The Choir of St Catherine's College Cambridge present a recital of settings from the Book of Psalms, ranging from the explosive political motets of William Byrd to works from the 21st century, and reflecting the Psalms' enduring fascination for musicians.
At the core of the programme is Mendelssohn’s famous setting of Psalm 55, originally a concert piece which was in the 20th century translated into the church environment. Other psalm settings featured here are employed for very different reasons: Byrd’s Exsurge Domine is a work of political subversion, while Tallis’s beautiful vignettes have a pedagogical function. The programme is book-ended by two Canticles by the contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, which will be sung from the resonant Lady Chapel of St Bartholomew, creating a beautifully atmospheric beginning and end to the evening.
St Catharine’s College lies at the historic centre of Cambridge and at the heart of the University’s distinguished musical tradition. Founded in 1473, there has been a choir associated with the college for over a hundred years; and since 2008 the choral tradition at St Catharine’s has been augmented by a Girls’ Choir, the first college-based choir of its type in the UK.
Pärt - Magnificat
Byrd - Exsurge Domine William
Tallis - Tunes from Archbishop Parker’s Psalter
Schütz - Die mit Tränen säen
Mendelssohn - Hear my prayer/O for the wings of a dove
Brahms - Schaffe in mir, Gott
Stanford - Beati quorum via
Britten - Jubilate Deo
Howells - Like as the hart
Howells - Master Tallis’s Testament
Marsh - Lord thou hast searched me out
Pärt - Nunc dimittis
The Choir of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
Edward Wickham — Conductor
Tickets £23 (premium) £18 (unreserved) £5 (children) — call our box office on 07528 776625 or book online now!
Our premium tickets include a reserved seat (this differs per venue according to acoustic, but is usually 3–5 rows from the front, near the centre aisle), a programme, and a voucher for a drink which can be redeemed either before the concert or during the interval.