Hastings Philharmonic Choir Dear Friend of Hastings Philharmonic Choir
It's almost time for our summer concert which takes place next Saturday, 5 July, 7pm at Christ Church, Silchester Road, St Leonards TN38 0JB. We shall be performing the works of two living composers, Arvo Pärt’s Berliner Messe and Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass, accompanied by the strings of Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Marcio da Silva, who will also perform Verklärte Nacht by Arnold Schoenberg. Rachel Allen (soprano); Alex Pullinger (countertenor ); John Twitchen ( tenor ) and Jack Lawrence-Jones ( bass) will sing solo roles.

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's music is typically minimalist in style, employing his own invented technique of tintinnabuli, a musical texture that creates a kaleidoscopic aural effect emulating the resonance of bells. Inspired also by Gregorian chant and early Renaissance polyphonic music, his Berliner Messe, composed in 1990, is a meditative and structured setting of the Latin Mass. Originally commissioned for the 90th German Catholic Day in Berlin, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Berliner Messe was first performed at St. Hedwig’s Cathedral.
Sunrise Mass was composed in 2008 by the Norwegian composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo. It is structured in four movements—'The Spheres’, ‘Sunrise’, ‘The City’, and ‘Identity & The Ground’ – each movement setting part of the traditional text of the Latin mass. As Gjeilo said, “I wanted the musical development of the Mass to evolve from transparent and spacey, through increasing emotion and movement, to something solid and grounded- as a metaphor for human development from child to adult, for a spiritual journey, or for the creative process itself`”.
The notion of a spiritual journey – in this case the affirmation of love and forgiveness over blame and rejection – also underpins Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (‘Transfigured Night’). Based on a poem by Richard Dehmel, this lusciously late-Romantic work depicts the conversation and emotions experienced by a man and woman walking through a forest at night.
Join us on 5 July for this programme of beautiful, reflective and inspirational music.
Hastings Philharmonic Choir
Rachel Allen soprano
Alex Pullinger countertenor
John Twitchen tenor
Jack Lawrence-Jones bass
with Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Marcio da Silva
Don't delay - buy your ticket now!
www.hastingsphilchoir.org.uk/summerconcert2025
Or in person from The Bookkeeper, 1a King's Road, St Leonards (open Thurs-Sat)
NB. All advance sales end at 11am on Saturday 5 July, after which remaining tickets may be purchased on the door.
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