“There, above noise and danger, Sweet Peace sits crown'd with smiles” - Henry Vaughan

Join VOCES8 and the VOCES8 Scholars for a performance of two ‘greats’ of the choral repertoire, as if they were in gentle conversation with each other:  C. H. H. Parry’s Songs of Farewell and Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Requiem.

Composed amidst the backdrop of World War I and at the end of Parry’s life, the six anthems that make up the Songs of Farewell are surely his choral masterpiece, displaying a mastery of invention, contrast and sonority. Victoria’s Requiem, written at the start of the 17th Century, is the template many use to describe what Renaissance sacred polyphony sounds like. As with Parry this was Victoria’s final work. The Requiem intricately weaves vocal lines around the structure of plainsong, producing a sumptuous sound.  As the singers voices rise and fall they bridge centuries, connecting us to the universal human longing for solace and peace.

Performers
VOCES8
VOCES8 Scholars