<img src='' title='Event Category: 300th Anniversary' alt='' id='templ_icon_' width='' height='' /> Event Category: 300th Anniversary

BBC Singers and Britten Sinfonia: Britten St Nicholas

Benjamin Britten lives! 50 years to the day since his death in 1976, the Britten Sinfonia and the BBC Singers unleash the irrepressible life-force of Britten’s St Nicholas, the story of the saint who inspired the figure of Santa Claus.

Prison breaks, pickled boys and adventures at sea…just don’t call him Santa. The story of Saint Nicholas is wilder and more wonderful than you think, and in his joyous cantata, Benjamin Britten retold it in some of the brightest, boldest and most colourful music he ever wrote. What better way to mark the 50th anniversary of Britten’s death (to the day) than with a choral masterpiece that breaks all the rules?  It’s never sounded more alive. Arvo Pärt’s atmospheric tribute launches a celebration of genius from the BBC Singers and Britten Sinfonia.

I Fagiolini: Monteverdi L’Orfeo

L’Orfeo: Monteverdi’s pioneering opera, brought to vibrant, heart-melting life by Robert Hollingworth and the virtuoso singers of I Fagiolini.

What better subject for a fledgling artform than the tragedy of Orpheus: the semi-divine musician, whose melodies charmed birds and beasts and could even (or so the poets say) soothe the torments of hell itself? Opera barely existed when Claudio Monteverdi composed L’Orfeo in 1607, and you can still sense the excitement, the freshness and the raw inspiration of an artform that was inventing itself on the hoof. It’s perfect, in other words, for Robert Hollingworth and I Fagiolini – the dazzlingly virtuosic vocal ensemble that thrives on the unpredictability, the emotion and the pure theatre of the baroque.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists: Handel’s Theodora

Handel loved Theodora more than any of his other oratorios, and with Iestyn Davies singing in this concert staging with the Monteverdi Choir, you’re about to hear why.

Would you die for faith – or for love? As the Roman authorities crack down on dissident Christians, the virtuous Theodora faces a brutal fate. Her devoted Didymus, meanwhile, must choose between the state, and both their souls. Handel rated his oratorio Theodora more highly than the Messiah, and this heartfelt tale of persecution and martyrdom has often been put on stage. For Christophe Rousset and The Monteverdi Choir it’s a masterpiece, and with a cast that stars Iestyn Davies as Didymus, this dramatised concert performance brings the best of both worlds to a work that Handel himself regarded as his favourite.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

The King’s Singers: Finding Harmony – the Voice of Humanity

Finding Harmony: The King’s Singers celebrate St Martin-in-the-Fields’ 300th birthday with all their inimitable warmth and flair.

For 300 years, St Martin-in-the-Fields has been a byword for community – a venue that represents sanctuary and welcome. The King’s Singers don’t go back quite so far, but with more than five decades of joyous vocal music-making under their belt, this extraordinary vocal ensemble could hardly be better equipped to lead the celebrations.  In tonight’s concert they trace a history that shows just how powerful singing together has been across the globe. It’s music that inspires unity, whether through songs that reflect the civil rights movement or celebration, and by the sheer joy of singing together in this beautiful and historic venue. Expect vocal classics old and new, plus a few surprises – all performed with that inimitable, life-affirming, King’s Singers swing.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

The 12 Ensemble and James McVinnie: Poulenc Organ Concerto

Poulenc’s wild and wonderful Organ Concerto raises the roof: just the climax of a voyage of spiritually-charged sounds from The 12 Ensemble and organist James McVinnie.

“Half monk, half hooligan” was how one friend described Francis Poulenc and for this most stylish of French composers’ religion was a life-force – explosive, exuberant, and powered by an unstoppable sense of joy. Expect melting harmonies and raw thunder as the energy of 12 Ensemble comes together with St Martins Voices and organist-turned-sonic explorer James McVinnie in two of Poulenc’s most personal masterpieces. They’re the wild, sensual centrepiece of a concert that also features Messiaen at his lushest, Fauré at his sweetest and something rapturous and new, written specially for these performers by Isabella Gellis.

Ex Cathedra – In 40 Parts: Spem in Alium

Ex Cathedra sings Tallis’s soaring Spem in Alium, plus other 40-part masterpieces inspired by this awesome work, including a commission from Roderick Williams’ that paints a picture of the urban wilderness that is home to so many of society’s outcasts.

Imagine the sound of heaven itself. A voice calls out in the silence; then another, and another until the whole universe is resounding with sensuous, sacred song. Tallis’s extraordinary Spem in Alium is a monument of renaissance music and one of the most iconic choral works every written – a towering 40-voice motet that creates its own sense of time and space. Every performance is special and today Ex Cathedra pairs it with modern masterpieces inspired by Tallis’s genius, specially written for this superb chamber choir. Alec Roth’s spine-tingling Earthrise re-imagines the Earth as seen from space, and a new work by Roderick Williams looks to the future, as well as the past.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius

Celebrate 300 years of St Martin-in-the-Fields with a spectacular candlelit performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. For this special anniversary, the Choir of St Martin-in-the-Fields joins forces with St Martin’s Chamber Choir, Choral Scholars, and St Martin’s Chamber Orchestra to deliver a performance of extraordinary scale and drama. In Iain Farrington’s inventive arrangement, all of Elgar’s original vocal lines are retained, preserving the full expressive power of this iconic British choral masterpiece.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

St Martin’s Baroque Classics

Celebrate 300 years of St Martin-in-the-Fields as St Martin’s Voices and Chamber Ensemble bring the music of early 18th-century England to life. Directed by Andrew Earis, this special anniversary concert features Baroque anthems and instrumental works by composers such as Handel, Boyce, Turner, Croft, Weldon, and Greene – all active at the time the church was completed. From soaring choral anthems to vibrant symphonic movements, the programme offers a vivid glimpse into the sounds that would have filled the newly built church and its thriving musical community.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

SANSARA: Choral reflections for World Homeless Day

Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet: on the eve of World Homeless Day, SANSARA performs Gavin Bryars’s ultimate outsider classic.

It starts on the streets of London, with a homeless man singing quietly to himself. It becomes…well, there isn’t really any way to describe what you’ll think or feel next, as Gavin Bryars weaves that broken scrap of human feeling into a sonic experience unlike anything else in modern music. There’s nothing quite like Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, and no more fitting venue than the central London church that puts homeless people at the heart of its mission. SANSARA gives the UK premiere of Bryars’s new choral version.  Pulitzer prize-winning American composer David Lang writes: ‘Many religions profess that an important part of their belief is to care about how people who are comfortable should act towards people who are not…I live in New York, which has homeless people who need help all the time . . . the point of Poor Hymnal is, What would it be like to actually pay attention to the people who are around you?’

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

London Voices: Video Games Go Choral

Halo meets Howells and BioShock Infinite encounters Arvo Pärt, as London Voices explores the fantastic world where choral music meets video gaming.

Civilisations rise and fall, a lonely robot tends a lush new planet, and a princess of Hyrule strives to bring harmony. The universe of computer gaming has always gone hand-in-hand with choral music – with games like So Let Us Melt, Portal and Abzû inspiring some of the most original sounds of our time. Now composer Jessica Curry and conductor Ben Parry have created a sequence of choral music from great games, paired with the classics – by Pärt, Howells, Vaughan Williams and more – that influenced them. Performed by London Voices, these beloved scores have never sounded more vibrant.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.