CONTENT COURTESY THE CHOIR OF ST JAMES’
Celebrating the season of the Feast of St James’, The Choir of St James’ performs William Walton’s The Twelve, along with works by William Byrd and Jonathan Dove’s Seek him that maketh the seven stars.
The centrepiece of the concert will be English composer Patrick Hawes’ evocative nine-movement work Revelation – an Australian premiere. Based on texts from the Book of Revelation, this work takes the listener on a sonic pilgrimage with dramatic word painting illustrating the journey to the everlasting, encountering ‘flashes of lightning’, ‘peals of thunder’, ‘seven lamps’ and the ‘woman with a crown of twelve stars’.
This concert forms part of the Patronal Festival at St James’ Church, celebrating St James’ The Great, and is preceded by a St James’ Institute talk on Saint James. To attend both events creates a perfect afternoon for anyone interested in Saint James, particularly the Camino de Santiago, or those wishing to spend a few hours being immersed in uplifting music and narrative.
The Choir of St James’, directed by Warren Trevelyan-Jones, enjoys a reputation of being one the finest choirs in Australia. It is one of the oldest musical establishments in Australia, and is linked to the earliest days of the colony of New South Wales; some of its early members were convicts. The choir maintains a schedule of regular weekly choral services, Sunday Cantata Services, Orchestral Masses, and its own Subscription Concert Series.
It has a large and varied repertoire encompassing music from the Middle Ages to the contemporary, and it is committed to supporting new Australian works, including compositions written by past and present members of the Choir. Past collaborations include working with The Tallis Scholars, The King’s Singers, and The Gabrieli Consort, Opera Australia, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Baroque Brass, The Australian Haydn Ensemble, and soloists Yvonne Kenny, Greta Bradman and Teddy Tahu Rhodes.
The choir also undertakes a comprehensive program of recording, broadcasting and touring, interstate and overseas. This year, it returned to Gallipoli and sang at the ANZAC Day Dawn Service, as well as performing to critical acclaim at the Coriole Music Festival in Adelaide, and in Hobart at Festival of Voices.
Music at St James’ presents The Choir of St James’ directed by Warren Trevelyan-Jones in Saints and Revelation, 5pm July 28 at St James’ Church, 173 King Street.
