In his Requiem, Brahms places humanity at the centre, offering solace to the living and bereaved. It is a profoundly moving piece, traversing a journey from earthly suffering through faith, consolation and ultimately joy.
Written as a companion piece to the Brahms Requiem, Sea and Stars, from composer Julian Philips with text by Simon Christmas, was commissioned by Ealing Choral Society to mark their 50th Anniversary. Philips and Christmas draw on the power of choral music as an expression of the spiritual to deliver a humanist fable for the 21stcentury. A traveller seeking the meaning of his own life on earth visits the fiery ‘hell’ around an undersea vent, where life began, and the starry spheres of ‘heaven’ which, perfect and unchanging as they may be, are therefore lifeless. He learns that meaning lies neither in the origin nor the destination, but in the journey from one to the other.
“Just as Brahms takes us on a journey from grief to consolation in his Requiem, so our traveller in Sea and Stars journeys from torment to enlightenment in his search for meaning. We have aimed to evoke visualisation, thought and emotion by harnessing the unique ability of the voice to be used both instrumentally and to convey text.” Julian Philips
This will be the World Premiere performance of Sea and Stars, with support from the Britten Pears Foundation.
Pre-Concert talk on Sea and Stars by Julian Philips and Simon Christmas at 6.45pm.