Tenebræ
The programme
explained
jae-il jung
psalm 22.21
We opened the evening with a beautiful contemporary setting of this Messianic psalm by Jae-Il Jung, a Korean composer also known for writing the music to the hit TV series, Squid Game.
philip glass
4th movement from String quartet no 2
The first of three pieces by Glass in the programme. An iconic American composer who pioneered minimalism. We couldn't imagine Tenebræ without including his unique sound.
Peteris Vasks
melodia from string quartet no 1
A Latvian composer inspired by minimalism and expansive spiritual soundscapes. This selected movement unravels Dvorak's Nocturne into a mysterious, dream like state, with soaring solo viola and violin lines breaking out of the texture.
ralph vaughan-williams
elihu's dance of youth and beauty from job
A familiar language similar to the opening of his famous Lark Ascending, however, much darker in tone, with a lone violin searching its way through the shadows. Written in the context of a large-scale orchestral ballet based on William Blake's Illustrations for the Book of Job.
philip glass
1st movement from string quartet no 2
This movement grows and expands slowly, the first of four movements in this quartet.
tryggvi baldvinsson
kvöldvers/evening verse
A beautiful hymn by contemporary Icelandic composer Tryggvi Baldvinsson. The original words by Hallgrimur Petursson translate to:
Sunset behind the hill
Soon it will fade out of sight
Gloom about be still;
Now it will soon be night.
Darkness is all I meet,
My way is fraught with strife;
Thy radiance guides my feet,
Jesu, light of my life.
carl nielsen arr. nick martin
tit er jeg glad/I'm often happy
An atmospheric arrangement of this beautiful tune by Carl Nielsen. The words behind it are filled with paradox, written by B.S. Ingeman. Here is the first verse translated:
I am often happy, and yet want to cry,
For no heart fully shares in my joy.
I am often sorrowful, and yet must laugh,
That none should see the frightened tears.
edmund finnis
2nd movement from string quartet no 2
Extraordinary music by a young British composer, who is developing a reputation for his unique writing filled with iridescent and magical colours.
Peteris Vasks
castillo interior
A still fragment from this work for violin and cello, inspired the text of the same by Saint Teresa of Avila.
arvo pärt
fratres
At the heart of the programme sits this extraordinary piece by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Composed in 1977 and widely considered his most performed work, he has since created over 20 different versions of it for varying combinations of instruments. The version you heard last night sees the second violin player holding a two-note drone for the entire duration of the 10-minute piece, requiring gruelling focus and physical endurance.
edmund finnis
1st movement from string quartet no 2
Finnis frames this quartet less as a narrative and more as an environment or state of being - something the listener inhabits rather than follows. This is exactly the concept we aimed to achieve for this entire programme.
philip glass
6th movement from string quartet no 3
Written for the film Mishima, a tragic story of the Japanese playwright and the final use of Glass in this programme.
john tavener
the lamb
John Tavener’s The Lamb is a short, luminous setting of William Blake’s poem, written for unaccompanied voices. Beneath its apparent simplicity lies a subtle dexterity, with haunting mirrored phrases juxtaposed with comforting traditional harmony.
claude debussy
andantino from string quartet
Offering much-needed warmth towards the end of the programme, Debussy's magical writing in this slow movement is a timeless escape, ending in a heavenly summit.
trad/unknown arr. zalewski
w polu lipenka/in the field, a little linden tree
Closing the programme, we performed this remarkable arrangement of a Polish folk song. Instead of the original Polish words, we took fragments of Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night to fit with the original folk song.