22 June 2019, Pershore Abbey, Worcs
6 July 2019, CBSO Centre, Bham
As part of their historic centenary season, Birmingham Bach Choir continue to surprise and challenge with Steal Away – a programme based on spirituals (22 June, Pershore Abbey, Worcs; 6 July 2019, CBSO Centre, Bham).
The precursor to blues and gospel music, the African American spiritual was borne out of struggle, and proliferated in the latter half of the 19th century, leading up to the abolishment of slavery in the US. Powerful and emotional, the songs present a Christian message and while often describing the extreme hardships of life, they also offer hope and salvation.
Among the works to be performed are the famed spiritual Wade In The Water, first published at the turn of the 20th century and adapted by such artists as jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis and The Staple Singers during the 1960’s, and My Soul’s Been Anchored In The Lord – both arranged by the late New Orleans-born composer and arranger Moses Hogan.
How other composers have taken inspiration from the African American folksong form is explored with the inclusion of Will Todd’s hymn-like My Lord Has Come and John Rutter’s vivid Feel The Spirit, while A Child Of Our Time finds composer Michael Tippett innovatively incorporating the spiritual into a piece inspired by the oppression faced by European Jews during the late-1930s.
The choir’s conductor and musical director, Paul Spicer, says: “Birmingham Bach Choir has been programming increasingly different and challenging programmes in recent years and I felt that for its summer concert this year we should try something which is, in many ways, outside our comfort zone.
“Summer concerts are often a bit different and have a lighter element to them. This programme of spirituals or spiritual-related music is in some ways lighter – the music is often rhythmic, jazzy and hip-swinging – but of course the message pouring from these wonderful pieces is of deep unhappiness, of almost penal servitude (which it was for some), and the powerful prayers which ask for release from the slavery people endured.”
Concluding the programme is the premiere of Steal Away, Paul’s new musical setting for the moving religious spiritual of the same name.
“I decided to write what I call a ‘reimagining’ of the famous spiritual Steal Away as a gift to the choir in its centenary year,” explains the composer. “It’s completely different from all the other pieces in the programme, and the choir is singing it fabulously. It seems to do what I hoped it would when we have rehearsed it, so come and hear its premiere, and help give it a rousing send-off.”
Birmingham Bach Choir: Steal Away – Spirituals To Melt The Heart, visits Pershore Abbey, Pershore, Worcs, on Saturday 22 June 2019, followed by a performance at Birmingham’s CBSO Centre on Saturday 6 July 2019. For tickets and more information, see: www.birmingham.bachchoir.com
LISTINGS
CLASSICAL
Birmingham Bach Choir: Steal Away – Spirituals To Melt The Heart
Saturday 22 June 2019
Pershore Abbey, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 1DT
7.30pm, £16/ £14
Saturday 6 July 2019
CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham B1 2LF
7.30pm, £16/ £14
Tickets available via:
Email: tickets@birmingham.bachchoir.com
Web: www.birmingham.bachchoir.com
Programme:
Moses Hogan: My Soul’s Been Anchored In The Lord / Wade In The Water / Elijah Rock
John Rutter: Feel The Spirit
Michael Tippett: Five spirituals from A Child of our Time
Will Todd: My Lord Has Come
Paul Spicer: Steal Away
Paul Spicer – Conductor
Birmingham Bach Choir
Martyn Rawles – Pianist
NOTES FOR EDITORS
ABOUT BIRMINGHAM BACH CHOIR
As one of the UK’s leading large chamber choirs Birmingham Bach Choir has been contributing to the musical life of the West Midlands since 1919, making it one of the longest established musical groups in the area. Although the main focus is the Baroque period (especially JS Bach), the choir performs music spanning over 500 years including 20th and 21st century works.
2019 is the choir’s centenary, and will be marked by a series of special concerts throughout the year.
“Stunning … great waves of beautifully phrased eloquence … constant fascination” 5 stars – Birmingham Post (reviewing Byrd’s The Great Service, March 2018)
“Sounding awesomely impressive.” 4-stars – Birmingham Post (reviewing Great Russian Sacred Music, November 2016)
“This was a reading luminous in its clarity, exhilaratingly detailed in the fine-etched shaping and balancing of its contrapuntal lines, and delivering diction of unaffected immediacy.” 4-stars – Birmingham Post (reviewing Bach’s B Minor Mass, December 2017)
For more information see: www.birmingham.bachchoir.com
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