Tenebrae (2)

Leading us from darkness towards the light, award-winning choir Tenebrae opens the Festival with a dramatic programme centring on the winter and summer solstices. The coldest winter is captured in Maxwell Davies’ O Magnum Mysterium and Poulenc’s chilling Un soir de neige, set alongside a new commission for male voices from acclaimed British composer Joanna Marsh.

Ešenvalds’ ethereal Stars (performed by Tenebrae at last year’s BBC Proms) sets a new tone before the choir is joined by harpist Camilla Pay in Holst’s mysterious Hymns from the Rig Veda, which hail the coming of spring. The programme culminates with John Rutter’s heartfelt thanks to God, Hymn to the Creator of Light.