Looking Forward with Edinburgh Bach Choir
| Type of post: | Choir news item |
| Posted By: | Sheila Bryer |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Sun, 17 Jan 2021 |
Following the success of their recent venture into the world of virtual performance, EBC are now looking forward to recording the Shicksalslied by Brahms, and Requiem for the Innocent, by James Robertson.
The Shicksalslied, (Song of Destiny), Opus 54, is an orchestrally accompanied choral setting based on a poem by Friedrich Holderlin, first performed in 1871. This widely loved piece is often known as The Little Requiem as it shares many stylistic and compositional similarities with Brahms’s most ambitious choral work.
Requiem for the Innocent by James Robertson for choir, chamber orchestra and soloists, is dedicated to the Edinburgh Bach Choir and written specifically for them. The work was completed in the summer of 2020 and the choir will be recording extracts as an introductory ‘premiere performance’. The eight movements include some traditional Latin text with English translation, selected biblical passages, and words written by the composer himself. This contemporary piece might be seen as a powerful reflection on the current state of our world. The composer describes it as a ‘call’ to acknowledge and embrace those who experience adversity and injustice in any of its many forms, and celebrates hope and courage in the face of fear and darkness. Begun in 2019, in pre-Covid times, the composer could never have imagined how prescient his work would be. It seems a fitting start therefore to the choir’s 2021 calendar to be performing both these pieces, and the choir looks forward to sharing them with their wider audience this Spring.
The Shicksalslied, (Song of Destiny), Opus 54, is an orchestrally accompanied choral setting based on a poem by Friedrich Holderlin, first performed in 1871. This widely loved piece is often known as The Little Requiem as it shares many stylistic and compositional similarities with Brahms’s most ambitious choral work.
Requiem for the Innocent by James Robertson for choir, chamber orchestra and soloists, is dedicated to the Edinburgh Bach Choir and written specifically for them. The work was completed in the summer of 2020 and the choir will be recording extracts as an introductory ‘premiere performance’. The eight movements include some traditional Latin text with English translation, selected biblical passages, and words written by the composer himself. This contemporary piece might be seen as a powerful reflection on the current state of our world. The composer describes it as a ‘call’ to acknowledge and embrace those who experience adversity and injustice in any of its many forms, and celebrates hope and courage in the face of fear and darkness. Begun in 2019, in pre-Covid times, the composer could never have imagined how prescient his work would be. It seems a fitting start therefore to the choir’s 2021 calendar to be performing both these pieces, and the choir looks forward to sharing them with their wider audience this Spring.
