Serenity of Soul

For their fifth concert, Somerset Voices present an intriguingly varied and interconnected programme of sacred choral music, drawn from four centuries (17th-20th) and three countries: England, Germany and Estonia.

The earliest music is by Purcell (1659-95) and J. S. Bach (1685-1750) and the programme traces the complex web of their influence upon the later composers whose music is also to be performed.

Purcell’s influence upon Britten (1913-76) is widely recognised. Closer to our own time, Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) has acknowledged his strong connections to the music of Bach and Britten.

Bach was revered by Brahms (1833-97) and both were powerful influences upon Stanford (1852- 1924), who had studied in Leipzig where Bach had once been Kantor. Stanford became a hugely influential teacher of composition at the Royal College of Music in London; among his pupils were Frank Bridge and John Ireland, both of whom taught Britten when he in…