For its spring 2019 Concert the St Albans Bach Choir presents three works first performed in the USA; John Rutter’s Magnificat and Requiem, and Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.
Rutter intersperses the text of the Magnificat, the song of Mary, with the medieval poem 'Of a Rose, a lovely rose', part of the Sanctus and a poem to the Virgin Mary. It is set in seven movements for soprano and mixed choir, and parts of the work are in a Latin American style: Rutter was inspired by "jubilant celebrations of Mary in Hispanic cultures" and conceived the work as a "bright Latin-flavoured fiesta". This contrasts with the Esurientes movement, where the music weaves a magical spell of balm and peace.
This is followed by Rutter’s setting of the Requiem, with added psalms and biblical verses in English. The first movement combines the Introit and Kyrie, the third is Pie Jesu, with soprano solo. The central movement is a lively Sanctus, followed by Agnus Dei and finally Lux aeterna. Four movements (1, 2, 4 and 7) were performed in Sacramento, California in 1985, and the full work later that year in Dallas, Texas. The 6th movement is the 23rd Psalm, 'The Lord is my shepherd', which was written as a separate anthem in 1976.
The concert ends with Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, commissioned by the Southern Cathedrals Festival at Chichester in 1965, but first perfomed earlier that year in New York. Sung in the original Hebrew, it uses challenging rhythms and intervals: the interval of a seventh figures prominently throughout the piece due to its numerological importance in the Judeo-Christian tradition; the first movement is written in the unusual meter of 7/4. Yet it is an affirmative work and at times serene. The harp features prominently, a reference to David, the Psalmist.