeare songs – in 1999. Whitehall Choir performed the first set, Music to Hear, under Paul Spicer in July 2013. John Rutter, a fan of George Shearing, wrote his settings, Birthday Madrigals, in 1995 as a 75th birthday tribute to the composer. Both sets will be accompanied by piano and double bass.

The other two works, by Welsh composer William Mathias and American Emma Lou Diemer, are less overtly jazz in style but still have jazz influences with energetic rhythms and slow, atmospheric movements.