In collaboration with Britten Sinfonia, The Sixteen presents James MacMillan's emotionally charged Eastertide choral work.

Sir James MacMillan eloquently captures the intensity of Mary’s sorrow at the death of her son, a grief both personal and universal, recognisable to hundreds of thousands of parents around the world in troubled times of migration and war. It is music that conveys a dense despair but also – exquisitely – seems to let the light in, persuading us that no suffering is without consolation, whether we are of faith or not.

It is complemented by the austere purity of Palestrina’s 16th-century setting of the same tableaux for double choir, and by Shostakovich, who pours his own sorrows into a plangent, enigmatic piece for strings (a masterful adaptation of his String Quartet No. 8 for string orchestra), written after witnessing for himself the savage wartime destruction and painstaking rebirth of Dresden.

PROGRAMME

  • Palestrina

    Stabat Mater

  • Shostakovich

    Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a

  • James MacMillan

    Stabat Mater

PERFORMERS

  • The Sixteen
  • Britten Sinfonia
  • Harry Christophers conductor

Meet The Sixteen

Alexandra Kidgell

Soprano

Meet The Sixteen

Alexandra Kidgell

Soprano

Venue details

Cadogan Hall

Box Office: 020 7730 4500

Set in a fantastic location in the heart of Chelsea, just minutes from Sloane Square tube station, Cadogan Hall has become one of London’s leading concert venues.

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