We're taking a fairly broad view of 'Scandi' - from Poles to the Dnieper and even the Danube, as, frankly, the Vikings did too. Tchaikovsky was living and working in what was then Finnish St Petersburgh; Gjeilo is far away across the Atlantic on the US eastern seaboard; and fair enough, the nearest Olsavsky has gotten to Finland is probably some Poronkäristys in Chicago's famous Elske restaurant (sorry with Christmas coming and all that - sauted Reindeer, a Finnish delicacy). What is indisputable is that the countries bordering the Baltic are producing some of the world's best composers, who are excelling at beautiful, sonorous songs.

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The modern composers are standing on the shoulders of giants, all known for their inherent tunefulness: Grieg and Sibelius led the charge. I should add a trigger warning at this point, as tearfulness, lumps in throats, and loud clapping were all involved at our last concert. There will be more of that in Adderbury on the 24th.

 

We start, however, with a piece that has special reverberations now. It's one of Poland's finest composers' finest pieces, and yet rarely performed - Gorecki's Miserere. Written to support the farm workers and shipyard strikers in Gdansk in the early '80s, it is a profoundly moving work. Very simple words; basically 'God help us', but ranging through every human emotion. A people pushed to their limits, suffering overbearing tyranny, and yet with light at the end of the tunnel. The thing about this piece, though, is no recording can ever do it justice. You have to feel it, and we do our very best to get that across in the Adderbury acoustic that brings out its best. It's a piece that doesn't deserve to be relegated to pre-Berlin Wall obscurity- it has a real message for today. 

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​In our second half we're taking a much lighter approach to the simple beauty that marks much of recent Baltic composing. It's not only becoming, in effect, a 'school' of composing in its own right, it is also spawning many of the best a cappella choirs. Grieg and Sibelius will be well-known pieces, and perhaps there's a reminder too of what happens when a woman like Lagertha takes power...

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We're contrasting Gorecki with a much lighter piece from a (pre-1917) Russian master. Tchaikovsky's Liturgy of St John Chrysostom has a superb Hymn to the Cherubim. Time for the ladies to take the lead as this challenging classic raises the roof. 

 

The solo work in Esenvalds 'Only in Sleep' is quite superb, and we love singing it. Arnesen's moving 'Even When He Is Silent' has haunting words, but hope written throughout. And of course, Gjeilo, one of our favourite contemporary composers, has composed perhaps the definitive take on those Northern Lights. Don't miss it...