Choir to show it has the golden touch

SYDNEY’S Choir of St James will perform music of the Spanish Golden Age in Hobart next month as part of the Festival of Voices.

The 11-member choir’s Metamorphosis concert at All Saints’ Church will include works by Tomas Luis de Victoria and the Morales Mass, as well as later pieces strongly influenced by Renaissance music.

Modern works will include Missa Sans Regrets, composed by Brooke Shelley for the choir.

“It’s based on the Mass by Morales, which in turn is based on a four-part chanson by Flemish composer Josquin des Prez,” conductor Warren Trevelyan-Jones said.

“It is for eight voices, unusually scored and cleverly uses material from the earlier works in a more contemporary individual language.”

Trevelyan-Jones said the Morales was one of the great Masses of the Renaissance.

“It really fleshes out and expands the melodies of the Josquin des Prez chanson, and bits of the melody are used in each of movement,” he said.

The program will also feature three works by de Victoria, including the motet O Lux Et Decus.

“It is in praise of St James and associated with the pilgrimage route to Santiago,” Trevelyan-Jones said. “We love to sing it because our church is St James. It’s bright, luminous and energetic.”

The choir will also sing three pieces by Los Angelesbased former choir member Joseph Twist that pay homage to the music of de Victoria.

The Metamorphosis concert will be held at All Saints’ Church in Macquarie St from 7.30pm on July 8. Tickets are $30 for adults and $25 concession, available from www.festivalofvoices.com

The Choir of St James will also sing secular music at a pop-up concert at Mona on July 9, and is part of the Enchantment concert at Hobart Town Hall on July 10.