Thrilling Singing

Alec Roth, Tallis, Striggio and Gabriel Jackson
from Ex Cathedra, conducted by Jeffrey Skidmore,
heard by MIKE WHEELER

The number 40 haunted this concert by Birmingham-based choir Ex Cathedra and conductor Jeffrey Skidmore — Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, UK, 18 November 2018. The programme included a large-scale work by Alec Roth, more on which later, and began with a shorter piece by him, Sol Justitiae, which, in the absence of texts and translations in the printed programme (and more on that, later, too), I take to mean 'Sun of Justice'. Sung not by the full choir but by two groups on either side of the stage, with the important soprano solo part sung from the choir seats above the back, its unison chant-like beginning opened out into a harmonic style with something of an antique feel while avoiding any hint of pastiche...

ALEC ROTH

THOMAS TALLIS

ALESSANDRO STRIGGIO

NOTTINGHAM ROYAL CONCERT HALL

NOTTINGHAM

ENGLAND

CHORAL MUSIC