Londinium's alluring festive programme is built around the seven great 'O Antiphons' which traditionally accompany the Magnificat during the season of Advent. We pair rich settings of these resonant texts with works amplifying their timeless themes of hope, justice, and liberation, drawing on repertoire from the Renaissance, the Romantic world of Brahms and Bruckner, and the music of our own time in a fine selection of recent works by Ēriks Ešenvalds, Paweł Łukaszewski, Grace-Evangeline Mason, Cecilia McDowall, James MacMillan, Howard Skempton, and Judith Weir. The climax of our concert is the superb Magnificat quinti toni by Hieronymus Praetorius, studded with infectiously joyful German carols.
Conductor: Andrew Griffiths
Tickets include a complimentary illustrated programme. Wine and mince pies will be served in the interval.
Holy Sepulchre is opposite City Thameslink (Holborn Viaduct exit), near to the Old Bailey, and close to St Paul’s, Blackfriars and Farringdon tube/railway stations.
The Music
Judith Weir: Drop down, ye heavens, from above
Grace-Evangeline Mason: O Sapientia
Howard Skempton: Adam lay y-bounden
Pierre Certon: O Adonai
Johannes Brahms: O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf
Paweł Łukaszewski: O Radix Jesse
Anton Bruckner: Virga Jesse
Antoine de Mornable: O Clavis David
Weir: Illuminare, Jerusalem
- interval -
Benjamin Britten: A Hymn to the Virgin
Cecilia McDowall: O Oriens
James MacMillan: Emitte lucem tuam
Claudio Merulo: O Rex gentium
Edward Bairstow: Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Ēriks Ešenvalds: O Emmanuel
Adrian Peacock: Venite, Gaudete!
Hieronymus Praetorius: Magnificat quinti toni