The Ecstasies Above - Music between heaven and earth

What does it sound like in the "heavenly city" of Jerusalem? Why do angels sing so much more beautifully than humans? And how do sound and space manage to expand our consciousness and open our hearts to things that cannot be described in words? The singers of the John Sheppard Ensemble address these and other questions in their program "Hierusalem", in which they explore works by English composers from the 16th century to the present day.

Right at the beginning, they perform a summit work of choral literature that is one of the first to play with the diverse sound possibilities of a space: Thomas Tallis' motet Spem in alium for forty voices or four ten-part choirs incorporates the performance space and the audience into the composition. The sounds wander around the listener in ever-changing combinations: in a circle from the highest to the lowest voice and back again, alternating between north-south and east-west choirs as well as in a magnificent tutti, the composer shows himself to be at the height of his creative powers.

This is followed by the Fantasia on a Theme by T. Tallis for orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), as well as works by Will Todd (*1970), George Dyson (1883-1964), William Harris (1883-1973), Tarik O'Reagan (*1978) and Charles H.H. Parry (1848-1918).