Magnificat | The English Arts Chorale

Arvo Pärt was born in Estonia in 1935. His music was considered to be out of step with the spirit of the age, although Steve Reich commented, “his music fulfills a deep human need that has nothing to do with fashion". His compositions are frequently identified with holy minimalism, and his setting of the Magnificat, from the Latin text and composed in 1989, clearly illustrates this. The work, together with Pärt’s “Seven Magnificat Antiphons” also being performed in this concert, are ideally suited to The English Arts Chorale’s transparent and ethereal quality. They recently performed these works to great effect in the mystical acoustic of St John’s College chapel, Cambridge University.

The concert continues with a work by Herbert Howells – a setting of the Requiem which was composed in memory of his only son, Michael, who died, aged nine, in 1935. Throughout the work we can hear the profound sense of loss and the desire for eternal peace, particularly in the sections for double choir where the two parts of the choir beg for help and salvation.

The concert concludes with the ever popular Requiem by Gabriel Fauré. Words seem superflous to describe a work that displays such tuneful simplicity, but which presents such challenges to choirs to effect this illusion.