Birmingham Bach Choir performs:
Rutter: Requiem
Rutter: Hymn to the Creator of Light
Kodaly: Laudes Organi
Conductor: Paul Spicer
Organist: Martyn Rawles
John Rutter is one of the most lauded choral composers of recent times. His Requiem is one of his most popular larger-scale works, and deservedly so. Mixing his wonderful lyrical gift with a richly colourful accompaniment and choir, it includes a lovely soprano solo.
Less well-known, however, is his Hymn to the Creator of Light scored for unaccompanied double choir. Written in memory of Herbert Howells and first performed at the dedication of the stained glass window made in his memory at Gloucester Cathedral, it is a work of extraordinary power and beauty.
Balancing these two works is an unusual work for choir and organ Laudes Organi ("In Praise of the Organ") by the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly. Commissioned by the American Guild of Organists it does, of course, feature a very colourful organ part. The choir sings a 12th century Latin text which resembles a manual of organ instruction. It is a dramatically colourful and exciting contrast to the Rutter works. (Paul Spicer)
