Harmonia Sacra
Musical Director Peter Leech
IN DULCI JUBILO
Globally released October 2019
Harmonia Sacra celebrated their 10th anniversary with the global release of their 5th CD, In Dulci Jubilo, Choral Music for Advent & Christmas.
In dulci jubilo features in the BBC Music Magazine best new Christmas Classical Music releases for 2019
We are grateful to our sponsors Will Potter Partnerships Ltd for giving generous financial support for this CD
Reviews:
"All the words from your favourite carols, but unexpected music galore – thanks to interesting new settings by a varied quartet of composers". BBC Music Magazine
"Hugely eclectic mix, including several pieces never recorded before. Beautiful sound" Amazon Dece 2019
"Wonderful choral Christmas music. Congratulations to all involved" Amazon Dec 2019
LUX MEMORIAQUE
Globally released 6 October 2017
From the very earliest days of their formation in 2009 Harmonia Sacra has been strongly committed to the performance of new choral works and the support of both established and emerging choral composers. Almost every one of the choir's concerts has included contemporary works, with names such as John Tavener, Arvo Pärt, Eric Whitacre, James Macmillan and David Bednall featuring prominently. Every year, on Advent Sunday, in the ethereal acoustics of the church of St Thomas the Martyr, Bristol, the choir performs a very popular Advent Reflections evening concert, the programmes of which typically comprise appropriate seasonal choral music, as well as world premieres of new contemporary choral works. The long-term relationship which the choir has forged with Lawrence Whitehead, in particular, has produced three works which, together with the majority of items on this CD, are recorded here for the first time. These have been juxtaposed with new works by Robert Hugill, Jonathan Lee, David Bednall and Peter Leech, many of which are set to texts which deal with the subjects of heavenly light and remembrance, hence the title of the CD. The choir is extremely grateful to Adrian Farmer for providing the inspiration for this project, which is dedicated to the memory of the very fine organist and composer Christopher Manners LRAM, who died suddenly in 2013. Click here for list of tracks
THE CARDINAL KING
Music for Henry Benedict Stuart in Rome, 1740 - 91
The music recorded on this album, performed by Cappella Fede in collaboration with Harmonia Sacra, presents for the first time the hitherto repertoire composed by the many musicians associated with, and employed by Henry Benedict Stuart (1725 - 1807), a grandson of King James II of England and VII of Scotland, the brother of 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' and the last in the direct line of Jacobite succession. Sitting on the cusp of the Baroque and the Classical, these pieces likewise tread a delicate path between innocence and grandeur, between charm and formality, and suggest that the Cardinal, for all his power may have been a gentle man Click here for list of tracks
PRINCELY SPLENDOUR
Choral works from 18th-century Rome
With ‘Princely Splendour’ Harmonia Sacra take the listener on a journey through the tantalising and exquisite sound world of sacred music associated with Cardinals and Princes of the Church in eighteenth-century Rome. Highlights include the first recordings of works by Giovanni Battista Costanzi, Sebastiano Bolis and Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, composers working in the circle of patronage around Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, brother of Bonnie Prince Charlie and last in the direct line of Stuart succession. A musical celebration of the richness of his cultural surroundings and deep solemnity of his religious devotions. Click here for list of tracks
CHERUBIM & SERAPHIM
Russian Orthodox choral works from Catherine the Great to Nicholas II
In Russia, despite the westward vision of Tsar Peter the Great by 1700 the repertory of the St Petersburg Imperial Chapel Choir was still dominated by a style heavily dependent upon homophony. Stronger Western influences would be felt when central European musicians flocked to take up opportunities in Russia during the first decades of the eighteenth century. A courtly preference for Italian music grew, reaching a high point during the reign of Catherine the Great (1762-96), influencing two centuries of ethereal and spine-tingling Orthodox choral works Click here for list of tracks
Reviews