The Handful Chamber Choir: Towards the Light

Kodaly’s magnificent Missa brevis, once performed to the accompaniment of distant gunfire during the siege of Budapest while the composer and his wife took refuge in the cellars of the opera house, frames a programme of luscious Lenten music ranging from Lotti’s famous 8-part Crucifixus, with its luxuriously long and indulgent suspensions, to the world premiere of Via Crucis by Peter Relph. Commissioned by The Handful as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting new works, it's a setting of the Stations of the Cross designed as a meditative procession, with melodies inspired by medieval plainchant, Cumbrian folk song, and contemporary classical music.

The Handful is delighted to be joined by Peter King, Organist Emeritus of Bath Abbey, and by composer Peter Relph who will give a short talk about his commissioned piece after the interval