Angelorum came into existence after an excited conversation between Marie Power and Angela Knapp during a rehearsal of Britten’s Ceremony of Carols in December 2021. They were discussing choral music for upper voices and felt a concert coming on.  The following May, Angelorum, the choir of angels, presented their first programme of choral music for sopranos and altos. Since then, they have performed every year, singing music in a wide range of styles from across the centuries. 

The next concert will feature the masterful and entirely idiomatic Ceremony of Carols, whose text is from an anthology of medieval and early modern poems.  It was written in 1942 during Britten's sea voyage from the United States to England, and represents a turning point in his style as he looked to his English musical roots and a more populist and melodic idiom. Though he never lost his individuality and modernity, this work won him a lasting place as a musical genius. 

Holst's Rig Veda uses texts that are very much older (1500 - 1000 BC).  Inspired by his Theosophist stepmother, he developed an interest in non‑Western spiritualism, which was relatively unusual for British choral composers at the turn of the twentieth century.  The English words of the Vedic hymns are translations of Sanskrit made by Holst himself, based on the original texts.   Musically, he does not attempt to replicate Indian instrumental or vocal styles in any literal sense; rather, he filters his inspiration through his own compositional voice.  The third of four sets is written for female voices and harp.

We are thrilled to be joined by Bethan Semmens for these key pieces of twentieth century music, and for Angela's arrangement of Morten Lauridsen's beautiful O Magnum Mysterium.  

The concert programme will be complemented with Ola Gjeilo's angelic Ave Generosa and Ubi Caritas.