Repertoire

Manuel de Falla: Siete canciones populares españolas (1914) 15′
Benjamin Britten: “Four Sea Interludes” from the opera Peter Grimes, Op. 33a (1945) 17′
John Tavener: The Lamb (1982) 4′
Francis Poulenc: Stabat Mater (1950) 32′

ARTISTS

Stephanie Childress, conductor
Alexandra Lowe, soprano
Cor Jove de l’Orfeó Català and Cor de Cambra del Palau de la Música Catalana
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC)

Programme

The voice will play a central role in this concert, which will open with Manuel de Falla’s Siete canciones populares. The composer wanted to renew musical language by drawing on folk music, as Stravinsky and Bartók had also done elsewhere.

Benjamin Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes”, from his opera Peter Grimes, are orchestral pieces that will transport audiences to scenes linked to weather conditions and different times of day at sea.

John Tavener’s song The Lamb, composed for choir in 1984 with a text by William Blake, remains enigmatic but may be familiar to audiences due to its inclusion in Paolo Sorrentino’s film The Great Beauty (2013).

The importance of the voice in emotional life is clearly evident in Francis Poulenc’s Stabat Mater. Although less programmed than Pergolesi’s, it portrays the grief experienced when a loved one dies.