Tenebrae: The Journey

Concerts at Saint Thomas welcomes the world-renowned professional UK choir, Tenebrae, as they mark their 25th anniversary with a tour to the US, stopping first at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. Under the direction of conductor Nigel Short, Tenebrae will perform works of great significance to their musical history, including iconic works associated with the choir, as well as brand new commissions. 

"The Journey is the programme
we’ve created especially for our 25th anniversary this season. Its message
that means a lot to all of us in Tenebrae, and it resonates especially deeply
with me. 

As
you might expect, each piece that’s been chosen charts a journey of some kind.
Some are physical, like adventures through unexplored places; others are
spiritual, like the journey from life to death and onto what might lie beyond.
Together, they chart an astounding musical path across centuries and
continents. 

But at its
core, The Journey is about Tenebrae’s own journey over the
past twenty-five years. There’s music from programmes that have
transformed us as an ensemble, like Russian Treasures, Brahms and
Bruckner, and Francis Poulenc’s incomparable Figure
Humaine. There are pieces that celebrate where we are today, with our
brand-new recording of Frank Martin's amazing Mass for Double Choir,
our recent appearance on Max Richter’s wonderful soundtrack for Hamnet,
and a nod to our imminent collaboration with Eric Whitacre. And alongside
these, we’ve commissioned brand new pieces specifically for this programme, to
mark this special juncture in our journey so far: both from composers who
have already made awesome contributions to our repertoire, but also from
exceptional choral voices with whom we’re working for the first time. 

Perhaps most
importantly, this is a set of music that takes us as a choir
on an extraordinary, transformative musical and emotional journey. Every
piece is deeply moving in its own right. And honestly, I find it hard to
believe that there’s any group who could perform each one quite like
Tenebrae. I could not be more proud of how far this ensemble has come, of where
we currently are 25 years in, and of the shared journey that lies ahead of us.
And it’s a true privilege to be performing this programme for the very first
time in North America here at St Thomas’ Fifth Avenue, the beating heart of
exceptional choral singing here on the East Coast.” 

– Nigel Short,
Founder and Artistic Director

PROGRAM:

Now the powers of heaven (Nïne silï nebesnïya)

Alexander Gretchaninov

Virga
Jesse

Anton Bruckner

Gloria,
Sanctus and Benedictus from Mass for Double Choir

Frank Martin 

Wanderers* 

Sarah Henderson

On
the nature of daylight

Max Richter, arr. Geoff Lawson 

With
a lily in your hand (from Three Flower Songs)

Eric Whitacre

The dying soldier

Traditional, arr. Mack Wilberg and Nigel
Short

Going
to Heaven!*

Joanna Marsh

Media
vita 

Kerensa Briggs

Figure
humaine

Francis Poulenc

* denotes North American premiere