First steps along The Sixteen’s 2016 Choral Pilgrimage

By Sebastian Scotney, 09 April 2016

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“infinite softness and delicacy, as if walking on eggshells”

Reviewed at St John's College Chapel, Cambridge on 8 April 2016

Byrd, Diliges dominum

Byrd, Miserere mihi, Domine

Pärt, The Deer's Cry

Byrd, Emendemus in Melius

Pärt, The woman with the alabaster box

Byrd, Tribue Domine

Byrd, Christe qui lux es et dies

Tallis, Miserere nostri

Byrd, O lux beata trinitas

Pärt, Nunc dimittis

Byrd, Ad Dominum cum tribularer

Byrd, Laetentur coeli

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers, Conductor

Bach and Gluck resound in Bath Abbey with The Sixteen

Roy Westbrook, 21st February

Large ecclesiastical buildings, with their hard surfaces and long high naves, are challenging for complex music like Bach’s.

****1

Angel of Peace: The Sixteen’s annual choral pilgrimage

Leighton Jones, 4th April

Harry Christophers and The Sixteen refresh their choral pilgrimage with works old and new, that show innovative programming at its imaginative best.

*****

Heavenly sounds from The Sixteen with Harry Christophers in Dublin

Andrew Larkin, 20th June

The Sixteen offer glorious tones, smooth polyphonic lines and vivid word paintings at the National Concert Hall.

****1

Uneven Mozart and Haydn from The Sixteen at Cadogan Hall

Mark Valencia, 16th February

The Sixteen’s work is spoilt by a shortage of violins and some uneven solo contributions. Such imperfections only serve to highlight the excellence of the very best.

***11

The Sixteen and Julian Joseph: a one-sided conversation

David Karlin, 27th January

The latest instalment of Kings Place's “Sound Unwrapped” series delivers wonderful musicianship in both jazz and early music, but not the promised “continuous fusion of styles”.

***11

Exalted Messiah: The Sixteen and Harry Christophers

Roy Westbrook, 6th December

How do you conduct the same over-familiar work for the 200th time, and make it sound quite new?

*****

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Sebastian Scotney

Sebastian has written about music for the Daily Telegraph, Prospect, Arts Industry and the Bulletin in Brussels. He has been a professor at the Royal College of Music and has recorded a CD of the Mozart clarinet quintet with the Maggini Quartet.